Silicon Valley Rocks

HTTP://CDBABY.COM/CD/KEVINMANEY

Band Members: Kevin Maney, John Given, Bill Coats, Andy Stack

Tech Industry Affiliations: Kevin writes about tech for Conde Nast
Portfolio magazine; John is legal counsel for Digidesign; Bill is managing partner at White & Case in Palo Alto; Andy co-founded Oortle and other tech start-ups.

Privacy

Found It On Google

Wouldn’t Want to Be (Bill Gates)

SVR: Tell us about your band. How did you get started? How long have you been playing?

Kevin Maney & His Briefs: We first met through email introductions in the fall of 2007, and formed the house band for a jam party Kevin hosted in October 2007. After playing together for the night, we all liked each other enough to want to do it again. We next met up in April 2008 to record our first EP, titled “Privacy.”

SVR: Who are your major influences?

Kevin Maney & His Briefs: Everybody’s interests seem to run the spectrum of rock music. Kevin’s songwriting is heavily influenced by The Clash, The Beatles, Warren Zevon, and creative roots-rock bands like The Blasters.

SVR: What’s your ultimate direction for your band? Are you seeking fame and fortune—at least in the music business?

Kevin Maney & His Briefs: We want a top 10 hit, an appearance on Letterman, and license to quit our day jobs and strike it rich playing music. Short of that, we’d like to play a gig at Google and get the free gourmet lunch.

SVR: Why is music education important?

Kevin Maney & His Briefs: Getting music skills into kids’ brains early makes all the difference later on. Back in grade school, I learned the trumpet and got pretty good at it. By my teens, I gave up the trumpet, but just knowing the basics of how music works helped me pick up guitar and songwriting later on.

SVR: What was your own experience learning music as a kid? Who flipped that switch in your brain?

Kevin Maney & His Briefs: I actually have a weird story. After the trumpet, I did learn guitar, but thought I was terrible at it and mostly only played for myself through all of my adult years. Didn’t think I could sing or write songs. And then a couple decades later, my friend Mark Holmes, a singer-songwriter, started getting me to play with him—just the two of us in a basement or on a back porch. He showed me that I did have something to offer, and once I felt like it was OK to let music come out of me, the fire got lit.