monstahouse
monstahouse is a 3 piece band out of Sydney, blending together the perfect mixture of surf, grunge and indie hits out of their bedroom. Hazy Days Music thanks singer/songwriter Su-Ann for taking the time out and having a chat.
monstahouse has been around for a few years now, how has the band changed and developed over time from its first release? (Hot Chicken and Soup, Jan 2018) Su-Ann, your lyrics seem to flow with ease and are very catchy, how difficult is it to write and come up with these lyrics?
Originally monstahouse was a solo project, I wrote the EP “Hot Chicken and Soup” when I was 16 or 17 on my gap year. I was learning how to produce everything myself. I borrowed one of my neighbour’s old microphones, it was over a decade old and warped, it sounded horrible haha, that experience taught me a lot about producing and developing the sound I wanted to hear. While I was writing that EP, I was writing other songs as well, “Who The Hell” was written around that time as well and some other songs we still play today. The sound of “Hot Chicken and Soup” is more “indie, bedroom pop” which we have now evolved from with our new music. After releasing “Hot Chicken and Soup” I was nervous to put out other music, my writing style had changed and now I’m writing about myself almost like diary entries. That EP was written about other people or for other people and today those songs don’t feel as fulfilling, as it does writing about myself. “Hot Chicken and Soup” is still my most successful release to date, but I didn’t feel satisfied with it. Now my writing process is very different and I’m singing and writing about myself, it feels very liberating.
I’m from Singapore, the music scene over there is very different, it’s a lot of ballads, pop music and slow songs, I’d never be able to get anywhere with my music over there. The moment I moved to Australia, I started looking for band members, in Sydney the music scene is amazing, the variety of music that is available to go and see every night is something that would never be possible back home. My first bassist and drummer were people I met in Uni, my current bassist and drummer I’ve been friends with and met through friends since being here in Australia. It’s great, we connect really nicely, I’m still writing all the music, but with the lineup we have now I can explore a lot of different sounds and keep it interesting.
Demo Tapes EP is one of my favourite releases of 2019, could you tell us about your writing process for this EP and have you notice it evolve as you release more music? Did you run into any issues along the way? It’s a lot more surf punk than your other releases, was there an emphasis on pushing for that sound?
Writing “Demo Tapes” was scary, it's the first music I released where I have been completely writing about myself. This is all about me and all about my experiences, it’s quite fun to sing about, scary but liberating. That "surf punk" sound, I never pushed for it it just happened naturally. I was thinking about what’s is the most fun thing to do when you’re playing on stage, and that’s to jump, scream and shout. Playing these songs with energy behind them really get the crowd up and about and its the perfect way to start a show.
I kind of think with my writing, I fall into my stream of consciousness. I start with a good lyric, sometimes I hear a tune that goes with it immediately, and from there it grows, sometimes it doesn’t. That's when I have to Frankenstein the song together, trying different verses and chorus together. The best songs and crowd favourites are always the ones that come naturally. I find that my writing process has really developed, and now that it’s all written about myself and getting into this state it works perfectly with my writing style.
With COVID 19 forcing all of us to stay home, has monstahouse been working on any new projects? And can we expect to hear some new music? You weren’t fully happy with the sound quality of previous recordings, for these new releases, how will you avoid those issue from arising again?
We are currently recording a new single, but with the virus going on it is making it a bit difficult. I’m recording all the vocals and guitar in my bedroom, and our drummer is recording the drums in his granny flat, we are running into a little issue with the sound, it’s getting blown out way too much, so that’s something we’re currently trying to fix. On “Demo Tapes” that “low-fi, blown-out” sound was a stylistic choice and I think it fits well with those songs, however with this new single we want to be more articulate and tight, we will fix it, it’s just going to take a bit of time.
What’s planned for the rest of the year? How have you found your experience in the music scene?
We want to keep gigging and growing our fanbase. We are looking into merch and releasing more music, eventually moving from bedroom recordings and spending some time in the studio. I am constantly writing and working on new music and keeping our fans up to date on our socials. Before the virus, we played a few gigs at Sydney venue “Moshpit”, we have been chatting with them and keen to organise a show there whenever its possible and we are allowed to play gigs again. Recently we have had a DIY Sydney label reach out to us and are currently in talks and sorting that out, nothing is set in stone yet, but it’s exciting, you’ll definitely be seeing more of us soon.
I definitely would love to see more women in music. I can’t tell you how many gigs I’ve been to where it is literally all men, it’s just a bit scary sometimes, whenever you feel like you’re the odd one out, there’s a sense of vulnerability and a sense of alienation.
Follow and listen to monstahouse on Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud.