“It’s a great feeling to be in a city where that zest of finding new music or a new moment hasn’t ever let up,” New York’s latest hot new band Monobloc admit. They’re not wrong too. With their brilliant new single ‘Where Is My Garden’, they’re proving nobody does it better than the Big Apple. Check out our latest Hype playlist cover feature.
Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Julia Tarantino.
In the heart of Bushwick, Brooklyn, as dusk settles over a courtyard surrounded by shipping containers, five musicians fend off mosquitoes and ponder the mysterious presence of a black cat named Neptune. This is Monobloc, New York’s latest buzz band, taking a moment between practice sessions to reflect on their whirlwind journey from inception to international acclaim.
Monobloc, comprised of Timothy Waldron on vocals, Michael ‘Mop’ Silverglade on bass, Ben Scofield and Nina Lüders on guitars, and Zack Pockrose on drums, are a testament to the enduring allure of New York City as a crucible for musical innovation. Their story is one of serendipity, perseverance, and the strange alchemy that occurs when diverse talents collide in one of the world’s true cultural capitals.
The band’s formation reads like a modern fairy tale, complete with TikTok meet-cutes and transatlantic email introductions. As Mop recounts, “We’ve all been playing together as Monobloc for exactly one year. However, the band started almost two years ago. I had been living with Tim in Philadelphia and decided to move to NYC after our old band broke up. He ended up visiting me almost every weekend until he eventually moved here, too. We spent that first year here conceptualising ‘Monobloc’ and writing the initial batch of songs.”
Tim’s journey to New York was a gradual one, marked by a period of creative limbo. “I was coming into town several times a month to either work a film job or write music with Mop for over a year,” he explains. “I worked, played, existed, and created in NY while still sleeping in Philly. I finally broke ground in the city in May.”
Ben’s addition to the lineup came about through a fortuitous reminder of hidden talents. Mop shares, “One day during that period, I was talking to Ben, who had been my close friend since the first day of college, and mentioned that Tim and I needed a guitarist for our new band. He quickly volunteered himself for the job, as I’d forgotten he’d been a closeted guitarist the entire time we’d known each other.”
Nina’s entry into the band is a testament to the power of social media in forging unexpected connections. “Nina and I met over TikTok, of all places,” Tim reveals. “We bonded over our enjoyment of role-playing games. She was starting her own project and needed a band, so a trade agreement was met. Backing band for guitarist.”
Nina elaborates on this serendipitous encounter: “Zack and I had been good friends for a while before meeting Tim, Mop, and Ben. We met originally in the Manhattan comedy scene and worked together on my music. With my own project just starting, I hadn’t had any real insight yet into live performance processes, so when Tim and Mop offered to trade band services (my guitar for their guitar/bass), it seemed like a no-brainer, especially since I was a fan of theirs for a while beforehand. Zack, who was at the time drumming for me, met them at practice one day. Once we encountered Ben, Monobloc the five-piece was finally set into motion.”
“”Keep it simple” is overused for a reason. Perfection does not equal better”
Michael ‘Mop’ Silverglade
With the lineup complete, Monobloc set about crafting their unique sound, a blend of post-punk attitude and pop sensibility that has quickly caught the attention of cool kids and industry movers and shakers on both sides of the Atlantic. Their debut track, ‘I’m Just Trying to Love You’, released earlier this year, marked a turning point for the band.
“A lot happened very unexpectedly,” Mop recalls. “As the first single of a brand-new unsigned band, it feels like there’s only so much you can do, no matter how good you feel the song is. So we put it out with a self-produced music video and it was doing pretty okay streaming-wise, not disappointing but not mind-blowingly successful or anything. Then, one morning, we get an email from someone in France who works in the music business, then a day later, another from the UK, and then another and another.”
Tim adds, “We’ve been at this game for years, so there was a cocktail of confidence and apathy going into this. Some things we knew we could control the hell out of, and everything else we couldn’t. Thankfully, it seems we hit a sliver of luck. Even more interesting is the fact that it’s coming from a different continent we’ve never stepped foot in. The audience will be the judge.”
The band’s follow-up single, ‘Where Is My Garden’, further solidifies their reputation as a group to watch. The song’s genesis is a testament to Monobloc’s collaborative spirit and their willingness to revisit and refine ideas over time.
“I wrote the guitar riff years ago,” Mop explains. “We’ve never had more iterations of a single song idea; it just never came together. Yet, I persevered, and after we wrote the first couple of Monobloc tracks, we dug up the old demo.”
Tim elaborates on the lyrical content: “Attached to the main riff of the song was this chorus I really wanted to use but could never find a place where it made sense. ‘Where is my garden, where are my friends? Will it always feel like the end?’ It was a great wide theme – a bit Springsteen, but also something you might hear from a band like Mineral. And better yet, the closest I could legally get to saying, ‘Where are your friends tonight?’.”
