In our 72nd instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Scottish rockers Monogram and chat about the summer festival circuit, How to Train Your Dragon and their release Anno.
Band Name:
Monogram
Website / Social Media:
mo.nogr.am
Facebook / Soundcloud / Instagram / Twitter
Genre:
Post-Pop
Members & their roles:
Liam Rutherford – Lead Vocals, Guitar & Keys
Ben Singer – Drummer & Backing Vocals
Gordon Skene – Keys & Backing Vocals
What music or artists inspired you?
Personally I used to be a giant metalhead, and while there’s not really much of that in Monogram, I think a lot of bands in that genre really know how to do dynamics well. To make something kick in and sound huge, it needs to follow something gentle and delicate. I think as a much more direct influence – I remember hearing Jonsi’s ‘Sticks and Stones’ at the end of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (what? it’s a great film!) and thinking it was like a pop, drum-filled version of something Tubelord (UK math-pop band) would do and I was totally hooked. His work has definitely had an impact on the way Monogram sounds.
How did the band get started?
After my last band broke up, I kind of just relished writing whatever I wanted for myself. After a few months I put up a minute long bit of music on Soundcloud and I got loads of really nice feedback. Jason from PopCop, a local music blog here in Glasgow, got in touch and asked if he could have the full track to premier. I didn’t want to tell him I only had the first minute so I stalled him for a few days until I’d figured out the rest of the track (‘Romance’). Pretty much started from there.
How would you best describe your live show:
Sweaty, big drum plucky guitar pop with organic sounding synths.
What shows do you have coming up?
As I’m writing this, I’m just getting ready for Kendal Calling – a really nice looking festival in the Lake District in the north of England, it’s gonna be great. The week after we have Belladrum in the north of Scotland on the Saturday and Chase Park festival near Newcastle (ours, not yours) the day after, then a few festivals towards the end of the month… it’s been a busy summer festival-wise this year.
Keep an eye on Facebook for more dates.
Tell us about your latest release:
Anno was the last one and was something we just wanted to put out on our own. It’s on the extreme end of the ‘big drum’ thing and is chant-friendly enough so it usually gets played last in our set. I’ve had it finished for a while and shot a video over a year ago, so it was nice finally getting it out.
Where can I get your music?
Any of these places you can find our music! iTunes / Soundcloud / Spotify / YouTube
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Listen to ‘Stumbled Upon’ on AU Radio , Mondays at 8:30PM, Thursdays at 3PM and Sundays at 10AM (AEDT), or the playlist of past ‘Stumbled Upon’ artists on Soundcloud
