Based in Tokyo, Japan, MONO is a four-piece instrumental rock band originally formed in 1999. Their unique approach of combining moving orchestral arrangements and shoegaze guitar noise is held in extremely high regard; so much so that the band’s musicianship and diverse musical palette has eclipsed the rock genre and exists within its own realm. As British magazine NME once stated, "this is music for the Gods".
Over the first decade, MONO rapidly established a well-acclaimed status, especially with their live performances. Through their annual world tour comprising around 150 shows, visiting now over 59 countries, both critics and fans of rock music agree their sheer euphoric, dynamic resonance of performance make MONO one of the best live bands in existence. A particularly memorable and monumental occasion was when the band celebrated their 10th anniversary with a special set of orchestral shows in New York, Tokyo, London and Melbourne; which was later immortalised as the live album Holy Ground. MONO now also proudly holds the title of being one of the most internationally successful bands in Japan.
Outside of the studio and live music, MONO has also made its name as a film score composer. After releasing 10 successful albums, the band received the highly regarded award, The Marshall Hawkins Awards: Best Musical Score – Featurette from the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema for their collaborative short film Where We Begin in 2015.The band was also nominated for Ariel Award for Best Original Music Score for the feature film The 4th Company which was released in 2016.
In 2018, MONO began a new journey. After welcoming the new drummer Dahm, the band started to prepare for the celebration of their second decade as a band and during this time, they received a special invitation to be one of the headliners of London’s Meltdown Festival, personally requested by 2018’s curator, Robert Smith of The Cure. This was an unforgettable gesture and honour for the band, especially coming from one of the band’s long-time inspirations. The stage was then shared with artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, Mogwai and Deftones.
The band’s 20th anniversary was welcomed in the following year. To commemorate this occasion, the 10th album Nowhere Now Here was released alongside a year-long world tour, consisting of four special orchestra shows in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and London, ending in March 2020. One of the orchestra events, held at the historic Barbican Hall in London, performed to a sold-out audience of 2,000, was similarly immortalised as the live album Beyond the Past, which charted at #2 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover Albums in the US.
Now, MONO enters their third decade of existence. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the band started production for a new album with one of the band’s longtime collaborators, Steve Albini. Their 11th record Pilgrimage of the Soul was released in September of the following year, which charted at #85 on Billboard’s General Album Sales in the US for the first time, and also charted #2 on Alternative New Artist Albums. In 2022, the band worked on the soundtrack for the documentary film My Story, the Buraku Story, directed by Yusaku Mitsuwaka. After nationwide premieres the same year, the film was awarded first place in the Cultural Film Award at the 96th Kinema Junpo Best Ten.
2024 marks the 25th anniversary of MONO. To celebrate this occasion, the band released their 12th album, OATH, once again produced with the legendary Steve Albini before his untimely passing.
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