From 1998 to 2019, Billy Peake was a constant creative presence in the Columbus, Ohio music scene. His first band Miranda Sound shared stages with Nada Surf, The Wrens, and The Posies, earning a Lollapalooza slot in 2003. They released four albums, including the critically acclaimed Western Reserve, produced by J Robbins, before amicably disbanding in 2008. Peake fronted power pop stalwarts Bicentennial Bear soon after, releasing two albums before that band wound down in 2019. After spending the last decade raising a family and building a creative career outside of music, the 49-year-old returns with Manic Waves—a solo album that welds fuzz-drenched college rock with the neon shimmer of ’80s New Wave.
1980s magic
Peake’s musical education began in early-1980s Youngstown, Ohio, riding shotgun in his (much older) cousin’s canary yellow ’72 Pontiac LeMans, listening to 8-Track cassettes of The Cars, Supertramp, and Cheap Trick. “Being 8 years old in 1984 was fucking magical. You could hear Huey Lewis, The Human League, Van Halen, Kool & The Gang, all in a row. I loved it all.” He continues, “but Van Halen broke my brain. I begged my parents for a guitar.”
College radio days
Fast forward to 1995 at Bowling Green State University, where college radio WFAL changed everything. “I met my people and discovered Shudder to Think, Veruca Salt, Soul Coughing. I was the summer music director when OK Computer dropped. I listened to that album 5 times a day for the entire summer.” But it was the Afghan Whigs who made him pick up the guitar he’d been ignoring since middle school. “The Afghan Whigs opened their CMJ set (1998) with ‘Papa was a Rolling Stone and the kicked my ass for two hours.”
Manic Waves
What started as attic demos in 2019 grew into Manic Waves, accelerated by 2020 pandemic anxiety. Writing without a band for the fi rst time, Peake experimented with bass-driven songs, lower vocals, and channeling the 80s pop and new wave through his own distorted lens.The album kicks off with “Go Back to Where You Came From,” railing against white male privilege. “Annie You’re a Lightning Bolt”—written for his daughter—glows with tenderness while addressing the misogyny she’ll face. Throughout, anxiety and anger are offset by tongue-in-cheek bops like “Granddad was a Demon” and “Maybe We Shouldn’t.” Peake created a bold record that is both personal and defi ant. The album kicks off with “Go Back to Where You Came From,” an intentionally clunky, loop-driven slow burn that rails against white male privilege. Some tracks, like “Annie You’re a Lightning
Bolt”—written for his daughter—glow with tenderness while addressing the misogyny he knows she’ll face. Others take aim at authoritarianism and evangelical hypocrisy with equal conviction. Throughout, though, the anxiety and anger is offset by offbeat humor and tongue-in-cheek bops like “Granddad was a Demon” and “Maybe We Shouldn’t!!”
The record benefits from stellar production and cameos.
It was engineered by Mike Montgomery (The Breeders, Protomartyr) and mastered by Sarah Register (David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Caroline Rose). It features powerhouse drummers Stephen Bidwell (Black Pumas) and Matt Johnson (St. Vincent, Jeff Buckley), plus longtime collaborator Jason Mowery. Guest vocal performances from Extra Special (Belle Mare) soar on both “Annie, You’re a Lightning Bolt” and the self-described “dad wave pop gem” “Inadvertent Trip”—a song lamenting the perils of irresponsible gummy abuse. Manic Waves hits a rare balance: intimate enough to feel handmade, polished enough to command attention.
The artist?
Peake takes music seriously, but not himself. “It’s preposterous that anyone would care about me making a solo record—I’ve paused the release multiple times thinking, ‘what’s the goddamn point?'” Yet beneath the self-deprecation lies genuine confi dence in the work. “But I really think I’ve captured something special here. The challenge is doing all the bullshit to fi nd an audience.” He detests social media and would rather quit music than wrestle with algorithms and playlist curators. “I know I need to embrace it all, but it makes me very anxious.”
