Mona Interview

Mona are a young band from Nashville, Tennessee, a place that most probably wouldn’t associate with an up-and-coming young band. However, don’t be deceived: with their blend of sepia-splashed rock n’ roll, the band are gathering more buzz than a killer Bee kazoo band.

In this modern age, the next “big internet sensation” is always just around the corner, but Mona decided to buck the trend. The band generated hype through playing local shows, roaring out their songs night after night until they had over 180,000 views on Myspace without even posting a single song. Luckily this week Stereoboard had the chance to talk to Nick Brown, vocalist and guitarist of the band, before they played their first ever show in England

Let’s start at the beginning I suppose. How did Mona meet and come together as a band?

Mona as an idea has been around for a couple of years now. Vince and I grew up together and we moved to Nashville, then we got a guitar player who moved down to us from Ohio: We lost him to rehab. We had another guitar player who I beat the shit out off, yeah, just wasn’t the best fit as a band member. He was a great human being, but a band is a lot like a marriage: it takes a lot of work and effort on both sides. It just didn’t work out. Then a buddy of Zach’s [Lindsey – Mona’s Bassist], Jordan, came to be our guitar player now. He came for an audition and we coincidentally had a gig that night. It went so well that he actually played that gig. Ever since then, about six months ago, it’s been great.

You’ve cited a lot of older influences in the past, for example The Clash, Bob Dylan and Elvis. What modern artists are you a fan of? Are there any more recent acts that influence you as a band?

We listen to a lot of old music. I’m sure there’s a lot of bands out there now that we would love and appreciate, but a lot of our references are older, from Zeppelin, The Clash, Bob Dylan, The Ramones to early U2: we just tend to like more of an older vibe. Obviously we’re all Beatles and Elvis Presley fans. As far as modern artists go, we don’t really listen to a whole lot. There are a couple of things going on, for example there’s a band called Beach House who we all like. As far as modernity goes, though, we’re not that into it.

You’ve made a name for yourselves having a certain ‘mystery’ about you: was it intentional trying to build up a large online identity before putting any music out there?

We spent a lot of time trying to make it right. A lot of bands work hard and they try to flood a market that’s impossible to flood: I’d rather work smart. We wanted things to feel, smell and taste right: we’re not trying to force people to savour things. We’re not going to put a hundred songs on our Myspace and 200 videos with our life story. We’d rather give people a small bit and if they’re interested they’ll savour it. If they want more, then when it’s time we’ll give them more. We’re trying to start a revival here with rock and roll, trying to make people fall in love with bands and with albums again. All this itunes ‘download one song’ bullshit is really hurting art, so we want people to experience it and feel it. We’re trying to provoke human emotions, not trying to make money or get famous and get a name for ourselves. We’re passionate about the human heart and the human brain: music’s a powerful thing. I agree with John Lennon, Bob Marley and voices like Bob Dylan who think that music can influence people: it can end wars and start motions to fall in love and fight. It’s a powerful tool and we’re trying to remind people of that: just to slow the fuck down and try to feel something for once.

Are there any plans for recording in the near future?

We’re going to release another single with a b-side very soon. Hopefully within a few months the album is going to come. Within the next six months hopefully there will be a snowball effect of songs coming out. We’re not trying to be clever or mysterious by holding it back: we definitely want to get our stuff out there. When people are saying “okay, we’re into this”, I definitely want to give them something to hold on to. It’s all about timing for us at the moment, but hopefully within the next six to eight months the album will happen.

I once heard that you wrote 500 songs this year. How true is that? Do you think it’s a maintainable pace?

I wrote 50,000 songs this year! It’s funny because that number keeps jumping every time I hear it...”I heard you wrote 15,000 in the last six months?!”.
Truth is, I haven’t counted, but we’ve written hundreds in the last few months. We write constantly: I write lyrics everywhere I go, even if we’re out in a bar or at a club I’m writing lyrics and Jack, our bass player, will be humming a bassline, our drummer will be banging on things. We’re always working in one way or another. You have four very clear forces that combine to form something which I believe is very special: there are a lot of colours on that pallet and at the end of the day it’s my job to cut and paste to something tangible. It can be quite a job when you’re always working with people who come up with such amazing stuff. It’s overwhelming, but sometimes very easy. I mean, I’ve never experienced writer’s block up to this point, nor have we as a band. We’ve written and recorded well over a hundred songs, but all the others are just little clips or ideas waiting around on voice recorders or at our studio back in Nashville. I think our buzz has come about because we definitely put our songs to the grind and only let out the ones that are good enough to stand up. We’re proud of them and it can take a while to fall in love with a song. We’re not afraid to wait for things to feel okay, so we don’t rush it or try to force our music down anyone’s throats.

So this is your first time performing across the Atlantic. Are there any preconceptions or doubt about the English audience?

I don’t really look at it as an English audience, just as humans. Good humans like good music, so I'm not really worried about that. I’m excited; we’re humbled by the privilege really. 99% of the bands in the world don’t make it to this stage, and we don’t take that for granted. We’re very grateful and excited just to be here.

Are there any other countries or places that you’re especially looking forward to touring?

Yeah the whole thing! I can’t wait to go to Japan, Paris, Australia, I mean everywhere. We’re a very ambitious band and we’re already talking about all of it, not that we are comparing ourselves to any of these huge, global bands, but we definitely want to see ourselves in different countries with different languages but still having good humans and good music. I think that’s why the “hype” is happening: it’s a genuine response to what we put out there, hopefully what people are feeling is genuine.

In interviews with you guys, a quote keeps coming up that you want to be “bigger than Bono.” Are you ambitious in terms of your role as a band?

That whole statement is always being taken out of context, but what the hell? I’ll take it. I’m not going away anytime soon and I can sing louder than him for sure! Basically, U2 are the modern standard for us: one of the few bands that are still doing it on a big level like that. In terms of their ambition and how they affect things politically and artistically: everything from fashion to TV. My whole comment was that we want to take the challenge and raise the bar. If you’re an basketball player, you want to be the next Michael Jordan. If you’re going into golf then you want to be the next Tiger Woods: you have to set your sights on the top and go from there. I definitely don’t believe in starting from the bottom. As far as work ethic is concerned, obviously you’ve got to start low and work your way up, but in terms of ambition, I’ve been singing to 20,000 people in my head since I was a child, so once it actually happens I don’t get nervous, it’s just surreal for me that what I’ve being seeing in my head for all this time is actually taking place.

Mona have recently released ‘Listen to your Love’ as a limited 300 only 7-inch through Rough Trade shops with an exclusive b-side, ‘All This Time.’