Mono Mind live Q&A on Instagram

Mono Mind decided to do a ”live” Q&A on Instagram and announced it 2 days before the happening. It wasn’t a real instalive thing though, but you could type in your Qs in the Mono Mind instastory and they picked the ones they wanted to answer. In written form. So no live video with MM characters or real life members and distorted or non-distorted voices. It was much fun anyway. Mainly after Mr. G posted THIS pic on Instagram, right at the time the whole thing went ”live” at 19:00 CET. So you could be sure it was Per himself answering the questions. Not that from the style of the answers and the wording you wouldn’t know. 😉 Cool thing!

Here is the complete Q&A:

Q: – Do you plan any live promotion?
A: – YES, that would be lovely, wouldn’t it? Cooky cookin’ on stage and the other lads beefin’ things up!

Q: – When will other band members join Helena in the videos?
A: – Well, it isn’t really Helena in the video, it’s Cooky! They look similar don’t they?

Q: – How did you choose your pseudonyms? What do they mean?
A: – They don’t really mean anything! They are just great names. Don’t you like them?!

Q: – How did it feel that SMAP reached No. 1 on different charts just for the music itself, no one knowing who behind the band are?
A: – Isn’t it lovely that music can have a life on its own? Mono Mind believes that a great song is always gonna stay a great song!

Q: – If Madonna’s 60th b’day is a song, what would it be?
A: – Oh, we love Madonna! We can’t really believe she’s turned 60! A song? We’ll send out LaLaLove any day!

Q: – How important do you think lyrics are in EDM songs?
A: – Our idea is that a good lyrical really makes the song better in any genre. It’s as simple as that!

Q: – Any plans on releasing a full album?
A: – Yes! We have an album in the can. Hopefully, it can be out before we get the chance to change our minds! We do that all the time…

Q: – Do you plan to shoot more videos?
A: – Yes, hopefully we’ll do a videoclip for every single we release. Sometimes we’re gonna use humans, sometimes it’s cartoons. They look lovely, don’t you think!

Q: – How do you look for the DJs who are making your remixes?
A: – Well, we try to use our network and also listen a lot to what’s happening on the remix scene. There is so much talent out there it makes you dizzy!

Q: – Why ”Mono Mind”?
A: – Well, the project started out as ”one man’s vision” but then expanded into something else. But we kept the name!

Q: – Who writes the songs? Dr Robot maybe?
A: – There are quite a few people who have been involved in MM so far. That’s the whole idea. The Doctor is like parmigiano on the pasta!

Q: – I love your group! Will you be touring?
A: – Well, nothing is planned yet but we would love to tour. We think the world needs Mono Mind more than Mono Mind needs the world. Or is it the other way around?! We need to release more songs first, though. But, short answer: Si, Si!

Q: – Any physical releases?
A: – That’s a very good question! We’re talking about it. Mono Mind is definitely a vinyl group. Si si!

Q: – How did this project come to life? Tell us how you decided to start MM, please?
A: – It’s a very looonnngggg story. We will reveal everything in the Mono Mind book 🙂 or in the Mono Mind musical 🙂 or on Netflix 🙂

Q: – ABBA or Roxette?
A: – HAHAHA. Dr. Robot fell to floor and grabbed after his Voulez-vous T-shirt!

Q: – Your laboratory is in Sweden, but you started spreading your music in the US. Why did you start from there?
A: – It’s the land of opportunities, dear you!

Mono Mind finished the Q&A at appr. 20:10 CET with this bye-bye note: ”That’s all folks! Thank you for all your questions! Until next time, loves!”

Follow Mono Mind on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, check their videos on YouTube and most importantly, listen to them on the usual digital platforms (Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, etc.) and sing along. Enjoy!

Mono Mind shows a real face

The first – and so far the last – time I myself wrote or posted about Mono Mind was almost a year ago. I remember when I saw the lyric video to Save Me A Place (Bridge & Mountain Remix) on SiriusXM’s YouTube channel in September 2017 and couldn’t believe my eyes it was already uploaded a month before. Then I started searching for more info and was amazed by finding out that this song had something to do with David Guetta (at least according to BMI). We’d been wondering since 2014 what kind of project it could have been, what Per worked on with Guetta. Then some more research and found out Mono Mind had existed even longer, since 2016 when they released a song called Sugar Rush, however, it was withdrawn later and Save Me A Place became the gang’s debut single.

