James Monte

The last week or so I've lacked so much motivation.  Not only because I'm recovering from the end of a busy year or because I caught a small cold.  The big reason I think is because sometimes it's easier to put off working on your hobbies when you have the time to relax. Looking forward I'm ready to tackle my projects again.  No one will keep me accountable but myself, and I have some wonderful new songs I want to share with people. Time to get up, shake off the cobwebs and get working.

The holidays at the end of every year is one of those times I look forward to the least.  It's not that I don't like the holiday cheer and culture that goes with it, quite the contrary.  I used to loved the holidays when I was a kid, as my son does now.  The reason I dislike them is because the added stress and financial burden that seems to be a prerequisite for this time of year.  Time is always a commodity, but during the holiday season there is even less to go around.  My schedule is packed until the end of the year and even a couple weeks into January.  I always love spending time with the family, but everything else I have planned always takes a back seat.  Therefore I won't be working on my music again until mid to late January.  I hate to say it, but other things are more important than a dream.  And that's all it is, really.

I know I've been quiet lately and here's why - Last month I went with the family to NYC and spent some quality time there.  We took in a Mets game and caught the Yeah Yeah Yeah's with Har Mar Superstar at Barclay's center in Brooklyn.  I also stopped by Matt Umanov Guitars and bought a new Seagull guitar which sounds and plays beautifully.  I can't wait to start recording with it.  Which is another reason I've been busy.  I've been writing and practicing with any spare time I have outside of work and I hope to be able to start playing out some songs early next year. All in all it was a good time and I can't wait to go back.  Hopefully next time it will be for my own show or two. In a few days we'll be getting on a plane again to catch the VooDoo Experience in New Orleans.  I've never seen Peal Jam or The Cure before, so I'm super excited for that.  I'm also really excited to see Nine Inch Nails again.  They always put on a terrific s

This update is a bit late, and for that I'm sorry. It's been a crazy couple months.  I changed hours at work, said goodbye to a close friend, did a ton of landscaping at my home, and doubled down on practice time with my band, Hemlock Heyday.  If that's not enough, I'm working on 3 albums.  The first is the one I started all the way back in 2003.  The second is more of an acoustic offering mostly made up of songs I wrote when I was 17-19 years of age, or new songs about that period.  The third is a new band/project/collaboration separate from Hemlock Heyday that is more of a tribute to my close friend that recently past, Marc Berg.  There will be more information on that as soon as I get a solid master cut.  When all this is complete I will be releasing a collection of songs and demos again from my past that will wrap up the loose ends of that whole period of my life.  I expect 20 or more tracks on that release.  After that who knows.  I have new songs waiting to be u

Digging into the raw tracks of my follow up record, I found a lot about myself that has changed.  I've also found a lot that has remained the same. I started the project in late 2002 or early 2003, and have periodically worked on small pieces of it throughout the years.  The last time I really added to it significantly was in 2005 right before moving to the Twin Cities again.  So the lion's share of material was recorded in and around my home town.  The record is largely complete, however I want to go back and change a few things.  Mainly some vocal tracks and post production items.  I also want to add a second half of the record.   I've reworked some tracks to be performed acoustically and I feel adding them would be fitting. When that's done I'll proceed to the final mixing and mastering of the album. When I've completed more I'll share, but for now I need to get back to work.

Eleven years ago was I was at a huge turning point in my life.  I was out of high school and I was playing drums in this metal band called "Dwelling".  I had just reconnected with my high school sweetheart after a bunch of disastrous relationships, and I was working a bunch of random dead-end jobs.  At the time I had a lot going on, I was everywhere.  Everything was happening really fast and I didn't have any real direction. I had all my gear in my bedroom at my parents' house where I grew up.  I had been demoing a bunch of stuff there and much of it wasn't fitting together so to speak.  I don't know what I expected.  I was trying to make this epic rock record with a bunch of cheap shitty gear and I wasn't getting the results I wanted.  That's when I decided to start a new project, something small that I could package and pass out at shows and put my own name on.  I had to start from scratch. It was the summer of 2002 and I was listening to a lot o