MANIC HISTORY - KEVIN DELANEY

MANIC PROFILE: Music Producer and Heavy Metal Guitarist Kevin Delaney formed both Manic Records and Manic Entertainment in the spring of 1995 while living in the legendary and now defunct Music Building in Jamaica, Queens, New York City where artists such as Metallica and Anthrax shared rehearsal rooms in their humble beginnings. Groundbreaking Heavy Metal records like "Kill 'em all" and "Ride the lightning" among other classics were written and rehearsed in the same dark, dreary, and disgusting rooms Delaney lived in while he wrote and recorded 1996's "Broken Water", the Manic Records debut from Out've the box. "It was awe inspiring to say the least, I mean on top of all the excitement from making my own record, the building I was living and recording in was sitting atop an ancient burial ground from the early 1800's". says Delaney "That place was hardcore and haunted. . .

(laughs nervously) But yes, just knowing all of the musical history that took place in that building. . .that was good enough reasoning for me to move in and get inspired." The Jamaica Music building's harsh living environment provided far more than just a few dues to be paid at Delaney's expense, "I know its so rock n' roll cliché to say I lived in squalor conditions and all, but I do think you need to test your own breaking point every so often in life...I mean in this place...killing rats, dodging bullets and getting robbed was just as routine as taking a piss out the window every morning" Delaney says matter of factly, referring to not having working restrooms on his floor. . ."People were dropping like flies in there, but I loved every minute of the experience."

"The Music Building" Jamaica, Queens, NYC 1995

Eventually, Delaney's surroundings would change once he caught the interest of an investor who would pump some startup capital into Out've The Box and Manic Records. "I was at least able to move back into a more humane living condition outside the insanity of the music building and back into Manhattan where I ran the label from my apartment right across from the MTV music studios on West 44th St. and Broadway right in the heart of Times Square." Broken Water was released in the spring of 1996 and to promote the new record,

Delaney booked an east coast tour from New England down to Florida. After winding up desolate and yet broke again by the tours end and after a series of lineup changes, Delaney put OTB on hold and hooked up with another New York based band, Narcotic Gypsy, whom shortly upon his joining opened shows on the main stage for Ozzy Osbourne on the first Ozzfest tour.

Although Narcotic Gypsy proved not to be Delaney's calling, the experience nevertheless shed some light on songwriting chemistry between himself and the bands lead vocalist Brent Pettersson whom would also leave Narcotic Gypsy and join forces with Delaney to form the more versatile band Sugar Love Honey which also included fellow New Yorker Freddy Villano (Quiet Riot, Widowmaker) on bass. After spending the majority of 1997-98 moving through a series of drummers in NYC, Sugar Love Honey opted to move out west to Los Angeles where they released a 4-song EP on Manic Records. It was around this time that the song "Honeydrip" was included on The Album Network's "Virtually Alternative" compilation and would bring much hype and attention to the band during the dog days of summer 1999. "We were really just hoping someone would take that critical first step and just throw a pitch at us you know, give us some clout and balls to head around town and start making some noise with, but throughout all the meetings, showcases and everyone rubbing weenies, etc. (Laughs) nobody stepped up to the plate, which ultimately starts working against you just as fast in this town you know. "All and all we had a good run though" sums Delaney.

By early 2000 Delaney started testing new waters around Los Angeles and found himself working in the Studio City living room of legendary Industrial producer and engineer Critter (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Guns and Roses) where he started writing and producing early versions of what would later surface as Kreep songs such as "Spooky Chick", "Dead From Alcohol", "Rubber Room" and "Head Trauma".

By this time, Delaney started challenging his ever-expanding production skills and in 2001 would exhibit some ferocious soundscapes and equally impressive live guitar work for actress Persia White's Metal band "Call Box". "It was around spring 2001 that I really started paying attention and feeling the need for getting myself on the map even more production wise, so I basically just challenged myself and quit drinking and smoking on the spot one day to see how far I could really take it on a grassroots level, I just needed to clean house and reevaluate everything in my life and view things from within a different paradigm." Joe Sofio of Steve Stewart Management (Stone Temple Pilots, The Exies, Screaming Trees) had summoned Delaney around this time to co-write songs with Atlanta based vocalist Brad Cox and his band Grayson Manor, where he would spend the remainder of 2001 and much of the following year writing and producing demos for the band while working at the world renown Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, CA (Velvet Revolver, Guns and Roses, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins).

