Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Eva Cassidy, Judy Collins and Etta James. What do these singers have in common? Each of them has a distinct, unique voice that is instantly recognizable to the listener. We need to add Celeste Griffin from the band Monarchs to this list

Griffin packs a double punch with her voice and her lyrics. Trying to decide which is the more influential component in their songs is like trying to decide the old “which came first…the chicken or the egg” riddle. When it comes to Monarchs songs, there is no answer because you cannot have one without the other.

This combination of Griffin’s soulful, haunting voice and her heartfelt, emotional lyrics helps the listener FEEL everything that’s flowing from the music. For me it’s as if, with a few words and a melody, my memories are pulled from my past and I find myself saying “Yeah, I remember when I was hurting that badly…or…when I felt that strong”.

Griffin and guitarist Van Hollingsworth recently visited KXAN to talk about their sound, to sing a couple of songs and to tell us about their plans for the Monarchs new CD.

“I wrote my first song Notes On Disease in 2006″, said Griffin. “I had just come out of a long period of heartache and depression. I think I kind of had a ‘quarter-life crisis’ or something. I was grappling with a lot of different issues and had been journaling about them for about a year. Then I sat down at my mom’s piano and I wrote that song. It was such a blessing to me because I realized that I have an outlet for whatever it is that’s going on, which at that time was a lot of heavier issues.”

The Monarchs first EP, The Oak, was released in 2008. All of the songs were recorded on a four-track tape recorder in Griffin’s mother’s home, a friend’s studio and an old warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama. 

The stark method of recording the songs helps to make the EP an extremely raw album, according to Griffin and Monarchs guitarist, Van Hollingsworth. Yet, while the songs may be raw and haunting, Griffin and Hollingsworth want to assure the listener that the music is still accessible enough for everyone to enjoy.

Their next EP Those Words, Those Frames was released in 2009. This collection of songs had a different sound and more upbeat tone .

“We were actually in a studio and there was much more capacity to do more things”, said Griffin.

“And some of those songs were as old as the other ones on the first EP”, added Hollingsworth.  “This one has the anthem The Things You Build Yourself. That was an old song”

“That was one of the first songs I’ve ever written and it’s very upbeat and happy”, said Griffin.

I agree with her. The Things You Build Yourself is my favorite Monarchs song. It just speaks volumes to me as a listener and as a woman. But this doesn’t mean that anyone else will respond to this song the same way. We each bring our own past to the lyrics and melodies, which then combine together to give each person their own unique interpretation of the songs.

For their next CD, Monarchs are taking a different approach. They have created a project on a website called PledgeMusic.com. Within this project, fans can pledge money for the band to use in funding their recording sessions.  The upside to this method is that the band gets to make all of the decisions.

“You can decide everything,” said Griffin. “You decide who you’re working with, what you’re going to be doing with the money and all that sort of thing. Everything is up to the artist.”

“It’s making you the artist,” added Hollingsworth. “It’s putting you in the label capacity.”

“The fans are the label,” continued Griffin. “They’re giving you the money so that you can go out and then return their help with handing them the album. It opens them up to see a lot more of the process rather than just hearing the album because we’re posting all these little videos of us sitting down, working on the songs when they’re totally stripped down, bare bones.”

The downside to making a CD this way is that…you have to raise the money through pledges from your fans, family and friends. That can take time which, in turn, can lengthen the time it takes to record the CD. Yet even with the task of raising funds for their project weighing on them, Griffin and Hollingsworth are eager to get started.

“Moving up to the full-length format is a great move at this point,” said Hollingsworth. “It let’s you show more sides of your personality. As much diversity as there is to human emotions, Celeste has as much diversity as a writer.”

“Yeah,” added Griffin. “There’s some really soulful, groovy ones that have a truly unique Monarchs feel to them. And then there’s some that feel a little bit more familiar, more folky or country. We’ve also got a sort of swinging kind of old-timey, jazzy sounding one. The songs are all really strong.”

Here are two of the songs from the new album.

When asked about any plans for a tour to support their new album, Griffin and Hollingsworth both admitted that it really depends on when they can wrap things up in the studio.

“Right now we’re trying to fund raise,” said Griffin. “We’re planning on trying to track things as fast and as efficiently as possible. But there’s a chance that we may have to do another session in August if we don’t finish everything now. But I’d like to have the album out by October or November and then just play Texas cities on the weekends consistently. I’m also going to have to get a job so it’s going to kind of butt up with the touring a little bit.”

That’s the reality of being a band made up of independent musicians. But, if their first full-length CD is anything like their previous two EPs, I think they’ll reach a point where the day-to-day jobs won’t be necessary anymore.

Meanwhile, until the new album arrives and the tour begins, if you want to hear more of the Monarchs music, you can find their songs on Amazon.com,  iTunes and on their website: www.monarchsfamily.com.

Monarchs Interview – Part 1, Monarchs Interview – Part 2, Monarchs Interview – Part 3.

Tags: Austin, Celeste, Griffin, Hollingsworth, Monarchs, Van