We are ‘MANOS

We are Frank and Ramón, two brothers from Rotterdam and together we form ‘MANOS, a musical project with the intent to be a bridge between the club and live scene with a genre- and culture bending liveset.

Growing up, we were very moved by the magic we felt when different cultures join forces when we first heard the album Graceland by Paul Simon. This planted the first seeds of what would become ‘MANOS.

Later on we were inspired by the eclectic dj sets of Palms Trax, Antal, Kama & Massalo and Hunee, who would journey with the audience around the world in a very short time span, as they felt like a modern take of this amalgamation of cultures.

Through the years these influences slowly shaped the philosophy behind ‘MANOS, with which we set out to implement this concept on a grander scale with a live show where everything is played live, but where we can adapt our sets to timeslots, venues or dj’s/artists that play before of after us. Just like any dj would. Eventually the goal is to become the bridge between many different worlds of experiences and backgrounds for audiences and participating musicians alike. All whilst following a romantic philosophy to take a stand against the polarizing and individualistic nature of society these days by creating a communal safe space that invites people to take a peek into something that they are not familiar with. The trick lies in creating something that is familiar enough, creating an opening to introduce something brand new.

Besides the communal role we also hope to give the audience some food for thought through our lyrics; introspective realizations are subtly woven in between the pulsating rhythms, creating a foundation to dance, express, philosophize, empathize and connect to self and to others.

It took about 4 years of building, molding and readjusting to reach a stage where we can fluently move through a pretty wide range of genres. From dub, afro, disco and latin to postpunk, trance and jungle to name a few. And we’ve only just scratched the surface. We’ve always liked the idea of ‘MANOS being a sound rather than a genre. Functioning as a medium to explore the limits of music creation and live performance..