MonArk gear up for Joburg album launch

JOBURG - MonArk gear up for Joburg album launch.

June 26, 2014

Graeme Shackleford 2 minutes read

BOYS IN THE BAND: MonArk will release their debut album in July. Photo: Waldo Pretorius.

Five-piece pop rock band MonArk has caused a stir on local radio waves for the past year, and are gearing up to launch their debut album in July.

The launch of Negatives, which features the singles Smiling, Build It Up, and Something, will be an intimate affair in Craighall Park.

Frontman Eugene Coetzer spoke to City Buzz about this milestone in the band’s career, and the sounds that have influenced the band’s “cinematic feel with a musical twist of realism”.

“The band was formed when my friend Ewald Jansen van Rensburg and I teamed up,” said Coetzer.

“So our sound is a product of the musical histories we both have.”

Coetzer said that various bands influenced him, and could be divided into two camps.

“I listen to bands that are more artistic, like Pink Floyd and Radiohead, and others that have a more pop sound, like Coldplay, OneRepublic and Maroon 5,” he said.

“We’re going for an epic sound, and this really influences our arrangements, right down to the drum beats. Each element of the songs is epic, but the most important thing is the space we create for the vocals.”

Speaking about the production of Negatives, Coetzer said that it had been a “long, exhausting process”, but one that was overwhelmingly positive.

“We worked on it for a long time, and learned a lot, especially regarding what we feel our sound should be. We found the golden thread, which lead us to a universal sound on the album,” he said.

Coetzer said the area in which they progressed the most was lyrical content and vocal performance.

“We progressed so much that we had to go back and change a few of the arrangements of songs we had recorded earlier,” he said.

Coetzer and his bandmates are also looking forward to a nation-wide tour in support of the new album.

“It will be good to return to places, knowing that people there will know the songs,” he said.

MonArk features Coetzer on vocals, Janse van Rensburg on guitar and SFX, Francois de Klerk on guitar and SFX, Deon de Klerk on bass, and Graeme Wuth on drums.

Negatives will be released on 9 July at an exclusive event limited to 100 guests at Music Connection, 376 Jan Smuts Avenue, Craighall Park, at 7pm.

Click here to buy tickets to the launch

Details: www.monarkband.co.za

We have two sets of double tickets to the Negatives album launch!

To stand a chance to win a set of tickets, ‘like’ the City Buzz JHB Facebook page (if you haven’t already done so), and post the answer to the following question on our wall:

Where in Joburg will MonArk launch their debut album?

Competition closes on 6 July.

WATCH: Smiling: