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Interview with Rare Monk

January 25, 2014
Jon Berrien
Latest posts by Jon Berrien (see all)

 Portland based band Rare Monk, exude their love of 90s and indie rock music with experimental riffs and chill beats. With the recent release of their track “Splice”, they continue to impress and they should be on your music radar.

 Get to know them in our GroundSounds exclusive interview below. 

For those just discovering Rare Monk, can you tell us how you guys got together and formed the band? 

We formed while attending The University of Oregon in Eugene, OR in 2011 and played a bunch of bars and house shows before moving up to Portland in 2012 to pursue music more seriously. 

How did you guys decide on the name Rare Monk? 

We had a friend that used the phrase in social situations because he thought he had heard it in the movie Zoolander. We’re not entirely sure that it’s actually in the movie, but that’s technically the origin.

Can you tell us about the creative process and inspiration behind your latest track “Splice”? 

It started out with that bassline in the verse, we jammed on it a couple practices and basically decided to write a huge chorus around it. We write most of our songs through jamming. Someone brings in a riff or idea and we jam on it for a couple sessions and if everyone is feeling it we start to refine it. Dorian actually writes lyrics and vocal melodies after the instrumental is complete or near completion. We have been really focused on writing big expansive choruses and “Splice” is a great example of that.

You guys will be performing at  SXSW 2014, what are you guys looking forward to most at this music festival?

This will be the first time we will be performing as an official band. We’ve played unofficial showcases the last few years, so we’re looking forward to seeing what SXSW is all about as an official artists with wristbands and all of that. We are also staying in a hotel this year as opposed to sleeping in tents like we did the last few years, so that is definitely something we are looking forward to.

What is it about 90s and contemporary indie rock music that attracts you guys to this sound?

It’s funny, we get the 90’s influence a lot, but we really don’t actively listen to a ton of 90’s music. But we all grew up in the 90’s so I guess it has kind of subconsciously influenced us. We still listen to a lot of early Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, and Of Montreal , and I think they still play a big influence in the band.

What are you guys currently listening to?

Currently spinning in the Rare Monk tour van: Son Lux, Diarrhea Planet, Buke and Gase, Here We Go Magic, classical composers

What is one thing everyone should see and do in Portland? 

See a show at Doug Fir, one of our favorite venues!

Why is Portland so weird?

It’s really cheap to live in Portland and be an artist or a musician. So I think it draws some interesting or weird people who want to purse whatever they want inside of an accepting and artistic community

Can you tell us about recording your latest 7” at Wax LTD Studios? What was this experience like?

It was an amazing experience. Working with Wally and Wax LTD was an honor and a very influential learning experience. Being able to record in such a nice studio with such a prominent producer really brought the best out of everyone. We worked really hard over the course of three days and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

What can fans look forward to as 2014 begins? What are you guys currently working on?

2014 is going to be a busy year for us. We have been writing a lot and have a bunch of new songs demoed out that we hope we’ll get a chance to record this year. We will also be touring most of the year starting in March and are in the process of figuring out how to finance an overseas tour in Europe. I think this will be the busiest, most demanding year for us since we formed and we are all really excited to see what happens.

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