Man Factory

Some music stuff:

Robert has been pushing Man Factory's Street Fight! Round One on me for a long time, and I resisted it because the pitch was too strong. When we were coming back from Canada last time, and I couldn't escape the car without serious injury, he put it on. I said it was great, and what was this, but this only enraged him because he'd told me about it months ago. In any case, it's a must. A kind of Street Fighter musical that only improves as you get further into it. - penny-arcade.com

http://www.quickdfw.com/sharedcontent/dws/quick/localmusic/bandprofiles/stories/DN-pop--manfactory_06ick.ART.State.Edition1.4676657.html#


Band took to 'Street' for inspiration

09:45 AM CDT on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Photos by JASON JANIK// Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News




Jason Janik/ Special Contributor Arlington's Man Factory has been rocking the indie pop since 2004, creating a wry musical style that is as playful as it is sincere. It's a recipe that can be applied to many subjects; be they issues of heartache, basketball maneuvers or a recipe for a successful house party.
With Street Fight! –an intricate pop-rock opera based on the Street Fighter II video game – Man Factory delivers an ambitious effort. The music is being released in three "rounds," the first of which became available for free download earlier this year.

We sat down with ¾ of the band at Man Factory's A-Town headquarters – an all-purpose rehearsal space, home recording studio and band members' residence – to discuss the art of expanding on the Street Fighter II mythos through song, and why there ain't no party like a Super Nintendo party ('cause a Super Nintendo party don't stop).

Geoff Johnston


Q: Is it true that before you guys were a band, you were a bicycle gang?

Chris Tellez: We were a gang of friends, and we did ride bikes a lot. We used to call ourselves the Hounds of Hell, and we'd terrorize the streets of Grand Prairie around 3 in the morning. Then Tyler got a flat and we had to stop doing it.


Austin Sevener: He said, "Guys, I don't know what to do about this. I guess we'll just start writing songs."


Q: You've been around since 2004, releasing demos on the Internet and gigging pretty regularly. Then you seemed to drop out for a bit. Was this an intentional hiatus?


Tyler White: I wouldn't call it a hiatus, because we were still writing songs and recording, just not playing shows. I guess now we're back on the horse.


Tellez: Before the first round of Street Fight! was released, we didn't play a show for a really long time because we were trying to get the recordings done the way we wanted.


Q: So, do you guys actually play Street Fighter, or is there just something intrinsic to a level-based video game about underground fighting syndicates that invites grandiose musical interpretation?


Tellez: Tyler would always bring a Super Nintendo everywhere we'd go. We'd go to parties, and if the parties sucked, Tyler would set up the Super Nintendo and we'd just start playing Street Fighter. At first people would be like, "What?" Then by the eighth level they're all, "Retro! Throwback! Get a load of me playing this."


Q: Where did the idea of turning it into a rock opera come from?


White: We were just kinda joking; wondering if it would be cool to write a song for each character in the video game. We did a couple, and at first they were pretty straightforward, just character descriptions. Then we thought it would be interesting to develop songs that kind of intertwined, and had the qualities that a rock opera would have, with themes that would be revisited and used throughout.


Sevener: Once we had the concept worked out, it became more and more involved, more of a story.


Q: When did you realize you were going to have to release it in sections?


White: That wasn't really predetermined. That was just because we had so many demos. Certain characters would have two, three or four songs. So we just thought it could fill three parts – seven [songs] each – and we'd just release the parts as they were completed.


Q: Do you know when the second round will be out?


Sevener: No, not yet. Lately we've been telling people two to three months, then another few months for the third round.


Q: Do any non-Street Fighter songs get worked on, or do they get put aside for the time being?


White: They mostly get put aside. At some point we may re-record some of the old demos. But for the next half a year, it's going to be pretty Street Fighter-intensive.


Sevener: Then we're going to do a Saved by the Bell musical.

- Quick dfw

Sunday, December 09, 2007
Street Fighter - The Rock Opera
The idea of a Rock Opera is hilarious in itself, so it's no surprise the genre is often used as gag material, some times to hilarious effect and sometimes not so much. The newly released Street Figther Rock Opera, however, has almost no precedent for it's awesomeness.

It's the work of collegiate rock band The Man Factory, and the seven songs that make up Act 1 are available for free download on the band's Myspace, complete with lyrics and liner notes. These are a welcome aid in following the plot, which concerns Chun Li's bid to revenge her father's death at the hands of M. Bison, which more or less adheres to the character's actual backstory. The songs are mostly sung from the first person view point of the characters, including a lovestruck Zangief, Interpol Agent E. Honda, and arrogant star of the Vegas boxing circuit, Balrog. Vega and Ryu are referred to, but we'll presumably have to wait until Act 2 for further lyrical insights into their characters.

