By Will McGuirk
Toronto-based alt-rock band MONOWHALES play The Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa Thursday October 20th. The three piece , Sally Shaar, Zach Zanardo, and Jordan Circosta, won the 2022 Breakthrough Group of the Year Juno but celebrations were short-lived as vocalist Shaar took time to deal with her own breakdown.
Post-Lockdown more and more artists are speaking out about their mental health issues and the physical health challenges of touring. MONOWHALES are among those opening up their private experiences to the public so we reached out to find out how collectively the band is doing and how their new album ‘Tunnel Vision’ was created during these trying times for the trio.
Slowcity.ca: Vocalist Sally Shaar has been quite open about mental health challenges she was experiencing and how she got through, I'm curious about how the other members in the band are feeling, and if they too are also experiencing or have experienced similar challenges and if yes what were their coping strategies?
Jordan Circosta: “Zach and I have both had our share of mental health challenges over the past couple of years. Since our relationships run so deep it’s not unusual for us to step up when Sally is struggling, as she does for us when we start losing our grip. For me specifically, my stuff tends to revolve around existential problems and feelings of alienation, so my coping strategies coming out of the pandemic involved a lot of connecting with my support system and reconnecting with art through creation and performance. Needless to say these were the most difficult things to access under lockdown and it took an enormous toll on my mental health. Therapy helps too, and I really can’t overstate the importance of proper nutrition and hydration as a foundation for mental health.”
SC: The lyrics on the album speak to these challenges of course, but when it comes to the music, was there an effort to channel those feelings through the music and if yes can you give me some examples?
JC: “Music and lyrics are two sides of the same coin, so we’re always trying to make the music support the lyrical content, and vice versa. The guitar solo in StuckintheMiddle is a great example of this - it was recorded at our rehearsal space before the sessions began, after we had lost touch with Sally and were uncertain if ‘Tunnel Vision’ would even get the chance to exist. It was the first take Zach played and when we were assessing if we should re-record it in studio, we decided it already was exactly what it needed to be, since it contained all the frustration and anxiety that is the central theme of that particular track.”
SC: Tunnel Vision as a title is so on the money; we all have tunnel vision, literally . What are the members doing to get out of that tunnel, and see beyond the very tight linear narrative tunnels are such great metaphors for?
JC: “Our focus as a group right now is to immerse ourselves in the experience of performing. After so long away from it, we’ve rediscovered our love of the stage, which is what brought us together as a band in the first place, far more than writing and recording music ever did. For us, the experience of our live shows is the most visceral, all-encompassing, “in the moment” feeling there is, and there’s nothing better than that to break us out of the tunnel vision and plunge us into reality.”