Monotonix: The Hex Education Journal Interview

Photo by Jesse Untracht-Oakner

Two things I find a little too cliche and maybe a bit annoying include (but indeed not limited to) the use of the index and pinky finger thrust upward to create devil horns, the other is telling me something "rocks." How does it rock? Does it truly compare to the legions of real rockers that have come in the past. Is there anything in common with either John Lee Hooker and/or The MC5? No matter how much Guitar Hero tells you otherwise I am sorry you are not a rock star, and I really don't think you rock.
Why I find myself bothering to mention these things as minor nuisances in my everyday life, I am totally unsure, but something inside me clicks every time when either of the above mentioned. Call me jaded, call me a misanthrope, whatever you please, but I have drawn the line, and I am starting to get serious.
In the case of the three piece from Tel Aviv, Israel known as Monotonix, I will look past everything, and take great pleasure in throwing up Ronnie James Dio's Satan horns and say they do in fact rock. In my expert opinion, the exact things I kvetch about above seemed to be created for the group comprised of singer Ami Shalev, drummer Ran Shimoni and guitarist Yonatan Gat.
The sound of the three piece channels the loudest and the proudest from Mudhoney to Deep Purple to and Led Zeppelin. While live there is no group on the planet that can match them, and they have no comparison. Their boogie knows no limit as they make the entire venue their stage. Looking more like an acrobatic act than a group of hard rockers from the Holy Land, the members can at any moment be carried through the crowd while still playing their instruments, dancing on the bar, and running out the door into the streets.
The band is a touring machine. Going all over the world, and making the US their second home. In the process, they gained the attention of maybe the most respected indie label in the land, Drag City, and released the Body Language EP this spring.
Their most recent release is part of the Volcom Vinyl Club series, a split with former Royal Trux singer Jennifer Herrema's band RTX cannot be described as anything less than scorching.
I got a chance to sit down and talk to the band on one of their many shows in New York recently. Here is some of what was said.


Hex: What's it like playing Israel opposed to America?

Yonatan: In the beginning it was kind of rough because our sound was too much for people. They were scared of us and would try to shut us down after one song. In Israel they consider us very loud, but I don't think we are very loud here. The cops would come to the venues and shut us down, but now I think it's getting better. We have an audience.

Hex: When the police shut you down in Israel, were there any confrontations?

Yonatan: Just noise complaints. Neighbors complain about noise because the venues aren't built to withstand high volumes.


Hex: How did you guys start playing loud rock You don't really sound anything like music people associate with Israel (bad trance, etc.)

Yonatan: We'd all been in bands for years. Some of our bands stopped playing, and we had been talking for awhile about playing, we just wanted to do something where we could enjoy the music.

Hex: Was there a lot of the stuff that influences you now that was in Israel when you were growing up?

Ami: There is a lot more stuff that came because of the internet. There was more stuff that was coming into Israel in the 60's and the 70's. Then because of the political situations, and the wars bands stopped coming into Israel, then they started again.


Hex: What does it take for you guys to go out there night after night and just lay it all out in your live show?

Yonatan: For us it's like if you are doing it, you might as well give it all you got. I was thinking about it a few weeks ago on tour, when we were playing our first tour 2 years ago, and then again it would be like ten people at the show, and now like a hundred people come to see us, and I stand there and think "wow, a hundred people came to see us." I look into their faces, and I think they are looking forward to it (live set) and I feel kind of honored. Its even better when there is a communication with the audience, and they are giving us energy, and we are giving it right back.


Hex: Do you guys ever run into any hostilities because you are Israeli?

Yonatan: Just once every hundred shows. It's more ignorance than hostility.

Hex: How do you deal with it?

Ran: Yesterday this guy from Australia was an anti-Semite or an anti-Zionist, and I started arguing with him. It wasn't pleasant.

Ami: We sang him Hatikva at the end (Israeli national anthem)

Hex: So do you miss Israeli food?

Ami: We have been eating a lot of pizza.

Yonatan: The last two weeks especially. Something about the east coast and pizza.

Hex: Have you had good hummus in America?

Yonatan: No. The best hummus outside of Israel is in Germany.

Ami: It's insane. The best hummus in Germany.

Hex: They want to try harder to make up for past mistakes?

Ami: Or maybe they just have a good system?

Hex: They are very mechanical people. So what are you guys listening to the most on the road?

Yonatan: I like Bowie. The Man who Sold the World.

Ami: Deep Purple!

Hex: Which album?

Ami: Machine Head

Hex: What about Burn?

Yonatan: I don't like it.

Hex: Really? Why not?

Yonatan: I don't like David Coverdale. But like like Ritchie Blackmore.

Hex: Do you like his new stuff? He plays castle rock. Like in real castles.

Monotonix: Really?

Hex: He and his wife they dress they dress in like medieval clothes and play Celtic music.

Ami: Like Roooooobin Hood?

Yonatan: He went crazy.

Hex: I'd go crazy to if I wrote "Smoke on the Water" with all the money he must have. Are you going to play some castles? You should play some castles.

Ami: We need to go to Switzerland to do it. We want to be big there. We want to be big in Belgium.

Hex: Bigger than chocolate?

Yonatan: Bigger than beer!