The Man Factory has a powerpop rock sound that comes in somewhere between Ozma (remember them?) and a more low-fi version of The New Pornographers. The songs can be enjoyed solely as massive in-jokes about the Street fighter mythos, but the tone of the songs are not overtly jokey, and the band surprisingly manages to mine some effective musical drama from the characters and their street-fighting related tribulations. The most effective track is Chun Li, Outside, a tragic song of loss and revenge. You wouldn't think the lyric "Bison got away boat towards Thailand" could inspire a catch in your throat, but an abrupt change from major to minor in the music takes the song from fanart to something with value independent of it's source material.

Not every song flies as high as that one, and the fact that one high-voiced male singer sings all the male parts makes Balrog's strutting hip-hop number slightly cringe-inducing. But over all the lyrical quality is high, and the music is great in small doses. There are two more batches of songs on the way, but in the mean time you can check out a demo track on the band's official site, about fan fave Dhalsim. Well, I liked playing as him. I wasn't going to win anyway.


- geekanerd.com by AHR

5 x 2 = 10
Five to remember...and five to hope for
By GEOFF JOHNSTON
Published: January 4, 2007

Man Factory
Sharing a similar penchant for those "sweet soundin' boy/girl harmonies," Man Factory comes straight outta Arlington-slash-Grand Prairie and is perhaps the area's finest distributor of melodious lo-fi acoustic disco. (Full disclosure: We have a significant amount of money invested in the "acoustic disco" craze becoming the next big thing in 2007. Look for our six-part exposé, "Acoustic Disco: Everybody Shake Something," beginning next week.) In a few short years, the Man Factory miscreants have successfully mastered a quirky combination of playful melody, organic instruments and Casio keyboard drumbeats and synth leads. Kinda like the Elephant 6 collective jamming out Prince and the Revolution covers. Seriously. Acoustic disco. Big in '07.
- Geoff Johnston

Sunday, December 09, 2007
Street Fighter - The Rock Opera
The idea of a Rock Opera is hilarious in itself, so it's no surprise the genre is often used as gag material, some times to hilarious effect and sometimes not so much. The newly released Street Figther Rock Opera, however, has almost no precedent for it's awesomeness.

It's the work of collegiate rock band The Man Factory, and the seven songs that make up Act 1 are available for free download on the band's Myspace, complete with lyrics and liner notes. These are a welcome aid in following the plot, which concerns Chun Li's bid to revenge her father's death at the hands of M. Bison, which more or less adheres to the character's actual backstory. The songs are mostly sung from the first person view point of the characters, including a lovestruck Zangief, Interpol Agent E. Honda, and arrogant star of the Vegas boxing circuit, Balrog. Vega and Ryu are referred to, but we'll presumably have to wait until Act 2 for further lyrical insights into their characters.

The Man Factory has a powerpop rock sound that comes in somewhere between Ozma (remember them?) and a more low-fi version of The New Pornographers. The songs can be enjoyed solely as massive in-jokes about the Street fighter mythos, but the tone of the songs are not overtly jokey, and the band surprisingly manages to mine some effective musical drama from the characters and their street-fighting related tribulations. The most effective track is Chun Li, Outside, a tragic song of loss and revenge. You wouldn't think the lyric "Bison got away boat towards Thailand" could inspire a catch in your throat, but an abrupt change from major to minor in the music takes the song from fanart to something with value independent of it's source material.

Not every song flies as high as that one, and the fact that one high-voiced male singer sings all the male parts makes Balrog's strutting hip-hop number slightly cringe-inducing. But over all the lyrical quality is high, and the music is great in small doses. There are two more batches of songs on the way, but in the mean time you can check out a demo track on the band's official site, about fan fave Dhalsim. Well, I liked playing as him. I wasn't going to win anyway.


- geekanerd.com by AHR

http://www.headexploder.com/2008/02/head-exploder-ii-turbo.html

Friday, February 1, 2008
Head Exploder II: Turbo!


A NOTE: After a month-long hiatus, designed to get my life up-and-running for the new year, Head Exploder will be returning to its normal, semi-daily format starting today. So, rejoice. Despair. And keep on a-rocking.


The Band: Man Factory
The Song: "Chun-Li, I'm Lovin' It"

The Album: Street Fight


Ten Word Description: A rapid-kicking ode to everyone's favorite super-hot, revenge-driven, Chinese super-spy.


Notesplosions: Video games and indie music have a surprisingly lackluster and unremarkable history, considering how often fans of the two mediums seem to cross paths. Sure, you've got your video-game themed bands and Freezepop cooing about their Game Boy, but these are generally more about name-dropping than evoking any real love for gamer culture. Also, they're generally pretty craptastic songs, Tetris references notwithstanding.


All that changes with Man Factory.


Inspired by acoustic demos offered by this band of UTA students, video game developer giant Capcom essentially commissioned the young group to craft a full-on rock opera based on everyone's favorite 2-D fighter, Street Fighter. Normally, this wouldn't be exciting beyond the concept, but Man Factory have recently delivered Round One of their admittedly Raul Julia-less masterwork, and it's a fucking revelation. From funky opener "Night at the Arcade" to the smooth Futuresex sounds of "BALROG 24/7," these guys have come out swinging and can rightfully take their place at the throne of video-game-inspired musicians.


Even if the seven-track download didn't name-check E. Honda and Zangief with reckless abandon, this would still be some of the most listenable rock n' roll on the college circuit. But stand out tracks "Chun Li, Outside" and "Chun Li, I'm Lovin' It," which together comprise the aptly named "Chun Li Suite," manage to turn the content into a surprising advantage. The first track follows our heroine as she witnesses the death of her father at the hands of the ruthless and inexplicably-named M. Bison, and manages the near impossible by creating an actual emotional crescendo out of the loose gaming mythology. Then, like a one-two punch, the second half of the suite switches our perspective to Chun Li's reluctant pilot, who can't bear to fly her straight into danger. Both tracks are excellently crafted pop rock, with tastes of Metric and Death Cab, and if you don't think video games are fucking awesome after our pilot lists off his favorite things about Ms. Li (including her "bogus hips" and "rapid kick"), there's just no place for you in this new musical world. Go back to songs about love and sex and drugs and emotions. I'll be Street Fighting, thank you very much.


DOWNLOAD THE EP HERE!!

- Head Exploder

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2008/06/man_factory_talks_street_fight.php

For many bands, video games are an amusing distraction at best. Practicing at the home of a member who owns a console can be a risky endeavor, as a spontaneous game of Halo or Madden might stretch into an hours-long tournament.

That’s not the case with Arlington’s Man Factory. This band is in the process of turning a love for a classic fighting game into a three-CD epic.

The members offered the first part of Street Fighter II: Rock Opera as a free download on their MySpace site last year (it's still up for free download, now), and they've begun work on the follow-ups.

Curious about the progress on the trilogy, we sent a few questions to singer/guitarist Tyler White and guitarist/keyboardist Austin Sevener. They kindly answered our questions about the album by e-mail, and even made up some queries of their own. We’re still not sure how they managed to storm out and knock over our tape recorder three times during the exchange... --Jesse Hughey

Is there a primary songwriter, or do you all collaborate on songs?
Tyler: The order of who writes the most to fewest is Tyler, Austin, Ian--although I should say the number of songs that end up being on target seems to be equal. I just throw the most stuff out there to give myself the most chances.

How'd you get the idea to write a Street Fighter II rock opera?
Austin: The lame answer is: We were all actually sitting in Tyler's bedroom playing Street Fighter II and talking about Chun Li's bogus hips. The real answer is that it came to each of us, on the same night, in a dream--a crazy, sexy, dream. This interview is over. [knocks down tape recorder]

Did you lift any parts of the story from the game (or other sources like the anime cartoon or the great Van Damme Streetfighter movie), or was it completely original?
Tyler: Well, as great as that Van Damme film is, we had to create a lot of little stories so there wasn't just the familiar story arc of Chun Li avenging her father's death. I mean, all we know about Blanka is that he's got a human mother that calls him Jimmy? WTF? The game just leaves it there as they walk off arm-in-monster-arm together--but with a name like Jimmy, and maybe a better haircut, there's no reason he couldn't integrate into society as, say, an undercover cop.

How far along on Rounds 2 and 3 are you? Do you have the whole story for them planned already, or do you just kind of make it up as you go?
Tyler: The music and story/lyrics for Rounds 2 and 3 are written but exist only in demo form. Now it's just a matter of taking a break from our never-ending Street Fighter tournament to record final versions. It should be a couple of months now for Round 2 to come out--again for free download--and then Round 3 shortly thereafter as part of a full package for sale.

