Name: Terrence McManus
Nationality: American
Occupation: Guitarist, composer, improviser
Current release: Terrence McManus teams up with Ellery Eskelin (saxophone), and Gerry Hemingway (drums) for Music for Chamber Trio.
Recommendations: Winterreise (Franz Schubert); Five Movements for String Quartet (Anton Webern)

If you enjoyed this Terrence McManus interview and would like to know more about his music and current live dates, visit his official homepage. He is also on Facebook, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I also experience color, but usually different shades of one or two colors.

I listen with my eyes open.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

The process of experiencing sound.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Music was very important for me at that age.

I’ve tried to keep music still feeling new, like it did back then.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

The material on Music for Chamber Trio is around fifteen years old, and I think it is still relevant when compared to my more recent work.

What is your current your studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

Basically the corner of a room.

Cycling through a few different instruments (guitars) everyday. Often practicing the same material on different instruments.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

This work was composed in late 2008, and it has been performed several times in New York City. I wrote it specifically for Ellery and Gerry.

It is intended to be chamber music that utilizes their personalities as musicians to fill in open areas I left.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

I try to work on the same things everyday and see if I can improve them.

As a listener, I try to keep finding new material to listen to.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

I am more animated as a performer than I am in daily life, I think.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

There are no limits. Every sound is useable.

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

No, I don’t think so. I try to keep my music honest at the very least.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

No, I don’t think listeners need to understand anything. I think I’ve been fortunate in that I haven’t had many issues of misunderstanding.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

The environment generates a soundtrack, I try to be sensitive to it as often as I can.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Silence is extremely important to me. Not playing is just as important as playing.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Everything can be art.

With music, hopefully, you have an audience, so there is a group of people that you can take with you on a journey.

What is a music related question that you would like to ask yourself – and what's your answer to it?

Why am I doing this?
Because I love it.