Monet Madrid Madagascar

Monet Madrid Madagascar is a rock band from Ohio that has been logging the miles lately doing tours around America. I have heard from more than a few people that have seen them live that they are a highly energetic group to see in concert. I have no doubt after hearing this 3-song demo that they released in 2004.
The group shows a varied style in their music, which reminds me of bands like Fugazi, Bad Religion and many other hard rocking bands.
You can download all three songs for free at the PureVolume site and be sure to check the MySpace page to get info on when and where they are playing next. Be sure to look them up, they are worth the listen.
- http://www.entertainmentnutz.com

Q. Who are you and what do you do in the band?
A. I'm Matt and I play bass.
Q. How did you come up with the name, Monet, Madrid Madagascar?
A. The name is akin to things like William Burroughs, Getrude Stein, kind of like the cut up things or cubist writing. Basically putting things together that you normally wouldn't see together. The way someone's mind takes things and the varying results that come from that, hopefully everyone will get something different out of it.
Q. I see where you are playing plenty of shows all over the mid-west. What can we expect from a live performance from the band?
A. I think our goal while playing live is to put on the most entertaining show possible yet still have the music come through. We all have a good time but Ryan (vocals) and Sean (korg stuff) are definitely the most entertaining, it's a completely different experience than just listening to a recording.
Q. Are there any plans for any upcoming releases?
A. Yea, we're actually going to Chicago mid may to record our first full length. We're just putting it all out ourselves and then touring for as long as we can from it, just kind of making something happen for yourself I guess.
Q. Who are some of your influences both musically and non-musically?
A. This answer, obviously, would be different for everyone, but for me I've been listening to a lot of classic rock stuff. I'm really into Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and some Bob Dylan at the moment. As for non-music influences I guess a lot of writers, basically whoever I'm reading at the moment, Dostoyevsky or Dave Eggers right now.
Q. If you could be anyone in world history who would you be? Why?
A. I think I'd probably be myself, I can't even think about "being" an actual other person. I suppose it wouldn't even be me being that person, it would just be that person and I wouldn't have experienced at all. That is a messed up question.
Q. What are you listening to in your home/car stereo?
A. I've actually been listening to the radio for a while, my cd player is horrible. I'll just scan through the stations and try to listen to each one for like 5 minutes.
http://www.monetmadridmadagscar.com
http://www.myspace.com/monetmadridmadagsacar
Note: See the review for their 3-song demo in Issue #9

- http://www.entertainmentnutz.com

Monet.Madrid.Madagascar.
If Manatees Had Trunks (www.monetmadridmadagascar.com)
By D.X. Ferris

Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2005


Monet.Madrid.Madagascar. will play the Vans Warped Tour next week, but don't let that give you the wrong impression. The Cleveland sextet isn't punk by a long shot. But the group is good enough that the powers that be gave them a shot -- which, in the shady business of rock, is rare and remarkable.

Monet.Madrid.Madagascar. takes its cue from the first word in its moniker. Its impressionist pop is more jazz than rock, and more blues than jazz. But the group still rocks -- albeit prettily. Like the completely inappropriately titled "John Wilkes Beatbox," most of the MMM's songs are the kind of atmospheric, ethereal lounge music that would sound best in an empty club, echoing in a smoky room. With an electric backbone and unplugged frame, the band even adds a touch of prog to swing numbers like the title cut. If Monet.Madrid.Madagascar. can team up with Xela for an acoustic show, they'll make the entire city shake.
- Cleveland Scene

A hot day turns torrid at the Ernie Ball Stage.
By Jason Bracelin

Published: Wednesday, July 27, 2005


He was the first dude we've ever seen play a keyboard with his face. In the back of a converted cargo truck, Sean, synth player for Monet Madrid Madagascar, mashed his instrument into his cheeks. Then he held it behind his head, running his fingers over the keys like an indie-rock Yngwie Malmsteen.

It wasn't even noon yet, and already Sean was covered in so much sweat that it looked as if he'd finished a shift at U.S. Steel. He and his bandmates were playing the mobile Ernie Ball Stage, located near the entrance of the Tower City Amphitheater at this year's Warped Tour. The stage was parked between a batting cage and an Army recruitment table, where a guy in military fatigues handed out mini-American flags. Taking in the show on the smoldering asphalt felt like standing on a giant griddle, but it was worth the sunburn.

One of Warped's best attractions, the Ernie Ball Stage -- sponsored by the music equipment retailer -- gives up-and-coming locals a chance to test their mettle on one of the summer's biggest tours. The bands were selected by Ernie Ball employees from 138 regional submissions. The Ernie Ball Stage travels to every stop on the tour, and fans can vote for their favorite groups at www.battleofthebands.com. The top four bands at the end of Warped's run will win gear from Mesa/Boogie, Zildjian, Boss, and others. In addition, all bands' sets are taped for judging by a panel that includes Flogging Molly bassist Nathan Maxwell and Story of the Year guitarist Phil Sneed, among others. They'll select four acts to play a showcase before industry and label representatives in Hollywood this fall.

One of four regional bands selected, MMM's sound diverged from what you'd expect at punk rock's biggest annual tour. An impressionistic pop band with jazz and post-rock leanings, the group intercut bright, obtuse melodies with herky-jerky rhythms. The band's unbounded art rock brought to mind Oberlin's Skeletons, another troupe of forward-thinking popsters keeping Pere Ubu's legacy alive with free-range rock and roll.

