Neural Manifest - Who We Are

Our music is bold and catchy, but it is also innovative and emotional. It appeals to many but at the same time allows listeners to decipher a meaning that is important to only them. At the end of any day, music is art. Music should not be manufactured to fit any standard or be pushed to a key demographic. Music is primitive and emits a wave of emotion, feeling, beat and rhythm to our senses.

We are a band that believes that music is a vital part of this world. We create our music to be a manifestation of what we see, hear and feel throughout our lives. We hope you will enjoy what our music allows you to hear, see and feel. Read on to learn a little bit more of how we came to be...

Between working and teaching guitar, Taylor felt that he needed more to his life. Something to be proud of, something that would perhaps entertain people and allow them to sink into another world and listen to the sounds that go by. In June 2008, Taylor started recording some guitar riffs. Inspired by every live show he visited and every song he heard, he decided to take it a little bit further. By November 2008, Taylor had recorded an entire CD named Deconstructing Destruction. He wanted to put the CD together and see if it would sell and more importantly, if people enjoyed it. Success was found in that it was enjoyed by many, friends, family, people he showed on the internet. It was a small community of people who enjoyed and believed the music was a great stepping stone. Selling music was a bit harder as there were no other band members and Taylor was only one man. He pushed on, In December of 2008, Taylor started recording a second CD called Point Zero. The CD was great and something even better started to happen. Taylor's roommate, Chris, who was a drummer, took interest in the music and they started to practice it together, learning song by song. Mike, who was a friend of Taylor through work, decided to dust off his bass and come join as well. After trying out 2 different guitar players, Taylor thought it would be best if he both played guitar and sang lead vocals. The band was set, Neural Manifest was on it's way.

Taylor Eichhorst
Lead Vocals, Guitar and Synth

Taylor started playing guitar at the age of 15. He caught on quickly and was already in his first band by the age of 17. Nihilist was a heavy metal band out of Regina, SK. that showed a lot of talent for a bunch of 17 year olds who started fooling around with riffs and beats in a basement. The band played numerous gigs at local venues and lasted around 2 years. Good things sometimes come to an end.

The band broke up and four out of five of the members, including Taylor and his brother Nick Eichhorst, jumped right back into a new band named Ashen. The music was different, it had a very alternative feel to it. The music did well and Ashen was asked to play at a festival, many local shows and was even on local radio. Ashen came to an end as well, People moved and our lives were getting busier.

At the age of 21, having graduated from a New Media Communications course, Taylor found another course that caught his eye. Edmonton, AB. was his new home and he began to study the art of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy. Along with a new life, Taylor also met some new people. Taylor, at the time, was also living with his friend Reid Nicholson who had been in both of Taylor's previous bands, a fellow guitarist. This made for an ease of jumping into music right away. Chris was a friend of a friend and like Taylor, had a keen interest in music. Taylor had met Christ for the first time a 2 years earlier while Taylor took a trip to Edmonton to see a couple of his favorite bands at the time, Slayer and In Flames. Chris was thinking of grabbing a drum set and Taylor isn't the type of person to not encourage something like that. The Drum set was bought and in no time, they were jamming and creating music.

Chris Gagnon
Drums

Chris has an extensive musical background that led him to becoming the drummer of Neural Manifest. Starting with piano and violin in his early years, he moved to trumpet in high school. After graduating, Chris took an interest in guitar and enjoyed covering songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Goo Goo Dolls and Billy Talent.

When Chris met Taylor at Beer Hunter's in St. Albert, AB. in the summer of 2005, he was telling Taylor about contimplating making the switch from guitar to drums. Taylor’s response was a cool, “Why not?” Chris went out and bought a set of drums and the two of them were practicing within the month.

Chris and Taylor practiced on a weekly basis starting in 2006 in a studio at Fountain Park pool where Chris worked as a lifeguard. The two of them were the core of the band and went through 4 guitarists and 2 bass players before Mike Caldararu auditioned in February 2009. Mike was able to learn on the fly and was the perfect match for Neural Manifest.

Chris graduated from the University of Alberta in 2008 (B. Ed. Major in Biology and minor in French) and is currently teaching Grades 9-12 in Edmonton while rocking the drums for Neural Manifest, a hectic lifestyle with a rewarding path.

Mike Caldararu
Bass Guitar

Michael started playing bass mainly as a hobby at first. It was originally just a thing to do with a couple of friends in a small band. After a few months, that band disbanded and the bass only came out occasionally, mostly gathering dust in storage.

On joining Neural Manifest, Mike figured it was going to be another "hobby" band. but as the practices went on and more momentum started building up everything became a lot more serious and things started falling into place.

The music was energetic, there was synergy, everything was turning out great. There was definitely something to this. Fast forward a couple of months and hours of obsessive practice and now he can pretty much keep up with everything.

When not doing the music thing, Mike is a pretty big geek and a details kind of guy. Whether it's analyzing games and music or looking at the big picture and seeing all the small steps to go there.