Mon Frere talk to The Music Times about their lush new single “Shadows”

Your new single “Shadows” is absolutely beautiful. What is it about and where did the inspiration come from ? What inspired you to start making music ?

We’ve been involved in music from a young age.  Paul is a professional drummer and played all over the world with various bands.  Paul got into producing about 4 years ago and has never looked back.  As well as working together as Mon Frere, Paul has produced albums and songs for many other musicians.  I started my music career as a DJ back in the 90’s when the dance music revolution exploded into the mainstream.  What a time to be alive!

What are your fave tracks or artists of all time ?

From my perspective, I have always been into dance music, the dirtier the better.  I was a techno DJ and so my favourite bands have been those techno cross-over acts like Underworld, Sabres of Paradise & Orbital.  My fave track is ‘Mind’ by the Aloof, an underground progressive techno track from the early 90’s.  Paul is much more cultured in his music tastes.  He gets inspired by people like The Cinematic Orchestra & top level producers like Naughty Boy.  Paul is fundamentally a rock drummer though so heavy rock was his upbringing.

Tell us about your creative process. Who writes and produces your material and what instruments or software do you use in creating your warm and unique sound ?

Paul really is the musical talent in Mon Frere.  Paul composes a track, sends it to me to create a theme and some lyrical suggestions.  It then goes back to Paul who cements the melody and we then thrash out the lyrics over the next month or so.  We are very lucky to be based in Brighton where we are connected to a large community of excellent musicians.  So, lots of the instruments you here on our tracks are recorded live in our small studio.  We love bringing in live strings & horns to give us that authentic flavour.  We then decide on a singer to fit the sound of the track, contact them and bring them down for a recording session.

Tell us about who’s singing on “Shadows” ?

Well this is where we have been blessed.  Joell Fender sings on Shadows.  We were recommended to check out Joell and had a listen to his on-line showreels.  We thought he sounded like the next Sam Smith.  We called him up and got him in.  Then, suddenly Joell’s career has really taken off.  He’s been touring with Years and Years and Sigala and working with Wilkinson.  His talent is their for everyone to see and we can’t wait to work with him on our next track.  Aside from Joell, we’ve been really lucky to work with a range of talented vocalists like Kate Wild, Josh Oliver & Jenna Bennett.  These people are all out there – get on line and find them!

Where can we find you online ?

Our website is www.monfrere.co.uk and our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/monfrereband.

As brothers does that ever involve any feuding like the Gallagher bros ?

Ha Ha! Actually, we are proud to say that we are probably the absolute opposite end of the spectrum to those guys.  We get on very well.  We had another brother, Anthony, who sadly didn’t make it this far in life so everything we do has him in our thoughts.  We have an amazing sister, Katy, and we are not ashamed to say that we all think the world of one another.

Where can you see yourself in 5 years time ?

We are progressing nicely at the moment.  We know that at some point soon one of our singles will make a big impact.  We’ve set ourselves up in preparation for this moment, setting up as a company and making sure we own the rights to our songs.  We just want to be able to say being a musician is our life and not have to stress about the cash money side of things!

Where can people buy or stream your music ?

Our music is in all the main on-line stores like iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer.  We also have our own YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB09bOV-GYilDXiKq3W_Gow.

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