Monique Barry

Sometimes when we’re lucky a cleverly crafted song has a story to tell, something universal and therefore easily identifiable to listeners. Open Road exceeds that goal by taking the listener on a new journey every time the song is played, a different nuance, gently nudges the listener in a new direction, deeper into the song. Ms. Barry’s voice is always a treat to listen to as her ethereal dreamy vocals are soul- transporting, but what makes this song an even bigger delight is the addition of background vocals by Emma Campbell, a 15 year old prodigy whose soaring voice and clean, pure tone compliment the lead in a perfect fit. Witness Monique Barry live at the Painted Lady June 16, 8 pm. for a CD release celebration, cover $5. Natasha Emery, Upbeat Entertainment - Natasha Emery of Upbeat Entertainment

Let me take a few moments to tell you all about a Toronto based singer songwriter called Monique Barry.

She has just released her 4th album (yes 4th), it's called WAKE and from it, here's a fabulous video to the track 'So Long'.
So, we love her new album and hope that it sells by the bucketload, are we going to let Monique go without interrogating her? of course we aren't, we asked her some very intellectual and deep questions that she had immense fun answering (she never said that but I bet she did), here's how it went….



Last time you used public transport and where did you go? On Tuesday I went to a piano lesson.

Last time you felt proud? Today, working with some kids that will be singing pop songs with my band at a club gig this weekend - Kid Pop Rocks.

What classic song do you wish you recorded and why? I love Bob Dylans "To Make You Feel My Love". Just a gorgeous seamless song.

Last movie you saw? The Hobbit 2

Last book you read? The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

What did you dream about last night? Can't say - too crazy.

Last time you cried? Watching the Netflix special 'Derek' with Ricky Gervais.

Biggest musical influence? Randy Newman/Chopin/Radiohead

Best gig you ever played? It's a tie between the album release for my latest work WAKE and the most recent gig I played at this intimate venue called Musideum - played an amazing grand (piano) and the band was just incredible.

Best band/artist of 2013? Don't really have a favorite. Different songs for different ailments.

Last time you had a fight? Just before the holidays.

Best advice you ever received and who was it from? My friend Terry O'Brien called me to his office when he was Vice President of Pubishing for BMG music - I'd sent him in a live recording I'd done of songs from my first album - pre-release. He told me I was unlikely to get a deal as I didn't really follow the rules of pop song composition and wasn't cookie cutter enough but told me to keep doing what I was doing because it was unique and cool and had a place. I've never stopped and never will. Terry aka Anomalous Disturbances, now plays ambient guitar on my albums. I am so thankful for that advice and encouragement.

Largest amount spent in a single purchase? (excluding houses) Home Studio



We then went 'full on gangsta' on her and hit her with some quick fire questions…..



Regular or decaff? Regular!

Coke or Pepsi? Only really drank Coke when I was in labour. I guess Coke it is.

Mac or PC? Mac and PC

Holidays - Hot or Cold? Hot

Big Mac or Whopper? I'm a vegetarian (so that's a veggie Whopper then?)

CD or Vinyl? CD

Car or Motorbike? Car - standard only!

Cat or Dog? Both

Acoustic or Electric? (Guitar) Own a Danelectro - it's an acoustic/electric.

Angelina or Jennifer? Have no idea. Don't know enough about either of them to say.

Full English Breakfast (bacon/eggs/mushrooms/toast etc) or Cereal? Full Breakfast but with fake meat or better yet Eggs Florentine.

Starbucks or Costa? Not sure what Costa is. Local coffee joints with fair trade coffee. Strong Americano!



So there you have it folks, an interview with the uber talented Monique Barry from Toronto, warts an' all !! (well, not so many warts but I feel that we now know a little more about her and can probably approach her in the street and mention this and she would remember….maybe!) Oh, I also deduce from the above that they don't have COSTA stores in Canada, for those non UK people, COSTA is a chain of coffee shop, a bit like Starbucks.

So, we love her new album and hope that it sells by the bucketload, are we going to let Monique go without interrogating her? of course we aren't, we asked her some very intellectual and deep questions that she had immense fun answering (she never said that but I bet she did), here's how it went….



Last time you used public transport and where did you go? On Tuesday I went to a piano lesson.

Last time you felt proud? Today, working with some kids that will be singing pop songs with my band at a club gig this weekend - Kid Pop Rocks.

