An Exclusive Interview with The Radiant by Great Unknowns Music Expose

Having only been together for three years, The Radiant produces music that is pure entertainment.

Without a record company to back them, with no studio, and only a MAC computer to their arsenal , Christian Yorke, Mark Mangold, and Jordan Brooks, recorded from their living rooms to create most of their incredible music. While a few songs are a little simplistic, overall The Radiant's music library is filled with tremendous collaborations of multi-dementional sounds that is showcased in songs like, "Say You Will", "Could Have Been Anyone", and "Given' it Away".

The lyrics and the voice of Yorke gives this band a distinctive quality that is clever and an artful form that absolutely completes their sound, something that has been missing in mainstream music and has been long over due.

I had the opportunity to preview their music and speak in-depth to keyboard/piano player, Mark Mangold. Here was our conversation:

So, how did The Radiant come to be? Were you all friends in high school or college? Or did you meet afterwards?
We all live in New York now when we put together the band about 3 years ago. We are kind of from all over the place, though we ended up here. Jonny Cragg our drummer is from Manchester England, Christian from Arkansas and Orlando, Florida. Myself, I'm originally from Florida and our bass player, Jordon Brooks, from the mid west. We all migrated here for

...the music.

You mentioned to me that your band is rooted to bands like Keane, The Fray, and Coldplay. Are these bands that you have looked up to for your motivation?

Our songs are very keyboard oriented and our singer has a voice in that vein. Maybe Jeff Buckley is another comparison. I guess you could call it alternative rock, though that covers a lot of territory.

Although you’ve been performing for a little over a year and a half, you are relatively new, but you guys have already managed to release two albums. It’s not cheap to create EP’s. Did you spend a lot of time in the studio or do you own your own studio?

Yes, we have "Macs"(smiles) and we did the record in our living rooms. We recorded drums at Bushwick Studios in Brooklyn, as getting a great drum sound in a kitchen is quite hard, but the rest we do here. We have the Marshall amp in the bathroom. Everything else, keyboards, vocals, bass, etc. You just plug in and play, so you could be anywhere for that.

When producing your music, The Radiant has had limited resources, but you guys have demonstrated that anyone can maximize any situation regardless of the limitations at hand. When you perform, do you have a full band?

Yes, live it's quite full, so there is a lot going on. What may normally be played on a guitar we figure out a way to play on a keyboard, through an amp, etc. And of course Christian plays guitar, as well as keys and drums, though for our show he is not playing keys or drums yet. Too much to set up. (smiles) But, someday at the right venue we can show some of the depth of our musicianship in our band beyond just being obnoxious and showing off. Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad thing to do. Well maybe not the obnoxious part.

Who wrote the lyrics for the vocals? Were the songs based on personal experiences?

Yes, everything was based on personal life experience going on at the time. Good things, crisis, statements we wanted to make about things in general. I wrote most of it and a bunch with Christian.

In today’s market, independent bands struggle to make it, due to the lack of mp3 sales and the vastness of competition. Are you in it for the long haul and for national attention, or are you happy with your place in the music industry?

We would ultimately want to get signed and take it major. Yes, the industry is strange, thus our song, Givin' It Away...though that's really about a relationship, but also works with the music (smiles again). We just want to spread the word and bring people to listen to. We'll keep doing this for sure for as long as we can and of course would love to be doing major tours, opening for a major band and doing what successful bands do.

So, tell me about some of current projects that The Radiant is working on (if any).What is in store for the future of The Radiant? What are your future goals? Are you doing any touring outside of the Tri-state area?
We keep recording and writing. We're planning to visit Europe again. We were there in June and that seems to be a wonderful venue for us. A lot of music appreciation over there. I am going to the UK this week actually to do some interviews and meetings to try to make some things happen, set up some dates, etc.

To listen to a free 4-track music preview, go to The Great Unknowns Presents from The Radiant's first two EP's.

For more information about The Radiant, go to there MySpace and JamWave

Interview by Michaelj