The coed Cleveland quintet's stage presence was nearly as manic as its music. Singer Ryan fluttered about the stage like a leaf caught in a stiff breeze, spinning around and around and kicking high into the air. From his knees, Sean pounded the stage with a maraca before banging on a tambourine with a pair of drumsticks. Keyboardist Teresa took it all in with a smile and a swing of the hips. As they played, an initial crowd of around 20 swelled to three times that....(on to other bands) - Cleveland Scene

Review of "If Manatees Had Trunks"
by Shawn Gaines
July 13, 2005:

Cleveland natives Monet Madrid Madagascar expend a lot of energy on clever song titles, such as "Hello Dali" to "John Wilkes Beatbox", while infusing their music with many styles. The mainstream rock sound probably accounts for why the band will play more than 50 cities (including the Cleveland stop of the Warped Tour) this summer. It's upbeat guitar-and-vocal-driven melodies are catchy and fairly easy to tap your toes to. They falter a bit when things slow down, as in "And So Continues the Slow Retreat..." but manage to recover quickly thanks to Ryan Cunningham's strong vocals in what seems to be the track's sequel "...To the Pocket Watch Rhythm." The music is quirky and fun displaying possible links to everyone from Santana to Bowling For Soup.

- Cleveland Free Times

by Chris Rager
Published September 7, 2005

"...Monet Madrid Madagascar also borrowed from the Bixler-Zavala/Rodriguez think tank of the Mars Volta. However the band was musical and inventive in its own right. Constantly utilizing every one of its six members, including two keyboardists, a bassist, a guitarist, a vocalist and a drummer, the group had energy and a refined approach that put it a cut above your average local outfit. Monet Madrid Madagascar garnered an enthusiastic response from its hometown crowd and hopefully earned some more fans after its smooth performance."
- Cleveland Free Times

Drifty, vague, slow rock... MMM is that particular kind of music with slurred vocals and random guitaring. It works to a great effect. The piecey anger and flowing, slight sounds...it's vague. I can't say this is my favorite kind of music because I've never really heard much of it before, and anyway I tend to prefer punker stuff anyway, but as strange as it sounds, their crazy, floaty, vague sound actually works. I have a feeling music like this shouldn't work, but it does. It's interesting and slightly eccentric but interesting nevertheless. It's moody and angry and depressed and psycho and forlorn, all at once in varying proportions in different songs. And then they jump in after awhile of non-psycho-ness with some kind of crazy, biting hard rock. It's intense. They mesh together a whole lot of different types of sounds that probably wouldn't normally work together, and it does work. Somehow.
Verdict: Eccentric but kinda fun...try em and decide for yourself...

MMM ep has been released and an album is being recorded right now.

www.myspace.com/monetmadridmadagascar

www.monetmadridmadagascar.com

The band's favorite CDs:
ryan (vocals)- the arcade fire - funeral
zack (guitars) - john zorn - spillane
warner (bass) - pink floyd - darkside of the moon
gump (drums) - these arms are snakes - oxeneers....
teresa (piano) - the doors - s/t
sean (synth, noise) - at the drive in - in/casino/out - Kaleidoscopezine

Northeast Ohio musicians have their day at CWRU's annual fest.
By Cris Glaser
Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Monet Madrid Madagascar means no disrespect by not padding its itinerary with as many hometown gigs as its fans would like. But when the sextet formed in the spring of 2003, it came to a conclusion: It would rather zigzag the country with its impressionist mix of rock, jazz, and electronica than become too content just jamming around Cleveland.

"It's not that we prefer playing the rest of the U.S. to Cleveland," says Matt Warner, the band's bassist. "But at this growing stage, it's just time to push ourselves, get out of our comfort zone, and see what happens."

They learned the rigors of touring this summer, as they loaded up their bus for lounge and tavern bookings from the upper Midwest to the Carolina coastline. "It's extremely tough to get noticed on a local, regional, and especially national level," says Warner. "We're trying to work on and balance all of them."

The band plays a rare home date on Saturday for Studio-A-Rama, the annual outdoor fest sponsored by Case Western Reserve's campus radio station WRUW-FM 91.1. This year, the daylong bill includes headliners Magnolia Electric Co. (an Indiana group led by former Clevelander Jason Molina) and eight Northeast Ohio bands, including the Avatars, Rare Blend, and 20goto10. "The students are really hyped up about it," says organizer Melissa Giglio, who hosts the two-hour Bluegrass Breakdown program every Monday evening. "This is one of the ways the campus community gives back to the local musicians who support us and vice versa."

Warner appreciates the sentiment. As much as he and his bandmates relish the nonstop traveling from town to town, they still consider Cleveland their home base, where they can try out new material. "We're trying to convey moods and life experiences through music that can't really be confined to nice, neat three-minute packaging," says Warner. "We do what feels right and natural, even if it takes us a while to understand what we're actually doing."

- Cleveland Scene/BigNewsNetwork.com

Swirling together electric indie-rock urgency and acoustic lounge-jazz ambience, Monet Madrid Madagascar is frenetic, eclectic and elegant. The group's debut album, "If Manatees Had Trunks" released in July, finds the Cleveland sextet turning tension into bliss, using a Fender Rhodes keyboard and electronic beats to fill the space between its extremes. The disc is subtle, while MMM's live performances are more agressive. Front man Ryan Cunningham croons about misspent days and howls about long nights, flailing to the band's manic rhythms. The group played its first show in January, and this summer it established itself as one of the cities busiest bands, developing chops in more than 40 out-of-town shows. When MMM is here, you're likely to catch them lighting up the Beachland Ballroom in Collinwood. And we highly recommend that you do so.
www.monetmadridmadagascar.com - Cleveland Magazine