Will you do any other rock operas or concept albums after the Street Fighter trilogy is complete?
Austin: We're friendly to the idea of every album being a concept, at least loosely, so yeah, maybe. Probably, even. For instance, we might do an album where we act like Oasis called maybe probably. I just came up with that. Just now.

I read something that said Capcom commissioned you to do the album after hearing demos. Is there any truth to that? Did you work with Capcom in any way, or have to get permission?
Tyler: Oh we've worked with them, alright. I sent them the sweetest letter asking to use character names, but they just said it didn't fall under their plans for the brand. Well, that's no surprise. I doubt their upcoming movie was a musical with rap duets between a trash-talking Balrog and rabid members of the press, but our question is: Why the hell not?
Austin: My dad actually worked at Capcom, and when he showed his boss our recordings, he was fired.

Have you gotten any offers from record companies since you put out the download?
Austin: Well, I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say about it yet, so at the risk of blowing the whole deal--yes, yes we have. This one company offered us like 10 CDs for a penny or something. I think we're going to take it. This interview is over. [knocks over tape recorder]
Tyler: We did get an offer, and that's why I had to contact Capcom to ask permission for character names. Their legal counsel said we couldn't get signed until we had that permission. Oh well. Maybe we'll figure something out by Round 3 that won't result in a lawsuit. Or maybe not. Look for Man Factory on an upcoming episode of People's Court as we face the evil, Bison-esque president who no doubt represents Capcom. Fuck you, fuckhead.

Are you recording any unrelated songs, or just focusing on the Street Fighter series?
Austin: Right now--and I mean like today--no. But we have some demos of like 25 old songs up on our Web site, manfactory.net, or for sale on MySpace. We're not on iTunes because Ian [Smith, drummer] met Steve Jobs and tried to fight him.

Do you ha - Dallas Observer

http://www.headexploder.com/2008/02/head-exploder-ii-turbo.html

Friday, February 1, 2008
Head Exploder II: Turbo!


A NOTE: After a month-long hiatus, designed to get my life up-and-running for the new year, Head Exploder will be returning to its normal, semi-daily format starting today. So, rejoice. Despair. And keep on a-rocking.


The Band: Man Factory
The Song: "Chun-Li, I'm Lovin' It"

The Album: Street Fight


Ten Word Description: A rapid-kicking ode to everyone's favorite super-hot, revenge-driven, Chinese super-spy.


Notesplosions: Video games and indie music have a surprisingly lackluster and unremarkable history, considering how often fans of the two mediums seem to cross paths. Sure, you've got your video-game themed bands and Freezepop cooing about their Game Boy, but these are generally more about name-dropping than evoking any real love for gamer culture. Also, they're generally pretty craptastic songs, Tetris references notwithstanding.


All that changes with Man Factory.


Inspired by acoustic demos offered by this band of UTA students, video game developer giant Capcom essentially commissioned the young group to craft a full-on rock opera based on everyone's favorite 2-D fighter, Street Fighter. Normally, this wouldn't be exciting beyond the concept, but Man Factory have recently delivered Round One of their admittedly Raul Julia-less masterwork, and it's a fucking revelation. From funky opener "Night at the Arcade" to the smooth Futuresex sounds of "BALROG 24/7," these guys have come out swinging and can rightfully take their place at the throne of video-game-inspired musicians.


Even if the seven-track download didn't name-check E. Honda and Zangief with reckless abandon, this would still be some of the most listenable rock n' roll on the college circuit. But stand out tracks "Chun Li, Outside" and "Chun Li, I'm Lovin' It," which together comprise the aptly named "Chun Li Suite," manage to turn the content into a surprising advantage. The first track follows our heroine as she witnesses the death of her father at the hands of the ruthless and inexplicably-named M. Bison, and manages the near impossible by creating an actual emotional crescendo out of the loose gaming mythology. Then, like a one-two punch, the second half of the suite switches our perspective to Chun Li's reluctant pilot, who can't bear to fly her straight into danger. Both tracks are excellently crafted pop rock, with tastes of Metric and Death Cab, and if you don't think video games are fucking awesome after our pilot lists off his favorite things about Ms. Li (including her "bogus hips" and "rapid kick"), there's just no place for you in this new musical world. Go back to songs about love and sex and drugs and emotions. I'll be Street Fighting, thank you very much.


DOWNLOAD THE EP HERE!!

