Mono Band Plots New Direction
Monday, April 09, 2007 - Source: Mike Farragher
Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’Riordan has been making her way around the media lately to promote the release of her new CD, which is set for a May release. While she seems to be active, the other Cranberries are not sitting on their hands during the band’s indefinite hiatus. Guitarist Noel Hogan has been working on the second release from Mono Band, the group he started with Ex-Theremin frontman Richard Walters.
On the first release, Hogan initially decided to work with various singers in order to give each track a different sound. Half-way through the album, however, Noel was sent a track by Oxford singer-songwriter Richard Walters. Upon listening to the track, Noel immediately called up Richard to ask if he was interested in recording a track for Mono Band's album. Mono Band is a mix of old and new, with familiar Cranberries pop hooks swimming through an engaging blend of electronica and world music textures. Through experimentation and computer programming, Mono Band was born a few years back, though the working demo Hogan is shopping around to record companies here in the States sounds more like a band. I caught up with Hogan in between record company meetings; here’s how it went.
I get the sense that this is the music you always wanted to make but maybe could not because of the constraints of the Cranberries sound. Is that fair to say?
NOEL: It’s a big experiment really. I had some ideas that would never would have worked with the Cranberries, so I rang up some people to make the music I was hearing in my head. We made a mix of electronics with a real band feel. There are some songs that have the classic guitar/drum/bass thing and there is an even percentage of that with
I have to ask the obligatory Cranberries reformation question..are you guys in touch? Have you heard Dolores’ CD?
NOEL: We left it three years ago and we agreed to go our separate ways and see where we go at some point. We may come out and do some things and there are no plans as such. I’ve heard 5 or 6 tracks, which are pretty cool. Her voice is so distinctinve that it sounds a bit like Cranberries. Obviously, Mike is my brother, so I see him almost daily. Ferg is working on an album with other people from Limerick.
Mono Band has some elements of rock in it, but it is primarily electronica. How does it feel to go off in any direction you want and what was the reaction of the Cranberries fan base?
NOEL: It’s nice to be the boos. Everyone looks at you and I’m looking around for support and say “sh*t, it’s on my shoulders.” So, that took getting used to and there are massive highs and lows. No offense to them, I was not aiming my music at Cranberies fans. We did the formula successfully for fourteen years. I really wanted to push myself. There is a time when you are in the mood for the Cranberries, and since I helped create that music, there is a sound that is you have that is always going to come through.
What’s the music scene in Limerick at the moment?
NOEL: It’s the best scene in a long time, It was in a sad scene with boy bands and club scenes taking over. Since then, there are a lot of kids into that thing and they switched back into real music again. Being in Limerick, there are tons of bands working now. In fact, I’m trying to set up a rehearsal space for all the bands that need it. There’s tons of stuff out there, and myspace really helps that. You can put it up online and suddenly you have global reach, which is great.
What’s next for Mono Band?
NOEL: I kind of worked with Richard Walters a lot more; we are writing songs and it became more of a band feel as opposed to two guys writing songs and inviting people in. We might even bring what we wrote out under a different name because I liked the Mono Band concept of inviting other musicians in. We have enough material for more than one album and we’re currently shopping it around.