I couldn’t imagine how come we (Gessle fans) didn’t know anything about this project until September 2017. Then I remembered some kind of interview in which Per said it’s not important for him anymore to let us hear what he records. He is doing it for fun. That’s something hard to accept for a fan. Not the fun part, but that you might not get to hear ”everything” what your idol records.

Then there were these Mono Mind characters. No real names mentioned, just fantasy names for each of them (we all know PG loves aliases), and how they looked as Per on some of the Party Crasher booklet pics or as the characters on The Per Gessle Selection’s champagne labels.

A playlist including some of Mono Mind’s favorite tunes and musical inspirations across the decades provided one more clue who could be behind MM.

Besides these, there was the voice of Per (that you can recognize no matter how distorted it is) and Helena Josefsson singing, so all the obvious clues who Mono Mind are. Still… I felt kind of guilty writing about them, revealing the connection to PG & Co. Even Billboard kept the whole Mono Mind project a mystery. When the gang entered the Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts at No. 39, Billboard still wrote it was a mysterious act. Then bang, in October Save Me A Place (Bridge & Mountain Remix) became the No. 1 dance song on the US radio charts and the No. 1 electronic song on iTunes and Amazon in the US. On the Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts SMAP climbed up to No. 2! History repeated itself. Reaching such success in the US without using Per’s fame, just by the music itself. I can imagine it was a fantastic feeling for Mr. G.

And I think then I understood the whole mystery act thing. To get to see how far they can get without revealing who is behind. A bit like Daft Punk (however, it’s a different story) don’t really show their faces and wanted to succeed with their music instead of making too much fuss about who they are. Or The Fireman, the experimental music duo of Paul McCartney and Youth. Even if the band members’ names had been known to the public since soon after their first album release, they remained officially anonymous for 15 years, until their 3rd album release. Blame it on the 21st century and social media, these days it’s even harder to keep such secrets and mysteries.

Fortunately, with every Mono Mind release there are more and more details revealed. Some on purpose, some ”by accident”(?) – a collaborator posts about a common project with his childhood idol here, a digital platform shares Per’s name as the songwriter there. By the latest reveal, namely Helena appearing in the LaLaLove official video shared on several MTV websites I start feeling relieved. That sooner or later all members in Mono Mind show their real faces. I wouldn’t mind seeing Mr. G, pardon me, Dr Robot in the videos as well.

As per PG, there is nothing left to prove for him, but he proves to be an Artist who can constantly renew and challenge himself, while still keeping his trademark in songwriting. I admire him for being able to do so. He is so incredibly talented!

I can’t say I’m a fan of remixes or better said, I don’t find it interesting enough for me to hear a song in different types of remixes, because I’m mostly interested in the original artist’s thoughts on the arrangement and less in what other musicians think what they could do with a song. There are of course cool remixes. If I have to mention one related to Roxette, then it’s definitely Bassflow. At the same time, I must admit some remixes in general sound better than the original song.

From the 3 Mono Mind releases so far I have 1-1 favourite version. Save Me A Place was released in 5 remix versions and the Bridge & Mountain Remix is the one I consider being the ”original” and that’s what I like the most. I would love to hear an original original of this one though. I Found My Soul At Marvingate sounds the best to me in the Sofa Tunes Remix version, better than the original (being too slow). LaLaLove sounds better in its original version than in the Hugel Remix.

A dream would be to hear the demos one day, without any distorted PG voice. However, I must say Per’s voice sounds attractive to me in any version. 😉

What do we know so far?

So, what we know about Mono Mind so far is that ”is meant to be a musical laboratory where everything is possible. Mono Mind’s home turf is Sweden but the collaborators are plentiful and can be from anywhere. Mixing the inspiration from the current music scene with an insatiable appetite for vintage pop, electronica and ambient music Mono Mind strives for electrifying beauty and something quite different. The journey begins here.”

Members: Dr Robot (Per Gessle), Cooky Carter (Helena Josefsson), Rain Davis (Clarence Öfwerman) and Bright Jones (Christoffer Lundquist).

They started introducing the band members in short videos on their Facebook page, but stopped after 3 Rain Davis, 2 Cooky Carter and 1 Dr Robot videos. Where is a video with Bright Jones?

There was an Ask Anything Chat with the guys and girl last October. It contained more fun & fantasy than reality: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3. Very creative with tiny references only hardcore fans can connect to the real people behind.

