“There are three things that matter to me: faith, fighting and fucking.”
Meet Nick Brown, leader of Nashville’s newest kids on the block, Mona. Bubbling with more bouncing energy than a boxer waiting to get in the ring, this guy knows a thing or two about the three ‘F’s.
Firstly fighting: “Our original guitar player just didn’t fit. One time he got so drunk and got in our drummer’s face so I ended up having to beat the shit out of him. I literally broke my hand on his face.”
Faith: “I’m just trying to be as honest as I can, I hate bullshit man. I was raised in church, I had friends raised on politics and you hear a lot of bullshit. I don’t want that anywhere near my music.” And finally fucking: “I’m super obsessed with women’s accents man whether they’re from Italy or Georgia. It drives me nuts.”
Hailing from Nashville sorry, living in Nashville has already seen the four-piece “lazily” lumped in with those Followills, Kings Of Leon. Yet like their global straddling deep south counterparts, Mona have that same burning desire for world domination. Heck they even want be as big as U2. “They set the standard especially in their heyday,” Brown affirms. “That’s how ambitious every rock ‘n’ roll band should wanna be. I mean seriously name one rock band with a good frontman that is really turning heads like they used to?”
In a time when few bands have very little to say, it’s refreshing to finally hear a fearless star in waiting telling it how it is and more importantly actually having the epic tunes to back it up. Songs like ‘Listen To Your Love’ are as massive and emotionally charged as anything KOL, The Killers or U2 have etched into their bible of universal anthems. And there’s plenty more where that came from. But you’re gonna have to wait cos these boys ain’t in any rush. “We want people to be happy to hear us and not go, ‘Shit not these guys again’,” argues Brown. Far from it. Before long everyone’s gonna want a piece of Mona.
Words by Damian Jones
Where: Nashville
What: Epic Rock ‘n’ Roll
Unique fact: Nick came within a whisker of a terrorist shooting in Belfast the last time he visited the UK, a decade ago.
Songs: ‘Listen To Your Love’, ‘Lines In The Sand’, ‘Teenager’