- Head Exploder

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2010/03/qa_man_factory_which_has_now_w.php

By Cory Graves, Saturday, Mar. 6 2010 @ 11:39AM
Comments (3)
Categories: Q&A
Thumbnail image for sfiv-cover.jpg

The cover for Street Fight IV, not Man Factory's new album.
?Earlier this week, Arlington's Man Factory released for digital download Street Fight!!! Round Two, the second installment in its planned power-pop opera trilogy based on the popular Street Fighter video game series.

Fans of Round One had been waiting patiently for the past two years to find out how the storylines of Chun Li and company are progressing, and it appears, so far, that the resulting Round Two was well worth the wait. The band's sound is tighter, the pop is more powerful, the sound quality is more polished, and the orchestration is more grandiose.

We caught up with Austin Sevener and Tyler White from the band to find out where all this Street Fighter obsession comes from, how they were inspired to write a pop opera, and why it took so long to release Round Two.

What do you guys do when not playing Street Fighter and singing about Street Fighter?
Austin Sevener: Write Street Fighter fan-fiction/abstract poetry, draw rudimentary naked pictures of Chun Li and email them to my dad--cool stuff like that.
Tyler White: I'm busy trying to figure out ways to explain to family members why the hell we would ever write songs about video game characters.

How often do you guys actually play Street Fighter?
AS: Not daily or anything, but definitely to the point of embarrassment and at the most embarrassing times. I think we were playing Street Fighter during my girlfriend's graduation party.
TW: Hey, she loved hanging out with her grandparents while hearing you scream to me in the background, "You're my bitch at this game!"

Which characters do you use most often and why?
AS: I'm not that good at the game because I don't know all the moves and combos or whatever, so I stick with E. Honda and fall back on the only move I know--rapid jabz. That's my bread and butter. Lately, I've taken to using Ken in hopes that his story in our songs will inspire me to greatness. It doesn't, but I scream a lot during the fights so that's a plus.
TW: I keep hoping I can pull out a win with Dhalsim, but curse those rapid jabz!

Who in the band is the best player?
TW: Austin can beat anybody when he fights (cheats) like that. Actually Chris Tellez, who came up with the concept for the "Ken's Wipeout" song, is the best Street Fighter out there. If you think I'm lying, just know that I saw him defeat Mike Tyson in Punchout.

Why did you guys decide to start writing a power-pop opera? Were any of you big Who fans growing up?
AS: I still haven't heard all of Tommy. My first exposure to a storyline through multiple songs was probably Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, or "The Unforgiven", parts I and II, if that counts. It doesn't. I really got into the idea when Tyler introduced me to Les Miserables.
TW: Tommy didn't stick with me either, but I probably got distracted by a butterfly while I was listening to it. I do like anything with recurring musical themes. It's a good excuse to beat our Chun Li melody into the ground.

Why such a long delay between Round 1 and 2?
AS: Recording is a pretty makeshift process for us, still. There was actually a really long delay for Round 1 as well, it just wasn't so obvious.

Early on in the project's history you guys indicated that all three rounds in the trilogy would be released within months of one another. Now that the project has stretched out such a long time, are there any regrets about promising to make this thing a trilogy?
AS: I think it's made the finished product better. We've had time to sit over these songs and make little edits here and there. Sometimes we end up with mammoth seven-minute multi-section undertakings of songs because of that. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
TW: I think it's been very frustrating for our friends to have to wait. Recording everything ourselves is time consuming, but affordable.

Your live set includes many non-Street-Fighter-related songs. Are there any plans to record any of this stuff, or is the focus completely on the trilogy at the moment?
AS: As far as recording goes, I'm only concerned with Round 3. My mind wanders pretty consistently to writing more autobiographical songs in the future, though.
TW: I'm excited about Round 3, but I'm looking forward to seeing if we can still write songs about...wait, what did we used to write songs about?

Do you guys ever worry about being type-casted by the whole Street Fighter thing? Like, because of it, you won't be taken as seriously in the future?
AS: I don't think we were taken all that seriously to begin with, so I'm not worried about it. As far as being pigeonholed, that's bound to happen anyway, right? But hey, Metallica didn't worry about what the fans would think when wanted to cut their hair and - Dallas Observer

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2010/03/qa_man_factory_which_has_now_w.php

By Cory Graves, Saturday, Mar. 6 2010 @ 11:39AM
Comments (3)
Categories: Q&A
Thumbnail image for sfiv-cover.jpg

The cover for Street Fight IV, not Man Factory's new album.
?Earlier this week, Arlington's Man Factory released for digital download Street Fight!!! Round Two, the second installment in its planned power-pop opera trilogy based on the popular Street Fighter video game series.

