Stories To
Thrill And Terrify
A ghost train, aliens, Captain Nemo’s famous submarine and much more besides inhabit I Am The Manic Whale’s Bumper Book Of Mystery Stories. Frontman and founder Michael Whiteman talks to Prog about giving voice to his lifelong love of the uncanny and the inexplicable.
Words: David West Images: David Addis
A moment of calm! I Am The Manic Whale, L-R: Michael Whiteman, John Murphy, Ben Hartley, David Addis.
It all began with a book that, like a faded, wrinkled treasure map discovered in a dusty attic, inspired Michael Whiteman and I Am The Manic Whale to undertake their latest musical adventure. The quartet’s fourth and latest album, Bumper Book Of Mystery Stories, grew out of Whiteman’s love of tales of the uncanny, inspired by the 1963 The Boys’ Life Book Of Mystery Stories.
“I found a copy of that in a spooky, dusty secondhand bookshop when I was a teenager,” says Whiteman. “It’s probably a bit dated now but I’ve always loved reading ghost stories and spooky stories. I found the book again a couple of years ago, re-read it and thought this would be a great theme for an album. We already had a couple of songs about some quite wacky things, so I thought: why don’t we write a few more songs about mysterious circumstances and put them all together?”