Through The Wilderness

Los Angeles based Manimal Vinyl Records recently released “Through the Wilderness“, a tribute to Madonna benefiting her charity. Online website www.laist.com chatted with Manimal’s founder, Paul Beahan about this peculiar compilation of Madonna covers.

LAist.com: Tell us about your label, Manimal.

Paul Beahan: I started it in Los Angeles a little over a year ago. Our first release was the split Chapin Sisters / Winter Flowers vinyl-only 12” picture disc. Then we put out an the British group Bat for Lashes album and they ended up on EMI about 3 weeks after I signed them.

Manimal then expanded to all formats and I released the debut from Apollo Heights.

Then I started putting together the Madonna tribute, about a year ago. I called Devendra Banhart, The Chapin Sisters and asked if they wanted to be a part of it. Then I got involved with Madonna’s charity — Raising Malawi. Next thing I kept getting so many calls that I actually had to say no to a few of the acts that wanted to work on the Madonna project.

LAist.com: Why Madonna?

PB: Honestly I’m not even a Madonna fan at all – I used to DJ and I think I had a few of her old 12-inches, but I’ve never been a Madonna fan. And now I really dig the new indie freak folk sort of thing. I just really feel like that’s the first musical collective scene where everybody seems to be involved with each other – that sort of do-it-yourself culture – everyone sort of helps each other instead of feeling insecure and competitive with each other.
This particular collective, you know, Winter Flowers, Devendra Banhart, Hecuba, people call it freak folk, whatever it’s just this great group of people and I felt in a weird way that y’know Madonna would really get along with these people – especially Devendra Banhart.

LAist.com: How was the idea to do a Madonna tribute record born?

PB: I woke up one morning and just had this crazy idea and thought it would work. I came up with the title the same day and started calling the bands. Within two months I had the full lineup of all the bands that contributed.

LAist.com: So… why Madonna?!?

PB: I’d been thinking of a tribute record — Syd Barrett and Arthur Lee had just passed away at the time – and I felt I should really do something to commemorate all these cult icons. Then I thought, no way, I should do something dumb, like Madonna songs and get these guys to make the songs sound really serious without it being a sort of novelty or parody record. I thought we’d do this once every two years on a different subject to help expose this whole musical realm.

LAist: How did the artists react to the idea? Did you have trouble asking them to participate with a straight face?

PB: No one questioned anything it was really bizarre. The few that did – are not on the record anymore. Everyone else was pretty much like, “Madonna? Alright, OK, let’s do it!”

LAist: How were the particular songs chosen for each band?

PB: Really I just told them to pick a song and hoped that nobody crossed paths. The only song that I sort of suggested was the Chapin Sisters – “Borderline,” because they kept saying “oh, we really want to do Like a Virgin,” and I was like “no – you’ve gotta do Borderline.” Then finally I started singing it to Abigail (Chapin) in her voice and helped her with an arrangement and so they ended up doing it.

Within a week Becky Stark called me up to say “I really wanna be on this Madonna record,” and it turns out she had already been practicing “Like a Prayer.”

Same with Lion of Panjshir – Arianna literally recorded a rough demo of “crazy for you” and emailed it to me saying – hey if you need another song….

LAist: What inspired the album title?

PB: I thought about it on the spot because – “Through the Wilderness” – it’s the first line in “Like a Virgin.”

LAist.com: Ah yeah, “I made it through the wilderness….” Only a true music geek knows the lyrics to songs they don’t care for. Has this project given you a new appreciation for Madonna’s music?

PB: It has, actually. I’m considering buying the album Like a Prayer now. I feel that that’s what the reaction has been so far – oh, OK, I wasn’t a fool for thinking “Borderline” had a really good hook.

LAist.com: Has Madonna heard it?

PB: Apparently she has. Originally I heard she hated it and now I heard she likes it.

Source: Laist.com