Altsounds - The Lowdown: Steve Aiello from Monty Are I

Take an American band from out-of-the-way Rhode Island. A band with alternative, indie roots. A hard-working, touring band who got together more than a decade ago, have 4 album releases to date and over a million visitor hits on their MySpace page alone. Then sign them to Island Records.

There's a lot riding on the success of "Break Through The Silence," the first album by Monty Are I since they signed to the major label. The band are launching the album at a gig in Rhode Island on 9 October in advance of an extensive US tour.

Altsounds.com caught up with lead singer, Steve Aiello, as he was preparing for the upcoming event;

Altsounds: Greetings men from Monty! You've a big home gig & new album launch coming up in a couple of days, so no pressure then! If you have any worries about the Rhode Island launch gig what might they be?

Steve Aiello: We have a couple of really fun surprises for the audience that involve guest musicians on stage, an insane light show, and some other extras. I hope that everything we've worked so hard on goes as planned and is really well received by our home town crowd. We always put so much effort and thought into what the audience might want for a special occasion such as this. We are going to have a lot of fun and we hope the crowd does too - they never disappoint us.

Altsounds: Congratulations on the new album. I've only recently come to your music and much as I appreciate what I've heard of your earlier work it seems to me that "Break Through the Silence" has a more multi-layered, finished sound; I personally love the big brass and strings sound you've added to the mix. How much are these developments due to your new relationship with Island?

Steve Aiello: This aspect of our music and Island are pretty much disconnected. I would attribute this multi-layered and polished sound to the goals that we, as a band, wanted to achieve during the recording process. Of course the sound also has something to do with our producers and engineers, but we are always really involved in the recording process and have always had a strong vision for what we want our band to sound like on record. We scrutinize every tone, part, drum beat, panning of vocal effects, etc. Island only encouraged us more to push the sonic limit.

Altsounds: Do you primarily consider yourselves musicians or performers?

Steve Aiello: What a great question! First and foremost, we do think of ourselves as musicians considering we are really "band geeks" at heart. Everyone in Monty Are I was in a marching band in high school. Me and Ryan were even band presidents and Andrew was first chair trombone for our All State Band. So, yes, I would consider ourselves musicians. And some bands would prefer to stop just there. For Monty Are I, our live show has been an important part of our band - I think we have turned a large portion of our fan base onto our band through our live show. It is and always has been a huge asset. This is why we do consider ourselves performers as well. For example, when we play this Friday night for our Record Release show, we are not just going to go on stage and play our songs - we are going to give the audience a show they will never forget. That is the goal every night whether we are playing in front of 1 person or 10,000 people - We try to always perform as if we were playing to a stadium full of Monty Are I fans.

Altsounds: You started out as independent indie rockers, self promoting and releasing. So much must have changed as a result of signing to a big, well known label; what's that meant to you?

Steve Aiello: Many times I look back at what we have done as a group of 5 guys from little Rhode Island. I understand it is not much at all compared to many bands out there in the industry - every step we have taken has been a small step, but a step forward nonetheless. And this something that I am extremely proud of. Although it seems like things may come easy now, it's actually not true. We have not abandoned our "indie rocker, self promoting" ideals - we still approach our band the same way we did 5 years ago - it is up to us to put the work in and make people join the Monty Are I army. Of course, to be able to finally get to this point where we have resources to create and release a record that we love has been a dream come true and is not taken for granted. This experience has taught us a lot about work ethic, music, determination, etc. These are invaluable things that we appreciate and will take with us for the rest of our lives.

Altsounds: There's a degree of sniggering that goes on in the UK about Battle of the Bands-type competitions. Monty has entered and won a few so clearly you feel positively. But what's the general attitude in the US to those types of competitions?

Steve Aiello: I'm not quite sure there is a stigma attached to the Battle Of The Bands competitions. Maybe because they mostly have not grown a band to instant fame like let's say American Idol does for pop singers. I think if that were to happen more often in the Battle Of The Bands competitions, then maybe more people would be against it. For the most part what these competitions did for us, and what they seem to do for other bands, is to create more opportunities, more stories to add to the bands line of work. If it means more going on for a band, then people will start to really pay attention.

Altsounds: Following your Rhode Island gig you'll be heading out on a big US tour and you've done plenty of touring in the past. What are the best / worst aspects of the tour experience?

Steve Aiello: Probably the worst thing about touring is the inconsistency of great food! Hah. Being from Rhode Island (largely Italian families!) we have some fantastic cuisine. It's tough to get a nice prosciutto "sangwich" at 2AM in Lawrence, Kansas. But 2AM in Rhody - hell, just open up your fridge and there it is. Of course we can't forget about missing the families, girlfriends, beautiful New England landscapes etc. Being on the road has great benefits too. We have played some of the best shows of our lives and amassed an insane fan base that would die for us - we are truly grateful for this! We have also been able to visit some amazing parts of this country and Canada - landmarks, national parks, beaches - you name it. And we've got the chance to meet some incredible people along the way that have turned from fan to friend. Touring has been an important experience for our band and for our personal lives.

