Featured Artist Interview: The Monolators

By Travis Woods

In our review for their newest album, Don’t Dance (review here), we described The Monolators and their music as a speed-addled charge of pulsing, punk-popped pop, one that mixes the catchy bubblegum of ‘50s rock and the headiness of ‘60s pop with the wild-eyed glow of ‘70s punk. Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Eli Chartkoff, his wife, drummer Mary Chartkoff, lead guitarist Tom Bogdon, and bassist Ashley Jex (aka Jax of Rock Insider and JAXART), the Monolators are one of the most reliable and frantically, consistently entertaining rock bands in the local music scene, even when they don’t close out a show with nine bassists and a massive gong.

Web in Front spoke recently with Eli Chartkoff about the band’s November residency (every Monday at Pehrspace), their new record (and why people won’t dance to it), and the Netherlands’ girl group answer to ABBA.

The Interview

Web in Front: How are you doing tonight?

Eli Chartkoff: We’re fine…getting ready for our second residency night. And making cake, of course

WiF: So you’re approaching your residency this month with a pretty conceptual and audacious theme—the Archeology of the Monolators—wherein each Monday you play a set that embodies the best of each major time/aesthetic period of the band from 2002 till now. What prompted the chronological approach?

Eli: Well, actually, the original idea wasn’t so much “the best” of each period, but rather the whole damn thing. Unfortunately a couple of songs did get left out, which I regret, because of time restraints.

But anyway–we’ve never done a residency before, so we’ve had a while to think about what we’d do that would keep people coming back each week. There didn’t seem to be much point in playing the same set every week, over and over…that would be lame. We have the advantage of having been around for a long time (by local band standards), 6 years, and we have a reasonably large catalog…we’ve done 3 LP’s now, 2 EP’s, and 2 singles, so there’s a lot of songs.

And we know that most people who come to see us now never saw us (or knew we existed) 3 or 4 years ago, let alone 6, so we thought we’d just pull out the old stuff, which would be new to almost everyone. And frankly we haven’t played virtually any of our very oldest stuff for years, so it was fun to revisit. We might start playing some of the old old ones again more regularly, I’m not sure.

At any rate, the result is that we’re doing an entirely new set list every week, no repeats. Plus there’s going to be a brand new song on the last week, one we’ve never played before.

WiF: Is that the Christmas song?

Eli: Yeah, “Hot Sleigh.” It’s on the Plastic Snow comp, so unless someone got that, they wouldn’t have heard it before. And we’ll play it relatively close to December, so it’s vaguely seasonal.

WiF: Was there any particular reason in choosing Pehrspace as your venue? It seemed like, for a bit, that the Echo had became the place to be for residency shows, at least for the scene bands in the summer.

Eli: That’s true, and we were lucky enough to play on a number of other bands’ residency nights at the Echo and at Spaceland, which was great.

There are a couple of reasons we chose Pehrspace…for one thing, it’s one of my very favorite places to play in Los Angeles…it’s all-ages, and there need to be more all-ages places here. It’s a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere, I always enjoy seeing bands there, so that was appealing.

But the main reason we chose that is because of Sean Carnage, who books the monday nights at Pehrspace. He books totally different bands than you’d normally get at the Echo or Spaceland…he’s more a part of the downtown/Smell noise and electronic scene. His nights have a really devoted following and they’re completely different crowds than the ones that typically come to the Silverlake/Echo park shows. We’re incredibly thankful that he decided to include us in some of his shows in the past. So after playing a couple of his shows, we asked him if he’d be willing to host us for a residency, and he very graciously said yes.

WiF: I was going to mention that the other bands playing are quite varied–it’s a nice breath of fresh air

Eli: Yes, exactly. We asked him to book the other bands playing on the night, in fact. That was really important to us, we wanted to have a different lineup than what you’d normally see at a local residency. This meant that we didn’t get to host a lot of our friends’ bands, bands that we love and we love to play with, and that’s sad. But what I hope is that people who might come to see us at Mr. T’s or Spaceland or wherever will come to Pehrspace and see something they’d never see otherwise.

WiF: That’s a good idea, I like that…

One thing that’s interesting about this residency is that the Monolators have had a few lineup changes over the years, and the Archeology sets will include previous members with the newer lineup that includes Bogdon and Jax. Is it surreal to have that kind of crashing of eras/members?

Eli: Yeah, it’s a little surreal, but at the same time I’d hoped to do this for a long time, re-unite all the people who’ve played in the band over the years. I’d actually hoped to get everyone, all members past and present, to play at the same time, but it didn’t work out unfortunately. But all of the members are represented over the course of the month.

It’s especially fun to play with our original guitarist, Mike, again. We’ve kept in touch since he left the band in 2005, but this is the first time we’ve played together since then, and it reminded us how much his guitar style shaped the overall sound of the band when we first started. When we were a trio, though, the sound was quite a bit more stripped down, and the residency version, with 5 people blasting away at once, isn’t quite the same thing–but I can still hear Mike’s guitar parts when I listen to the live recording, which is great.

