ARTIST TALK: MONTI

By: Kathrine Alby

With their English-language hip hop MONTI have quickly made people take notice on the Danish music scene – not least due to a convincing live energy led by rapper Sebastian Bang Monti. In 2018 the five-piece band released the double singles ‘ONE’ and ‘TWO’, which were followed by the single ‘Culture’, which marked a significant change of direction for MONTI, who challenge themselves by taking melody and hooks to a whole new level. We had a chat with the duo.

What kind of music do you play?
We play the music that makes sense to us. The broad term would be hip-hop but when we’re in the studio we kind of feed off the vibe that the people in the room puts out there. We all play our instruments live and Sebastian primarily raps, but we’re always creative and try new things out. It’s music – and we try not to settle down in one particularly genre.

Why did you start making music together?
We´re all friends. Some have been for longer time than others. But I think the main thing is that we could see potential in each other and the project. We all knew, that the project needed work and dedication and we were willing to work together to achieve big things. We all wanted, and still want, to make an effort to be the best at what we do.

Your music has a very international vibe, even though you’re an Aarhus-rooted band. What are your sources of inspiration?
Well… there are two things. Sebastian raps and sings in English and, luckily for everyone involved, with no “Danglish” accent. So that kinda pushes us towards a more international sound. Also, a lot of mainstream hip hop outside the Danish borders has the sound of real instruments. Apparently, that sound hasn’t really hit home in Denmark yet, and that again pushes us in the direction of a more international vibe. We have all kinds of different sources of inspirations. We are five very different guys, and our music preferences are all over the place. We try to merge everything together into a sound that makes sense to us.

What does rap do for your sound and lyrics? Why do you express yourself through rap music?
Rap doesn’t necessarily do anything for our sound or lyrics. It just happens to be one of the ways Sebastian likes to express himself. But again… we’re being creative and trying new stuff out and if Sebastian wants to scream or sing on a track then we’ll take it from there.

What is your ambition playing at SPOT?
To make all you industry-people go: “Damn, I wish I had been at that MONTI show.”

If you could pick another artist to work with, who would that be?
Jonas Lindstroem. His films and photography are stunning and the way he captures stories so perfectly in a very clean and beautiful setting is extremely inspiring. It’s like he has a lot of ideas and stories to tell but doesn’t overdo it in his work – and that is something we try to do all the time. Also a J. Cole feature would be nice

Do you have any acts you must see at SPOT?
Out of Town – crazy talented and young guys taking over the game in DK. The hype is real with these ones. We also have to see Erika De Casier and Kogekunst.

What are your MONTI-dreams for the future?
The same thing we do every night, pinky – try to take over the world.

When: Aarhus Volume
Where: 4. maj 2019, kl. 21:50