GabberGirl: You were part of the NYC rave scene when it was still young. When did you discover hardcore?
Jay Maniakal: I discovered hardcore in the NYHC scene in Lower East Side NYC as a young teen in the early 90’s, but I discovered hardcore techno from buying ‘Factory 1’ mixtape from Frankie Bones at Ceasar’s Bay in Brooklyn in 1993.
GG: You’ve been an artist your whole life, including being a graffiti artist as a teenager. You are also the collage artist for the Discipiles of Annihilation album cover art. How did that assignment come to you?
JM: The week leading up to ISR Disciples of Annihilation’s second double album release (NYC Speedcore), me and Nicky Fingers had planned to have me go to his family's house where in the basement he had his studio set up. I was being mentored by Nicky and taught how to mix records, etc. When I arrived, he told me I had to help him finish cutting and pasting photographs on the back of a vinyl sleeve to get it done fast! Lenny needed the album art finished and time was short so Nicky and I did it together, got it out of the way, and jumped into our session.
GG: Growing up, were you just as interested in music as you were in art?
Jay Maniakal: I discovered hardcore in the NYHC scene in Lower East Side NYC as a young teen in the early 90’s, but I discovered hardcore techno from buying ‘Factory 1’ mixtape from Frankie Bones at Ceasar’s Bay in Brooklyn in 1993.
GG: You’ve been an artist your whole life, including being a graffiti artist as a teenager. You are also the collage artist for the Discipiles of Annihilation album cover art. How did that assignment come to you?
JM: The week leading up to ISR Disciples of Annihilation’s second double album release (NYC Speedcore), me and Nicky Fingers had planned to have me go to his family's house where in the basement he had his studio set up. I was being mentored by Nicky and taught how to mix records, etc. When I arrived, he told me I had to help him finish cutting and pasting photographs on the back of a vinyl sleeve to get it done fast! Lenny needed the album art finished and time was short so Nicky and I did it together, got it out of the way, and jumped into our session.
GG: Growing up, were you just as interested in music as you were in art?
JM: I was instantly controlled by both art and music as a kid. I never went to school, always cut out so I could go hide somewhere and listen to music while drawing.
GG: What were your earliest musical influences and favorite recording artists?
JM: Everything from Public Enemy to Nirvana to The Doors, U2, Beastie Boys, NIN, Ministry, Agnostic Front, Sick of it All, and then ultimately Bones, Lenny Dee, John Selway, Oliver Chesler, Jimmy Crash, Onions, Odi, Decipher, and the list goes on forever.
GG: When you joined the ranks of DJs, where would you typically play out in the 90’s?
JM: First places I played out were illegal underground hardcore outlaw raves. Most of them myself, Nicky Fingers, and multiple other friends at the time would organize together all over the NYC area. I played out a couple of times for a friend/promoter Mark “Joust” Mccloskey (RIP) at venues like Planet 28 (Demarora) and 1 Front Street, Brooklyn Bridge. I was able to play at a couple of Mecha parties hosted by Simon Underground at the Ludlow in the lower east side of Manhattan. I played a bunch of very small hardcore shows at local clubs like the Wetlands and even CBGB’s one night. I got really lucky one night and was asked to fill a slot in the Chapel Room of the Limelight Club [Manhattan location]. I played in The Engine Room of Palladium a few times throughout the summer of ‘96 or ’97, and then The Tunnel one night for one of the memorial parties we organized after Nicky passed. Besides those, mostly all illegal underground outlaw raves.
GG: What kind of music was your focus then? How has that changed compared to what you play now?
JM: My focus then was always hardcore techno, lol. I wanted to be like Nicky! The only thing that’s changed from then till now is I’m more versatile and I like to mix a lot of genres in my sets today, while always staying in the Hard realm. I tend to build up to the hardcore now days.
GG: What were your earliest musical influences and favorite recording artists?
JM: Everything from Public Enemy to Nirvana to The Doors, U2, Beastie Boys, NIN, Ministry, Agnostic Front, Sick of it All, and then ultimately Bones, Lenny Dee, John Selway, Oliver Chesler, Jimmy Crash, Onions, Odi, Decipher, and the list goes on forever.
GG: When you joined the ranks of DJs, where would you typically play out in the 90’s?
