Following two years of hard work, and a recently released album, Manwolves, an ETHS student band, opens up about their process, challenges, and inspirations while delving into a modern jazz style.

How did you all meet/why did you decide to begin the band?

Well, we started a bands all throughout middle school but they always ended up failing. I actually started out as playing guitar, then our bassist got kicked out and I was told I needed to learn bass for the band, so I did that. But everything kept falling apart until freshmen year. I decided that I wanted to try rapping. So I grabbed Ari and told him and then we grabbed all the other members came into play and the rest is history – Jamie Mcnear

What genre do you consider your music to be?

I consider our music to be hip-hop with a heavy jazz influence. It isn’t entirely one or the other. We take what we like from both genres and try to blend the two – Eli Cohen

How long does it take you to create a song?

The process ranges in time, but sometimes it will come together really fast. The bass, drums, and piano come first. Then the three of us get together, and will come up with chord progressions that we like. Then we add rapping, vocals, and horns in. – Henry Wolf

What was the inspiration behind your music?

The inspiration behind our music is everywhere. It comes from where we live, and the people in evanston that we see daily. It comes from all of the music that we listen to as a band. None of us listen to the exact same music, so we all bring something new to the table. We also gain a lot of inspiration from our producer, Jim Tullio. – Henry Wolf

What’s the best part about being part of a band/creating music?

Now that we’ve started performing and making our music public, it’s really cool to see people actually enjoying it and singing along. I get texts from people who I don’t talk to often telling me how much they like our music. It brings people together and it’s cool to know that you don’t have to be a famous billionaire artist for your music to be appreciated by everyone – Hannah Whiting

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

The biggest challenge had been organizing everything with so any people and getting things done in a timely manner – Ari Garfin

Where can people find your music?

You can find our music on Soundcloud. We recently released an EP that you can find by searching “MANWOLVES.” We have some possible gigs lined up for the future. You can stay updated with our shows by following our facebook page – Julian Freeman

How is your music being received by the students of ETHS/the public?

So far I’ve heard mostly great reviews which is awesome. The only negative things I’ve heard have been from people who haven’t even listened to our music. I think they thought we were just another crappy high school band. Other than that all has been wonderful – Eli Cohen