Score Night has been a regular spot for weekend gig-goers bringing in a variety of genres on different weeks and at one of the evenings, it was Jack, Johnnie and the Ol’ Monk. The Djembe-playing, acoustic-sounding, three-piece band has now added some gear-power to their sound. With Christo deciding to leave the band, David and Siddharth have brought in Adarsh Raghuram on bass and Neil Smith on drums.
At the Score Night gig, the band started off with a Michael Jackson cover, The Way You Make Me Feel , moving on to tracks from their album, amid shouts for their song Paloma .
NXg caught up with the band after their successful performance for a little chat and to get updates on news from their camp.
How did Jack, Johnnie and the Ol’ Monk begin and where along the road are you guys now?
When David and I started out in 2011, we had Christo also back then, so had this idea of a full acoustic band with acoustic tones on the piano, acoustic guitar, a djembe. And our emphasis was on vocal harmony, like a three-part harmony sort of an idea. We set out, played gigs and cut an album called “Crystal Moon”. The single, Paloma, went viral for a bit and all that was good. Then later, Christo decided to leave. So David and I were wondering if we should take it forward with a different approach to the sound. We jammed a few weeks with Adhu and Neil experimenting new sounds, some funk etc. And our first gig was, coincidentally, at Score Night
We are curious about how the name “Jack, Johnnie and the Ol’ Monk” come about.
Honestly, we were just hanging out and having a drink when a friend suggested this name. It was catchy and since there were three of us in the band, each of us were like one of the names and we sort of made an act around the idea. It worked for us. Lot of people got familiar with the name because of “Paloma” and yea, it’s caught on that way.
Most musicians hate this question, but what genre do you play?
I would go with “Urban Acoustic”! We just came up with that. We think it makes sense.
What would you call your influences?
We come from different backgrounds, Neil and I play for a Blues band. David and Adhu have been involved in Metal bands. So the influences are from all over.
What have you guys been up to since the new line-up has been set?
Since then we have been playing shows at colleges and pubs. We headlined Deepwoods, MCC’s cultural fest, along with Skrat. The going has been good..
What are the best and the worst moments you guys have had so far?
So far, worst was when we were going through the line-up change. Getting our sound together, getting everyone familiar with the new songs, the whole process was quite tedious and was probably one of the toughest things to get through. The best was when our album came out. And also when we had put out our song Paloma , we got some 50,000 plays in a week and that period of time was awesome.
And what’s next in line?
We are working on another album. We are also looking to play live more. We’ve made a few new tracks and jamming them out. We’ve added two new members, so we’re going to have their influences add to the sound. Our first album was three-piece approach, but now the set-up is different and we will surely be trying out newer things and getting a different approach for the coming album.
Genre: Urban Acoustic
Founded: 2011
Current line-up: David (vocals/guitars); Adarsh (bass); Siddharth (keys); Neil (drums)
Big moment Release of Paloma and getting 50,000 listens in a week’s time.
