Story by Matt DeBow
Photos by Thao Bui
Last year’s International Women’s Day brought together two Resident Advisors to form what has become an increasingly popular local band. The duo that jammed that night—Shivangi (Shiva) Ramachandran and Karim Hassanein—are now known as The Manes.
When Ramachandran decided to perform last March, she asked Hassanein for his help to write a song. They chose to play the show since they were already jamming together.
The duo’s style is, Ramachandran says, “a folsky/indie singer songwriter mix.” Sometimes the group says they’re identified as “indie,” a label Hassenein takes issue with.
“I don’t like being labeled as an ‘indie’ band because being defined by a genre becomes restricting,” he says.
When jamming, Hassanein likes to mix up different styles, which can be off-putting to some people when he throws in a hip-hop groove after playing a folksy piece.
“Musically we come from a lot of places and we meet in the middle,” he says of the band’s style. Hassanein sings and plays bass, guitar, and tabla, a traditional Egyptian instrument. He listens to older Egyptian music, but not the pop music that has recently come out of Egypt.
Born in Washington, D.C., Hassenien and his family lived in America until the family returned to Cairo in 1997. Hassenien says he can express himself through the music he writes, and that he draws inspiration from the political climate in Egypt.
“For the week that the Internet was down [in Egypt] it was really nerve-racking not being able to get in touch with [my family],” Hassenien says. “Other than being concerned for the health and well-being of my family and friends over there, I’m really excited. I never thought that I would actually live to see the day when the Egyptian people would stand up to [Hosni] Mubarak.”
Hassenein says he probably will write songs about the current situation in Egypt, but that “it’s always kind of hard to write political songs that people can identify with.”
Currently, the Manes’ songs include a number of covers and two original pieces. Their song “Pretty Boxes” was featured in The Eugene Weekly’s Next Big Thing, a contest to find the next aspiring musician in Eugene.
It was for the Next Big Thing that the group picked their name (the rules required all participants have a title). The duo chose “The Manes” because of their respective huge hairstyles. They don’t know where they placed as only the names of the top sixteen finalists were revealed to the public.
The group’s numbers also including a version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” in which Ramachandran says “you can really hear me being really Indian—or at least I can hear it.”
Born and raised in New Delhi, Ramachandran speaks with an Indian accent that is only slightly audible when she sings in English. Starting at the age of eleven, Ramachandran was trained to sing in a classical Hindi style. She stopped at age eighteen when she moved to the United States.
Even with Hassanein playing acoustic guitar and Ramachandran singing, the duo has considered adding another member to the band. The Manes have only played acoustic shows, but the addition of a third member could, Hassanein says, possibly move the group toward using electric instruments.
While they don’t have any shows scheduled yet, Hassenein says they’re always looking for opportunities to perform. The Manes plan to start recording an album at the end of this term.
