Manning Patston on writing his happy accident - 'Rolling Souls'
Sydney singer/songwriter Manning Patston has been perfecting his craft around the suburbs for years and has built himself a great fanbase over in NSW. Quite frankly, we're devastated we didn't hear him through our wavelengths sooner!
After treating listeners to his early 2020 release 'Calling You Sober' ft. Zac Gomes, Manning has just announced an indie-folk-jazz-esque follow up single titled 'Rolling Souls' set to be released on the 9th June.
'Rolling Souls’ gently grooves along with a blend of simplicity and reflection. The track hooks and provokes listeners, through its cryptic lyricism, jazz chords, warm harmonies and blues licks.
We had the pleasure of chatting to Manning about how the song came about, his new experimental approach to recording and where his powerful lyricism sparks from!
Hey Manning how the heck are you, and how’s isolation been treating you?
Hey, thanks for having me! I’m doing okay. Isolations been a bit of a pothole in the road, but I’m doing what I can to navigate around it. There’s been more time at home to write so that’s a positive.
So you released your single ‘Calling You Sober’ earlier this year which received some great responses, and now you’re treating us to a follow up single titled ‘Rolling Souls’ on the 9th of June, tell us a little bit about the song…
Sure thing! Rolling Souls was sort of a happy little accident. A friend asked me to write a song for them which is something I wouldn’t normally force, because writing has to come naturally from my experience. That being said, I gave it a shot and Rolling Souls is what came out. The song is a bit more jazzy than usual, and reflects on two people of different statuses.
How was the writing and recording process for you and where did the inspiration come from?
Recording Rolling Souls was a lot of fun. We experimented with a few techniques to try and add some more texture to the track. There was double tracking with an acoustic and electric guitar, stacking harmonies, some finger clicks, you get the idea. We also had Miles, a touring guitarist for Middle Kids come in to track some keys which I think turned out really nice.
It’s a really beautiful tune, and I can’t help but notice how great you are at song-writing! The lyrics in ‘Rolling Soul’ are super powerful and actually caught me off-guard as I started to feel super nostalgic… Where does your lyricism spark from – have you always had a way with words?
Thanks for that! It’s always been the goal that my music stirs something inside of people, so that’s really cool to hear. At least for me, lyricism has to be honest, in one way or another. It should make you feel vulnerable. I often write from a stream-of-consciousness which can sometimes bring out thoughts you didn’t even know you had. Rolling Souls was one of those times for sure.
So I’m sure during all this spare time in iso you’ve been mulling things over, tell us what’s next!?
Hahah, all will be revealed soon enough. But yes, there will be some new music shortly after Rolling Souls, that I can’t wait to show you.
Now to wrap things up, what’s the first thing you want to do once all of this rona stuff is over?
Great question. I think catching up with everyone is going to be a priority. I’m sure there will be some pub crawls and some gigs as well.
There you have it! Thanks so much for catching up with us!
No worries, anytime.
Keep your eyes peeled for Mannings release of 'Rolling Souls' on the 9th of June! But in the meantime check him out on his socials!
Article by Darcy Goss