Altsounds: Vans Warped Tours are more or less unheard of in the UK. Maybe you'd like to tell us a bit about them and what being involved in that experience meant to Monty?

Steve Aiello: Warped Tour has been one of the best tours we have ever done. It's really just a summer camp for bands -- it's a lot of fun. In our eyes, we've had much success because of the fact that the tour has between 15,000 and 20,000 possible Monty Are I fans. Those are pretty good numbers for a band like us. We have used this to our advantage and really turned it on every year to gain as many fans as possible by promoting our live show. I believe it has led to a lot of great things and opportunities - we have done the tour about 5 times.

Altsounds: What happens on tour stays on tour, or so it's said. But go on, tell us a tour secret ...!

Steve Aiello: When Mike, our bass player, gets really really drunk he turns into Sledge - the guy you want to hang around the whole night.

Altsounds: By now you must be used to playing to huge audiences but do you also enjoy the intimacy of smaller gigs?

Steve Aiello: Big audiences are always great for the ego, but the small shows are exciting because they are unpredictable! You never know you is going to get hit on stage with a guitar or who is going to get hit from a crowd surfer. The crowds at small shows are so much louder too - they can really feed off of our energy because we aren't separated by a huge stage. We are right there, together, in that moment - in an amazing moment connecting music and people.

Atsounds: For rockers Monty also delivers witty, intelligent lyrics, which definitely make your work more accessible to a wider audience (I'm pretty sure that as well as REALLY liking your sound I wouldn't still be listening if it wasn't for your lyrics). Who's responsible for the words and which comes first, words or music?

Steve Aiello: Thank you! I write almost all of the lyrics for Monty Are I. Usually vocal melodies and music come first and then lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics, vocal melody, and music all come at once. Those are usually the best parts of songs for me - when it happens instantaneously without premeditated thought. 'Break Through The Silence,' 'One in A Million,' and 'Convoy Of Angels' are examples of these creations on our newest record.

Altsounds: In the band, who has to have the last word?!

Steve Aiello: Ryan. Except this time - I have the last word. mwahahhaha!

Altsounds: And who has a habit the rest of you really can't stand..?!

Steve Aiello: Well, Andrew is sometimes forgetful, but it's more funny to us than anything else. Last week he locked me inside of our rehearsal space after saying goodbye to me, walking out, and then putting the pad lock on the door. He did it unintentionally of course. It was pretty funny.

Altsounds: We're all getting older. What effect do you feel that aging, having families, gaining wider life experience and so on, brings to your music?

Steve Aiello: I think it brings a whole new set of inspirational experiences - ones that do effect our music, but ones that maybe we didn't ever think would effect our music. None of us are married or have children, but I know from personal experience that ageing has definitely inspired some of the songs on our new record - 'Patriarch' and 'Making Sounds' for example. My grandfather and my two great uncles, people that meant a great deal to me, all passed away three years ago - 'Patriarch' is part inner thoughts of my family life now and part conversational with these men. They passed away 3 years ago, but I don't think I was able to write this song at that time. Even though only 2 years had passed since the song was written, I needed those 2 years of experience to be able to write everything I wanted to write - I did not want to force it. 'Making Sounds' is about our struggle over the many years and how our determination and our unity will bring us to success. Again, something that could not have been written until I was able to get to a certain point in my life where I could do the lyrics and themes justice. Although ageing isn't something that is really embraced by many people, it has definitely helped create better art. I guess the more we have experienced, the more we learn, which hopefully leads to greater music.

Altsounds: With the creativity demonstrated on "Break Through the Silence" and Island behind you, Monty Are I have the potential to become global. What difference would becoming international artists make to the way you live your lives and create your music?

Steve Aiello: If we reached huge global success, I believe that it would only help the art making process. I would personally love to travel the world and learn more about indigenous music. I think we would also love to learn how to play more instruments. That's the one thing that Monty Are I has always been really excited about - instrumentation. How do we incorporate interesting instrumentation into our music tastefully. Hopefully we have done that on this record, and hopefully, if we see much success, we can push this idea further. It would be great if we could also travel the world and maybe record somewhere else besides the states. I know a band like Muse has recorded in some beautiful places - I bet that's really inspiring and I'm sure it does nothing but aid in the process.

Altsounds: Any plans to come to the UK? Please ask your PR people to make sure AltSounds is kept informed!

Steve Aiello: We have been dying to come to the UK forever! We've heard great things about the shows and the crowds across the pond and it's something we would love to be a part of. We do have fans there, but we want to grow a lot over the next year in the UK. We can't wait to come say hi!

Monty Are I, formerly Monty's Fan Club, was named after the band leader at Cranston High School West, Rhode Island. Now, as the group stands poised on the brink of international stardom, Arthur Montanaro must surely be very proud of his marching boys.