For some, it seems like Norah Erickson, Torsten Gran-Ruaz, Chris Eriksen, and Lucas Mckinnon as June’s Band of the Month is long overdue with their tenure in the Victoria music scene. With their new project, Mad Mona, the group has gathered some much deserved praise and the coveted title as the Zone’s Band of the Month for June.
After some light trespassing during Mad Mona’s Band of the Month photo shoot with Rocktographers they took a break to chat with Tyson Elder in the band’s jam space.
Tyson Elder: Congratulations on being June’s Band of the Month.
Chris Eriksen: Thank you, we are very excited.
TE: Tell me a little bit about yourselves. You’re a fairly new band, but mainstays in the local music scene.
Norah Erickson: Originally we were called Ramblerspeak. Torsten and I founded that band together a few years ago. We had a few band member changes, and when Chris and Lucas joined us we decided to change the name and take our music in a heavier direction.
TE: What prompted the name change from Ramblerspeak to Mad Mona? Was the sonic shift a big part of that?
Norah: The sound change was definitely a huge part of the name change, but also the band interacted changed. Before, when I was in Ramblerspeak I’d bring most of the songs to the band, and was the primary songwriter. Now with Mad Mona I’m not the only one who brings songs to the table. Both Chris and Torsten brings songs and we all work on them together as a band.
Norah: We also have a more diverse sound. Everyone in the band comes from different musical backgrounds and when we brought that together we wanted a name that kind of encompassed that. The reason we picked Mad Mona as our new band name was because we wanted to represent both the masculine and the feminine. We went with a mash up of Mad Max and Mona Lisa.
TE: I love that. I was wondering where the name came from.
Chris: We wanted to come across as powerful, but sweet.
TE: Your live set in comes across that way. I almost hate to describe it this way, but it feels very Metal Country at points. It was a very entertaining set.
[Band bursts out laughing]
Chris: I come from a background of playing in six country bands.
Norah: [Laughs]
Chris: Yes, it’s true. I’ve joined six country bands over the years, but I also come from a funk background. Playing in a twelve piece R&B band as well. Playing with these guys gives me the opportunity to play lead guitar and get to do some heavier riffs. But that country always comes out. I can’t help it. [Laughs] That’s just where I go naturally.
TE: I’m not complaining it was really good. I enjoyed it.
Chris: Metal Country, alright!
Norah: I like it.
Norah: Lucas, you played in metal bands, right?
Lucas Mckinnon: Yeah, I come from punk and metal, but it’s been a while. It comes out no matter what I play. I’ll be playing in a nice indie rock band and they’ll be like “pretty sweet hard rock drumming, bud.” I’ll be like “I’m using lighter sticks…”
[Band laughs]
TE: You just need to bring your djembe and you’ll be fine.
Lucas: You certainly won’t be seeing me do that. [laughs]
TE: We’ve got enough of those bands.
Norah: I’m in a couple of those too. [laughs]
Chris: Basically, I think the name change was a new direction, a new attitude, and a fresh start. That’s how we look at it. We’ve progressed forward and needed to change it up.
TE: It also helps to have your own sound in Victoria. A lot of things can blend together, and having something distinct and your own makes a huge difference in standing out.
Chris: That’s a big one for us too. We really focus on arrangement for songs. We won’t release or work on a song until we are 100% happy with it. Sometimes we can come in with a song and it’s done in a day and some songs take months or even longer. Some of them don’t make the cut, because we decide that it wasn’t making us happy. Being different enough and trying to stand out is something that we are really trying to do.
Norah: When we changed to Mad Mona and recorded some new music. We released our first single in February.
TE: That’s when you did your first show as Mad Mona at Lucky Bar, right?
Chris: Yes, we did our first show in April to debut the band.
TE: At that Lucky Bar show you had some interesting visuals. Certainly not something you’d expect for a band’s debut concert.
Chris: My friend, Toni Hall came over from Vancouver to do the visuals. Toni and I used to work together at Lucky and I’d seen a ton of their visuals at electronic shows, raves, and festivals. I really dug their work, and decided to call Toni to see if they could come over for this show. Which turned out to be something really cool.
TE: I’m a huge fan of Toni’s work. They’re always working on something unique and interesting.
TE: What do you have going on for the summer? Are you allowed to say? You’re obviously not playing Rifflandia.
Writer’s note: An announcement about the cancellation of this year’s Rifflandia Music Festival had happened a few hours earlier.
[Everyone laughs]
Chris: No Rock the Shores at this point either. We currently have a show booked on June 21st at the Rubber Boot with the newly named Modern Thought. They were MIND music, they decided to change their name recently.
Norah: It’s at the Rubber Boot Club, which is one of the best venues in town. We are very excited to play there.
TE: It’s one of those venues where you don’t have to wear earplugs to watch a concert there. You should to protect your hearing, but it is mixed that well. I usually describe the Rubber Boot as Logan’s but with better sound and lights.
Norah: I like that it’s right off the floor so you can get right up and close. The sound in there is so good. I’ve done door there for a few shows. I love it. It’s very west coast down there. Very chill.
TE: You can tell that Roma from Electric Timber Co. put a lot of his personality into that room. It’s a venue built by musicians for musicians. I know they put a lot into the sound and lights in that room because they wanted people to enjoy themselves at their shows.
Chris: We’ve also just been in the studio with Malcolm Owen-Flood and have a few new songs recorded and ready to come out soon.
Norah: I’m stoked! This will be our first time on the radio and I’m really jazzed.
TE: Thanks for chatting with me. Happy Band of the Month!
Mad Mona’s single Her featured for the entirety of May, and you can download two more songs at The Zone @ 91-3. Rocktographers is proud to be a supporting sponsor of The Zone’s Band of the Month program.
On June 21st, Mad Mona will be rocking The Rubber Boot Club with local heartthrobs, Modern Thought and Reid Thomas John. Concert details and ticket information can be found here.