I’m also looking forward to week three when Andy Bollas (who played bass before Jax) is going to join us, we’re going to have 2 basses on every song.

Stream “I Must Be Dreaming”

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WiF: That will be ridiculous.

By the way, the new record’s great—it’s just an unrestrained blast of hyperactive, get-down indieboogie. And yes, I said indieboogie.

So tell me about Don’t Dance…how’d the new record come to be?

Eli: Well, we have a goal (I don’t know how realistic) to put out a new record every year, and so it was just time…but by the time we started recording we had only a couple of new songs written. I’m afraid I’m not as prolific as I should be. So I did what I always do, which is panic at the last possible moment and write half the album in one little burst. Which is not really all that good of an idea, but at the same time some of the songs that came out of that are my favorites, of course.

Anyway, Mary and I had been listening to a lot of ’70s-era disco and space disco records, things like Amanda Lear and Sylvia Love, and we wanted the new record to reflect that, so that’s where the indieboogie comes in.

Also ABBA. I’ve been listening to a lot of ABBA, and some of the pop bands of the era that tried to rip off ABBA, like say the Netherlands’ answer to ABBA, which was a girl group called Luv’. That record’s a big favorite in our household.

WiF: You know, the song “Don’t Dance” is great—remix/reprise included—but there’s something about “I Must Be Dreaming” that stands out as the album’s quintessential track…that warped blur of ‘50s rock, ‘60s pop and ‘70s punk splashed with jittery indie; for me, it’s slowly eclipsing a few other, older tracks to become the definitive Monolators song.

You should make one of those stop-gap cash-in records with, like, 25 remixes of just that one song. You could call in favors from Aphex Twin, Afrika Bambaataa and the Thievery Corporation to all try their hand at it…

Eli: Oh man, that would be so great… Seriously, it wouldn’t be a cash-in to us, it would make us really happy! So if any of you remixers out there are listening…

WiF: The Don’t Dance release party at Spaceland was quite a spectacle…You must have set a record for the number of bassists on their stage for a single night. What was that show like for you?

Eli: I loved it, and I can’t believe nobody figured out that we had a gong onstage until we pulled it out, that was hilarious. We were just trying to put on a show that would be as maximum fun as possible–thus the gong and the sitar and the 9 bassists. We’ve been doing 2 basses on that song for years now, and then we tried three…and then someone else would have 3 basses at their show…so then we tried 4…and then someone else would have 4…so we decided to up the ante.

WiF: It seems that with that set, and with the Pehrspace residency, you’re intentionally bringing a sense of spectacle to your live show…it’s nice to see that level of exuberance, despite the fact that the Monolators were already one of the more exuberant live shows around…Is that a conscious decision on your part, to give the shows a special stamp like that?

Eli: Spectacle, I think, can be tricky.

Because we want to put on A SHOW. We’re not the kind of band that just stands up there and plays our songs and looks all mopey and down. Not that that’s a bad thing, sometimes you want that–but that’s not, generally, what we are. So we try to think of things that will make the shows an event, whether it’s way too many bassists, or an animal mascot, or playing all older material–we’re trying to make the shows memorable.

At the same time, it’s easy to cross the line and make the shows and music just a vehicle for theatrics, and that’s a difficult thing to navigate. I see bands that have sets and casts of extras and elaborate costumes and think, hmmm, could they play a convincing show without all of this extra stuff? And we hope that we could play a show in a basement somewhere with just us, drums, guitars, and bass, and not make it boring.

WiF: Let’s go backwards—how did the band form?

Eli: Okay, when I met Mary in 2000, she was playing in a band with Mike, our original guitar player, and another guy named Henry. I believe they were called Hmm (as in, Henry, Mike, and Mary), which is a great great name.

WiF: That’s clever

Eli: But, they never actually played shows outside of their garage or their living room, and when Mary and I met, we decided that we wanted to play shows in clubs. I’d been in a lot of bands over the years (I think the count is 11 or 12, I’m not sure) but none of them managed to play more than 3 shows without breaking up. But the idea of playing shows out in front of audiences was so stressful that Hmm broke up. Mary and I formed a new band, which was originally called Lonely 451 (after a favorite website of ours, an online personals ad that we identified with) and Mike asked to join us. And then Lonely 451 morphed into the Monolators after we decided we didn’t want to be a “number” band, like Blink 182 or whatever.

WiF: Are you the principle songwriter for the band? How does a song come together?

Stream “You Look Good On the Train”

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Eli: Yeah, I do most of the writing, although Tom co-wrote “I Keep Knocking” with me. I have a little notebook that I use to write down little phrases and lines that I think would make good lyrics, just things that I overhear in everyday conversation. And then I have a little voice recorder that I use to record ideas for melodies when they pop in my head. I’ll let those sit for a while and then listen back to them, and most of them will be useless but there will be a couple that actually seem to work. So then I’ll go through my notebook and try to find words that will fit the rhythm of the tune.