Fans of Round One had been waiting patiently for the past two years to find out how the storylines of Chun Li and company are progressing, and it appears, so far, that the resulting Round Two was well worth the wait. The band's sound is tighter, the pop is more powerful, the sound quality is more polished, and the orchestration is more grandiose.

We caught up with Austin Sevener and Tyler White from the band to find out where all this Street Fighter obsession comes from, how they were inspired to write a pop opera, and why it took so long to release Round Two.

What do you guys do when not playing Street Fighter and singing about Street Fighter?
Austin Sevener: Write Street Fighter fan-fiction/abstract poetry, draw rudimentary naked pictures of Chun Li and email them to my dad--cool stuff like that.
Tyler White: I'm busy trying to figure out ways to explain to family members why the hell we would ever write songs about video game characters.

How often do you guys actually play Street Fighter?
AS: Not daily or anything, but definitely to the point of embarrassment and at the most embarrassing times. I think we were playing Street Fighter during my girlfriend's graduation party.
TW: Hey, she loved hanging out with her grandparents while hearing you scream to me in the background, "You're my bitch at this game!"

Which characters do you use most often and why?
AS: I'm not that good at the game because I don't know all the moves and combos or whatever, so I stick with E. Honda and fall back on the only move I know--rapid jabz. That's my bread and butter. Lately, I've taken to using Ken in hopes that his story in our songs will inspire me to greatness. It doesn't, but I scream a lot during the fights so that's a plus.
TW: I keep hoping I can pull out a win with Dhalsim, but curse those rapid jabz!

Who in the band is the best player?
TW: Austin can beat anybody when he fights (cheats) like that. Actually Chris Tellez, who came up with the concept for the "Ken's Wipeout" song, is the best Street Fighter out there. If you think I'm lying, just know that I saw him defeat Mike Tyson in Punchout.

Why did you guys decide to start writing a power-pop opera? Were any of you big Who fans growing up?
AS: I still haven't heard all of Tommy. My first exposure to a storyline through multiple songs was probably Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, or "The Unforgiven", parts I and II, if that counts. It doesn't. I really got into the idea when Tyler introduced me to Les Miserables.
TW: Tommy didn't stick with me either, but I probably got distracted by a butterfly while I was listening to it. I do like anything with recurring musical themes. It's a good excuse to beat our Chun Li melody into the ground.

Why such a long delay between Round 1 and 2?
AS: Recording is a pretty makeshift process for us, still. There was actually a really long delay for Round 1 as well, it just wasn't so obvious.

Early on in the project's history you guys indicated that all three rounds in the trilogy would be released within months of one another. Now that the project has stretched out such a long time, are there any regrets about promising to make this thing a trilogy?
AS: I think it's made the finished product better. We've had time to sit over these songs and make little edits here and there. Sometimes we end up with mammoth seven-minute multi-section undertakings of songs because of that. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
TW: I think it's been very frustrating for our friends to have to wait. Recording everything ourselves is time consuming, but affordable.

Your live set includes many non-Street-Fighter-related songs. Are there any plans to record any of this stuff, or is the focus completely on the trilogy at the moment?
AS: As far as recording goes, I'm only concerned with Round 3. My mind wanders pretty consistently to writing more autobiographical songs in the future, though.
TW: I'm excited about Round 3, but I'm looking forward to seeing if we can still write songs about...wait, what did we used to write songs about?

Do you guys ever worry about being type-casted by the whole Street Fighter thing? Like, because of it, you won't be taken as seriously in the future?
AS: I don't think we were taken all that seriously to begin with, so I'm not worried about it. As far as being pigeonholed, that's bound to happen anyway, right? But hey, Metallica didn't worry about what the fans would think when wanted to cut their hair and - Dallas Observer

http://www.generalgames.ca/?p=2487

Way back in 2007 we had the honour of interviewing a musical group from Arlington Texas known as Man Factory. They caused a blip on the radar with the release of their pay-what-you-want album Street Fight! Round One, an epic pop/rock opera about the Street Fighter II characters. Now they’ve returned to repeat the magic with Street Fight!! Round Two featuring 7 more songs starring Blanka, Dhalsim, Ken and the rest. We were fortunate enough to rope Austin Sevener and Tyler White of Man Factory in to one more interview to get behind the minds that made this inspired album.

