Architects Who Rock: Mancini Duffy CEO Bill Mandara on Battle of the Bands at The Stone Pony
By Chris Vaglio
On Thursday, October 15, The Stone Pony gets taken over by people who spend their days on site plans, code reviews and client calls. The third annual Battle of the Bands, hosted by Bohler and Mancini Duffy, puts eight bands from the commercial real estate, architecture and engineering world on one of the most famous stages in New Jersey. Every dollar raised goes to work for Mercy Center in Asbury Park.
Radio Garden State is back for our second year with the event. Ahead of the show, I caught up with Bill Mandara, CEO and co-owner of Mancini Duffy, who is pulling double duty this year in two different bands while running a national architecture firm by day.
A 110-Year-Old Firm With No Room for Egos
Mancini Duffy is a full-service architecture firm headquartered in New York City, with two New Jersey offices, in Millburn and Red Bank, plus outposts in Tampa, Phoenix and Seattle. The firm has been around for roughly 110 years. Bill and his business partner Christian bought it about a decade ago and made a deliberate choice to diversify.
Today that means high-end commercial interiors, restaurants, residential, health care, industrial and aviation work, for clients that have included Tiffany & Co., Lufthansa, Peloton and the Brooklyn Nets.
So what ties all of that together? According to Bill, it has less to do with buildings than with people. The firm gravitates toward clients who are authentic and who want to enjoy the process, because for most of them a construction project is not their day job.
"We're about 160 people right now, and not one of them has a big ego," he said. "The best clients we have are the ones that really have a little bit of fun with it."
He is also quick to push back on the stereotype of the architect with a grand personal vision. "We're making sure that it's going to work for the client rather than a monument to us."
Raised on Construction, Hooked on Drums
Ask Bill if he always wanted to be an architect and you get an honest answer. "I very much wanted to play in Van Halen, but I'm not that good."
Architecture was closer to destiny than a dream. His great grandfather came over from Sicily and worked as a laborer, on the George Washington Bridge as Bill understands it. His grandfather was a mason contractor and his father was a general contractor. The path was more or less laid out.
Music showed up in fifth grade at Catholic school, where one priest taught guitar and another taught drums. Bill tried both and got frustrated that he could not learn the songs he actually wanted to play. Then his dad came home with a drum set from somebody who owed him money, and that settled it.
The deal with his parents was simple: have fun, but have something concrete to fall back on. Decades later, he gets both. "I'm finally able to do both," he said.
We bonded over the Catholic school connection, since a certain RGS station manager (this guy) once played "Iron Man" at a grade school talent show. Bill's mother had her own worries about his Iron Maiden habit, right up until it got him into literature.
Not Another Golf Outing
Bill told me that he had been kicking around the idea of an industry music night for years. It finally came together when his friend Dave Wisotsky of Bohler approached him about teaming up. There are a lot of architects, engineers and real estate people who play, and nobody had given them a stage.
The first year was an experiment. The feedback made the second year a no-brainer. In an industry calendar full of golf outings and rubber chicken dinners, people told him they had never been to anything like it.
"You get to see a different side of people," Bill said. The person you know from a video call about budgets, design details or code issues is suddenly up on stage tearing through a Helmet song.
It also fits the Mancini Duffy personality. "We're not trying to be like your regular architects who are all stuffy and wearing those little glasses," he said. "We're just kind of normal people."
The night benefits Mercy Center, the Asbury Park nonprofit that has been the event's charity partner. Bill had been looking for a cause to get behind, and when Dave brought up the idea, it clicked. Mercy Center has been a great partner ever since. He is already thinking about what year five and year ten could look like.
Eight Bands, Two Sets for Bill and One Mystery Cover
This year's bill has grown to eight bands. Expect a mix of returning favorites and first timers, covers and originals, with a range that runs from heavier rock to straight-up party music. Bill would not give away anybody else's setlist, but he did let us in on his own plans.
He is playing in two acts:
His original band. Bill is behind the drum kit for a group that regularly plays shows around New York City. Think a Van Halen and Aerosmith kind of classic rock vibe.
His own music. On his solo material Bill plays every instrument himself, so for the stage he has put together a band of friends and family. His buddy Nader handles bass, his friend Chris, a bandmate from a '90s cover band, plays guitar, his son covers synth, keys and vocals, and his nephew is on drums.
That second set will feature Bill's own songs plus one cover he is clearly excited about: a heavier reworking of an '80s new wave song. He is keeping the title under wraps.
The set closes with a medley of '70s and '80s rock and metal, with Bill heading back behind the drums. At the time of our conversation, the medley still had not been rehearsed. That is rock and roll.
There is also the small matter of gear. Most of the backline for the whole night comes out of Bill's house. He usually rents a U-Haul to get it to Asbury Park, but this year the plan is a game of Tetris with his SUV.
Rush, Maiden and a Babysitter's Copy of Moving Pictures
I could not let Bill go without talking shows, and it did not take long to find out where his heart is. He went to all four nights of Rush's recent run at Madison Square Garden with Anika Nilles on drums: one with his wife, one with each of his two sons and one by himself. He is going again in Tampa.
"The shows at MSG were just amazing," he said, pointing to the band opening with "Xanadu."
The Rush obsession goes all the way back. When Bill was ten or eleven, his babysitter brought over a copy of Moving Pictures. She never got it back. Not long after wearing out that record, he decided he wanted to play the drums.
Pressed for a favorite Rush song, he compared it to picking a favorite kid before landing on "The Analog Kid" and "Red Sector A." He is a proud defender of the synth era, and his favorite album is a toss-up between Signals and Moving Pictures.
Get Your Tickets
Bill's pitch to anyone on the fence is short. "Come out. It's a great cause. You'll have a great time," he said. "I guarantee you'll have a great time." Tickets include drinks, so he has one more piece of advice: take an Uber home.
What: 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands, hosted by Bohler and Mancini Duffy
When: Thursday, October 15, 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Where: The Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Ave, Asbury Park, NJ
Benefiting: Mercy Center of Asbury Park
Tickets: Get them here
Radio Garden State will be broadcasting live from the event. You can also find the ticket link at RadioGardenState.com, and if you join our email list we will send it straight to your inbox.
We will see you at the Pony.
Keep New Jersey Loud.