Monolog
Monolog aka. Mads Lindgren is a musical traveller in the bleak underground of electronic music. Danish, but resident in Berlin, Lindgren is a highly active performer on the local scene – as well as producer in his Kreuzberg studio.
The adventure starts with various metal bands in the 90’s, but with distinct reference to the jazz guitar that he grew up with. This combination resulted in an aggressive sound with complex harmonic structures, best known in the band Wombat in Combat. Later he turned towards modern jazz in Vestbirk Noiz Ensemble, a 13-man piece headed by Niels Præstholm, and known for playing anything from pipes, table tennis balls, washing machines, samplers, antique radios and a thundering bass.
In 1999 this lead him to give birth to the Monolog moniker, his solo project, in which he stuck with the hard sound of his prior musical endeavours, but adding an distinct experimental angle to his music production. He soon bonded with EPY from Trust in Austria through a series of live shows in Berlin, while also playing doom jazz with Anders Holst Jensen of Danish stages and hooking up with Danish electronica artist Karsten Pflum as studio partner. He became a resident at Søvnig Mandag and 9000massive events in Denmark and started plowing his way through a long series of acquintances with various types of electronic music – some of which were released as a series of 12” ep’s and a full length album on the Tender Productions label, as well as on other smaller labels.
Later, his live activities were rooted around the Wendel Club in Berlin as well as the stage at Zentrale Randlage with its improvised music and modern jazz aesthetics – while also playing a long list of other Berlin-venues, including the infamous Berghain Kantine. Most recently, in a new sideproject with Pflum, A Dying User, he has gained residency at the Shadow Dub club in Berlin.
The Monolog project is constantly changing, aiming for extremities and seeking them musically, technically and emotionally. Whether it is hammering the drums or creating soothing harmonies, these musical poles are given life by Monolog’s enterpretation of contrasts.
Releases on Uhrlaut:
Aerodymanic (2012) – release February 18, 2012
