The Monicans

The Monicans are a Perth band doing good. I talk to Paul (The Vocalist/Guitarist) of the band about it all so read on.

https://www.facebook.com/themonicans

1. Are you happy how things have gone for you so far?

Yes happy with what we’ve achieved as a band. We’ve played plenty of gigs and had touring experiences, as well as good times in the studio. Looking forward to release our first full album and see where it takes us as well.

2. What inspires you when writing music?

Hard to put it down to one thing, inspiration comes from everywhere. Sometimes it’ll be what’s happening internally, sometimes you can just hear a great tune or album and it inspires creativity. For me its a very subconscious process, just play the guitar and let things happen.

3. What is your latest song about?

I had this vision in my head of the sort of pivotal frontman (not myself of course), someone who gets up there and holds the crowd in the palm of their hands, for some reason it also made me think of a circus ringleader, the big boisterous entertainer. That’s basically what New Horizons is about.

4. What do you like about touring?

Playing to new audiences is a great buzz. Its always nice playing to regulars and people you know but there is something about having a crowd in front of you who need to be won over that makes playing gigs exciting.

5. How important to you is touring regional alongside touring the cities?

We’ve spent a lot of time touring all over the United Kingdom, and a lot of small towns between the usual big cities that gave us a good perspective on how much people appreciate you coming to their little pubs in their small towns. I think anyone who lives in Perth can relate to the small town feeling, we’re often left out when big bands tour, so really appreciate when bands make the effort.

6. What has been your favorite show to date?

We played the local Sheffield festival Tramlines, headlining one of the stages in a venue there called the Leadmill, it was one of the last shows we played in England and everyone was up for a good time, it was nuts. We haven’t managed to top that at home in Australia yet, but that’s the beauty of playing live, you never know what the next gig will bring.

7. How does social media help you as an artist?

ts huge these days, almost every aspect of being in a band is done through social media, from booking gigs to connecting with fans. Its changed the way bands can operate, mostly for the better I’d say, as you can connect with bands and people all over the world.

8. How important is connecting with your fans?

It’s fun to write and play music with each other, but at the end of the day getting response out of people is what it’s all about, so it’s very important to connect with people, music is connection.

9. If you could have any body in a video clip who would it be?

Miley Cyrus, she’s so hot right now.

10. What’s your favorite venue to play at?

We’re big fans of the Rosemount here in Perth, its got a great stage setup and its obvious they’ve put a lot of effort into making the whole venue a great place to both play and hang out and see bands. We’ve had some really good gigs there.

11. What does 2014 have in store for the band?

We’re finally releasing our first album, which is very exciting. We’re also looking at more gigging and hopefully going into record again later in the year.