The birth, rise, death, and rebirth of Reverse Monster…(pt. I)

Listen to Reverse Monster’s early material, gathered in the Black Cat album. It’s a free stream, so knock yourselves out.

Reverse Monster was “formed” near the end of 1998 DEC, into Jan 1999 in the house located at 135 Easton Ave., New Brunswick, NJ. There were some crazy happeningz over at 135 Easton in 08905. I say “formed” because the band as such did not truly start as a band. In the beginning, there was just the music and the act of making it. A 4 track tape deck recording unit, some cheap mics, casio keys, and busted guitars. The house at 135 Easton held 8 inhabitants, as well as several people who hung around often enough that they might as well have lived there as well. Lots of 40 ozs and bottles of dxm where imbibed…life was so relaxed and open then…it was almost hard not to be creative. They were the craziest, sometimes happiest,but definitely the most magical times some of us had ever experienced in our lives. Never before had the freedom to create been so much in the forefront of our lives, literally sitting in our living room interspersed with the usual items of everyday life. The connection and bond of the people in this house was so strong, they were almost like an island unto themselves. A single nation of creation that swept it’s own nation silly. It was these folks who came together, out of boredom, out of seeking, out of a desire to occupy the emptiness with something real, something that took our minds away from the stupid games of this world and back to that place where being creative is the means and the end. Where the act of creation was the focus, the action of creating, being in that flow moment where you and the music are all mixed up into one moment, coexisting together, each expressing itself through the mere presence of the other.

Matching this philosophy, the music was often created in single takes. Various members trading off roles, recording parts on top of what the previous members had just laid down. No one was crazy about any rules, so if a person needed a second take that was fine…but the essence of that process, trying to nail your part on one take with little to know preparation, trusting only your ears and your ability to let oneself enter this trust musically. The music that was created often surprised us during these times. Who knew what type of song would pop out next? Styles were not important, in fact it is the complete lack of style consciousness that made the music so endearing. It all had a characteristic ReverseMonster sound no matter what style the track came out as, because we weren’t trying to sound like anything. We were just humans singing because we could.

Over the course of these early months for Reverse Monster, while recording mostly to 4 track, the tracks that make up the album Black Cat were created. They were compiled into Black Cat after the later albums Red Cat, Blue Cat, Green Cat, and Purple Cat were passed around to local music heads and were well received.

Listen to Black Cat . It’s a free stream, so knock yourselves out.

WARNING: Many of our lyrics, being spontaneous and delivered under the influence of something or other, may be offensive to some listeners. If you think you might be offended by a bunch of crazy nonsense, then by all means, save yourself from us, and press the stumble button again and keep your earz pristine and your mind sound.

Coming soon: More on the history of Reverse Monster, more streams of the original Reverse Monster albums, and BRAND NEW REVERSE MONSTER MUSIC!

Stay tuned Monsterz!

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