2x the Mono

At Groundswell Friday for a Lo-Fi Christmas

BY Maija Hoggett, Staff December 01, 2009 11:12

Former Alliston residents Regan and Randell Neudorf are returning this weekend for a Christmas concert.

This Friday's stop at Groundswell Coffeehouse for the Newdorfs' band 2x the Mono is part of their Lo-Fi Christmas tour. The album Lo-Fi Christmas, featuring original Christmas tunes, was released last year.

The show at Groundswell, located at 96 Victoria St. W., starts at 8 p.m. People are asked to pay what they can for admission.

Along with their Christmas music, 2x the Mono will be performing songs from their upcoming CD, Art Rock and Science Fiction.

Regan lived in Alliston and graduated from Banting Memorial High School in 1999, while Randell moved to the area around the time his brother graduated and worked at Honda of Canada Mfg. up until four years ago.

Today Randell lives in Hamilton while Regan is nearby in Caledonia.

"It's been great having Regan living so close to Hamilton. He adds so much to the way 2x the Mono sounds. It is so much fun playing music together. It is a lot like when we use to have jam sessions at our parent's house in Alliston growing up (except we fight less now that we are well out of our teenage angst years," said Randell.

Randell said Hamilton is the perfect area for 2x the Mono to be playing their music and making a name for themselves. In 2008 the band was nominated for a Hamilton Music Award, after being in that scene for three years.

For more information on 2x the Mono and the Lo-Fi Christmas tour visit www.myspace.com/2xthemono.

To see this article and photo in it's original form go to: http://www.allistonherald.com/allistonherald/article/150973 - Alliston Herald

There is a real fan base growing for 2x the Mono’s mix of synthetic textures layered in amongst organic traditional instruments. The one man band looping project for Randell Neudorf has mutated over the last few years and this weekend takes on quite possibly its most unlikely turn towards holiday music with a CD entitled Lo-Fi Christmas.

“I was surprised at first as an adult when I started meeting people who didn’t like Christmas,” muses Neudorf on the impetus for his new. “I always knew that Christmas could be a hard time of year for some people but I think Christmas is the one time of the year that feels like magic. I wanted people to catch my genuine excitement for Christmas through my music. This isn’t a traditional Christmas CD, it’s a 2x the Mono CD. This isn’t just some tacky holiday grab bag of Christmas fluff that sometimes passes as Christmas music; it is a concept album that is themed around Christmas.

Spurred by his convictions and an unbridled love of the season, Neudorf slowly crafted a collection of songs over the last few years. Taking influence from the likes of Starflyer 59 and more obviously Sufjan Stevens, Neudorf offers a quirky and very off beat collection of songs without the clichés normally associated with the music and fashions an all original Christmas concept album that he hopes anyone can enjoy any time of year.

“I would be surprised if a group of carolers ever came to my door and started singing one of my songs in-between Frosty and What Child Is This but it would be cool if that did happen,” laughs Neudorf. “I think what 2x The Mono is doing is filling in the holes in the canon of Christmas songs. It is precisely because my songs take a wider view of what is Christmas music – both sonically and lyrically - that they will be able to be played year after year.”

With brother Regan Neudorf on bass, glockenspiel, synthesizer and Adrian McFarlane (Ophelia Syndrome and The Entertainment) on drums, Neudorf expands the very concept of the way he makes music by bringing a live band for a Christmas show and CD release complete with old Christmas movies projected onto the band while they’re playing.

“I’m really looking forward to this concert. 2x the Mono,” smiles Neudorf. “In the past, it’s been a one man looping show but for the first time we will be performing as a three piece band. I have always tried to have a really full sound despite performing as one person. With a full band we can build up the crazy sounds a little faster than one person layering instrument on top of instrument. This feels like a second beginning for 2x The Mono, and I think people will be proud to say they were there to witness something new.”

The CD Release Party for Lo-Fi Christmas is on Friday November 28 at The Frwy Coffee House with The Wilson Family Forgery and Matt Henderson. Things get underway at 8pm and it’s a pay-what-you-can event. The Lo-Fi Christmas album is available as a download from discrevolt.com - Ric Taylor: Facebook Note for CFMU 93.3 appearance

IT SURPRISED US to hear that Hamilton mainstay 2X The Mono - birth certificate: Randell Neudorf - created his sophomore effort, Sound Sketches, completely by accident. The Buzz surrounding the collection of electronic songs notes that they sound intentional, collective and thematic all at once. But accident it was. Neudorf says, in fact, he couldn’t be further from his original intentions if he tried. “My second album was supposed to be a Christmas album of all original material that sounds sonically closer to my first release (that album will be coming out in December). I had about half the tracks done when I started experimenting with some ambient electronic sounds.”

“Live had gotten stressful and I found these electronic improvisations very relaxing and cathartic. One night I decided to record on of these improvisations and when I listened back to the track I got really excited and started overdubbing more and more sounds over the Chaos until a melody was pulled out. That first recorded experiment is the last song on the album. I didn’t know I was working on an album, I just kept telling myself that maybe I would use these as bonus tracks on a future project. The process of making these “sound sketches” became so addictive that before I knew it, I had a whole new album of material”

2X The Mono’s first release was decidedly art rock, a musical concept that hooked many fans, local and beyond, but Sound Sketches is mostly instrumental electronica. Neudorf wasn’t worried about the shift; he looks forward to people getting into his self-described “robot space invader” sound, thanks to his vocorder, synths and ambient loop tracks. “One big evolution is that , whenever you heard keyboards and drum loops on the first disk, they are intentionally lo-fi, being done almost entirely on cheap little cassios found at garage sales.”

