GOING UNDER GROUND?
We first featured Monday Club in Issue 1 of ‘The Vapour Trail.’ This month, we are lucky enough to have them play at the night itself. With a sound that brings to mind the likes of Patti Smith, Bauhaus, PJ Harvey and Joy Division (although still remaining very much their own creation), the group produce a highly atmospheric and often very ferocious sound. Based heavily in almost-tribal rhythms, the songs often have a dark and bluesy feel not heard since The White Stripes last meant anything. With choppy guitars and throbbing, melodic basslines, the fact that the three of them are able to create a sound so intense while remaining extremely melodic and often very poppy can only be a good thing. 2008 should see them make some serious waves but, for now, we let them answer the questions and therefore tell the story….
1. First of all, how long have you been together and how did you get together?
Jess: We’ve been together in various forms since the summer of 2003. I remember that because it was the longest, hottest summer I can remember, and I remember the three of us squeezing into amy’s bedroom in the sweltering heat bashing out a song called ‘the body song’ which started with the words ‘sit and listen to the melody, this is a song about my body’. We had to break every couple of minutes to hang out of the window and get some fresh air, I don’t really know how we’d got together. Astrud and I have been friends since we were 14 and wore glitter and sweets, and we met Amy at 6th form college. Astrud and I had been talking about forming a band for years and that summer Amy acquired a drum kit, I acquired a bass, and it just happened.
Astrud: I’d been playing keyboard in my room making atmospheric instrumentals and taping them onto a dictaphone for about a year and a half while I was at university. I started learning guitar and piecing chords together and I wrote a few songs. I played them to Jess and Amy and Selmin, (who originally playing guitar in the band) and we tried a few harmonies and they sounded cool so we thought we should start writing more stuff together. Jess and I wanted to have a band when we were 16 and the only song we ever learned was shakin’ all over. I knew amy would be good at drums because she used to mix drum and bass records. I thought a band would be more fun than solitary writing and playing which is cool but the social element changes the whole way you make music.
2. Your songs have a sense of bleakness running through them at times while being very immediate and catchy at others. What inspires your music, be it bands and/or other influences?
Amy: David Lynch, ATP!, things that appear simple but have a quality about them that's beguiling/infectious, Ad Reinhardt's Black paintings, minimal/..'big' drumming - Stereolab, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Deerhunter, Liars, Todd Trainer (Shellac)..Extra points for lush Rock Out sounds! - Nought, Deerhoof..a bit O' Iggy!
Astrud: It’s true that I have a penchant for liking dark kind of music- I always have done. But I love great pop songs. I think it’s an amazing skill to write very uplifting music- and probably even more difficult to write lyrics that sound sort of joyful but meaningful at the same time. It’s something I’d like to try. Rather than bleakness, it’s the pathos of situations that I find interesting- there’s light there, it’s like the excitement something glittering in dirt. As for the catchier ones, it’s a challenge I have with myself to write melodies that stick in your head.
3. What would you say your overall aim is in terms of style and direction?
Jess: I’m not sure that we have one. Or if we have one one day, it’ll be different the next.
Astrud: I think the thing is with our band is that everyone brought in their own styles to playing or writing that’s formulated the overall sound. We try and experiment with how we write and try different instruments to keep things forging ahead- it’s the accidentals in this process that can create new songs.
4. With your live performance, you appear to have a knack for conveying lots of energy and creating an atmosphere. How important is live performance to what you do?
Astrud: live performance is often the way I’ll come across new bands or acts I like as I go to a lot of gigs and it’s a very immediate way the band can grab you, but the performance shouldn’t necessarily be about grand movement- it depends on the act, sometimes the less someone says and does the more compelling they are. I think we’d like to experiment with light shows or visuals, which I think would work with our music.
5. A rather corny question, but what was it that made you all pick up your instruments in the first place?
Jess: I picked up the bass when we started the band! I was learning guitar when we formed, so it made sense for me to try out the bass rather than have three guitarists (we used to have a second guitarist).
Amy: Having a drum kit in front of me + beats in my head! Seeing/meeting other encouraging female drummers in my teens at Riot Grrl or Ladyfest events.
Astrud: I just really really wanted to play guitar- I had been learning a few chords here and there and just wanted to practice until I got good. At the time my boyfriend and one of my friends could play really well so the fact that they were really good probably encouraged me to learn as well. It was a personal thing for me to particularly want to play guitar over any other instrument- I was aware of the gender imbalance of female to male guitar players, which was something I wanted to help shift.
6. Finally, what is next for you?
All: Keep on making music that we really enjoy coming up with + playing! We hope to release a single soon too.
