Monolink is the sweet and honest entity that the live electronic music scene has been yearning for. The Berlin-based guitarist, singer and producer has his forthcoming album ‘Amniotic’ on the way, and we got a chance to sit down with him and talk about the record, his writing process, and dive deeper into the mastermind behind the Monolink project.
Monolink takes a plunge into the world of singing and lyricism with the new album, adding a much-needed layer of depth to his already profound songs.
With some high profile shows in the pipeline, including imminent sets at Lightning in a Bottle, and the world-famous Coachella, Linck is getting a chance to show a piece of his soul to the masses.
Check out what he has to say below:
Congratulations on your debut record! How does it feel to finally have a full body of work?
It feels good in many ways. One is being able to show the world what I’ve been working on over the last years, and to realize my idea of what an album can sound like.
But also to be free of it. Letting this go creates space to work on new things and move on. I already have so many new ideas in head.
It seems like singing is a pretty new part of your compositions, how has that transition been for you and do you think you’ll continue to sing on your music following this album?
Singing was probably the first way I ever made music and created sound in my life, and I’ve felt drawn to it since I can think. Until quite recently, all the music I made was built around singing and stories, so it’s not a new part of my compositions. It’s the other way around, my voice is the oldest part.
With the exploration of electronic music I did my first pieces without vocals, which was exciting for me to tell stories without the use of words. But eventually I’m too much interested in lyrics and and how they can speak to you, to stay away from it for too long.
On this album there is only one instrumental track, all the others have vocals and lyrics.
What is the message that you’re really trying to get across with “Swallow?”
It’s about the appreciation of beauty.
How does that message relate to the message behind the rest of the album?
I really don’t want to transmit any message with my album. Messages are constructed by the mind and I’m not interested in anyone’s “message” in music. I want to listen to art and real emotions, and that is something created elsewhere than the mind. When you listen to a song you can usually hear it right away if somebody was making up a message for it, or if the singer said exactly what he or she had to say. Because there was an urgency to say these things. This can still have a message then, but it’s individually created within the listener and not the artist I believe.
Is there anything that you want fans to know about this album or yourself that they don’t already know?
I just hope people enjoy listening to this, as much as I enjoyed making it.
When I look back on the music I made in my life, it’s interesting that often times the songs that stuck out the most for me at the time I made them, seemed to fade pretty quickly and get uninteresting. While those that seemed less important, start to shine and speak to me a lot more than at the time I made them. I feel like it always takes time to see if you actually created something of value or not. So now I’m really curious to see how I will feel about this album in 5 years, and which songs will still speak to me then. And to everyone else. We’ll see.
Monolink’s debut album ‘Amniotic’ is due April 20th via Embassy One. Stream “Swallow” below and keep an eye out for the ‘Amniotic’ next month.