From studying music at Oxford University, to starting one of the first live electronic bands (Beat Foundation) in the 90’s with Andy Cato of Groove Armada, to writing a string of underground club hits on his label Playtime, Mike Monday has consistently stood apart from the crowd. As iDJ said, ‘not a week goes by in dance music when you don’t hear someone new trying to imitate Monday’s trademark sounds’. With a Top #6 single on German dance charts, a recent Beatport Top 10, being included in a “Top 100 Essential Dance Tracks of the last 10 years” (iDJ), and played by everyone from Steve Bug to Josh Wink and Mylo to M.A.N.D.Y., it is no surprise why Monday is in such high demand touring all over the world, headlining parties at WMC and Sonar with pivotal figures such as Claude Von Stroke, Jesse Rose, and Tiefschwarz. On Mike Monday’s new artist album, ”Songs Without Words – Part 1” he continues to push the boundaries of music. ‘I wanted to explore the potential of instrumental music as a medium for writing albums. Lyrics make music specific but instrumental music can mean completely different things to different people. This allows the listeners to take what they want from the music, making it more personal to them. When I’m writing I’m always visualising something, but all I give to the listener are signposts or clues in the form of track titles, which I intentionally keep pretty inscrutable’ says Monday. Just like Mike Monday, “Songs Without Words – Part 1” is impossible to classify. From the emotive and entrancing opener, “Grace”, through the comical and catchy “Bad Wind (With A Touch Of Acid)”, to the weird and watery “I Am Plankton” Mike takes us on a journey through a myriad of genres and soundscapes. From house, funk, and hip hop to disco, chillout and techno, Mike is at home in any genre, and uses them to draw us into his unique musical world as reflected on the new album. “Songs Without Words – Part 1” is sure to have the electronic music world buzzing. On top of doing a full international tour to support the release, Monday will also be returning back to his performance roots and producing a live show. As Mike says, ‘The music on the album needs to be performed live, and I’ve got some great tricks up my sleeve. Expect something very different.” But then what else but ‘very different’ would you expect from Mike Monday?
