Merci Miss Monroe

Merci Miss Monroe, the Italian band behind the latest Movement videos on PlayStation Store, talk to us about their music.

The band takes its name from three words beginning with the letter M, three words everyone knows. Merci Miss Monroe formed on the very last day of the year 2000 and since then have released two albums with Ghost Records.

How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?

This is one of the questions that a musician or a band should be used to answering - our music can be defined using the simple term rock and adding a hint of pop, a little bit of garage rock 'n' roll and definitely influenced by our power pop attitude.

Anyway our music is wholly analogue, with no electronic parts in it, quite straight to the point in an attempt of recreating simple basic feelings in the mind of the audience, such as love, fear, sadness, happiness, loneliness.

So, how did you get together?

It all started back when Matteo, guitar, Davide, vocals, and Fabio, bass, while playing with different bands, decided to start this new project just following their common musical taste. Our first songs came then very naturally, so that we had the material for our first album before we could have any live experience together. We had several problems finding the right person who could sit at the drum set; our current drummer seems finally to be the best solution we could ever find.

Who are your musical influences?

We took, and still take, advantages from the different influences that every single member of the band adds during the process of creating a new song. In our music we unintentionally melt down our two main influences, British pop and American indie rock, creating a fully personal sound that our fans recognise from the first note.

What subjects do you tackle in your lyrics?

The lyrics of the songs recorded in our first, self-titled album tackle themes that suited our age at the time we wrote the tracks: falling in love, growing up, building your own personality, having fun and so on. In the second album we developed a new style of writing lyrics, more personal and free, where the themes we touched remain almost the same but the words do not need to describe exactly a situation or a feeling so explicitly.

Your music is available through Movement (available on PlayStation Store); how are the Internet and downloads changing the face of the music industry?

The Internet should be considered as a new vehicle; useful to open your music to people that otherwise would have no option of enjoying it. The idea of fighting the possibility of dowloading free music from the net is very outdated and narrow-minded. We supported heavily the spread of our digital files through the net: as an effect, people sing along a lot more at our gig. It's a good feeling.

What do you think of the general perception of music from your country?

In Italy we have a great history of classical musicians that are still the highlight of our musical production. In the last century Italy discovered modern music far later when compared to other countries like, for instance, the UK. It's a pleasure to see that indie music is lately growing up; we still have to cope with the mainstream scene that, in our country, tends to suffocate new musical spirits.

Are you touring this year or will you be doing any festivals?

We did tour after the release of our second album, and we are still doing concerts playing those songs. Festivals are the main chance to show our music to new people, and we are very keen on them. We will attend some festivals this summer too, where we will probably test some new songs to see how they impress the audience.

Merci Miss Monroe's Movement videos can be downloaded from PlayStation Store. More about Merci Miss Monroe can be found on their MySpace page, myspace.com/mercimissmonroe.