“The mission is to keep it timeless. Love, loss, joy, melancholy, even anger when done right”
Timothy Waldron
He continues, “Although, like the riff, it just never came together. I was always wary of filling out the verses because every time I did, it sounded too on the nose and like a dated ‘AHHH THE MAN’ kind of song. Everyone eventually pushed it out of me, and I still feel like it’s a bit on the nose! But maybe that’s okay. I wanted to go more grey with it all.”
This approach to songwriting – a blend of persistence, collaboration, and a willingness to let ideas marinate – is emblematic of Monobloc’s creative process. When asked about their prolificacy, Mop reflects, “We spend a lot of time defining what a Monobloc song is made of and figuring out how to distil any possible musical combinations into that. When I was younger, I put a lot of energy into trying to be ‘prolific’ and practising playing faster and more complicated parts, but over time, I accepted that the songs I like are actually very simple. ‘Keep it simple’ is overused for a reason. Perfection does not equal better.”
Tim adds a touch of wry humour to the discussion of their creative process: “Sometimes you are mining your brain for hours for something to come out, and other times it comes to you like déjà vu. I’ve tried the rituals, read the books, written my morning pages, and watched the YouTube self-help video essays, and there really isn’t anything magic other than just getting it over the finish line. Although I haven’t tried the ice baths yet…”
When pressed about their best song to date, Tim doesn’t hesitate: “‘Line of Feeling’. It’s the song where we discovered what this band was about. Simple and sharp.”
This commitment to simplicity and emotional resonance is evident in Tim’s description of their lyrical themes. “I’d say the mission is to keep it timeless. Love, loss, joy, melancholy, even anger when done right. Simplicity performed with conviction rather than arbitrary wordiness. I think dating a song with the lyrics just enough makes it believable, but too much comes off as marketing. You could call it post-Antonoff.”
He continues, “We have this song called ‘Pochinki’ about the loss of a friend and the memories of time spent together in a particular virtual world. The virtual aspect is more so an easter egg rather than beating over your head with it. There’s an amount of ambience when it comes to writing. It’s nice to let the audience fill in the blanks for themselves. Keep the conversation alive.”
Mop adds his perspective on the band’s collaborative songwriting process: “I think the true beauty of Monobloc is that I can reference music I love, but by the time Tim is done putting his hand in it, the original influences I had could be completely indistinguishable, but the essence is still there, just in a way I could never have conveyed on my own.”
Tim aptly summarises their approach: “It’s like tossing your heroes into a stew and simmering it until it’s your own. Songwriting is a blend of theft and distillation.”
As an up-and-coming band in New York City, Monobloc finds themselves navigating a musical landscape that is both inspiring and challenging. Mop describes the experience as one of extremes. “To me, it feels like two extremes: either fulfilling a mission in The Greatest City On Earth, where anything seems possible, and it’s the way the city is portrayed in the marketing campaigns. Or, struggling with the high costs and limited free time that come with being an up-and-coming band. In the short time I’ve lived here, I’ve already seen the effect this city has had on our band, and it’s only the very beginning; I believe in the strange powers some claim this place has.”
“You could call it post-Antonoff”
Timothy Waldron
Tim adds a philosophical note, referencing a clip from 24 Hour Party People. “With NYC, there’s always something coming up as something is coming down. A double helix. There’s a video of Steve Coogan playing Tony Wilson that explains it well.”
Ben offers a more sobering perspective: “That being said, it can be hard to stick out in the midst of everything happening around you. It can feel like everyone’s sprinting as hard as they can on their respective hamster wheels. Despite all your best efforts, it can often feel like you’re just running in place. It can get disheartening if I’m being honest. I think we’ve found our niche, but that couldn’t have happened without the backing of the day-ones. Too many people to shout out, but they know who they are.”
Nina, a lifelong New Yorker, provides a more optimistic view. “I do think there is a lot of support in New York, especially since there’s such an eagerness in the culture of the city to find the next ‘big thing’. Part of what’s marketed as the appeal of living here is being in the ‘centre of it all’, in a way. Everyone kind of gambles with their time and energy to land on whatever is popular in the zeitgeist — so people are 100% eager to explore and find out what that may be. It’s a great feeling to be in a city where that zest of finding new music or a new moment hasn’t ever let up — and even cooler to have a local community that is genuinely interested in what we are doing and how best to support. As a lifelong New Yorker, it’s a really electric feeling to be part of that ecosystem and have the chance to pave our own path.”
The band’s sound and ethos are deeply rooted in New York’s rich musical history, particularly the early 2000s post-punk revival. Mop cites The Rapture’s iconic dance-punk classic ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ as a particularly transformative influence. “I’m too young to have witnessed the original hold this song had on nightlife in NYC; I just discovered it in my own isolated algorithm internet way. Despite the quasi-manufactured form of discovery, the song had massively changed me. There are only a few songs where I remember exactly where I was when I heard them for the first time, and this is one of them.”