WiF: A lot of people, including me, have mentioned names that go from Buddy Holly to the Ramones when describing your music… That said, who do you look up to, artistically, or see as an influence on your work?

Eli: Buddy Holly is definitely a huge influence. The Ramones, I like the Ramones but I don’t really listen to them much. Although the rest of the CBGB’s scene of the 70’s is a big influence, Talking Heads and Blondie especially.

When I was a kid I listened to the Beatles obsessively, and I don’t listen to them anymore (I pretty much o.d.’d) but I’m sure that influence is still in there. But it took me a long long time to get over the idea that not everything has to sound like it could be a Beatles song to be good…stupid, I know, but sometimes people think these things.

WiF: I’ve always been more of a Stones guys myself.

Eli: Okay, I love the Stones, but I love the ‘66-’67 era when they tried to be poppy.

WiF: Yeah, Aftermath and Between the Buttons are great records…

Eli: I like that the most, the “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadows” thing, because it’s weird but also super catchy.

But yeah, I really try to avoid the Beatles as much as possible now.

WiF: I could totally see/hear the Monolators covering “Mother.”

Eli: Oh yeah, that’d be great!

Anyway, I try to avoid listening to anything at all from the 60’s now, as much as possible, because that’s sort of my comfort zone, and I’ve been trying to break out of that. Soul stuff like Booker T and the MG’s and Wilson Pickett excepted.

And then another band that I discovered only within about the last 3 years or so is Pulp, and they had a huge huge impact.

WiF: This is Hardcore–I love that album.

Eli: Yeah, and I also love the Sister EP that came out before Different Class. I’m sort of obsessed with it.

WiF: That’s the EP with “Babies,” right?

Eli: Yes!

WiF: Good one.

Do you plan to lay low for awhile after the residency, or do you have more immediate plans for the band?

Eli: Well, we have something up our sleeves that I’ve been working on for a while, but Mary made me promise to keep it under wraps.

Laying low for us is like playing 3 times a month instead of 5 or 6. We’re going to try to keep it down to once a month here in town, but we’re also going to try to play more outside of Los Angeles as much as possible, so say once a month in town, and then hit Long Beach and Orange County…as much as budget allows.

We’re also trying to save up for some dates in Europe, but I’m unclear if we’re going to do that this summer or next. That’s going to cost a gigantic mountain of money going up to the sky, but we still really want to do it.

WiF: That would be great…

Finally, Eli, why don’t people dance?

Eli: Good question.

People are self-conscious. If everyone else is dancing, then it’s not so hard to join in, but it takes a very special person indeed to be the one to bust loose. So generally most people don’t want people to look at them while they’re dancing, unless they’re Prince or someone. So they don’t dance.

I dunno, why do you think people don’t dance? (I should mention that people do indeed dance at Sean Carnage nights, which is another reason why they’re awesome).

WiF: I once read something on Stuff White People Like that most people, when at concerts, are convinced that EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT THEM and not the band onstage, which is weird.

And I don’t dance because I suck at it in the most awkward and caucasoid way.

Eli: Okay, let me say that I am a bad dancer myself. I am really clumsy and I have no sweet moves, but listen, people! When everybody dances and forgets all of their hangups, then everyone has a better time! Plus it makes the band happy.

We played with Rademacher up in Fresno, to (I think) the entire hipster population of Fresno, like 15 people. And they danced like mofos! And to us, it was like this epic 2 hour show to 2,000 people, it was so sweet. It was like a bolt of lightning. Dancing makes everything seem HUGE. Like I remember going into the Echo for the very first time, which was to see Moving Units, and the place was just a madhouse, it seemed like it was this vast cavern with 500 people in there, all dancing. And then I went back later and it was empty and kind of tiny.

So just remember: DANCING MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER.

SO DOES CAKE.

Favorite Songs

Eli: “I Was A Captain In The Army”

It’s off of the Our Tears Have Wings cd. It was pretty much the first time I tried writing a serious song that actually meant something to me, rather than just being goofy and writing about kittens and stuff–not that goofy is bad, but I wanted to challenge myself, and it was very, very hard to write. In fact, I just heard it played in a club last night, and after not hearing it for a long time, I’m still proud of it.

Mary: “This Is Goodbye”

Picked because it’s about me and I’m all egocentric like that.

Rare Tracks

The Monolators were generous enough to lend us two tracks, both of which were recorded live last Monday on the first night of their residency. Enjoy!

Eli: The first is “Spandex Hitman,” which is the first song we ever recorded, and we played it twice, so here’s both versions. The second is “She Got Beat Up By The Floating Eye,” which is a song from our first full-length cd, “Rejection Set Me Free.”

November 10, 2008 | Filed Under Exclusive Features, Featured Artist Interviews 

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