Q) For the readers who don’t know who you guys are, give us a brief intro to Man Factory and the Street Fight! albums.

Austin: This excerpt from one of our non-SF tracks i feel is a good sort of “getting to know you exercise”,

“Bitch, take your clothes off!”

We’re going to write, record and release our Street Fight!! pop opera in three rounds – or die trying.

Ty: Well, that is if all the songs will fit into 3 rounds. We may have to make the third round end in a double KO to allow a 4th.

Q) What was the inspiration behind a Street Fighter album? Was there something special about the fighter that put it ahead of other games?

Austin: The idea came about while we were sitting around Tyler’s room at his parents’ house in the early ‘ousands playing Street Fighter. More than likely we were talking about how bogus dhalsim is and how it’d be great to write a song for each character. The characters set Street Fighter apart from any other game, I think. They have the right mix of toughness and goofiness to match the kind of songs we write. I mean, it’d be hard to write a Killer Instinct or Clayfighter (63 1/3) album.

Ty: Yes, these characters are at least human (even Blanka I guess). The diversity of the characters made it a fun challenge for us to incoporate different sounds. Not like these songs hail from folk music around the world or anything, but we tried.

Q) The songs very distinctly don’t follow Capcom’s canon at all, has being unconstrained by history allowed you to do things you don’t think you could have done otherwise?

Austin: Sure. To be honest, we didn’t bother to learn the storylines beyond watching the endings for the characters we could beat Bison with, and then if we didn’t like them we just wrote whatever we wanted. Like, Balrog clearly would not be anyone’s henchmen. He’s a badass.

Ty: It’s more interesting for us if we don’t follow the set storylines. Although the way we pronounce “Ryu” might piss off the purists out there.

Q) Street Fight! Round One had a loose sort of narrative about a kid getting sucked in to an arcade cabinet, does Street Fight!! Round Two carry that story forward or is it something else entirely?

Ty: I liked the idea of Chun Li being a normal girl who just sneaks into an old arcade and goes on a crazy adventure. Will she return from arcade world to the real world of homework and proms? We’ll see in Round Three.

Austin: Well we don’t mention Chun Li outside of the world of Street Fighter again, but Round Two builds on her storyline during Vega Genesis. Round Two really opens up Ken and Ryu’s story though, which is the other major narrative in the album.

Q) With the inclusion of Street Fight!! Round Two it seems every original character but M. Bison has a song of their own, why no love for the Psycho Crusher?

Austin: He’s been making appearances and gets talked about a lot, so it’s a soft build to when Bison takes Round Three by storm. C’mon, he’s the boss.

Ty: Really we’ve been delaying his songs as long as possible so we could finally get Colm Wilkinson to sing his part. By the way Austin, I’ve got a cool recording of Colm saying “Go to hell!” in my voicemail that i think we can sample for Round Three.

Q) There are some pretty awesome photos of you guys in full Street Fighter gear online. Can you give us an idea of what your live shows are like?

Austin: Thanks for calling them awesome. The actual SF gear is less than awesome. I dyed a karate suit red for my Ken costume, which seemed like a great idea at the time. Now I have a pink karate suit and giant pink stain on the back of my guitar. We’re working on the idea of having more minimal costumes that we can quick change between songs so that we can give the impression of the character that’s singing. Wigs, an eyepatch, big red Bison hat, stuff like that. We will insist some girl dresses in full Chun Li garb at every show though, cuz we’re pervy like that.

Ty: But we also make sure to get an Indian guy to dress as Dhalsim at every show to give the ladies somethin to look at. At our upcoming CD release show April 2nd we will have Street Fighter II projected behind us with a couple of nerds battling it out. Hopefully that won’t be more interesting then the music we’re playing. I used to wear make-shift bison uniform at shows, but it got in the way of my breakdancing.
- GeneralGames.ca

http://www.generalgames.ca/?p=2487

Way back in 2007 we had the honour of interviewing a musical group from Arlington Texas known as Man Factory. They caused a blip on the radar with the release of their pay-what-you-want album Street Fight! Round One, an epic pop/rock opera about the Street Fighter II characters. Now they’ve returned to repeat the magic with Street Fight!! Round Two featuring 7 more songs starring Blanka, Dhalsim, Ken and the rest. We were fortunate enough to rope Austin Sevener and Tyler White of Man Factory in to one more interview to get behind the minds that made this inspired album.

Q) For the readers who don’t know who you guys are, give us a brief intro to Man Factory and the Street Fight! albums.