What classic song do you wish you recorded and why? I love Bob Dylans "To Make You Feel My Love". Just a gorgeous seamless song.

Last movie you saw? The Hobbit 2

Last book you read? The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

What did you dream about last night? Can't say - too crazy.

Last time you cried? Watching the Netflix special 'Derek' with Ricky Gervais.

Biggest musical influence? Randy Newman/Chopin/Radiohead

Best gig you ever played? It's a tie between the album release for my latest work WAKE and the most recent gig I played at this intimate venue called Musideum - played an amazing grand (piano) and the band was just incredible.

Best band/artist of 2013? Don't really have a favorite. Different songs for different ailments.

Last time you had a fight? Just before the holidays.

Best advice you ever received and who was it from? My friend Terry O'Brien called me to his office when he was Vice President of Pubishing for BMG music - I'd sent him in a live recording I'd done of songs from my first album - pre-release. He told me I was unlikely to get a deal as I didn't really follow the rules of pop song composition and wasn't cookie cutter enough but told me to keep doing what I was doing because it was unique and cool and had a place. I've never stopped and never will. Terry aka Anomalous Disturbances, now plays ambient guitar on my albums. I am so thankful for that advice and encouragement.

Largest amount spent in a single purchase? (excluding houses) Home Studio



We then went 'full on gangsta' on her and hit her with some quick fire questions…..



Regular or decaff? Regular!

Coke or Pepsi? Only really drank Coke when I was in labour. I guess Coke it is.

Mac or PC? Mac and PC

Holidays - Hot or Cold? Hot

Big Mac or Whopper? I'm a vegetarian (so that's a veggie Whopper then?)

CD or Vinyl? CD

Car or Motorbike? Car - standard only!

Cat or Dog? Both

Acoustic or Electric? (Guitar) Own a Danelectro - it's an acoustic/electric.

Angelina or Jennifer? Have no idea. Don't know enough about either of them to say.

Full English Breakfast (bacon/eggs/mushrooms/toast etc) or Cereal? Full Breakfast but with fake meat or better yet Eggs Florentine.

Starbucks or Costa? Not sure what Costa is. Local coffee joints with fair trade coffee. Strong Americano!



So there you have it folks, an interview with the uber talented Monique Barry from Toronto, warts an' all !! (well, not so many warts but I feel that we now know a little more about her and can probably approach her in the street and mention this and she would remember….maybe!) Oh, I also deduce from the above that they don't have COSTA stores in Canada, for those non UK people, COSTA is a chain of coffee shop, a bit like Starbucks.

Don't go just yet, as below I have embedded some tracks that Monique has shared on Soundcloud, be a darling and go take a look around at her site too, all her social media addresses are at the bottom. - Music Muso

This is the fourth album from singer/songwriter Monique Barry, and a worthy follow-up to 2009's Carbon. The classically-trained Barry has a pure and ethereal voice (Enya is a reference point) that frames emotionally eloquent compositions that dig deep lyrically and feature adventurous arrangements. She co-produced the album with Andis Raibacis at Barenaked Lady Jim Creeggan's Lobb Street Studio, while Patrick Ballantyne contributes four co-writes. Dedicated to a departed love one, "So Long" is a suitably haunting six minute elegy, while "My Best Guess" is a sweet duet with Ballantyne. Perceptive social commentary is provided on "Wash Over Me". Barry has a May 9 show at Toronto's Painted Lady. - New Canadian Music - Kerry Doole

This week's Extra Gems.
We receive hundreds of tracks a month at Fresh On The Net and - as I explained in a recent blog post: freshonthenet.co.uk/2013/08/listeni…g-to-the-inbox/ - there's only room for 25 tracks on our Listening Post each week and even fewer on my BBC Mixtape. Inevitably I get to hear loads more interesting tracks (in all kinds of styles) that we simply can't fit in. So here's a further 25 personal favourites from the past few weeks for your listening pleasure this weekend. I hope you'll like them as much as I did...

