Mona

In the last month another band just blew my mind... MONA!! They are american and come from Nashville, the city of music. Their songs Teenager and Listen to your love sound just like a classic piece of rock music, because they're pure rock.
I think that especially in Teenager you can hear a certain influence of other punk bands such as 30 seconds to Mars, but I like them more. 
So let's talk about them a little.
Mona, consisting of members Nick Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Vince Gard (drums, percussion), Zach Lindsey (bass, backing vocals) and Jordan Young (guitar, backing vocals), originated from Dayton, Ohio, though they are now located in Nashville, Tennessee. Brown revealed the band's name refers to his grandmother, Mona Brown.^[4] Formed in 2007,^[5] the band went through various line-up alterations during its first few years, including the departure of a guitarist following a heated argument with Brown. Zach joined the group following a band visit to Nashville, Tennessee, where Zach was finishing a project with another band. Jordan was brought in following the previously mentioned guitarist's exit.
In April 2009, Brown was introduced to Saul Galpern, creator of Nude Records by a mutual friend. Soon after their online introduction, Galpern flew to Nashville to meet the band. Having been very impressed by them, Galpern signed a management contract with the band which led to a record deal with Island Records in September 2010.
An announcement made on April 4, 2011, revealed the band would be playing with the Kings of Leon during a one day festival held in Slane Castle, Ireland, on May 28, 2011.

On 20 November 2010, the band appeared on the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland, in which they performed the songs "Teenager", "Listen to Your Love" and "Lines In the Sand".^[6] On 6 December 2010, it was revealed that Mona had been longlisted on the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll, which predicts artists that will become successful in the year ahead. It was also revealed that month the band had made the longlist of MTV Awards' Brand New for 2011 - and on 3 February 2011, it was announced Mona had won.^[2]

The band released their debut single "Listen to Your Love" in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2010 through their own independent record label Zion Noiz Recordings.^[7] Second single "Trouble On the Way" was then released through Zion Noiz Recordings/Island Records on 13 December 2010.^[8] Mona released their third single "Teenager" on 7 February 2011.^[9]
In February 2011 Mona announced the release date of their self-titled debut album which was self-produced by the band in their basement in Nashville and mixed by producer Rich Costey (Foo Fighters, Muse, Arctic Monkeys)

Savannah xx


P.S. NIck Brown, Mona's singer, looks a little like Joe Strummer, doesn't he? ;)