Interview: Man Made Time are no fools of fossilized time

A scholar from the University of Missouri named Allen Bluedorn once had this to say about time as a strictly social concept: “What any group of people think about time ends up being a result of them interacting with each other and socialization processes.” Some cultures, including those in the United States and Europe, perceive time as some immovable force; while in others, such as Latin America, time is an uncertain creature with the capabilities of moving and transforming. Its fluid state is ever-present in the culture itself, allowing the peoples to have a far different sense and vantage point of what time really means. Alt-pop duo Man Made Time are staunch in the belief that man has, indeed, concocted the whole idea of time as we know it, calculated in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years. “Time is made up,” the duo, of Hillary Grace and Albert James Babanian, share with B-Sides & Badlands over email.

“We only have moments of now. Life is short, and we must not forget that a lot of the fillers (money, fame, power) are just illusions of comfort to hide the more important things,” they continue, scrawling pictures of allure that blind us to more vital concepts as “why, where do we go, I love those around me, I’m scared but I’m happy I have you.” Of course, they’re not completely aloof to think time doesn’t carry some significance, even if it is tempered a bit. “Time is important to a certain extent (planning, learning from experiences); however, it’s easy with our crazy brains to get stuck in times we either can’t go back to or haven’t happened yet.”

It has been claimed time appears to speed up as we age. Whether that’s due to a slowing down of our internal clocks or engaging with far fewer new experiences outside of our daily routine, there is a considerable shift that happens in adulthood, usually observed in the late 20s to early 30s. “Don’t you remember in high school? It felt like seven or eight years years going from ninth to 12th grade. But here we are [looking back at] an EP that was half a high school career away from us now,” the pair acknowledge. “It’s crazy! We kinda don’t mind, though, because it’s a reminder that everything passes. Good or bad, it will pass. So, if you’re going through something, just remember, it’s only this way for now.”

The EP upon which Grace and Babanian reflect is the sepia-toned self-titled project issued back in 2006 ⎯⎯ five tracks of ambient, alternative-stretched and jaw-tightening tracks. Two years removed, Grace’s voice is just as feathery as before but containing a sharpened aptitude to melt around melodies. Babanian, who also sings harmony, compliments that with chunky and greasy production tricks, often playing like the Wizard behind the curtain. Now, with their new single “Fool,” Grace cuts even deeper, drawing blood and exposing ivory-white skeleton. “We feel [this song][ is a good depiction of the internal dialog a person would have when they start suspecting that they are being fooled or tricked by another person. It’s the repetitive loops in our heads telling us that we may be getting bamboozled,” they write, citing it’s “just feeling like an idiot when someone leads you to believe something that ends up being bogus.”

“Fools” curdles the blood, perhaps contributed to the distorted vocal, which spooks and cascades over the ear lobs. The concise, and haunted, choices weren’t born out of an exact science either. Their process is far more organic and unexpected than that. “We aren’t sure what our initial motive was for the music. It sort of just came as we were progressing with the track. I think we wanted it to be dance-y. But we didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did. We always shoot for great melodies, but that’s something that just has to come out.”

“I know we can’t turn the time back to the way we were,” Grace sings, peeling the flakes as she comes to terms with the jarring reality set before her. Their lyrics are often urgent and severe, engaging with dangerous but critical truths. There’s no turning back now.

Below, the duo discuss where their creative headspace was after the 2015 EP, who made them feeling so foolish and finding peace in a dark world.

How did you two meet? Was your musical connection pretty immediate?

Social circles and friends. We knew both of us were musicians, and one day we just decided to write a song for fun. To be honest, we had no idea we would be as serious about it as we are now. We also share a lot of the same influences. A lot of the times, we introduce new artists to each other and end up loving them, as well.

In crafting your sound and gluey aesthetic, how did you take what was happening in Los Angeles and aim to develop something new?

It’s hard. It’s easy to be confused and lose yourself in what others are doing. I think it’s important to talk about your own personal influences with one another before starting a track. Communication is important. We aim to be connected with ourselves and each other, to bring out our own personalities and individuality. While all of us in LA probably have some similarities, no one has lived our life, and that’s what we want to bring to the table. 

What is it about the LA music scene that influences and inspires you the most?

So many of our favorite musicians come from this city. It breathes art. And the weather is fantastic. Also, there’s always something happening. If we want some inspiration, we can find at least five shows a night, or we can drive to the mountains, or we can go to the beach. We also grew up here, so it is home.

Where did you find yourself, creatively, after your self-titled EP in 2016?

We just knew we wanted to have an EP out. Something that sums up how we felt, musically and lyrically, at the time. “Fool” wasn’t on the EP, and honestly, we aren’t sure if it even fits. The funny thing about music is the more you write the more you change and evolve. We can say that after the EP, we were quick to get back into the studio and keep writing. We’d only been together for a year when that EP came out. Discovering ourselves was and is still happening. Especially discovering our sound as a band. 

Who made you out to be a fool?

We sometimes have different interpretations of what the lyrics mean to us.

Babanian: The lyrics give a general vibe of expectations not coming into fruition. When you have an expectation of a performance, a job or something that takes you by surprise not being how you thought it would be.

Grace: In the past, I feel like I’ve been made out to feel like a fool by men, certain people in the music industry, etc., but I also have allowed my brain to trick me into things that weren’t good for me or ideas about myself that aren’t true (not being good enough, etc.) However, this song represents an old relationship that took a while to shake off. 

Does “Fool” indicate the general direction your next batch of tunes will go?

Percussion and sounds, probably. But we are always changing. We were having a lot of fun with vocoders in this song and the few that followed (that haven’t been released), but so far our next batch of tunes have more real instruments and go deeper into our vulnerability.

Was “living in the moment” a journey you’ve both had to take?

Still is. Pretty damn hard. But meditation is awesome.

How do you find peace within yourself given how gruesome the world is right now?

Kinship. Our favorite words ever are “me too.” Can’t do this life alone, man. 

Hillary, you’re voice is both feathery and rather cutting. How do you arrive on how to best wield your voice in song?

We basically talk about the kind of vibe we want for the song and I try out different ways of singing it. I’d say I’m still morphing and growing into my own voice. 

Albert, in production, how do you decide on what to do to not only best serve the song but highlight her power?

I ask my self “what would Skrillex do?” J/k. Kinda. Actually, it depends on what comes first: melody, lyrics or music. Usually, that will guide to way to serve the song next.

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