- Monovox
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Monovox was an American rock band.
Beginning in 1992, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin high school classmates Matthew Schaeffer, Matthew Kramer, Cliff Hammer, and Tony Krug (a.k.a. Anthony Shaw) began writing and performing songs together. Under the moniker J.J. War, the band wrote and performed original songs featuring strong guitar work and Krug's striking voice. In 1994 after graduating high school, Schaeffer moved to Madison, Wisconsin to study Piano Performance and Composition at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, under Professor Carrol Chilton. Kramer, the drummer, moved to Milwaukee to study film while Hammer and Krug remained in Fond du Lac. The band members all moved to Madison the following year, living together and writing songs.
In 1997, they traveled to Chicago to perform in the city's annual Beatlefest [1]. The resulting publicity brought the band to the attention of Chicago record producer Joey "The Don" Donatello [2] who developed the band and was responsible for their first full length record, "Burlap and Broadcast", released in 1997.[3] The band then relocated to Chicago to gain wider exposure in the local club scene.
The Big Break
In 2000, Monovox earned a $250,000 recording contract through the Internet record label Garageband.com, founded by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads. (Wired News 08/01/2000) The highest rated song of the thousands of songs on the Garageband.com website, "First Time", was penned by Schaeffer and recorded by Monovox that year along with twelve additional tracks which would become the band's first and only full length album as Monovox. Garageband Records dissolved with the dot-com bust in 2001 and the self-titled album was not released until later, under the band's own "Ask A Chimp" label. * [4]
Schaeffer continued writing, touring, and recording songs with Monovox until March 2004. In that month, Schaeffer and fellow Monovox guitarist Paul Heenan left the band and moved to Manhattan to pursue music careers there. Kramer remained in Madison, working at DNA Studios as a producer. [5] Hammer performs with several Madison-area bands and Shaw has performed solo at various venues in Madison.
Discography
References
- The Garageband Success Story Wired News August 1, 2000
- Interview with GarageBand.com, after winning "The Final Countdown - Feb. 2000" contest.
- "Monovox happily awaits its breakout hit" in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 5, 1999.
- Interview with Wired Magazine (audio), Aug. 1, 2000.
- Monovox weathers bumps in road to success Schaeffer discusses the collapse of Garageband.com with OnMilwaukee.com
External links
Categories:- American rock music groups
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