The first thing one wonders about Mark Monnone’s first solo album is: what took you so long? “Well, I’ve always just been the bass player, so the solo thing is a leap into the unknown,” Monnone reasons. “That’s why I decided to do it with a lot of friends – no way in hell I’m going to send my voice out there on its own. Besides, I’m not really a singer, and I don’t intend to be.”
Continuing the ‘reluctant frontman’ theme, Monnone explains that the genesis of Together At Last was largely down to a series of fortuitous circumstances that came together while touring with Still Flyin’, all the way back in 2010. “The whole idea for the album came about because I was crashing at a friend’s house – in his basement, actually, which was also his studio. His housemate is a really good drummer, so I asked her to play drums on a couple of songs. It was never the intention to go in and record an album, and there were long gaps between sessions – I started out in 2010, so it’s taken a long time to pull it together.”
Part of this is down to Monnone’s insistence on tracking the entire record at his friend’s studio, Marlborough Farms. Of course, this ‘friend’ is none other than Gary Olson, lead singer of cult New York indie poppers The Ladybug Transistor. Of his connection with Olson, Monnone explains, “I’ve known Gary since the Lucksmiths, we toured Sweden with the Ladybug Transistor in 1998. We always wanted to record at his studio [Marlborough Farms], but we could never squeeze it in.”
As a solo artist, Monnone finally got his wish, but not without difficulty. “With Together At Last, we did the whole album on days off, on tours, wherever we could manage. But I didn’t want it to sound piecemeal, I wanted it to feel like an album.”
In terms of sound, Monnone Alone bring to mind a roll-call of indie pop luminaries, including, of course, The Ladybug Transistor, as well as the C86 era, and the iconic output of K Records and Sarah Records. When pressed on his musical lineage, Monnone accepts the inevitability of such comparisons, but offers a far more prosaic assessment of his influences.
“When I was 12, I got a Midnight Oil songbook, and learned all their songs,” Monnone deadpans. “Seriously though, none of the bands I’ve been in have ever really tried to sound like anything. We were just happy to play with our friends’ bands, and maybe sound a little bit like them. There were a lot of awesome bands around Melbourne in the ‘90s. Travelling overseas as well, you play with these amazing bands, and you can’t help but learn from them…and rip them off, in a tiny, subtle way,” he cheekily adds. “I like Jonathan Richman a lot, but no-one’s gonna sound like him and get away with it. I’d never try to, but I do learn from his approach to making music. Really, I’m more influenced by peoples’ attitudes toward making music than by the sounds they make.”
Monnone might have achieved the result that he was after, but certainly not in his intended timeframe, due to the demands of running his Lost and Lonesome label. “It was actually finished a year ago. With running the record label, it’s hard to prioritise yourself over the other acts. Plus, delayed releases are pretty much a tradition round here!” he adds, ruefully.
In addition to a local release on Lost and Lonesome, Together At Last is getting an Italian release, through the excellently-named We Were Never Being Boring. “Yeah, I think they just like the name Monnone Alone, they thought it was hilarious. When I finally sent them the record, they were like, ‘Uh, that’s it?’ But they put it out anyway, bless them,” he says, possibly joking. “They hooked up a tour, as well – I think I’m basically playing on different beaches around Italy for two weeks…but I trust them.”
Monnone’s connection to Italy is tenuous, comprising his own heritage (he is Sicilian via New York via Auckland via Brunswick), and his drummer Connal Parsley, who is both in a relationship with an Italian and fluent in the language. “Yeah, I’ve done a little solo tour there. I played tiny places, but people were really enthusiastic. I was amazed. I’ve played there with The Lucksmiths and Still Flyin’, so I guess there were people interested to hear a guy from those bands playing solo.”
He sounds modest, but Monnone admits to having grander plans in place. “I would be stoked to be a household name in Italy, at least – my own chunk of Southern Europe.”
BY EDWARD SHARP-PAUL
