Introducing | Montrose

We caught up with Bath pop-punk four piece Montrose.

As the band released their new EP ‘Monster Under The Bed’ with a slight change of sound, we caught up with frontman Jason Bishop to find out more about the band’s formation, their recent changes and plans for 2015.

Can you tell us more about how you guys got together?

Well, the idea formed in 2012 and a bunch of us who enjoyed this genre of music just decided to give it a go after jamming The Wonder Years and realising we wanted to play music like that!
We’ve had a few line-up changes down the line. Me and Sam are the only original members, however Jake was in the band for our first release. We’re now a four-piece instead of a five. Jake joined us just over a year ago, and Ben joined us a few months before we started recording our new EP. The current line-up has such a good dynamic and work ethic, and it’s just such a buzz for us at the moment.

How would you describe your recent change in sound?

We haven’t completely lost our pop punk edge, but we’ve definitely tried to refine our own sound a little bit more. We’re not necessarily trying to do anything game changing, just trying to find ourselves a little bit. We’ve matured musically, and gone for a ‘bigger’ and more refined sound. I guess it has a more rocky edge to it now, but still with those big choruses!

Was this something you always wanted to do with your music or did it come gradually as the band progressed?

I guess a bit of both really. Our first release we played a little bit safe because we just wanted to get ourselves out there. The new sound has happened gradually, for sure. I think that’s as we’ve progressed as songwriters and musicians too.

Did you find the writing process changed for this EP with a new sound in mind?

Nah, not really! We’ve always written songs in the same kind of way. Usually Sam will have an idea or a riff that sounds good, and he’ll record a quick demo and we’ll all work on it at band practice and make any changes we think we need or completely change the songs sometimes. We’ve found a way of writing that really works for us, and I can’t see that changing no matter how much our sound changes!

How long has your new EP, ‘Monster Under The Bed’, been in progress?

The two older songs on the EP (‘Blush’ and ‘The End Game’) were actually written not long after our first EP was released. We wanted to save those songs for a release that suited them more, and that’s how they ended up on this new EP! It’s been finished for a while and we actually finished recording it in March but wanted to push the release as best as we could! I’d say all in all over the space of a year on and off really.

Are there any tracks in particular that we should check out first?

If you’re a fan of our first EP, then ‘Fit For A King’ is closest to that style, but just bigger! The first single we released was ‘Underperformer’, and that has a really good music video so that’s worth a look (even if you put it on mute, haha) and my personal favourite is ‘Good Old Days’! The good thing with this EP is that there aren’t really any filler tracks. We wanted a release where every song could be a single, so that’s what we’ve gone for. That’s for you to decide though!

How would you describe a live set from Montrose?

A lot of energy! We always put a lot into our live shows, and Ben (bass) has a habit for jumping off the stage, or climbing things, etc. Apart from that though, we just look like we’re having a lot of fun. And we are! Musically speaking, we add a few little bits here and there but the sound is always close to the recordings. We make sure anything we record, we can actually bring to a live performance.

What do you guys have planned for the rest of 2015?

Get this EP out, and see where that takes us! We just want to play as many shows as we can all over the place, with as many great bands as possible! Hopefully, this is the year people start to sit up and take notice of us!

Anything else you wish to add?

Just thanks for giving us a chance to talk to you! Hope to see some new faces at a show!

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