We first featured Monday Club in Issue 1 of ‘The Vapour Trail.’ This month, we are lucky enough to have them play at the night itself. With a sound that brings to mind the likes of Patti Smith, Bauhaus, PJ Harvey and Joy Division (although still remaining very much their own creation), the group produce a highly atmospheric and often very ferocious sound. Based heavily in almost-tribal rhythms, the songs often have a dark and bluesy feel not heard since The White Stripes last meant anything. With choppy guitars and throbbing, melodic basslines, the fact that the three of them are able to create a sound so intense while remaining extremely melodic and often very poppy can only be a good thing. 2008 should see them make some serious waves but, for now, we let them answer the questions and therefore tell the story….
1. First of all, how long have you been together and how did you get together?
Jess: We’ve been together in various forms since the summer of 2003. I remember that because it was the longest, hottest summer I can remember, and I remember the three of us squeezing into amy’s bedroom in the sweltering heat bashing out a song called ‘the body song’ which started with the words ‘sit and listen to the melody, this is a song about my body’. We had to break every couple of minutes to hang out of the window and get some fresh air, I don’t really know how we’d got together. Astrud and I have been friends since we were 14 and wore glitter and sweets, and we met Amy at 6th form college. Astrud and I had been talking about forming a band for years and that summer Amy acquired a drum kit, I acquired a bass, and it just happened.
Astrud: I’d been playing keyboard in my room making atmospheric instrumentals and taping them onto a dictaphone for about a year and a half while I was at university. I started learning guitar and piecing chords together and I wrote a few songs. I played them to Jess and Amy and Selmin, (who originally playing guitar in the band) and we tried a few harmonies and they sounded cool so we thought we should start writing more stuff together. Jess and I wanted to have a band when we were 16 and the only song we ever learned was shakin’ all over. I knew amy would be good at drums because she used to mix drum and bass records. I thought a band would be more fun than solitary writing and playing which is cool but the social element changes the whole way you make music.
2. Your songs have a sense of bleakness running through them at times while being very immediate and catchy at others. What inspires your music, be it bands and/or other influences?
Amy: David Lynch, ATP!, things that appear simple but have a quality about them that's beguiling/infectious, Ad Reinhardt's Black paintings, minimal/..'big' drumming - Stereolab, Bauhaus, Joy Division, Deerhunter, Liars, Todd Trainer (Shellac)..Extra points for lush Rock Out sounds! - Nought, Deerhoof..a bit O' Iggy!
Astrud: It’s true that I have a penchant for liking dark kind of music- I always have done. But I love great pop songs. I think it’s an amazing skill to write very uplifting music- and probably even more difficult to write lyrics that sound sort of joyful but meaningful at the same time. It’s something I’d like to try. Rather than bleakness, it’s the pathos of situations that I find interesting- there’s light there, it’s like the excitement something glittering in dirt. As for the catchier ones, it’s a challenge I have with myself to write melodies that stick in your head.
3. What would you say your overall aim is in terms of style and direction?
Jess: I’m not sure that we have one. Or if we have one one day, it’ll be different the next.
Astrud: I think the thing is with our band is that everyone brought in their own styles to playing or writing that’s formulated the overall sound. We try and experiment with how we write and try different instruments to keep things forging ahead- it’s the accidentals in this process that can create new songs.
4. With your live performance, you appear to have a knack for conveying lots of energy and creating an atmosphere. How important is live performance to what you do?
Astrud: live performance is often the way I’ll come across new bands or acts I like as I go to a lot of gigs and it’s a very immediate way the band can grab you, but the performance shouldn’t necessarily be about grand movement- it depends on the act, sometimes the less someone says and does the more compelling they are. I think we’d like to experiment with light shows or visuals, which I think would work with our music.
5. A rather corny question, but what was it that made you all pick up your instruments in the first place?
Jess: I picked up the bass when we started the band! I was learning guitar when we formed, so it made sense for me to try out the bass rather than have three guitarists (we used to have a second guitarist).
Amy: Having a drum kit in front of me + beats in my head! Seeing/meeting other encouraging female drummers in my teens at Riot Grrl or Ladyfest events.
Astrud: I just really really wanted to play guitar- I had been learning a few chords here and there and just wanted to practice until I got good. At the time my boyfriend and one of my friends could play really well so the fact that they were really good probably encouraged me to learn as well. It was a personal thing for me to particularly want to play guitar over any other instrument- I was aware of the gender imbalance of female to male guitar players, which was something I wanted to help shift.
6. Finally, what is next for you?
All: Keep on making music that we really enjoy coming up with + playing! We hope to release a single soon too.
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