Songs released so far (credit info from Mono Mind’s website):

  1. Save Me A Place Words by Mono Mind; Music by Mono Mind / Jack Hisbach / Giorgio Tuinfort / Michael Einziger (however, BMI also mentions David Guetta among the composers, so could Jack Hisbach be an alias of DG?)
  2. I Found My Soul At Marvingate Words & Music by Mono Mind
  3. LaLaLove Words by Mono Mind; Music by Mono Mind / Alex Shield

   

NRJ DJ Awards 2018 – Vote!

Why I also decided to write about Mono Mind now is that there is a voting taking place in France. MM is nominated at the French NRJ DJ Awards 2018 in the following two categories – ”Group Of The Year” and ”Club Hit Of The Year” (Save Me A Place – Hugel Remix). They are now in the same league as David Guetta or Tiesto or Armin Van Buuren. It’s already very cool, but imagine if they won! You can all vote until August 26, but the results will be announced at a ceremony only on November 7. Click HERE to vote for the ”Group Of The Year” and HERE to vote for the ”Club Hit Of The Year”. Don’t get scared by the French website. Once you are on the voting site, click Mono Mind. A sign in window will pop up. You can sign in with your Facebook account (that would be the easiest to get through). If you’re signed in for the first time, you will have to validate your e-mail address and click the confirmation link in the e-mail you get. Then you’ll have to go back to the voting site (click the links I mentioned above) and click on Mono Mind again. To be sure that you have really voted, you can see a tick at the category you’ve already voted for. Until you can’t see the tick next to the category, your vote doesn’t count.

Follow Mono Mind!

Some Roxette fans who are not much into jazz or country can identify with Mono Mind’s music more than with any other PG or MF solo project these days and that is also why I think their tunes have to reach more people worldwide.

Follow Mono Mind on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, check their videos on YouTube and most importantly, listen to them on the usual digital platforms (Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, etc.) and sing along. Enjoy!

 

Save Me a Place, Per Gessle!

In case you missed some EDM, here is a recent Per Gessle collaboration in that genre. The song is: Mono Mind – Save Me a Place. Actually, the single was released already on 14th July, but somehow we haven’t heard about it until now. And the most interesting about it is that THIS seems to be the common project with David Guetta from 2014. I share what I found, but we definitely miss some more details. 😉

As stated on Mono Mind’s Facebook page:

Mono Mind is meant to be a musical laboratory where everything is possible. Mono Mind’s home turf is Sweden but the collaborators are plentiful and can be from anywhere.
Mixing the inspiration from the current music scene with an insatiable appetite for vintage pop, electronica and ambient music Mono Mind strives for electrifying beauty and something quite different.

Billboard info on Mono Mind, “Save Me a Place” published on 17th August:

Sweden-based conglomerate Mono Mind starts at No. 39 on Dance/Mix Show Airplay with “Save Me a Place,” the first Billboard chart entry for the mysterious act, which describes itself on its official Facebook page as “a musical laboratory where everything is possible.” “Save” takes the entirety of its airplay from two core-dance outlets: SiriusXM’s BPM and Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel.

You can listen to the song on these digital platforms or watch the lyric video HERE. Sooo, is that Per Gessle and Helena Josefsson on vocals? Sounds like that! And who is (are?) Mono Mind? PG himself? Hopefully, we get to know more about this project and this whole Mono Mind thing. Actually, there seems to be another song, Sugar Rush, which was also published under Mono Mind already in 2016, but there is much less info about it than about Save Me a Place.

 

Save Me a Place

(David Guetta / Mono Mind / Giorgio Tuinfort)

When you come around
Doesn’t matter when
I’m soakin’ up the sound
I dare to face the bend

And I won’t miss a beat
Attack and then sustain
Lose myself in love
Dryin’ in the rain

And I will look at you
When you look at me
Mighty like a mountain
Precious like a sea

Save me a place next to you
Save me a place next to you

That’s where I wanna be
That’s where I wanna be
That’s where I wanna be

Almost like a prayer
When I go to bed
Underneath the layers
Deep inside my head

And I won’t miss a beat
Attack and then sustain
Lose myself in love
Dryin’ in the rain

I will speak to you
Like you speak to me
Everything’s in motion
Leaves upon a tree

Save me a place next to you
Save me a place next to you

That’s where I wanna be
That’s where I wanna be
That’s where I wanna be

 

Thanx for the hint with the YouTube link, Roxette Rosario!