SadBois & Manno Stay True to Their Roots While Rocking the EDM Scene

From the intense emotions of heartbreak to feeling comfortable in one’s own skin, rocktronic artists SadBois and Manno are no strangers to centering their lived experiences when songwriting. Hailing from Brooklyn and Long Island respectively, Chris (Manno) met Elias, George, and Peter (the “SadBois”) at a local show, and having much in common, they quickly began to collaborate in earnest. Now with an array of live performances under their belt and explosive growth like never before, the artists chatted with us to cover their origin stories, inspirations, and the importance of community.

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How did each of you first get immersed into music?

Brothers George and Elias grew up in a musical household, and with their dad teaching piano and choir, both were exposed to a variety of musical instruments in their younger years. Peter grew up with both brothers and was also an avid piano (and later guitar) player, and eventually all three friends dabbled with playing in rock bands. At first inspired by games like Guitar Hero but then a passion for a burgeoning pop punk scene at the time, the three embarked on a journey to play and produce their own music. Meanwhile, they continued to stay active in their existing music communities, from school percussion groups to playing piano at Carnegie Hall.

Chris has quite a different story, excelling at baseball and even going pro with a career that spanned the playing with the Nationals and the Reds. However, as a Brooklyn native, music has always shaped Chris throughout his life, from bands such as Blink-182 and Green Day to the rise of house music. He eventually decided to prioritize his pursuit of growing as a vocalist and EDM producer over baseball, and made the bold decision to pivot fully into music.

“ Throughout my life, music has always been bleeding out of me. (During) my professional baseball career, to make a very long story short, I had a really hard time not focusing on music, even though I was doing something that was like a full-time career… so I eventually left baseball prematurely. ” – Chris / Manno

How have your experiences been combining rock and other genres with EDM to create your own sound?

SadBois initially experimented with combining guitars with electronic music when progressive house first saw a monumental rise, then future bass. Eventually, they mastered their unique sonic fusion as other artists in the melodic bass scene also began to draw from non-EDM influences, ranging across pop-punk to even folk and metalcore.

“ (We) take past feelings of those pop-punk vibes that people used to listen to, and then…combining it with something maybe they haven’t been exposed to yet. It’s kind of getting them on the bandwagon of exploring it. It’s really cool (when) someone comes up to you and says, ‘I’ve never heard that type of music, but like, I’m really into it now, you guys really open up that door’. I think it’s a good challenge and it keeps pushing us forward to making that type of music. ” – Peter / SadBois

As someone who would listen to artists ranging from Freddie Mercury and Prince to modern rock and electronic acts in a single day, Chris delved into his feelings of confusion and feeling torn across genres. He admitted that he’s tried some pretty unconventional genre-mixing in the studio that didn’t always go well, but other times, everything just felt absolutely right. Chris credits his friendship with the SadBois and other musicians as the inspiration behind persevering beyond hitting walls, as “something beautiful comes out of those seeds that you plant”.

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After all the artists met at a show where Chris stunned the crowd with his high-energy performance of “Parachute”, a collaboration with another duo Caslow, George promptly sent Chris a guitar idea he created with Eli and Peter. Chris, in Manhattan at the time, then began to write based on the instrumental while taking a walk. He suddenly found himself wandering into Washington Square Park, and then stumbled across a full-blown Shakespeare in the Park play put together by NYU students.

“ I left my AirPods in, I never took them out. The entire time I stood there, I think I might’ve stayed there the entire play, watching Romeo and Juliet. (And they just) became the center of the song. Past relationships, heartbreak…(even) someone else in the same friend group, it seemed so relevant and it just clicked. That’s the magic of music to me. ” – Chris / Manno

‘Romeo and Juliet’ released on Feb 22, 2024 on NCS, and the artists revealed that they have more tunes together in the works.

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Tell us more about the shows you’ve played, and anything else exciting that’s coming up!

Chris couldn’t help but proclaim that performing live was his favorite thing in the world, where he could truly be himself and dissociate from the other aspects of his environment. He emphasized that performing with SadBois was special due to how much everyone interacts with the audience and fans, even jumping into the crowd with a selfie stick. The artists have performed “Romeo and Juliet”, then unreleased at the time, at iconic venues such as Brooklyn Steel and Webster Hall, which they described as some of their favorite moments.

“ I’m jumping up and down and I’m just experiencing this energy and feelings that like, I don’t know if I’ll ever find it in anything else. It’s the most incredible thing and to see other people out there, to hear people singing our lyrics and knowing our songs. There was even someone at a show that unfortunately, his buddy couldn’t come because it was like 18+ or 19+. And he had him on FaceTime showing him to us. And they were just like, we’re your biggest fans. We’re so happy to be here. ” – Eli / SadBois

Peter, George, Eli, and Chis all mentioned that they have a ton of more music and releases in store for the year, and are looking forward to everything from learning more production to connecting with each of their listeners – even if they’re not meeting in person. George specifically hinted at an upcoming SadBois EP for this summer, and Peter announced an end-of-week SadBois show at The Delancy in New York featuring a band-style setup.

Whether you can catch either act in the East Coast or beyond, both are stoked to make more memories together and promise to make every performance “absolutely unforgettable”!