Interview with guitarist Edward Ricart and drummer Joe Barker | By Thomas Pizzola
Monotrope are a new instrumental post-rock band comprised of scene veterans, guitarist Edward Ricart, bassist Matthew Taylor, guitarist Dan Wilson, and drummer Joe Barker, who come together to merge the heavy with the heady. On their debut album, Unifying Receiver—which was released on Ricart’s New Atlantis Records, along with Sleeping Giant Glossolalia, on Nov. 10—the band deliver a master class in the art of making passionate, complex, and exciting instrumental music.
Their formation was quite organic. “My last band was winding down after a few years of really intense work, and I wasn’t sure what to do next. I started sending demo ideas to Matthew, Dan, and Joe, really just looking to share ideas as they happened,” Ricart says. “Joe’s last band, Unraze, was essentially a solo project, and I was really blown away by how much he was able to accomplish on his own: tracking drums, layering guitar, and then maybe bringing in friends to add vocals or additional guitar lines. I was assuming I would try to chart a similar course, but everyone came onboard for this project really organically, and the four of us suddenly became Monotrope.”
Barker confirms that they were just excited to find each other, whether or not they were playing vocal-less music. “At least, from my point of view, it’s been challenging enough over the years to find likeminded musicians to create with,” he says, “especially with the fairly specific style and tonal interests we’re steering towards. Vocals always seemed to be the last hurdle to rounding off a band lineup. If it happened, it’d generally be someone just giving it a shot, for better or worse. And there’s actually a ton of bands I dig that have these vocals that are really ‘challenging,’ but I’ve somehow just tuned them out, because the music is amazing—and, after all, it’s punk! I love good vocals, but they can really make or break a band for me, even if the vocalist technically is a great singer.”
“For Monotrope, we were just psyched enough to find each other, and none of us were into the idea of ‘just giving it a shot’ to the detriment of the music,” Barker adds. “Who knows, though? I heard a demo Ed sent me once with some nice, delicate little vocal lines, and it kinda reminded me of Jason Noble [of Rodan], one of our favorite vocalists.”
Monotrope’s members are spread out all over the country. When it came time record Unifying Receiver, this proved to be a bit of a challenge, but one the band conquered through sheer will and determination. “For this record, we assembled for a couple days of concentrated practice, went on a quick tour, and then, went into the studio to record together,” Ricart says. “In one sense, the distance has forced us to be really focused and efficient when we’re together. Frankly, practicing often doesn’t always equate to tangible growth or progress in the short-run, and it can also lead to feeling burned out doing something that should be fun, exciting, communal bliss. We were able to really hit a stride very early on, and we basically made this record after four days of practice and a handful of shows.”
The fruits of their labor show up on the recording, as Unifying Receiver is an excellent first shot from the band. It deserves to be heard by all fans of progressive heavy music. But Monotrope aren’t finished just yet. “We do have a new batch of songs ready to go, but now, we need to write and do our independent legwork to make the arrangements happen,” Ricart says. “I don’t want to set expectations and burn anybody out, but I’m also really excited to hear the next record. Whereas most of the music for Unifying Receiver was written in isolation, the new stuff is all written with these players in mind, with the intention of pushing Monotrope a bit further and covering new sonic ground.”
“I think the plan is to meet a few times over the next few months, ideally tour again, and record in March with Jason LaFarge at Seizures Palace in Brooklyn,” he continues. “I think we all plan on hitting Europe at some point, and we’ve been talking about finding someone to tour with in the U.S. too. We also have a double-7” split on the way [with] one unreleased side each from various Monotrope-related bands: Hyrrokkin, Unraze, Bellini, and Monotrope.”
Purchase Unifying Receiver here
Photo by Jay Divinigracia
