Bido Lito! Magazine | Issue 114 | June 2021

MONKS
Shedding their unassuming demeanor, the five-piece take a leap to their next phase atop a 1980s
electrical current.
Three out of five members of MONKS clamber
into the stylish garden booths in The Merchant.
There are jokes and chatter about whether it’s
too early to order a few drinks. Classic Northern
behaviour on a sunny day. For funky outfits alone, it’s
10 out of 10 stylish points from me, and straight away,
it’s clear that this was going to be an interview full of
laughter.
Starting out properly in 2018, Monks fuse various
influences of psychedelic rock, jazz, and dream-pop.
However, the band as we now know them might have
never happened.
“At first, I wasn’t convinced about joining the band. I
heard the first demo and thought we were crap,” guitarist
Nathan Johnson jokes. It’s the band’s witty banter with
no filter that makes them so enjoyable to be around. That
fun, feel-good approach evidently spills over into their
music, especially in their latest release, 100 Percent.
The notion of labour typifies the make-up of the
band. Each member has their own role and they remain
equal at all times. With only three members of Monks
next to me, the band doesn’t forget to mention trumpet
player Joe Fay and bassist Liam Daly.
18
After the two years of focusing on recording tracks
and booking shows, Monks have now begun to alter their
sound, all agreeing that it has “changed for the better”.
“We went down to Sheffield and recorded with Ross
Orton who worked on Arctic Monkeys’ AM album. He
had a big influence on the new sound and from that one
session, he inspired a lot of ideas for new songs,” singer
and guitarist George Pomford states. Drummer Kali
Diston-Jones nods in agreement, before adding how the
new sound has also been a learning curve for them.
“The collaboration with Ross came around when we
were on tour,” George starts. It was a telling moment,
they agreed, when discussing how they jumped at the
opportunity before doing their research. “We were
performing in London and someone’s manager from
someone’s label was there. Basically, it’s a ‘someone’s
aunt’s cousin’s dog’ situation where someone had a
connection and sorted the collaboration out,” he adds as
laughter erupts from the cousin’s dog comment.
“If you told 13-year-old me that I would be working
with someone who worked with Arctic Monkeys, I just
wouldn’t have believed you. The kid in me was being a
fanboy,” Nathan continues. The appreciation and respect
for the producer is clear as they’re grinning ear to ear
when discussing the trip to Sheffield. “It felt amazing to
work with someone like that, knowing he worked on AM
and that he also liked our demo.”
While basking in the summer sun, being ultimate
fanboys, and reminiscing about a demo that was
something George had done during his GCSEs, the
humour doesn’t die out. “My nan’s a bit critical, but she
liked the new song so we must be doing something
right,” Nathan reflects, as the topic shifts onto their debut
EP, set to be released this winter.
No longer recording with the live aspect in the back
of their minds, I ask the band how changing sound
has altered their songwriting and live performance
perspectives. “We are matching up a lot of bands that are
bigger than us now with how they incorporate backing
tracks and electronic sounds via SSD pads,” Kali begins.
“We’re not standing there thinking about how something
will sound live, we’re more thinking about how we can
add it to a backing track to amplify what we are doing
and to solidify the new direction we are taking.”
“And we’re going to try adding lights to our live
shows! We’ve had a lot of time to plan,” George excitedly