Charles Austin Archives - Page 2 of 2

Monomyth is a really cool band from Halifax that make a hazy, gritty kind of pop music. Their washed out, psych-rock-tinged new album is called Saturnalia Regalia! and it’s out July 22 via Mint Records. They’re touring through Ontario and Quebec now, with NXNE shows in Toronto on June 18 at the Drake and Handlebar, a Guelph show at 32 Essex St. during Post-Fest, a Toronto show at Saving Gigi at 1:00 PM on June 21 and a Montreal show that night at Brasserie Beaubien. Back in April, Monomyth and I were both in St. John’s Newfoundland for the Lawnya Vawnya festival and singer/guitarist Josh Salter, drummer Matt Peters, and I found time to get together at the radio headquarters of Keep Station for a chat about the band and stuff. Here, we talk about how Matt’s elbows rattle Keep Station, what St. John’s is like, moose curry, Halifax is far away from Newfoundland, the East Coast Music Awards and No-cases, how to sleep on an airplane, it happens in Florida, Josh cruises with his dad, Josh is actually from Hubley while Matt is actually from Upper Tantallon and they’ve known each other since grade one, Josh’s dad has learned to party, little league of horrors, the Matt Peters Erection, Overlord Sinner and Windows 95 Media Recorder, the Halifax pop explosion, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, nü metal, the Burdocks and Dog Day and Special Noise, the importance of Sloan, musical democracy, Monomyth’s other drummer, Charles Austin and Psychic Fair, Mike O’Neill and Black Jesus, songwriting distinctions, shoegaze and My Bloody Valentine, the song “Pac Ambition” and Tupac Shkaur, making lo-fi Monomyth tapes, Joseph Campbell, bottlecap toss, the song “The Big Reveal,” and that just about wraps it up.

Related links: mmyth.bandcamp.com vishkhanna.com

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The following piece was published in truncated form on CBC Music. Here’s the full version.

In the summer of 1995, the Super Friendz released their debut LP, Mock Up, Scale Down on Sloan’s murderecords imprint. At the time, Mock Up, Scale Down seemed like another exciting document from a prolific Halifax music scene that launched Sloan, Thrush Hermit and Joel Plaskett, Jale, Al Tuck,Buck 65 and more into the national consciousness. But over the years, as young bands like Zeus and the Bicycles touted its influence, the record’s status has grown further.

The three-headed songwriting democracy of Charles Austin, Matt Murphy and Drew Yamada inspired legions of fans and younger musicians with their skillfully crafted, explosive, thinking man’s pop-rock balladry. Drummer Dave Marsh, with his enigmatic, occasional membership, gave them the perfect rhythmic foundation they found so elusive in an oddly Spinal Tap-ish way (no drummers were harmed in the making of this band but they sure didn’t stick around for long).

The Super Friendz played the Halifax Pop Explosion this past October. Their last release was 2003’s Love Energy and, before last month’s show, they’d been quiet for about nine years. On Friday, Nov. 16, they play Toronto’s Lee’s Palace and, to mark the return of one of the greatest North American rock bands, an oral history of their formation and first album seemed in order. This is it, here we go.