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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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The Monarques
Wednesday 04 June @ 12:09:30 |
 by Celeste Tabora
I went to the Monarques’ Web site this morning. Browsing through, I ended up on the “media” section and curiosity led me to the video of Har Mar Superstar and the Monarques live cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” from their First Avenue show on May 29th (http://www.monarques.com/video-20030529-love.html). It was a song never rehearsed by the band before performing it. And whaddya know, they pulled it off successfully. Normally, quicktime videos on the Web keep the viewer removed and detached from the spirit of the show, what with the tiny viewing window and all, but this one was the first and only experience I had with a Web-based download that made me feel like I really wanted to be there, jumping along and cheering them on with that full Minneapolis crowd.
This band, although only a handful of live shows into their career, is no stranger to showmanship or packed rooms. Their first show, in fact, was a sold out gig at the 7th Street Entry supporting Sub Pop’s newfound heroes, The Postal Service, and Hip Hop happenin’ star Cex. Most bands play the first show in their hometown to a half-full room at best, composed of close friends and the occasional curious music fan. The Monarques are NOT like most bands.
These seasoned local musicians blasted onto the scene with a brand of music unlike anything a listener familiar with their previous groups would have expected.
Singer/guitarist Nathan Grumdahl started off playing bass in heavy-hitting Arm and later fronted pop-rockers Selby Tigers.
Somewhere in there he also found the time to hold down guitar duties in Sean Na Na. Drummer Jeff Brown (a fellow Sean Na Na alumnus) has also been a part of myriad local groups, including an earlier lineup of mod-rock band The Hidden Chord and St. Paul’s Grotto. Bass player Trenton Raygor was in punk band Cadillac Blindside, while keyboard player Matthew Rezac was a member of screamy hardcore punk outfit The Book of Dead Names and Knol Tate’s electronic pop-rock project Askeleton. But here they are with Monarques, a rock band—in every sense of the word.
After the band’s late night in Superior, Wis. last week I had a chance to catch up with them via instant messenger. The first question that came to mind was how the band felt about their “Minneapolis super-group” status, experiencing well-attended, if not sold out, shows right from the get-go.
Grumdahl replied, “Super Group? Like we are gonna fight the Brotherhood of Evil with capes and shit?” The rest of the band followed suit, avoiding the subject by deciding which super power they would have. So I opted for a different question.
“Who writes the music?” I asked, “How do you go about writing it and who brings what into the sound?”
“Well, It’s one of those things that’s weird to talk about in an interview,” Grumdahl humbly replied. “I mean, in this band I probably sit down and write the lyrics more, which in my last band was completely collaborative. I think I have an idea of some of the music when I walk in, but it’s definitely like… you know …I can’t.”
I prodded, “Why can’t you?”
“It takes on a whole new form once it’s brought to the band, so it’s kind of a hard question. I don¹t know if that’s something that I could answer very well in print, you know? I think what is key for me is that I really am super into what everyone does as a musician, and that’s kind of a new thing for me. I can totally be out of ideas on something [and would say], ‘I don¹t know, what should we do here?’ and someone will come up with something really creative or play something and [then I could go], ‘That’s awesome! That’s what we need to do on that part!’”
Steadily growing curious about the Monarques conception, I asked who proposed the birth of the band.
“You really wanna know?” asked Raygor. He began to tell me the tale of a Philadelphia bathroom meeting and pretzels in a coke bar last September 2002. “Well, after last summer Nathan and myself ended up at a cokebar in Philly. Kinda weird, but it was late. We both were going just to get the bad-ass fresh pretzels they serve there. We had no idea that the other one was in town, but oddly enough met in the bathroom. I went for the stall and it was occupied, and I hear ‘What the FUCK! ...Trent?’”
Though shaky from his breakfast of coffee, Raygor continued, “I was on the Plea For Peace tour [teching for Lawrence arms] and he was out with Cave In [teching as well], he was chilling in there hiding from a date or something, but we got to chatting about rock. We went and got pretzels with some spicy-ass mustard and talked about playing together. I think we ended up sleeping at the Feta booking house at like 8 a.m. or something. Long story short, we woke up the next day and made a pact.”
Raygor got back to the Twin Cities shortly after Grumdahl in November to find the guitarist had already composed some songs with drummer Brown. The threesome decided to add a fourth member. Enter Rezac on keyboards. At the time, Brown and Rezac were part of the Askeleton orchestration. They decided to leave Askeleton to make Monarques a full-time act.
“We were all over the map when we started,” said Rezac, “But we distilled it down to where we are now.” The band continues to write songs at lightning speed, some thrown out as quickly as they were written. Their first song, about meeting in a coke-bar, was never revealed for public consumption.
As I messaged back and forth with the fellows, I was also watching videos on their Web site. I happened to be watching the dimly lit video for “Black Helicopters.” I told them that I felt that being attracted to the song was like being attracted to a goth. Grumdahl confessed that the song is about clubbing with goth girls in small towns. The video from one of the band’s live shows features a lot of bassist Raygor and his bop/gyrating way of playing. Sexy.
“Sexy?” Rezac questioned and I confirmed my statement. “Sure. I’m down with sexy.” Laughing to myself, I asked Rezac, who I’ve only seen play with Book of Dead Names, what he liked most about being in Monarques.
“I love the fact that we’re not playing mall punk or nu-metal,” he stated jokingly. “But really... I like the scope of the sound. How it can go from really, really fucking loud and rock, to really quiet and pretty in a matter of seconds.”
Currently Monarques is working on finishing up their debut recordings. They plan to play around the Midwest this summer, then touring widely as soon as they have a release to support. By the way, they classify themselves, simply, as a rock band.
The Monarques play on Fri., June 6, at the opening night for live music at the Triple Rock Social Club. 8 p.m. 21+. With the briefly reunited Lifter Puller and great Iowan absurdist folkie John Darnielle (aka The Mt. Goats). 629 Cedar Ave S., Mpls. 612-333-7399.
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