Meet 'Man the Mighty,' local band soon heard on MTV
Ever hear of Man the Mighty? The name may not ring a bell, but you'll soon be hearing their music on MTV.
The band consists of four Dundee-Crown graduates who are working hard to make their dreams of success come true.
Members include Derek Smith, singer; Tim Tournier, guitar; Matt Harmening, drums, and Tyler Nelson, bass.
You can check them out for yourself this Saturday, when there will be an all-ages Man the Mighty CD release party and show at the Clearwater Theater, 96 W. Main St., West Dundee. Doors open at 7 p.m., and tickets are $8.
The Daily Herald caught up with Tyler Nelson this week to get the scoop on this up-and-coming local sensation.
Q. How did you come up with the name "Man the Mighty?" A. The name Man the Mighty was at first meant to be "Man, the Mighty. Man" in the form like "man the torpedoes!" or meaning "lend strength to"; "the mighty" being ourselves. Put it together to mean "lend strength to the strong" or "help those who help themselves."Q. When did the band form? How did it come together? A. The band formed in 2000 around lifelong friends Derek Smith and Tim Tournier. After a few lineup changes we became complete once Matt and I (Tyler) joined on in 2006.Q. What genre of music does the band play? What are some of the band's inspirations? A. Hard rock. If Jeff Buckley and Alice in Chains had a baby, you'd have us.Q. How many shows has the band played? What venues have you played at?A. We have played at the House of Blues, the Rave main stage, the Metro, the Double Door and the Elbo Room, just to name a few. We play around 80 to 100 shows a year.Q. Tell us about your new CD.A. We don't have a locked in label just yet, but we will soon. We recorded this with two-time Grammy nominee Ben Kasica, guitarist for the band Skillet (over 900,000 records sold). We recorded this CD on off days of the Skillet tour, so it was a very painstaking process. It took about a day and a half per song to record. This CD was also engineered by Nick Rad.Q. Do you write your own songs? A. All of the songs are ours but we have been known to put a cover in every now and then.Q. What are the band's goals for the future?A. Well, we just landed an MTV placement deal, which means they will use our songs in their TV shows. We hope to keep getting deals like that and grow on a national level.Q. What makes Man the Mighty different? A. What makes Man The Mighty unique is our songs. We're a band full of professional musicians. Music is what we do for a living. So our sound, our look, our business is that of a major-label band. We have a lot that most bands at our level don't (e.g., a cello player and a grammy-nominated producer).Q. Does the band have a Web site? Where can readers go to hear your songs or learn more about you? A. Our Web site is manthemighty.com; our full CDs are on iTunes; just look up Man the Mighty.