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The first time I saw The Monolators was at the Silverlake Lounge. I was there because The Ghost Kings were gracing us with some rock  that night, and The Monolators were playing after them. I was told they were great and to stick around, so I did and was then graced with rock from The Monolators. Since that show I’ve seen them a few times, including their record release show which I wrote about here. I then saw them on Halloween, and although they went on close to 1:00am, the lights were coming on because the bowling ally they were playing at didn’t know they were last, half the band had different members, they still gave 100% and sounded great.

Since 2002 they have been rocking the music scene in LA, keeping mostly to the Silverlake area as it’s “where it’s at” these days. I look forward to seeing what they’ll do in the near future, but until then here’s what singer Eli Chartkoff had to say about it all:

Indie Schmarm: Do you guys have a favorite show so far that you’ve played in LA?

Eli: That’s a little hard to say, there’s been a lot of great ones. Playing the Eagle Rock Music Festival was a blast. We played with Castledoor at the Echo last month and they joined us onstage with members of Flying Tourbillon Orchestra and Summer Darling for a ridiculously wonderful singalong/dance party at the end of the night (fortunately this was preserved on video for posterity); and we always always always love playing our first-Friday-of-the-month show at Mr. T’s, which is like home to us. Another show that was very important to us was our Halloween show from 2006 at The Cocaine, which was put on by LA Underground…we got to play with Airborne Toxic Event, Castledoor, The Shark That Ate My Friend, and Prs Hltn, Mthrfckrs all in the same night. It was inspired, a great show.

Indie Schmarm: I read that you guys played a Television tribute night. Did you play a record in its entirety? Or did you just cover your favorite songs?

Eli: It was a combined Television/New York Dolls tribute night; we didn’t play all of the Marquee Moon LP in its entirety (we don’t have the technical abilities to do that!), we played, I think, “Guiding Light” and “Elevation.” Unfortunately some members of the audience took exception to our interpretations of the songs, which differed from Television’s versions a bit. We also played “Jet Boy” by The Dolls on Hawaiian guitar. It was pretty funny.

Indie Schmarm: What are some of your favorite local bands you’ve run across?

Eli: That’s another hard one, because there are so many! We feel very fortunate to be part of the Los Angeles scene right now because there are so many strong local bands with cool people in them who have become our friends. If I tried to list them all I’m sure I’d leave some really wonderful ones out, but…we admire 8-Bit, Castledoor, The Mormons, The Henry Clay People, Airborne Toxic Event, The Sweet Hurt, Correatown, One Trick Pony, The Front, Idaho Falls, E>K>U>K, The Happy Hollows, The Transmissions, Wait Think Fast, I Make This Sound, Tenlons Fort, Ema And The Ghosts, The Breakups, Summer Darling, Amateurs, Kissing Cousins, The Shark That Ate My Friend… I know I’ve skipped some…oh, I don’t know if Rademacher counts because they’re technically from Fresno, but they play here so often they’re essentially local.

Indie Schmarm: The idea to make a 10″ for a release with a free download is a great idea and something not done these days by a DIY band. Is that something you’d do yourself again?

Eli: Yes, actually our plan (I don’t know if this will work out or not) is to release a series of 3 vinyl/downloadable EP’s. We’ve got one down so far, and we’re heading back to the studio to record the next one sometime in January. They’re expensive to make but they sound really good! I’m pretty much a vinyl junkie and I’ve dreamed about putting out a 10″ for years. Actually I’ve also thought about putting out a 78 rpm record, but people aren’t exactly clamouring for that particular format…

Indie Schmarm: What’s the plan for the next year?

Eli: Well, we love playing shows, and we got to play some really great ones in 2007, so we hope that continues for the next year–just trying to play to as many people as will listen. I’d like to put out more records, try for another tour, and basically keep moving until we collapse in a puddle of exhaustion. Oh, and I’d like to write a song with a hook as catchy as “Dancing Queen” or “Mony Mony.” I can dream, can’t I?

            We Fell Dead - The Monolators

 

End Scene,
Dan Tana