Man Man's Ryan Kattner Preps New Album, Side Project

It's been over two years since Philadelphia's Man Man released their third record, 'Rabbit Habits,' but now lead singer Honus Honus, aka Ryan Kattner, reveals that the band has finished recording their fourth record, due out next year.

"We're done recording and sorting out artwork and deciding what makes the cut and what doesn't," Kattner tells Spinner. "I think it's really beautiful. There's some chaotic songs, there's just some downright depressing songs."

Tentatively titled 'Live Fantastic,' the album was recorded in Omaha, Neb., under the tutelage of producer Mike Mogis. Even though the band has been in the studio for part of the year, they've managed to squeeze in a few festivals shows, but they plan on embarking on a full-fledged tour next year.

On top of this album, Kattner will team up with Nick Thorburn, aka Nick Diamonds of Islands, and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer to record a much-anticipated project under the name Mister Heavenly. The trio is currently rehearsing songs and will record the album in the Pacific Northwest sometime in October. Kattner explains the project came about when he had some downtime and wanted to "blow off some steam." After writing a couple of songs with Thorburn, the collaboration soon turned into an entire album.

"It actually sounds like a mash-up of our two styles," Kattner says. "For the Man Man stuff, if you like our doo-wop-y stuff, 'Doo Right' or 'Ice Dogs,' that vein. If you like what Nick does, the stripped-down pop stuff and the Unicorns stuff, it's like that."

While Kattner's excited about the dual projects, he mainly hopes more people will discover Man Man.

"I still feel like we're a word-of-mouth band, which is great, but it'd be nice to get out there a little bit more. It'd be nice to turn on more people to what we do," he says. "I never thought this band would last past one record. I'm f---ing surprised we finished a fourth one. I thought it was just going to be basically a rest stop on the trajectory of my life, but instead it turned into 'my car got stolen at the rest stop and I'm stuck there making records.'"

So, is that a good thing? Says Kattner, "Ask me next record."