{"id":3735,"date":"2010-11-04T13:02:34","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T21:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=3735"},"modified":"2010-11-04T13:15:03","modified_gmt":"2010-11-04T21:15:03","slug":"gimme-five-monsonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2010\/11\/gimme-five-monsonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Gimme Five! Monsonia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3739\" title=\"monsonia\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia-120x80.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Andy Willard and Carter Browning first met in 2002 while beefing up the rhythm section of a band that (little did that know) wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last even six months more.\u00c2\u00a0 After that inevitable breakdown, the guys moved on.\u00c2\u00a0 Charged by their connection and mutual appreciation for spaced out, dark improvised rock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122n\u00e2\u20ac\u2122roll they started jamming together and hammering down a sound of their own.\u00c2\u00a0 All that musical experimentation just led them to form a band of their own:\u00c2\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/monsonia.wordpress.com\">Monsonia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Willard and Browning have honed their aesthetics and recruited a third man, Nick Petersen to fill out their sound.\u00c2\u00a0 On drums, guitar, and bass (respectively), the men of Monsonia spin webs of noise-addled rock with jazz abandon to create some genre bending avant-metal, post-punk caterwaul of music. \u00c2\u00a0And you can hear it for yourself on their brand new LP <em>33.3<\/em> (available on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.holidaysforquince.com\/\">Holidays for Quince Records<\/a>), the release of which they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be celebrating along with their friends Make and Minor Stars at <a href=\"http:\/\/nightlightclub.com\/\">The Nightlight<\/a> next Friday, November 12th.<\/p>\n<p>And now just the five hardest questions in faux business:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. If your band were a Muppet, which would it be?<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia_33_front.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3737\" title=\"33.3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia_33_front.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia_33_front.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia_33_front-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia_33_front-80x80.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We don&#8217;t think we can pull off being personified as a single Muppet, so we say:<br \/>\n&#8220;The grass does not grow on the places where we stop and stannnnnnnnnnnnnnd&#8230;&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/muppet.wikia.com\/wiki\/Stanley_Weasel\">Stanley Weasel<\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/muppet.wikia.com\/wiki\/Howard_Snake\">Howard Snake<\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/muppet.wikia.com\/wiki\/Fred_Lizard\">Fred Lizard<\/a><br \/>\nThe  Nightmare from Emmet Otter&#8217;s Jug Band Christmas. \u00c2\u00a0We&#8217;re these guys in  the moment after they rock out at the talent show, when the curtain  draws back and they look at each other and smile and geek out about  their performance. You realize they&#8217;re not really bad guys &#8211; they&#8217;re  just lovable Muppet rockers that happen to be way cooler than Harvey  Beaver (but maybe not Wendell Porcupine). We&#8217;re currently auditioning  growling bear keyboardists and catfish stage dancers. \u00c2\u00a0Please hit us up  at\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:contact@monsonia.com\" target=\"_blank\">contact@monsonia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. What can listeners expect from the new record?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nick:  Expect a 180 gram vinyl disc of power trio, not bar rock music. The  record has 8 songs, the artwork looks really good, and it&#8217;s a bit more  sonically precise than our previous recordings. Hopefully the listener  will\u00c2\u00a0not have expectations. Hopefully our music creates a mood or  soundscape that can surprise and entertain in many ways &#8211; with intensity  and release, with repetition and agility, and sometimes being awkward  and humorous. These are probably the emotions we experience the most  playing the songs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Describe the dynamic of playing in such a tight trio.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Andy:  We&#8217;ve been friends for years and have made music together most every  week since 2003, so the tightness has developed over time. \u00c2\u00a0We &#8220;write&#8221;  our music collaboratively, but there&#8217;s not a lot of discussion &#8211;  everyone is free to create and change their own parts. \u00c2\u00a0We listen to  each other and watch each other for cues, but sometimes songs come  together slowly. \u00c2\u00a0We&#8217;re really proud of the takes on 33.3 because  they&#8217;re captured pretty soon after the songs locked into form &#8211; they&#8217;re  snapshot recordings but the energy is high and there&#8217;s adventure in the  playing.<\/p>\n<p>Carter:\u00c2\u00a0It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s  very difficult because it&#8217;s fun to watch Andy play. But watching him we  can get distracted and forget how to play the song, and then he thinks  we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re signaling for him to make a change to the next part, which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t  right, so everyone messes up and gets confused. Then we either have a  new song or have to start over from the beginning.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia..jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3738\" title=\"monsonia.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia..jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia..jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/monsonia.-107x80.jpg 107w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>4. Who\/what might be a few inspirations or influences that would really\u00c2\u00a0surprise people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Friends&#8217; bands (over loads of other bands out there)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/brookston\/4379111533\/\">A kiss of the hops!<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hiroo_Onoda\">Hiroo Onoda<\/a><br \/>\nErnest Hemingway<br \/>\nCormac McCarthy<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how \u00e2\u20ac\u2122d that turn out?)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Andy:  I wanted to be an astronaut, but my teacher took me aside and explained  that I&#8217;d have to work harder in math to be an astronaut. \u00c2\u00a0So I asked  her if I needed math to be a clown and she said no. Now I analyze  quantitative data during the day and play drums at night, so I guess I  found a balance between the two. \u00c2\u00a0But so far, I&#8217;ve stayed on planet.<\/p>\n<p>Nick:\u00c2\u00a0I  always was way into being Indiana Jones from the Temple of Doom, or  Rambo. I ended up being a ninja for Halloween, and I pay my bills as an  audio engineer. Go figure.<\/p>\n<p>Carter:\u00c2\u00a0I  wanted to be a human beat box like the guy from the Fat Boys. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been  on the back burner for a long time, but as I keep telling myself  \u00e2\u20ac\u0153there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always the next record.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Help Monsonia celebrate of their latest release <em>33.3<\/em> at <a href=\"http:\/\/nightlightclub.com\/\">The Nightlight<\/a> next Friday, November 12th. And, by all means, give the guys a high  five when you see them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy Willard and Carter Browning first met in 2002 while beefing up the rhythm section of a band that (little did that know) wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last even six months more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-3735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-gimme-five"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3735"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3745,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3735\/revisions\/3745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}