Introducing #178 - Monelise
Let us introduce you pop music genre-bending Monelise, who has just released her new single ‘Insane’, mixing a unique blend of nostalgia and futurism in her work. She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey Monelise - your new track ‘Insane’ is out, how does it feel to be putting out music during this troubling time for the creative industry?
It’s so interesting how prophetically music and songwriting plays out sometimes. When Insane was written this time last year, I had no idea what a year we all had coming up. Now that the song is coming out, the sentiments it carries— tension, uncertainty, a sense of “drowning”— in many ways describe what the pandemic and lockdown have triggered. Personally, I had times during the first extended lockdown when I felt “locked in” within myself. There was this sense of having to face the deepest, darkest parts of my inner world during that time. This was both scary and cathartic - precisely the experience embodied in Insane, albeit in a different context.
So, despite the strangeness of the times, it has never felt more appropriate to be putting my music out.
What is the track about?
Insane is a story of desire that is almost mystical in its intensity. It’s about feeling overpowered by something that has suddenly engulfed you and holds you in its grip. You know those times when something comes over you like a spell, and you almost don’t feel like yourself anymore? Then, when the intense phase passes, you “wake” as if from a dream. We have a word for it in Russian - “Navazhdeniye” (Наваждение) but an equivalent doesn’t seem to exist in English.
You did your Masters degree at Goldsmiths University, which is also where the likes of James Blake and Rosie Lowe studied. What was your masters in?
My Master’s Degree was in Popular Music.
Do you feel that your experience at Goldsmiths helped shape your sound as an artist?
Absolutely; my time at Goldsmiths was a pivotal point. It was probably the first time I started creating music that felt truly like “me”. It was fantastic being surrounded by classmates that consistently created super inspiring, thought-provoking music and to be able to share that with each other regularly. Our listening sessions and discussions together are some of my best memories ever. Goldsmiths pushed me to embrace the uniqueness of my sound and influences.
It was during your Masters that you created your live show ‘Hauntology’ - can you tell us a bit more about that?
For our final Masters project, we could make an album or put on a large-scale live show. I first wanted to make an album but was fortunately convinced otherwise by my tutors! I had already written much of the compositions during my year of studies, so for the live show I focused on weaving all the songs into one organic audio-visual story. The show was eventually conceptualised as a meeting of past, present and future. We had the acoustic instruments (grand piano, cello) on one side of the stage and the electronic ones (synths, Theremin, live electronics) on the other as I [literally and symbolically] “hovered” between them. In the intervals between the songs, a record player would provide haunting, grainy transitions that echoed previous melodies. There was a very cinematic, slightly gothic and theatrical nature to the whole experience. It was somehow quite hypnotic to be performing these songs as they suddenly took on a new life on stage - a bit like channeling!
How would you describe your music to someone? And who are your key musical influences?
I would describe my music as poetic, hypnotic and slightly mystical. I really love to dive deep and dissect fascinating, mysterious experiences in my songs. I think of it as finding beauty in the uncanny. This is what David Lynch, in my interpretation, does in many of his films. He is one of my key influences, and I love the songs he produced in collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti. I am also influenced by Kate Bush, Sevdaliza, and melancholic classical music - Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff.