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I Monster

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This article is about the British music group. For the horror film, see I, Monster.

I Monster
OriginSheffield, England
Genres
Years active1998–present
Labels
Members
  • Dean Honer
  • Jarrod Gosling
Websiteimonstermusic.com

I Monster are an English electronic music duo, composed of the Sheffield based record producers Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling. Best known for their songs Who Is She ? and Daydream in Blue, both of which appeared on their 2003 album Neveroddoreven. They have also produced records for acts such as The Human League or HK119 and worked on a documentary about the origins of electronic music.

I Monster and its label Twins of Evil are both named after horror films starring Peter Cushing (i.e., I, Monster and Twins of Evil).[1]

Career[edit]

Formation and Daydream In Blue (1996-2002)[edit]

Dean Honer and Jarrod Gosling first met in 1991, when a mutual friend introduced them to each other. Honer was setting up a studio and invited Gosling to make music together.[2] Early influences included early Warp Records releases, Fad Gadget and Blancmange.[3] They were already making techno music together for years when they founded I Monster in 1998. Drawing inspiration from the psychedelic rock, progressive rock and easy listening of the '60s as well as Ennio Morricone, they would go buy vinyl records and start to chop them into songs. This was the process that resulted in an early version of Daydream in Blue, which sampled The Gunter Kallmann Choir's version of "Daydream". After finishing their first album These Are Our Children in 1999, the two musicians received an Arts Council grant to press 500 CDs which they had to give away for free, due to sample clearance issues.[2][4]

Daydream in Blue, which already featured on their first album, was reworked and released as a single in 2001 on Cercle Records, a record label founded by Honer and frequent collaborator Barry Smith of Add N To (X) along with singles from Smith's band and All Seeing I members. Honer describes this era of creative cooperation as "quite a bit of cross-pollination between Add N To (X), the All Seeing I, and I Monster".[4] After Nemone picked up the song and played it on her radio show, interest grew in the duo and they signed to Instant Karma shortly thereafter.[2] Daydream peaked at number 20 in the UK charts.[5]

Neveroddoreven (2003-2008)[edit]

In 2003 I Monster returned with their second album Neveroddoreven. The original artwork featuring a skull was created by Gosling under the pseudonym of Varrod Goblink.[6] The duo was able to tour after the release and were joined by Marion Benoist and Fred de Fred of The Lovers. According to the group, the label mishandled some of the release strategy, leading to them leaving.[2] In 2005 the album was re-released with a new sleeve by Dharma Records.[citation needed]

In 2007 Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco heavily sampled "Daydream in Blue" on his hit song "Daydreamin'" featuring Jill Scott, popularizing the song even more.

I Monster started collaborating with Finnish pop artist, HK119, for her second album in 2007. The resulting project, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control was released in September 2008 on One Little Indian Records, and saw I Monster co-write and co-produce over three quarters of the album. This collaboration came from Dean Honer's previous role as a remixer for HK119's debut single, "Pick Me Up", from her eponymous debut album in 2006.[citation needed]

A Dense Swarm and People Soup (2009-2013)[edit]

I Monster released their third studio album A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars in 2009.[7] The coverart was once again designed by Gosling, as well as the artwork for every I Monster release thereafter.[6]

In 2011, the band produced The Human League's ninth album Credo, its first in 10 years. Joseph Stannard, writing for The Quietus, called the album a "terrific synthpop record" and better than 1981's Dare.[7]

October of 2012 saw the duo releasing two albums, Rare and Remixed, compromised of bonus tracks and rarities from "Neveroddoreven".[8]

In 2013, they released a collection of songs that didn't make it onto A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars under the name of Swarf. 2013 also saw the release of I Monster Presents People Soup, an album heavily featuring a fictional band entirely consisting of female singers over more pop-oriented instrumentation.[citation needed]

Bright Sparks documentary (2015-2016)[edit]

Bright Sparks, a two hour-long documentary, produced by Dave Spiers of GForce and I Monster, about the origins and pioneers of electronic music, was released in 2015,[9] joined by an accompanying album of the same title in 2016. The feature documentary contains numerous interviews with instrument designers and musicians. The first half of the movie, called "A Side", focuses on US inventors, while the "B Side" features British innovators. Interviewees include Adrian Utley, Daniel Miller, Billy Currie, Karl Hyde, Alessandro Cortini, Will Gregory and many more.[10]

The album Bright Sparks consists of eigth songs paying tribute to different innovators of electronic music, including but not limited to Robert Moog, Herbert Deutsch, Ken Freeman, Don Buchla, Harry Chamberlin and Alan R. Pearlman among many others.[11]

Bright Sparks Instrumental, an instrumental version of the album, was released on 19 July 2016 on the group's Bandcamp site. Included on this album is a preview track for Bright Sparks Volume Two.[10]

Comeback (2022-present)[edit]

I Monster didn't release any music in over 5 years, but after the sixth track of Neveroddoreven called "Who Is She ?" gained overnight virality on TikTok in 2022, the duo started work on an expanded version of that album. This resulted in the release of Neveroddoreven (Redux) in March of 2024. This version added three new songs and an acoustic version of Daydream in Blue to the end of the album.[4]

The newfound attention on their music also allowed them to tour Europe for the 20th Anniversary of Neveroddoreven, called the Who Are They Tour. They were joined by two vocalists, Jenny Green and Hannah Hu, with visuals created by Katie Mason.[2]

In June of 2024, I Monster confirmed they were working on a new album.[3][4]

Discography[edit]

Production Credits[edit]

Release Year Artist(s) Notes
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control 2008 HK119 Co-production[12]
The Art Of Chill 6 2009 Various Artists DJ mix [13]
Credo 2011 The Human League
Pocket Handkerchief Lane Kevin Pearce Production by Honer[14]
Matthew Hopkins and the Wormhole 2013 Kevin Pearce Co-production by Honer[15]

In popular culture[edit]

The duo's music has featured in movies such as Shaun of the Dead,[16] Riders (Steal)[17] and Endorphine[18].

Daydream in Blue featured on the soundtrack of Mr. Robot Season 2 Episode 1 called "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc".[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Music-To-Like: I Monster (English version) - Who Are They Magazine". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Perkins, Mark (11 March 2024). ""Something very strange happened, something we just couldn't understand" – I Monster on their unexpected resurge". Exposed. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Arundell, Jimi (4 June 2024). "Interview With: I Monster". Gigantic. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d "I Monster interview: "If you want us to carry on making music, we've got to make a living!"". JunoDaily. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Daydream In Blue by I Monster". Official Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b Stannard, Joseph (31 March 2011). "The Human League - Credo". The Quietus. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  7. ^ "I Monster – Rare". Musicforstowaways.wordpress.com. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  8. ^ Rogerson, Ben (12 February 2021). "You can now watch GForce's Bright Sparks synth documentary for free". Musicradar. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b Synthhead (27 February 2021). "Bright Sparks Documentary Captures Stories From The Beginning Of Modern Synthesis". Synthtopia. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ^ Hughes, Rob (26 February 2016). "I Monster: Bright Sparks". Louder. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  11. ^ Bartlam, Léigh (28 September 2009). "Hk119: …meanwhile, back on earth « wears the trousers magazine". Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  12. ^ "The Art Of Chill 6 - Mixed By I Monster". Discogs. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Pocket Handkerchief Lane by Kevin Pearce". Bandcamp. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Matthew Hopkins and The Wormhole by Kevin Pearce". Bandcamp. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Shaun of the Dead Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Riders Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Endorphine Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  18. ^ "eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved 26 June 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=I_Monster&oldid=1231173544"