Enjoy
--
Tom Robinson

01. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME - Broken Clocks
02. MONIQUE BARRY - So Long
03. MUSICBYJAM - Andromeda 2297
04. WINTERFALLE - I Know
05. AKIINE - Frid
06. QUIET AS A MOUSE - Accident Waiting To Happen
07. BEN SEE - Balloon Tree (remix)
08. THE BLUEBEAT ARKESTRA - Zero
09. JON WOODE - Meaningless Meaningless
10. WILLIE DICK - Hug Me
11. FORTHAVEN - Sneaker (feat. EMMA ROSE)
12. THE TRIPDOWN PROJECT - Hiding From My Past
13. KATHRYN SAWERS - The Why What, Baby?
14. MAURO DE MARTINO - Behind
15. HEAVY PETTING ZOO - Hunger
16. GHOSTS OF FORTUNE - Resolve
17. LO FIVE - Ridin' On Air
18. MARINA FLORANCE - The Moon
19. LYON APPRENTICE - I Will Find You
20. SIÔN RUSSELL JONES - One Last Dance
21. LEAVING RICHMOND - Metro Trains
22. JUPITER FALLS -They Say
23. OLA SZMIDT feat. ANDREW KEEBLE - Elephants Above
24. EWAN HOOZAMI - Moneylenders
25. HARTS - Leavn It All Behind - Tom Robinson

“The classically-trained Barry has a pure and ethereal voice (Enya is a reference point) that frames emotionally eloquent compositions that dig deep lyrically and feature adventurous arrangements.” ~Kerry Doole, New Canadian Music

Earlier this year Toronto indie singer/songwriter Monique Barry released her 4th album, called 'Wake', and she's off to a great start, with her track 'Forgive Me' being added to the in-store playlist at Chapters/Indigo stores across Canada.

If you're looking to an alternative to the usual top 40 offerings and are in the mood for something different, dreamscape-like, trance and ambient, this is an album worth checking out.

Check out the album here

Here is the video for her single 'So Long'... - Consuelo Bernardi - Yummy Mummy Club

The Artists’ Garden Cooperative Plein Air salon concert series recently presented a performance by Monique Barry as part of their summer series. Monique is a pioneer of the independent music scene, and is a well recognized figure in Toronto's clubs. She has performed at the Toronto Jazz Festival, Fresh Wednesdays, Gabriola Island Dancing Man Festival, Winterfolk, and many others. The weather was perfect for the concert, and the audience enjoyed a wonderful musical evening in the garden venue. For more information please visit www.artistsgardencoop.com - SNAP Magazine

http://moniquebarry.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/02MoniqueParkdaleNewsArticle1.pdf - Parkdale News - Erin Hatfield

http://moniquebarry.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/may27-10-festival-RElease1.pdf - One Sheet

Singer-songwriter Monique Barry takes her artistry to new levels with the release of Tripping, her atmospheric new CD in which escapism meets the ambient. A songand-soundscape meditation on the themes of freedom, imprisonment, and escape, Tripping brings together an eclectic mix of musical approaches, audio layerings, andseductive vocalizing.

Hailed for her "hypnotic mystique" (eye magazine) and "a dynamic vocal range" (The Independent Weekly), Monique steps past the intriguing minimalism of her debut CD, the 1998 campus airplay favorite moody. This time she gathers up an ambitious range of styles, including folk, lounge, rock, classical, ambient soundscaping, and techno pop. The result: a work of musical diversity and emotional directness not quite like anything else.

A major contributor to Tripping's mood and richness is ambient maestro Terry O'Brien (aka Anomalous Disturbances), who drifts into the mix with a series of
electronically modified guitar improvisations and floating sonics, adding an otherworldly framework to this 13-track collection.

Also on hand are some of Canada's most dynamic musicians, including vibrant folk rocker Lindy Vopnfjord; bassist Maury Lafoy of The Supers, renown for his edgy pop smarts; and Daniel Barnes and Mark Mariash, drum wizards extraordinaire.

Exploring the dangers that loom when affection and alienation occupy the same reality, Tripping dramatizes a wealth of cumulative emotions. And each song offers its own distinctive vision that confirms and contradicts in the same moment.

In the title tune, the safe retreat of "your vacation away" becomes an inviting trap, with beachside whitecaps transforming into ambient waves.

In "Blue", a lament on the certainty of failure, delicate strings and piano work give way to crashing guitars and fatalistic harmonies.
With "A Passing Affair", Monique joins the great ladies of cocktail culture and flirts her way through an invocation of vintage Hollywood romance, assured and yearning, slinky and childlike.

And there's her salute to family history, "Hi, It's Mom", a combo of sound collage and time capsule knick-knacks in which even an answering machine becomes a musical collaborator.

Monique also pays tribute to Randy Newman, her favorite composer, in a rendition of his gentle 1981 gem "One More Hour", from the film Ragtime, with Monique's Dad in charge of piano.

