Review Fix chats with Rivers Monroe frontman Mike Monroe, who breaks down the band’s new album, “Smart Girls,†as well as the band’s participation in this year’s Warped Tour. Refined, but energetic Pop Punk, Rivers Monroe is easily one of our favorite new bands, while “Smart Girls†may, in fact, be one of the best radio-friendly rock albums this summer.
Review Fix: What was the development of this album like?
Mike Monroe: It was very different than our previous albums. It was very concentrated. We usually just wrote at our leisure and when we had enough we would jump in the studio. But, because of our busy schedule, we only had three months to get it done and get in the studio so we really had to dive in 24/7. That being said, it was a very cool process. It’s almost like a transformer from the movies, we had to switch from live playing mode to writing/recording mode and though both have a lot in common, they are significantly different. I mean we are always writing in our heads and little cool ideas here and there, the meat of writing takes all our concentration.
Once we got in Amped Studios with Greg Parker everything came to life. We moved to Baltimore for a couple weeks and just recorded all day, every day. He was incredible and helped our concepts come to life.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?
Monroe: Little bit of the ‘80s fun, party rock mixed with some modern Fall Out Boy/All-American Rejects feel and a sprinkle of Prince.
Review Fix: How was “Hero Inside” written? Is there a story behind it?
Monroe: “Hero Inside†was a fun track. Our drummer Kevin had this little guitar loop that he was messing around with and was playing it before practice and we were like “what was that?†He said it reminded him of a kid dressing up and wanting to be a superhero. So, we continued on the concept and got to think about heroic kids. Doc’s cousin Brian is an eight-year-old who was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes shortly after he was born and the crap that this kid has to go through on daily basis to stay healthy (let alone all the hospital trips and complications!) is incredible. We also had a bunch of fans who have written us from hospitals saying our music helped inspire them to combat their illnesses and we thought, “damn, they are the real heroes.â€
Coinciding with the release of our album, we will be putting out a new music video for “Hero Inside†featuring Brian addressing the courage with which these kids face unbelievable adversity from the day they were born, but keep going. Their stories are beyond inspiring.
Review Fix: What did you learn from the first album and how did it affect this one?
Monroe: Well, with the first album we were just getting our feet wet, feeling out our sound, trying to understand who and what we are. We definitely learned that tension between our musical styles is a good thing and to embrace that rather than trying to take the easy way out. Finally, we just feel it prepared us better as I said earlier about being in writing and performing mode. There is a different approach to creating a full sound on an album then it is planning a live show so you really have to get introspective and dive into the details of what makes a great song.
Review Fix: Who are the band’s main influences?
Monroe: We can never answer this question because they are all across the board. Certainly we all love Jimmy Eat World but from there we are a mix of blues, metal, pop and grunge influences.
Review Fix: You guys have played with some great bands already. What kind of effect have they had on you?
Monroe: Yea, we have been honored to share the stage with some great bands we admire. It’s both uplifting and a bout of humility. On one hand, you go out there and play a great show and the crowd responds and even some of these great bands go out of their way to compliment you. After years of hard work and dedication we finally feel like we belong there. But then we watch these already legendary bands hit the stage and we all just start taking notes. Bands like All Time Low, Paramore, Incubus, etc… they just KILL it. It’s amazing to watch and learn from them. No matter how big or tight we get, there will always be something to learn.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the Warped Tour?
Monroe: We really have no words to describe the level of excitement and honor we feel to be a part of such a legendary production like Warped Tour. It wasn’t that long ago when we were all teenagers watching the show from the masses, dreaming of what it would be like to play on one of those stages. Now we get to do it.
We cannot wait and are excited to meet thousands of awesome people and make some great fans. So if you are going, you better drop by and say hi!
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals with this band?
Monroe: We find there is never a goal that will satisfy us. It’s human nature, we always want more. Not in a totally greedy way but in a way that we are always looking for ways to be better as musicians, performers, songwriters and people. There will never be an ultimate goal, just the next step.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Monroe: So much more! I’m not sure if we are allowed to say anything, yet. It’s funny now that we have a whole label and management team they are very tight with what we can and cannot say because of contracts, negotiations and such so we just stick to “Stay Tuned!â€
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