Tim reflects on their generation’s relationship to this era: “We were, of course, all influenced by NYC’s early 2000s post-punk revival. We grew up in a time where you could buy a Strokes T-shirt in a Target and found the Yeah Yeah Yeahs through the A-trak remix in Project X. We were the first generation to be able to view that stuff as mythology rather than a scene that happened a few years ago. It felt worlds away. Some call it the last monoculture.”
As Monobloc’s star continues to rise, they find themselves facing the prospect of international tours and festival appearances. Zack shares the band’s mixture of excitement and trepidation: “We haven’t done any US touring yet, so when our international touring schedule started to solidify, we were very surprised and incredibly stoked. As a group, we’ve played at many small venues in NYC, usually to crowds of 50-250 people. Our first confirmed international date was Corona Capital in Mexico City. Our audience will be a small slice of the full crowd, but either way, we realised that we have some learning and growing to do to prepare.”
He continues, “I’ve played a few US festivals, and it’s a different beast – the stages are massive, there’s an entirely different system for how musicians listen to ourselves play; you feel these massive subwoofers vibrating the stage under you with every kick of the bass drum, and, of course, you’re looking out at thousands of people rather than dozens. Since I’m already in charge of running backing tracks for the band, I’m in charge of ushering us into our next phase of live performance – figuring out new and better systems for Monobloc to feel comfortable and locked in on a festival stage.”
“It’s a great feeling to be in a city where that zest of finding new music or a new moment hasn’t ever let up”
Nina Lüders
The prospect of these international shows has injected a new sense of purpose into the band’s rehearsals. As Zack explains, “Besides the boring, technical stuff, we’re just excited and in awe of our tour schedule. Sometimes, when we’re rehearsing, I visualise myself on a massive stage in Lisbon or Mexico City, and I can tell my bandmates are doing the same. It definitely adds a sense of purpose and magic to those long hours we spend sweating in a shipping container in Bushwick.”
When asked about their bucket list destinations, Mop expresses his excitement for good ol’ blighty. “I’ve been excited to play in the UK for a long time. Sometimes, when we’re writing songs, we’re like, ‘Would a crowd of thousands of British people want to sing along to this?’” He also mentions Japan as a top destination: “It’s an incredibly unique place, and I’d love to see how Monobloc connects there.”
Ben shares his anticipation for returning to familiar territory. “I’ve been lucky enough to go to Spain and Portugal before and absolutely fell in love with both, so I’m definitely looking forward to those. Japan is one of those places I never thought I’d get to in my lifetime.”
Beyond their musical pursuits, the members of Monobloc reveal a diverse array of interests and hobbies. Mop finds solace in a craft that offers a stark contrast to the unpredictable nature of music. “I like making rubber stamps. It’s an easy yet creative hobby, and there is always a clear path to the end, unlike music, which is usually a confusing maze that is equally excruciating as it is rewarding.”
Tim sheepishly admits to some digital vices (chess.com and World of Warcraft), while Ben’s interests reflect his coastal roots: “Surfing when the waves in NY aren’t 2′ mush. It’s hard out here on the East Coast. We have a few days off in Portugal this fall, fingers crossed the stars align and we score. And messing around with cameras, too.”
Zack’s passion for food shines through. “I’d say food occupies most of my non-music time: cooking, eating around the city, watching food and cooking shows… if the Monobloc team ever loses track of me on tour, it’ll probably be because I wandered off to a restaurant I saw in an Action Bronson video.”
“Sometimes, when we’re writing songs, we’re like, “Would a crowd of thousands of British people want to sing along to this?””
Michael ‘Mop’ Silverglade
Nina rounds out the group with her literary and gaming interests. “I really love to read and play RPGs. I’m also just starting to get into chess and have been playing a lot in my spare time. If the stars ever align for me, I’ll have time to get into writing a book, which is a lifelong dream of mine.”
As Monobloc stands on the cusp of potential stardom, the band members offer varied perspectives on what success means to them. From a simple “feeling happy and fulfilled at the end of the day” to “moderately less financial anxiety”, they’re pretty identifiable. So, while as Ben offers, he wants to “leave this world in a better state than I found it”, he also wouldn’t mind the chance to “dive into pools of gold coins, Scrooge McDuck-style”.
Zack’s aspirations feel the most zen, though. “I mostly want to have a peaceful life and share music that will resonate with an audience and make their experience of life a little more joyful.”
As our conversation draws to a close, Tim offers a playful challenge to their most dedicated fans: “If you’ve made it this far, DM us a frog, and I’ll leak you our songs.” Mop quickly adds, with a hint of caution, “That offer is not legally binding.”
As Monobloc embark on the next phase of their journey, they carry with them a legacy of countless musicians who have called New York home – but there’s more to them than a cooler-than-yours zip code and an inherited cultural legacy. They stand poised to make their mark on the global stage on their own terms. At a time where so much can often feel fragmented and disconnected, Monobloc offer a unifying force – a reminder of the simple joys of a well-crafted song and the thrill of discovering a new favourite band. ■
Monobloc’s new single ‘Where Is My Garden’ is out now. Follow Dork’s Hype Spotify playlist here.
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