JM: First places I played out were illegal underground hardcore outlaw raves. Most of them myself, Nicky Fingers, and multiple other friends at the time would organize together all over the NYC area. I played out a couple of times for a friend/promoter Mark “Joust” Mccloskey (RIP) at venues like Planet 28 (Demarora) and 1 Front Street, Brooklyn Bridge. I was able to play at a couple of Mecha parties hosted by Simon Underground at the Ludlow in the lower east side of Manhattan. I played a bunch of very small hardcore shows at local clubs like the Wetlands and even CBGB’s one night. I got really lucky one night and was asked to fill a slot in the Chapel Room of the Limelight Club [Manhattan location]. I played in The Engine Room of Palladium a few times throughout the summer of ‘96 or ’97, and then The Tunnel one night for one of the memorial parties we organized after Nicky passed. Besides those, mostly all illegal underground outlaw raves.
GG: What kind of music was your focus then? How has that changed compared to what you play now?
JM: My focus then was always hardcore techno, lol. I wanted to be like Nicky! The only thing that’s changed from then till now is I’m more versatile and I like to mix a lot of genres in my sets today, while always staying in the Hard realm. I tend to build up to the hardcore now days.
GG: What was the funniest thing that happened to you when you were playing out?
JM: The funniest thing was cops chasing us all over the city, sometimes with helicopters even, lol. One night they rolled up on us in an abandoned pool hall above an auto body shop in Queens and they just threw their hands in the air, turned around, and gave up when they saw the pit through all the smoke and lasers while DJ Narotic was blasting NYC Speedcore!
GG: When did you start party promotion? What rave company or crew were you part of?
I started party promotion right away, at like 16 years old, lol! Even before DJing, I was organizing outlaws with multiple different groups of local ravers. I was directly affiliated with ISR, Renegade Virus, the McMuffin Family, Lunatic Asylum, Brooklyn Zoo, Digital Domain, the list goes on. Half the time back then it was a multitude of different organizers working together for outlaws.
GG: What was your most memorable event you threw or helped to throw in the 90’s?
JM: My most memorable was the party named “WHAT” (1995). We did that in the abandoned pool hall I referenced before. Zero budget. Just an empty space and a generator. Every city bus that pulled up had a snake of ravers getting off it. Too many showed up but we made it through the night till 6am. The line-up was Nicky Fingers, Narotic, Siege, Atomic Babies, Decipher, and myself.
GG: You are highly involved in event promotion now. Do you book hard dance DJs for your events? Tell me about the April 3rd party you just hosted with another promotion company.
JM: I was involved in organizing the DJ talent for Nocturnal Creature Society (NCS) at a rave they threw at an indoor skate park in Brooklyn (3 April, 2026). NCS is the promotional company I work with today, mostly. They are the best I have seen since the early 90’s when it comes to vibes and overall atmosphere for original true rave culture! They are very young and they have a stronghold on today's youth within the underground rave scene. My role with them is curating the DJ talent and bookings, etc. I also provide connections and resources for the audio equipment.
GG: You have a lot in common with your wife, the Baroness Jennylee, formerly P****lee. You are both artists, DJs, event promoters, and hard dance producers. You also co-founded and run the RTDF Rave Radio station together. How did you meet? When did you realize your friendship had turned into a love match?
JM: Yes, me and my wife do all the same things always together, lol. We met from her finding my art online and then reaching out to me for tattoos. We became friends. Started dating. Started rtdfraveradio together and eventually fell in love. Today we are NY City's hardcore power couple, lol. We have been doing very well with all the Hard work put in! We have played together in the UK, Detroit, Florida, Connecticut, upstate New York, New Jersey and all over the NYC area.
Baroness Jennylee, Lenny Dee, Jay Maniakal
GG: You have some tracks out as Jay Maniakal, and some out as P****fist (you with Baroness Jennylee). You also have a record label RTDFRaveradio on Bandcamp. What are your goals for your label? What’s next for your music production?
JM: When Jennylee and I play out together as a tag team or produce together we are known as “P****FIST”. We have one single release as P****fist on our label, but are actually just about finished with our next release which will be an EP.
Goals for our label is to keep the underground techno, hardcore, and hard Rave sounds alive and strong! We really want to grow rtdfraveradio to a point where we have regularly scheduled pod cast shows!
Myself and Jenny are both in the process of a multitude of projects. I am also in the middle of a collaboration with Lenny Dee of ISR . So, expect a handful of new releases on rtdfraveradio from us in the near future.
GG: Thank you, Jay Maniakal!
https://rtdfraveradio.bandcamp.com/
https://rtdfraveradio.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment