Q&A: Me & the Monster
Beyond the purely musical aspect, there are artists whose songs have the ability to connect with people. They make you feel, they transmit emotions and are pure empathy. ‘Me & the Monster’ is one of those groups. And if that wasn't enough, the monsters also happen to have a handful of wonderful songs that once they grab you, they don't let go and become part of the soundtrack of your life.
Like many other artists, Berlin based ‘Me & the Monster’ were hit by the pandemic when, after releasing their first EP in early 2020, the world shut down almost in unison, preventing them from playing live. Two years later, they present new songs, this time in the form of an album that will be released soon. And although restrictions are still part of our lives, it seems that soon all of us will finally be able to celebrate together like we’ve been wanting to do for already two long years. And precisely on the occasion of their upcoming album release, as well as their special concert presentation scheduled for April 23rd, the monsters took a few minutes to answer some questions. Find out more about their world by reading what they had to say!
You all come from different places and it was Berlin that brought you together. What made you come to this city and where would you place the beginning as a group?
MATM: “Both Nico and Andrea’s journey to Berlin was goaded by the will to make music, and more specifically, to study songwriting in university, where they met. Niki’s reasons were slightly different and motivated mainly by love. In Eloi’s case, he was just looking to jump outside his comfort zone, and it was pure intuition that made him decide on Berlin. He thanked his intuition shortly after.”
Having different nationalities, speaking in some cases different languages and therefore having cultural backgrounds, how would you say this affects you as a group, does it enrich you or limit you?
MATM: “We’d have to say that it has luckily mainly enriched us. As much as we do come from different places, our cultures are not too contrasting, which allows us to still be able to work for a common goal. It’s very interesting to see what part of their culture each of us chooses to bring into the band as well; in our time together, we’ve seeked the sweet spot on how much of our personal backgrounds to share.”
Despite living in an increasingly globalized world, I imagine that these differences we are talking about can also have conditioned your musical references. If so, what musical references do you have and how much of this has influenced the sound of 'Me & the Monster'?
MATM: “We actually created a small playlist on our Spotify in case people want to have the answer to this common question. Despite the big differences of our musical preferences, we also share a big common ground, which is usually where we draw a lot of inspiration from. This includes bands like Novo Amor, AltJ, Ibeyi, José González, Mumford and Sons…”
You are a group that seems to be very connected with the human condition and with nature. And furthermore, far from seeming like a pose, in my opinion it defines your identity and brings authenticity to the musical project. Beyond the musical aspects, what is important to you and stand for?
MATM: “The choice to be vocal about our personal motivations and values came very naturally. The first song we ever wrote was inspired by a social incident in Catalunya, Spain. Nico and Andrea felt very strongly about the wrong policies that the government took against a big social movement, and they simply had to raise their voice about it. Since then, most songs are written with an intention of bringing awareness to different topics like the disappearance of coral reefs in the oceans, the enslavement of people in order to obtain certain materials for our daily use, or the unfairness of the treatment to people that need fleeing their countries because of extreme situations. The most recurring topic in the lyrics of Me & the Monster’s songs is the love and cry for the preservation of nature.”
After releasing a first EP in 2020, last spring you launched a crowdfunding campaign with a great video that obviously was a great success since you had 151 people who contributed with almost €10.000 surpassing the €8,000 goal you had initially set. How do you value the support received and how has it helped you?
MATM: “We find it very hard to talk about this topic. Even in a situation as bad as many people find themselves in these muddy times, 151 people chose to support our music and our values. This leaves us speechless. There’s not a lot more we can say to it besides how infinitely thankful we are not only to every single one of them, but also the people that weren’t able to pitch in, but still shared it everywhere and cheered for us until the end. All the rewards in the crowdfunding are not enough to give back to those people what they gave to us: a pass to accomplish our dreams. And that’s priceless.”
In the last weeks we have been able to listen to the first three singles of your debut album (In Motion, Keep It Up and Everything We Owe), what differences are we gonna find between the EP released in 2020 and the album you are about to release, on a musical level and as a group?
MATM: “Well, there are many differences between the two. Firstly, the new songs are also written with Niki, who wasn’t yet a member back when we wrote the EP. An immense difference is also that this album was recorded during a time when we were not allowed to rehearse as much as we used to. This means, many of the songs were written in an acoustic format, and only after being recorded, are being learned how to be played in a live format, by four members. Many of the things you hear in the recordings are impossible to reproduce in a live setting, which makes it a lot more interesting to go see in a live gig! To differentiate how a song can “live” in two diverse ways.”
“And finally, Emilio! Emilio is the producer of the album, and because of his techniques and his musical background, we were able to experiment a lot more with South American roots, including instruments and rhythmical patterns. His usual way of recording is analog, and this also brought a different vibration to us, even though we still recorded in digital.”
And precisely talking about the new album, on April 23rd you are going to be able to present it live in a concert in 'House of Music' which looks like a special one. What can we expect from this concert?
MATM: “Anything. This upcoming concert is going to be a very special one. We don’t want to give away too many details, so all we can say is that we hope to see you there!”
To start finishing this questionnaire, festnoise is about music but we pay special attention to music festivals so in this regard, do you have any good, bad or fun memories of experiences in a music festival you want to share?
MATM: “SLOT ART festival 2018 is without a doubt one to mention. A long drive to a festival in the south of Poland that turned out to be very religion-oriented. We had absolutely no idea of what we were getting into. Someone even tried to heal one of our backs by applying a spell! We were definitely surprised, but everyone treated us greatly and we can only be thankful to the beautiful crowd.”
Which are your favorite festivals as music fans and in which ones do you dream of playing at?
MATM: “Lollapalooza has been a dream since we started playing together. Since it’s one of the only ones we’ve been to together, along with Reeperbahn, those would probably be our highlights.”
Find more information about ‘Me & the Monster’ by visiting their website and get tickets for their upcoming album release show here.
Cover photograph by Linda Schwarz