A vacation away from the constrained and conventional, Tripping is a new creative journey by one of the most innovative artists in today's independent music scene.

- by Michael Leo

It's open-diary time on Moody, but local songstress Monique Barry is far more bewitching when she's building her mysteries instead of revealing them. With piano-violin frameworks, track like "Your Little Soul" and "Shut Up and Listen" evoke the minimalist yet emotionally rich structures of Astral Weeks in their slow, repetitious ascension, conjuring a hypnotic mystique that is lost when Barry tries to cram the maximum amount of syllables into one couplet ("I Wouldn't Trade You for the World"). The two approaches, however, coalesce effectively on "Away", which prefaces climactic, shrieking verses with wordless hamonizing and ominous thunderstorm ambience. Proof that Alanis Morissette and Diamanda Galas can co-exist in perfect harmony. Stuart Berman - eye magazine

With only seven tracks on this release, local artist Monique Barry has chosen to dignify each song with an element of sadness. Moody is a reflective work of vocal art, soaring to angelic heights with the accompaniment of a single violin and piano section. The songs are strikingly rich in harmonic undertones and each track boasts a maturity beyond the level of most indepedent releases.

As the songs become darker, Monique capitalizes on her dynamic vocal range, causing the gentle melodies to leap into your heart. The most intoxicating single is "Your Little Soul", a tender lullaby, fraught with despair and ruin. She has the ability to squeeze just the right emotion, whether you care to let her or not.

Unfortunately, the album stumbles lyrically. Overly burdered songs, like "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World", are messy. Barry is best at expressing thematic structure with her music than with her prose. Despite this shortcoming, it is still a fascinating performance, and one that will hopefully not be lost inside the vast independent scene. Steve Krickovic - The Independent Weekly

A dark seven-song wonder, moody translates into a myriad of delicious sounds and shadows, at different times mellow, passionate, quiet, melancholic, harsh, lilting and ancient. But it's always bewitching. "Away" is Enya-esque in vocals and reminiscent of Celtic ages past, with waves crashing and lapping under a beautiful piano-thumping rhythm. "Da" is also lovely in its harmonic, repetitive simplicity; lacking lyrics is not a disadvantage. Indeed, it is a pleasant diversion, albeit a reluctant recovery after the hard-biting, edgy , most impressive track, "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" which sounds like the brainchild of Tori Amos and Alanis Morrissette. Violin and clarinet compliment strong piano playing and in-your-face singing. Barry's pitch is compelling, shooting arrows of bitterness and soulfulness from all sides. Low self-esteem and issues of inadequacy are thematic, as well as co-dependent relationship frustrations and addicitons. "Shut Up and Listen" is the weakest track, sounding like a drawn-out nineteenth century ditty from a soiree in a Jane Austen novel. Overall, though, moody is a smart, self-aware, biting piece of transcendence. It's blessedly neurotic and unsettled, similar to Sylvia Plath with a mic. An incentive to stay off the anti-depressants. TS - RHiG Magazine

Alanis-like lyrics co-existing with McLachlan-like music?

Singer, songwriter, and pianist Monique Barry shows that this contradiction is harmoniously possible in her independent album, Moody. Displaying a mastery of minimalism, Barry combines her unsettled thoughts with classic piano and violin. This is highlighted in "Away", where wordless vocals, piano, and the ominous sound of rolling waves combine to create an atmosphere of moody mellowness. Other songs, like "Drunk & Scared" and "I Wouldn't Trade You for the World" are a little more intense, but they never stray far from the simple premise of floating vocals over harmonious instrumentals. Although it's the kind of music that is non-intrusive, the lyrics are worth a second listen as they deal with issues of inner conflict and self-image in an almost stream-of-consciousness kind of way.

Whether you find yourself with a need to relax, a need to vent, or a need to contemplate, this is a useful CD to have around. By Kim Meredith - The Queens' Journal

If Joan Baez, Karen Carpenter, and Nico could have spawned a child together, it might have been Monique Barry. Her moods run from bruised blue to introspective indigo to the tiptoe shades of the whitest dawn. Singing of modern tensions, age-old transgressions, and obessions that become habits, Monique's musical moods ring, swing, and trigger emotions that jump out of corners. Both suburban siren and inner city critic, she gets audiences in the mood for songs of all shades and dimensions, combining classical structures, minimalist flourishes, and pop perspectives, singing with a glint like serrated crystal. - Michael Leo