Austin: This excerpt from one of our non-SF tracks i feel is a good sort of “getting to know you exercise”,

“Bitch, take your clothes off!”

We’re going to write, record and release our Street Fight!! pop opera in three rounds – or die trying.

Ty: Well, that is if all the songs will fit into 3 rounds. We may have to make the third round end in a double KO to allow a 4th.

Q) What was the inspiration behind a Street Fighter album? Was there something special about the fighter that put it ahead of other games?

Austin: The idea came about while we were sitting around Tyler’s room at his parents’ house in the early ‘ousands playing Street Fighter. More than likely we were talking about how bogus dhalsim is and how it’d be great to write a song for each character. The characters set Street Fighter apart from any other game, I think. They have the right mix of toughness and goofiness to match the kind of songs we write. I mean, it’d be hard to write a Killer Instinct or Clayfighter (63 1/3) album.

Ty: Yes, these characters are at least human (even Blanka I guess). The diversity of the characters made it a fun challenge for us to incoporate different sounds. Not like these songs hail from folk music around the world or anything, but we tried.

Q) The songs very distinctly don’t follow Capcom’s canon at all, has being unconstrained by history allowed you to do things you don’t think you could have done otherwise?

Austin: Sure. To be honest, we didn’t bother to learn the storylines beyond watching the endings for the characters we could beat Bison with, and then if we didn’t like them we just wrote whatever we wanted. Like, Balrog clearly would not be anyone’s henchmen. He’s a badass.

Ty: It’s more interesting for us if we don’t follow the set storylines. Although the way we pronounce “Ryu” might piss off the purists out there.

Q) Street Fight! Round One had a loose sort of narrative about a kid getting sucked in to an arcade cabinet, does Street Fight!! Round Two carry that story forward or is it something else entirely?

Ty: I liked the idea of Chun Li being a normal girl who just sneaks into an old arcade and goes on a crazy adventure. Will she return from arcade world to the real world of homework and proms? We’ll see in Round Three.

Austin: Well we don’t mention Chun Li outside of the world of Street Fighter again, but Round Two builds on her storyline during Vega Genesis. Round Two really opens up Ken and Ryu’s story though, which is the other major narrative in the album.

Q) With the inclusion of Street Fight!! Round Two it seems every original character but M. Bison has a song of their own, why no love for the Psycho Crusher?

Austin: He’s been making appearances and gets talked about a lot, so it’s a soft build to when Bison takes Round Three by storm. C’mon, he’s the boss.

Ty: Really we’ve been delaying his songs as long as possible so we could finally get Colm Wilkinson to sing his part. By the way Austin, I’ve got a cool recording of Colm saying “Go to hell!” in my voicemail that i think we can sample for Round Three.

Q) There are some pretty awesome photos of you guys in full Street Fighter gear online. Can you give us an idea of what your live shows are like?

Austin: Thanks for calling them awesome. The actual SF gear is less than awesome. I dyed a karate suit red for my Ken costume, which seemed like a great idea at the time. Now I have a pink karate suit and giant pink stain on the back of my guitar. We’re working on the idea of having more minimal costumes that we can quick change between songs so that we can give the impression of the character that’s singing. Wigs, an eyepatch, big red Bison hat, stuff like that. We will insist some girl dresses in full Chun Li garb at every show though, cuz we’re pervy like that.

Ty: But we also make sure to get an Indian guy to dress as Dhalsim at every show to give the ladies somethin to look at. At our upcoming CD release show April 2nd we will have Street Fighter II projected behind us with a couple of nerds battling it out. Hopefully that won’t be more interesting then the music we’re playing. I used to wear make-shift bison uniform at shows, but it got in the way of my breakdancing.
- GeneralGames.ca

http://thousanium.blogspot.com/2010/03/street-fight-round-two.html

I had no intention of doing another Street Fighter drawing after the Cammy piece, but Man Factory just released Part Two of Three of their Street Fighter rock opera. You can listen and/or buy it HERE. I whipped this up in a couple of hours this morning. The arms are kind of janky, but I'm not going to spend any more time on it. - Citizen Tang

http://thousanium.blogspot.com/2010/03/street-fight-round-two.html

I had no intention of doing another Street Fighter drawing after the Cammy piece, but Man Factory just released Part Two of Three of their Street Fighter rock opera. You can listen and/or buy it HERE. I whipped this up in a couple of hours this morning. The arms are kind of janky, but I'm not going to spend any more time on it. - Citizen Tang