Johnny Manchild Talks Side Effects, Mental Health, and Bringing His New Tour to DC9
Interview by Mickey McCarter
Johnny Manchild has never been interested in staying in one musical lane. Across five albums with Johnny Manchild and The Poor Bastards, the Oklahoma-born singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer has blended punk energy, piano-driven pop, theatrical rock, and deeply personal songwriting into a sound that defies easy categorization.
The band’s latest album, Side Effects, drops today (July 24), and it finds Manchild expanding that palette even further while reflecting on mental health, life on the road, and the connections he’s built with fans across the country. Johnny Manchild and The Poor Bastards bring songs from the new record to DC9 on Monday, August 3.
Ahead of the show, Parklife DC Editor Mickey McCarter spoke with Johnny Manchild about the new album, collaboration, touring, and what Washington audiences can expect.
Mickey McCarter: Thanks for taking the time to talk with Parklife DC. I’d love to hear about the new album. Side Effects is your latest full-length release, and you’re heading out on tour behind it. How did the record come together?
Johnny Manchild: I largely wrote it during the year before we recorded it. I recorded it myself in my studio and mixed it as well. A lot of the songs revolve around my experiences with mental health. It’s a mixed bag, but that’s the main thematic element for me.
MM: It seemed like the project started from a very personal place — coming to terms with life, touring, and everything happening around you. Could you talk a little more about that?
JM: The concept for this album really started on Jan. 6, 2023 [when Johnny was hospitalized for mental health care — editor]. The impetus was just this urge to get everything out there and try to figure it all out.
I’ll say something I haven’t really talked about before. A couple of weeks after I was released, I went on my first six-week tour. I was terrified because I was still pretty raw and wasn’t sure how I’d handle it. But meeting the fans we’d made over the years changed everything. I got to see what the music meant beyond myself. I found people I could really relate to.
Between the last record and this one, we toured a lot. That gave me more context for what this project is and what this music means. The live experience became a much bigger influence on this record than it had been before.
Watch the official music video for “Stacks!” by Johnny Manchild on YouTube:
MM: You recorded, mixed, and produced the album yourself. Is that DIY imperative part of your philosophy as an artist?
JM: I wouldn’t say DIY is part of my ethos. That’s something that was born out of necessity.
Having done so much myself over the years, I definitely know what I want. Being a recording engineer and producer, it’s hard not to have opinions.
But I actually like working with other people. I think “grassroots” is a better word than DIY because the community is what’s important to me. Nobody really does anything entirely by themselves.
I value collaboration. Whether it’s multiple people making art together or the collaboration between the artist and the listener, that’s what music is really about.
MM: That makes sense. I was listening to both “Young Blood” and “Scrub,” and they’re very different songs. One has this aggressive, driving energy, while the other is much more vulnerable. Is that range something you consciously pursue?
JM: Funny enough, “Scrub” wasn’t really a collaboration from a songwriting standpoint. I wrote the song, but Chloe-Beth has such a great voice, and I’d worked on some of her music. She was just perfect for it.
As for the different sounds, “Young Blood” came from being angry. I was just mad. That’s what it sounds like when I’m in that headspace.
“Scrub” came from somewhere much more cynical and defeated.
I listen to so much different music that I think it naturally comes out in my writing. My emotions can swing pretty dramatically. I am bipolar, so I can move pretty hard from one emotional place to another, and I think that’s reflected in the songs.
Watch the official music video for “Young Blood” by Johnny Manchild on YouTube:
MM: You grew up in Oklahoma City, but you’ve recently moved to Los Angeles. What has that transition been like?
JM: I live in Los Angeles now with my wife. That’s very new.
People ask about Oklahoma City a lot. The musicians there are incredible, but the local scene has never seemed to last more than seven years. Every generation kind of wipes everything out and starts over again.
There were definitely influences there when I was growing up, but honestly, this band’s career really took off because of COVID and the internet.
We were forced to communicate directly with people online, and that’s where our fan base really solidified through livestreams and being transparent about what we were doing.
What’s funny is that my wife is actually from your area. I met her when she sang backup on a record I was making in Oklahoma. Then she moved to Los Angeles, I followed her there, then we came back to Oklahoma, and then we moved again.
The last five or six years have just been constant moving. Everybody I know is from somewhere different.
I’ve toured so much that I almost feel nomadic now. I live wherever I happen to be. I own very little, and I love traveling. I was also an Army brat growing up, so moving around feels pretty natural to me.
MM: You’re coming back to Washington to play DC9 on Aug. 3. What can fans expect from the show?
JM: I learned my lesson on the last record. Of course we’re going to play a lot of the new album, but we’re definitely playing older songs too.
I’m even bringing back a few things we haven’t played in a while.
This will be a fun trio show, and it’s our first time at DC9. We’ve played Pie Shop before. I’ll miss those pies, but I’m really excited to play this room.
MM: DC9 has a great history. A lot of bands played some of their earliest Washington shows there before moving on to larger venues, so hopefully you’ll be following that path.
I wanted to wrap up with one observation. I saw your tongue-in-cheek Instagram description where David Bowie is quoted as calling you the “most underrated artist of 2026,” which made me chuckle. But listening to your music, I found myself thinking about David Bowie. He was never interested in staying inside one genre, and your willingness to move between styles reminded me of that spirit. I think Bowie would have appreciated what you’re doing.
JM: Well, myself and everybody else is going to be stealing from that guy forever.
And I’d like to think that’s true. I really appreciate you saying that.
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Johnny Manchild and The Poor Bastards perform at DC9 on Monday, Aug. 3. Their latest album, Side Effects, is now available.
Johnny Manchild and The Poor Bastards
W/ Friend of a Friend and Karma and The Killjoys
DC9
Monday, August 3
Doors @ 7pm
$19.57
All ages
