Band: Monk
From: Los Angeles, California
Their formation story:
(Frank Bach, vocals): "I have been working on my mindfulness practice for almost a decade, and during this time have not created anything music or band-related. I’ve been focused on my professional life and starting a family. Most of this time was spent leading the design team at Headspace, the meditation app. I’ve been so inspired by the tenets, scriptures, and the general world of wellness that it’s hard for me to decouple my artistic output from it.
"About a year ago, I reached out to Ian and Dan Romano while Ian was doing drum sessions to see if they’d be down to jam and write some new material in the vein of 2000s Toronto hardcore, and we did. I sent them some tracks, and some ideas around 'a monk starting a hardcore band' and the guys knocked the writing and musicianship out of the park.
"Monk kind of started as an art/recording project but we’re now playing shows in North America, and hopefully the rest of the world soon enough."
Their sound in their own words:
"Zen hardcore. For fans of all the contemporaries like BIB, GEL, Fucked Up, and classics like 86 Mentality, Knife Fight, a little Youth of Today, etc. I think what we’re doing is uniquely Monk, and unlike any other spiritually-tinged hardcore I’ve heard.
"We aren’t an angry band, nor are we an overly optimistic band. We try to balance both and acknowledge that all emotions are part of the human experience. None of them are inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad.' They just are, and talking about them helps us work through them.
"The spiritualist Ram Dass has had a profound impact on the way I carry myself in the world and I am trying to encapsulate that feeling on a hardcore punk record."
Latest release info:
"The Rock EP is a 6-track release on a 12”. The A-side is balls to the wall hardcore, complete with guest vocals by our buddy Liam Cormier of Cancer Bats. The B-side is a 12-minute guided meditation I put together with my good friend Scott Sorenson. We recorded at Camera Varda Studios in Welland and Headspace Studios in LA.
"I worked with Jack Rogers on the artwork and layout and it’s been released by Dine Alone Records out of Toronto.
Future plans:
"We’re doing more weekend dates on the west coast starting with San Diego and Tijuana, as well as a run of Ontario and Québec in December. We’re writing new music too."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Some bands out of LA I’m digging lately are Hot Load and Cemento. They seem to be keeping the punk scene alive out here.
"Since I was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, it would be remiss not to drop some links to my friends up north. Check out darkwave act Fauxcils and my pal Jeff’s band Strange Attractor."
***
Hit the Monk website to find all of their social media pages.
***
Tagged: monk