The synth featured on Sound Sketches is a Micro Korg, a great little synth that has given me a lot more sonic options and a ton of real time control. The other evolution is that the beats have jumped up a notch. I made a lot of the beats with a Roland drum machine, and performed a number of the beats in real time instead of just relying on pre programmed loops. What has stayed the same is that I gravitate towards retro sounds. The retro elements have just morphed from organs and reverb washed guitars into moog like blips and bleeps.”

“These songs can stand on their own,” continues 2X The Mono on whether listeners need to be well-versed in the previous sound to “get” the new effort. “They are kind of like abstract paintings; you don’t have to own the whole collection at the gallery to enjoy the one you bought to go over your sofa.”

If art rock vs. ambient electronica wasn’t evolution enough, there will be another big change with Neudorf on this release, but this time at the merch table. Joining the Disc Revolt Team, 2X The Mono will release Sound Sketches as a downloadable format. Those interested will be able to purchase a download card – like a credit card – that is pre-loaded with a code to take home and acquire the tunes via the Internet. Neudorf is happy to wax poetic on the reason behind the change, nodding to the inevitable and exciting direction the industry is taking, and the unique opportunities that technology offers musicians for their distribution and sales. “I still buy CDs; I love vinyl and I even own an 8-Track player so I’m not a download fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. Last summer I went to a “how to make a living as a musician seminar” that was sponsored by Disc Revolt. I learnt a lot over the four day seminar and was introduced to the Disc Revolt product.

“I know downloads are becoming the dominant format choice for many people, but as a gigging indie artist, what I saw in the download cards was simplicity. They could be sold for cash at a concert, no Visa or Internet transactions; no hoping your new fan can find your MP3 product after they get home late form the club. Most upcoming musicians sell the majority of their music live and until download cards; MP3s just weren’t practical in a live context.”

“I love CDs and it is very cool to hold a finished disc, for me the download card bridges the gap between CDs and MP3s,” continues Neudorf. “The download cards can become collectable; they look like little back stage passes that a fan can hang on their wall or a back pack. It creates the physical component you get with a traditional release. Will I ever release another CD! Of course I will! But for now it is really exciting to be part of something new, something fresh; (it’s) an experimental format for my experimental Sound Sketches.” V [KATIE MAIN]
- VIEW, AUGUST 14-20, 2008

2X THE MONO
Randell Neudorf moved to Hamilton with his wife and two children
two years ago from the small town of Alliston. After developing
tendonitis during his tenure working at a Honda factory, the
family was looking for a new start and the day they arrived in
Hamilton, he found The Freeway Coffee House was looking for a
manager that was into the arts, music and social justice. Things
couldn’t have worked out better for the family.
Neudorf has since developed one of the city’s more eclectic
venues and befriended a host of like minded performers. This
weekend, he offers his own music with a new CD release under
the moniker 2x The Mono.
“I am a songwriter, but I needed the 2x the Mono name for
the performance to give a clue to my sound,” explains Neudorf. “A
lot of bands I listen to – like Half Handed Cloud, Starflyer 59, Joy
Electric – are actually just one guy so it seemed natural to me.
“I’ve never cared about learning covers, picking up a guitar
for me was never about learning songs; it was always about
learning chords, riffs, scales, anything that might become a song.
I tried the singer/songwriter thing for a while and never really felt
comfortable playing under my own name. I choose the name 2x
the Mono when I started playing live again because I was all about
recording and mixing at the time and I wanted people to know
that this guy with an acoustic guitar wasn’t just another folk
singer.”
Neudorf is set to create an impression on stage and off,
incorporating guitars, a Hammond organ, and a host of other
instruments through a loop station, with a mono tape recorder
that adds ambient sound effects, retro commercials, and radio
static into a single mélange of song.
“It is a wash of melody and dramatic noise,” offers Neudorf.
“I think people who like stuff that is a little quirky or experimental
would like my stuff, but there is something for most people.
People who like Sufjan Stevens, Beck, Talking Heads, Neil Young,
all seem to like what I do. Looping is becoming really popular
with a lot of solo artists right now, so I always try to push the
limit of what my loops are doing. It is about trying to create a
feeling; it’s about cutting the loop dead at just the right moment
to go form a wall of sound to a single note.”
While a solo act by design, on the Stereo EP, 2x the Mono
also showcases brother Regan Neudorf on bass. A band may
some day be in the works, but for the time being, Neudorf has a
wealth of material written and an intense need to perform his art.
There are a couple of concept albums in the works and even an all
original Christmas album, but with his work at the Freeway,
Neudorf is excited to continue performing and promoting urban
renewal and social justice, visual arts, and music in Hamilton.
“Being part of The Freeway has really jump started my music
career,” smiles Neudorf. “I have met so many people that I feel a
real artistic connection to. Living and working in Hamilton has
also really inspired me. Everyone has a story, and the people I’ve
met downtown have rich stories, deep pains, lots of joy and
beautiful souls. Working at The Freeway has let me also meet all
kinds of people.
“I do listen to a lot of different music and have always
jumped between a lot of sounds and textures,” adds the musician
on his own personal musical motif. “As 2x the Mono I consciously
decided to try and fuse all those styles by always leap–frogging
between acoustic and electronic within the songs or from song to
song. I also try to blur the use of what acoustic and electronic
instruments are usually used for. Any of the heavy songs always
has a twangy jaw–harp over the drum machine holding the beat
down. I am always trying to explore that contrast between noise
and folk, but both are very organic for me. I’m all about juxtapositions.”
The 2x the Mono CD release party happens Friday August 17
at The Freeway Coffee House, with Timothy David and Kenny
MacInnis. The pay–what–you–can event kicks off at 8pm.

Article by: Ric Taylor - View Magazine