Interview with Ryan Mansell and Pete Thomas by Paul Wade
Hey Friends, First off you’re in a lift with Mark Hoppus and you have to pitch your band to him before he gets off…go:
Pete: I would say that we’re this British skatepunk band called Making Friends - often fast, somewhat emo, almost always heartfelt, sing-along but not generic, and he should take us on tour.
Congrats on the new album ‘Home is Where the Heart Was.’ Talk us through the credits on the album. Where did you record it? And who produced / mixed etc?
Ryan: The album was recorded in bits. Drums were done at The Ranch in Southampton, guitars at Dan’s house, bass at Bill’s house, and vocals were done in Pete’s drum studio across town (some were done in pirate studios). Daly George helped with the entire process, also mixing and mastering. Daly is the most talented producer of this generation, such a pleasure to work with and such a genuine person. He knows exactly what you want, and he’s truly capable of producing any sound you’re after, there was literally ZERO discussion on who we wanted to work with for this album… we just collectively knew.
Your first album, Fine Dying, came out in 2023. What did you learn from making and touring that record and did it change how you approached Home Is Where The Heart Was?
Ryan: It was partly a change of influences, and we paid attention to what the audience wanted and what we enjoyed playing, the crowd love our more sing-along type of songs so I started writing songs with that in mind. Fine Dying was a skatepunk record, I feel like this one has crossover genres in parts. I also wanted us to enjoy playing it live, because that’s important. I write songs with Dan in mind sometimes, as he’s hard to please and it pushes me to write better. Cheers Dan!
Pete: We suggested Frenzal Rhomb’s ‘The Cup of Pestilence’ album as an idea of the sound we were going for because it sounds very clean and upfront, almost live-sounding.
What intentions did you have going in to record this record from both a recording and songwriting stand point?
Ryan: I wanted to write a more meaningful record. To me Fine Dying feels like a compilation record of our first 2 years of being a band, there’s no direction or structure, it’s just one skatepunk track after another (not a bad thing). We demo’d some tracks over the space of a year and a half, it changed its sound quite a lot throughout that time. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going initially but I drew inspiration from different bands like TSSF, Hold Tight!, No Pressure, Jeff Rosenstock and Joyce Manor. I tried to make a crossover with this kinda sound and skatepunk.
I wanted to write something close to a concept record, something that follows a story. The first thing I thought about for this record was the title, ‘Home is Where the Heart Was’. So I channelled that energy, it actually made the songs come quite easy, it followed a theme… grieving. There are a couple of slightly random songs like ‘Where Do My Feet Go’.
From a recording standpoint, as established, we obviously wanted Daly, but for the actual process we decided to do it quite DIY using different locations and working with what we’ve got. The best way to do it, in my opinion.
There is often a striking contrast between the speed and catchiness of your music and some pretty heavy subject matters in the lyrics. Is that juxtaposition important to you — using something that feels euphoric and immediate to talk about things that aren’t necessarily euphoric at all?
Ryan: Yes, I need a way to express it. The last song ‘Spinning Around the Sun’ feels like the most personal song to me. Everything else I write is a bit more broad, to relate to a wider audience. I wrote a song on our last record called ‘happy fucking whatever’ and I was short on time, we had to record it like the day after so I rushed the lyrics. Now it is 75% meaningless and it ruined the entire song for me. So I swore to myself this will never happen again. I now spend weeks on the lyrics, constantly checking and changing things until it is perfect (in my eyes).
The song ‘Lifeboat’ deals with the very relatable feeling of confronting and shedding old expectations, beliefs and versions of yourself. Was there a particular moment in your lives that sparked that song, or did that idea emerge gradually?
Ryan: I will never be able to explain this how I understand it myself. I wrote this song about trying to break free from traditions and expectations, only to find that the reason we do these rituals in the first place is because life is completely empty and pointless otherwise. There is nothing here. We cover everything up with making things sentimental and pretending there’s more to it. A home is nothing but a house.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Ryan: I like ‘Suck Brick, Kid’, proper fun to play. But also ‘Billboard Town’ is a killer. They’re probably my joint favourite songs.
This release is an international collaboration with support and distribution from Cat’s Claw Records (UK), Punk Rock Radar (USA), Bearded Punk Records (EU), Pee Records (Australia), High End Denim Records (Canada), and Waterslide Records (Japan). How did this all come about and was it as stressful to organise as it seems?
Pete: Actually not at all. Jonny from Cat’s Claw Records has been a huge supporter of the band from the very beginning and when we spoke to him about the possibility of releasing an album on vinyl for Fine Dying he put together this amazing coalition of labels. We have a new European label this time with Bearded Punk Records, but other than that it’s the same labels that have been on board for both albums. They’re all DIY labels putting their love and hard work into the scene, and really great people, so hopefully we support them as much as they support us.
Who are some of the amazing UK DIY punk bands that you can recommend that NSG subscribers might not know about?
Shackleford, Old Chase, Look What Happened, Blagged, On a Hiding to Nothing, Eat the Evidence, Burnt Tapes, Phinius Gage, Buds, and of course Brutalligators. Also, hopefully if we keep mentioning All Better they’ll come back.
Totally random question, but ive started asking everyone this…what band’s live performances do you watch the most on youtube and why?
Ryan: The Arrogant Sons of Bitches - https://youtu.be/Q5jHeQvl7Rs I watch this like once a week some months. Just f*cking fun. Also NOFX @ bizarre 1996. I think they were on top of their game then.
Tell us a bit about FriendFest the all dayer you run in Brighton? How did that get started and what plans do you have for next year?
Pete: Dan first suggested putting on a festival after we went to Juddstock. Then Bill and I quickly jumped on the idea and got involved too. In the first year Ryan was too busy studying to play a part but now it’s all four of us. It’s so much fun putting on a festival, but it’s easy to get carried away and you don’t realise how much planning it takes, even for something relatively small. Last year we had our first international band (Drunktank) and our first food vendor onsite. I found it quite emotional because it turned out that we were going to be Cherym’s last ever show. We’re very careful in trying to curate a mix of what we think is really amazing music. It’s a great time with lovely people and next year will be more of the same. We will always do everything we can to make it as inclusive and welcoming as possible. It’ll be the 19th and 20th March and tickets will go on sale soon. Keep an eye on our socials.
What’s the rest of 2026 got in store for Making Friends? Where can we see you play?
Two shows next week with Dead Fish in London and Riskee and the Ridicule in Brighton. We’re touring Spain in September with our friends Waterviolet and Roaming in your Head. Then it’s Kingston 12th September, a hometown show with Harker and Burnt Tapes on 9th October (what a line-up!) and we’ll hopefully play a short European tour at the end of October. We’re in the early planning stages of a few other bits and pieces too.