Later that same year through a chance encounter while walking in his Hollywood neighborhood, Delaney bumped into an old friend from back east. "I was walking up the street over here on Gardner and I ran into Brett Pirozzi I hadn't seen Brett in years, it was definitely pretty trippy". Pirozzi was a founding member of the legendary industrial band Bile and had met Delaney in High School back in Long Island, NY and was now living in Hollywood with his band Green Jello at the infamous "Jello Pad". The two would quickly start writing songs together and by the summer of 2002 Delaney would go on to produce two albums worth of material and ultimately join forces with Pirozzi on a full time basis to form Kreep. "Snake from Skid Row got a hold of our first demo and just started crankin' it up at all the venues they played on the Rock Never Stops tour that summer, before long people started paying more attention to us and the song "Spooky Chick" was getting positive feedback as well as a significant amount of airplay around the East Coast." Spooky Chick was kind of like this test feeler we sort of threw out there to see what would happen you know, it was enough to start working up some new songs".

By early 2003 Kreep were back in the studio and recording what was initially supposed to be "False Idol", the next step in Kreep's evolution process. "Some of the songs we had been recording for "False Idol" sounded more in synch with what we had going on with "Spooky Chick", and with an open invitation to tour the US with Skid Row, we just decided to put the "False sessions" on hold and release "Spooky Chick" as a full length CD. "At the same time giving "Spooky Chick" the actual push it deserved just

made more sense at the end of the day." says Delaney. As 2003 drew to a close, Manic Records would also release the single/EP "Carpetride" a more traditional metal sounding record. "The "Carpetride" EP is a definite departure from where Kreep left off with "Spooky Chick", it has more of a raw feel to it, bigger and fatter tones, more guitar solos, stronger vocals and just in general a more organic Heavy Metal sound" says Delaney. Good songs coupled with an explosive live show played an important role in Kreep being voted "favorite up and coming band" in the 2003 year in review issue of Metal Edge magazine and although plans for "False Idol" have since been scrapped, fans can still look forward to the upcoming DVD titled "The medication isn't working" due out later this year which will include six videos from the "Spooky Chick" record, a re-edited version of the "Carpetride" video and live footage from the 2003-04 US tour with Skid Row.

By spring of 2004 and fresh off the road with Kreep, Delaney once again started cowriting songs with Atlanta based Heavy Metal band Grayson Manor for the follow-up to 2003's "Back On The Rock" tentatively titled "Children Of The Manor" with Grammy award winning engineer Robert Carranza (Beck, Luscious Jackson, Dig) "The new Grayson Manor record was a lot of fun making, I mean we really brought in some serious heavy metal influences on this one (laughs)". "It just fucking screams and reeks of old school heavy metal man, it's got elements of Motorhead, Maiden, Accept, Priest, AC/DC, Ozzy. . all the big guns you know, mixed in with a lot of our own dirt". "Anybody who truly loves classic sounding 80's metal is seriously going to freak when they hear this new record". Delaney would also join Grayson Manor on a fulltime basis after tracking the new record at Sonora Studios in Los Feliz, CA and partake in a 40 city US tour with the band that extended throughout most of the summer.

In late August 2004 Delaney would head back east to New York for a change of scenery after calling Hollywood, CA his home for six years and immediately got to work on writing songs for a new band he envisioned putting together in the near future as well as to conduct some much needed soul searching. By the summer of 2005 after a long and rigorous work schedule and time to contemplate his future, Delaney would resurface with fifty plus new songs and that all too familiar itch to start up a new band again. "I wrote about 50 or more songs and demoed them here in NY with the intention of putting a new band together at some point. I thought NYC would be a perfect fit being that I'm from here but to start that far over again from a personal perspective isn't making much sense at this point. I mean I had lived on the west coast for quite some time and came to realize while I was back here that as much as I love New York and being close to family, California just feels more like my adopted home now you know, on a professional level as well as on a spiritual level". After landing new management back in Los Angeles with Joe Sofio of Built Entertainment (formerly of Steve Stewart management) Delaney will continue preproduction in Hollywood where he plans to relocate himself once again by mid summer. "We're talking to and looking at a few different singers right now and hope to start the record sometime in the fall and just take it from there. I'm looking forward to working and living in LA again and hopefully by the years end we'll have a new record and brand new band to tour with in 2006". For more info and updates on Kevin Delaney be sure to visit his official website at: www.kevindelaneymusic.com