Mono

Mono might not have a celebrity profile or a legion of devotees, but it’s safe to say those who have come to know the Tokyo natives and their music since their arrival all those years ago have keenly followed along with each step they have taken. Most recently, this has led to the release of two albums simultaneously – their seventh and eighth LPs, respectively, The Last Dawn and Rays Of Darkness.

“The two albums ended up representing the counterpoints in life,” explains Takaakira Goto, better known as Taka, one of the band’s two guitarists. “Light and darkness, hope and hopelessness, love and loss… the emotions which can’t be expressed, pain which you can’t put into words, happiness which you can’t simply measure. We also, at the same time, felt and hoped that they could be something to exceed the darkness.”

Along with these recordings marking the first time Mono have ever released what is essentially a double album, Rays Of Darkness also features the first-ever use of vocals in a Mono song. The track in question, ‘The Hand That Holds The Truth’, stars the vocal talents of Tetsuya ‘Tetsu’ Fukagawa, singer in another cult favourite Japanese band, Envy.

“For a long time, I always wanted to collaborate with Tetsu,” says Goto. “He’s been a good friend of ours for so long, so I’m really glad it became a reality. Even during the time I was writing the song, I could clearly hear how his vocals would fit in together. When we actually collaborated, I didn’t really give him any instructions, but he already knew what I was hoping to achieve. The song turned out to be such an incredible piece and we’re all very proud of it.”

Over the course of their eight albums, Mono’s sound has been in a constant state of transit, shifting from shimmering, shaken guitars to flourishing orchestral arrangements. The latter, in particular, have formed a considerably big part of the band’s later material, leading some to classify Mono’s work as contemporary classical or neo-classical. It certainly raises the question as to where the Mono sound may head next – and, according to Goto, it’s going to have more to do with what he and his bandmates are getting out of the creative process than public opinion.

“If I were to borrow Beethoven’s words, I think music is something that ignites fire in men’s hearts and brings tears to women’s eyes – and, of course, vice-versa,” he says. “Every individual reflects their own life through music like spiritual travels, like every cell in your body getting triggered unconsciously. After experiencing fantastic movies, books or art, there is a power that allows you to see and feel new values of your life which you didn’t really notice. We really hope we can create the same kind of experience to people. We have been trying to find something new in rock guitar music which no-one has done before. Now, I am thinking we should focus [on] what we want to do more than what we should do.”

It’s worth both noting and commending that Mono have held the same core lineup for the entirety of their career – Goto, guitarist Hideki Suematsu, bassist Tamaki Kunishi and drummer Yasunori Takada. Having formed towards the end of 1999, Mono will have celebrated their 16th birthday by the time they arrive in Australia for a run of headlining shows as well as an appearance at Meredith Music Festival. When asked to explain what it is that has kept the band going this entire time, Goto boils it down to one thing: not musical ability or touring stamina or creative efficiency, but pure, simple friendship.

“It’s truly lucky that we have a strong mind as a team – like family,” says Goto. “We have travelled the world together every year for the last 16 years, and we feel like we all grew up together gradually as children to adults. Everything we saw was fresh. Everything we did was an adventure with a continuation of facing the unknown, excitement and setbacks. The whole process was like learning all the essentials of life through our music and travels.”

Mono’s Australian dates will be their final shows for the year, wrapping up an exhausting tour schedule that has seen them spend more than half of 2015 performing in support of The Last Dawn and Rays Of Darkness. Having played many acclaimed and well-attended shows here previously, Mono are looking to close out both 2015 and their world tour in style.

“This year was very, very busy,” says Goto. “We’ve played about 170 shows, including a South American tour. We just came back from a European co-headlining tour with Sólstafir from Iceland. We will tour with Shellac in Japan soon, then we will play a Chinese festival and then we will go to Australia and New Zealand. All moments and opportunities are fantastic. We feel we can share something special with Australian fans really deeply as an art. We are very, very excited to come back there soon.”