Review Fix Exclusive: Monowhales’ Jordan Circosta Talks ‘RWLYD’ And More

September 20, 2019 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with Monowhales’ drummer Jordan Circosta, who discusses the band’s origin, goals and new single, RWLYD.

Review Fix: How did you the group get together?

Jordan Circosta: Sally and I met when we were both still in high school at a bonfire my band was hosting after we played a show in Toronto. We met Holly and Zach in college and started playing live soon after that.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Circosta: Usually one or maybe two of us will show up to a session with a song idea we’ve been working on and everyone else will pile in and add to it. We’re a collaborative band where every member really likes writing lyrics and melodies so each song ends up becoming its own unique combination of our various tastes. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Circosta: Personally I’m most inspired by stories, whether they’re lived experiences or just something I create in my mind. I think that’s why I enjoy writing lyrics so much. Sally gets a lot of her inspiration from seeing live music, if you’re ever out at a show in Toronto it’s not unusual to bump into her at a venue downtown. Holly gets really inspired by the creative process of writing as a group, and Zach didn’t get back to me in time, but if I had to guess I’d say he’s inspired by burritos.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Circosta: Modern, fearless, danceable.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Circosta: We do our best to capture our energy in our recordings but nothing compares to the experience of playing live music. The feedback loop between us and the audience creates an atmosphere that’s unique to each show. We want to make sure we give people everything they love about our recordings when we play live, but infused with the visceral intensity of human connection.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

Circosta: We wrote RWLYD during a pretty dark time for the band. We were all really struggling with our mental health and questioning our way forward and channelled all those emotions into a song about pushing back against all the external and internal pressures we felt were holding us back. It quickly became our favourite song to play live and breathed new life into the band. It’s a song we’re very grateful for and we hope it will have a positive impact on you, just like it did for us.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2019?

Circosta: We’re about to go on tour this October with dates across the country, landing us in BC where we’ll be recording with Ryan Worsley, the same producer who worked on RWLYD (check out our website to grab your tickets!!). We can’t wait to get back into the studio and create some new music we can share with you all in 2020.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Circosta: More shows, more music, more burritos.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Circosta: Keep your eyes peeled for the music video for RWLYD, dropping sooooooooon! Keep your grapes peeled because Sally prefers them that way.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13872 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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