MONO (Japan)

The Tokyo, Japan-based 4-piece Instrumental Rock band MONO was originally formed in 1999. Their unique approach of combining moving orchestral arrangements and shoegaze guitar noise is held in extremely high regard; so much so, that the band’s unique musicianship and diverse musical palette have eclipsed the Rock genre and exist within their own realm. As British Musical Magazine NME once stated, “this is music for the Gods”.

Over the first decade, MONO rapidly established a well-acclaimed status, especially with their live performances. Through their annual world tour consisting of around 150 shows, visiting now over 60 countries, both critics and fans of Rock music agree their sheer euphoric, dynamic resonance of performance makes MONO one of the best live bands in existence.

A particularly monumental early live memory was a special set of 10th anniversary shows, held with an orchestra, in New York, Tokyo, London and Melbourne; which was later immortalised as the live album “Holy Ground”. MONO now proudly holds the title of being one of the most internationally successful bands in Japan. For the respective anniversary show in Tokyo, they also had the pleasure of collaborating with NHK Symphony Orchestra master Fuminori Shinozaki.

Outside of the studio and live music, MONO has also made its name as a film score composer. After releasing 10 successful albums including a live album with an orchestra, the band received the highly regarded award The Marshall Hawkins Awards: Best Musical Score - Featurette from the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema for their collaborative short film “Where We Begin” in 2015, and the band was also nominated for Ariel Award for Best Original Music Score for the feature film “The 4th Company” which was released in 2016. In addition, the band handled the music for such media work as the feature film “All God’s Children Can Dance” written by Haruki Murakami, the original TV drama “Kanata No Ko” by Japan’s leading broadcasting network WOWOW, the feature film “Real Onigokko” written and directed by Sion Sono, and more.

In 2018, MONO began a new journey. After welcoming the new drummer Dahm, the band started to prepare for their second decade’s celebration and during this time, they received a special invitation to be one of the headliners of London’s Meltdown Festival, personally requested by the 2018’s curator Robert Smith of The Cure; an unforgettable gesture and honour for the band, from one of the band’s long-time inspirations. The stage was then shared with artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Mogwai and Deftones.

The band’s 20th anniversary was welcomed the following year. To commemorate this occasion, the 10th album “Nowhere Now Here” was released alongside a year-long world tour, consisting of 4 special orchestra shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London, ending in March 2020. One of the orchestra shows, held at the historic Barbican Hall in London, performed to a rapt sold-out audience of 2,000, was once again immortalised as a live album “Beyond the Past” which charted at #2 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Albums in the US.

Now, MONO enters the third decade. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the band starts production for a new album with one of the band’s longtime partners Steve Albini. The 11th new album, entitled “Pilgrimage of the Soul”, was released in September of the following year, which charted at #85 on Billboard’s General Album Sales in the US for the first time, and also charted #2 on Alternative New Artist Albums.

In 2022, the band starts on a new soundtrack work for the documentary film “My Story, the Buraku Story”, directed by Yusaku Mitsuwaka. After nationwide premieres the same year, the film was awarded first place in the Cultural Film Award at the 96th Kinema Junpo Best Ten.

2024 marks the 25th anniversary of MONO. To celebrate this occasion, the band will release their 12th new album entitled “OATH” on June 14. The album was produced again with the band's longtime partner, Steve Albini.