The Urban Monks

The Urban Monks are out on a mission: To create meaningful and interesting pop music. "My hope," says Pete Oldridge, The Urban Monks songwriter "is to make something that can create positive change in people's hearts. I'm an aspiring 'Urban Monk' myself. My personal goal is to be a part of a fully sustainable community and to advocate for responsible consumption of resources. I think a lot of people feel like they can't do anything to change the way things are in society but a society is just a collection of individuals. if each individual took responsibility for his or her actions we'd see a real change."
The spirit of the 60's is alive and well in the music of this group of young men; and people are starting to listen. February 2008 saw the Monks debut album shoot to the top of the University of Waterloo radio chart as they worked to complete their first video.

How did The Urban Monks story begin?

In his final year of high school Pete and his four-man a cappella group were asked to open for a Saskatoon-based a cappella group touring in Ontario. This fortuitous meeting led to an almost two year stint with the Saskatoon-based group during which Pete traveled all over Canada honing his singing ability and beginning to write more mature songs. “It was such an amazing tour. It was great to be making a living through music. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do.”
Pete spent his time on the road preparing for the next logical step: forming his own band.

“I want people to be affected by my music. I think of how much music has helped me in my life. In my mind, there is nothing more beautiful or real than music. I definitely feel like we’re abusing the world with our current modus operandi and I want to draw attention to that in my songs. This album does a pretty decent job of conveying those messages...but just wait 'til the next one!”

Pete has signed on with the upstart label Boreal Forest Music Productions and created a beautiful record which tips a hat to his influences without robbing them. “I feel like we need a revival of the kind of music that Bob Dylan and The Beatles were creating. Dylan had a way of conveying a message so beautifully and The Beatles have this unparalleled success at creating beautiful and inventive song structures. I want to combine these elements. I have no illusions as to the feasibility of this….It’s not as though it’s an easy task but it’s what I’m going for.” The Urban Monks have been recognized for their efforts by the CBC who have been regularly playing their music across Canada: " You might call the URBAN MONKS of Stratford a 'green' band because its members aim to use music to raise awareness of environmental issues. Which isn't to say their tunes are 'good for you'...like, say, broccoli.
Quite the opposite. The group has an infectious pop sound, at times eerily like The Beatles."