Monuments

Interview date

27 Mai 2014

Interviewer

Lurk

I N T E R V I E W

Interview Chris Baretto (Singer)


At first, thank you for answering our questions, we are the French webzine "Aux Portes du Metal".

CB: No problem! Thanks for taking the time to ask me some questions.

In order to make things clear in our reader's minds, can you introduce yourselves? What is your story? Did you study musical theory? Anything you think might interest us...

CB: Certainly. My name is Chris Barretto and I sing for the band Monuments. I am also a saxophone player which, although not used primarily, does pop up from time to time in a live Monuments set. My story is that of dorky music student growing up. I spent a lot of time at home practicing instead of socializing when I was young and have gone through a couple of different instruments in my life. My primary instrument for the longest time was saxophone, which took me to both a music-focussed High School (called Laguardia HS) and college (Manhattan School of Music.) I've studied theory and am quite a fan of the topic. In terms of vocals, however, that was something that happened completely separate from my "formal" musical training. I started out singing in bands just because I wanted to emulate the people that I looked up too. In recent years, I've taken my voice much more seriously and have invested in some lessons from the world-renowned Melissa Cross to try and boost my skills.

Are there any good and bad memories linked to the band that you could share with us?

CB: For this band, so far, it's all been pretty much good memories! I've had some great times with the band, on and off stage, and have had some amazing experiences as well, with and without my pants on. I mean the worst thing to happen to us was that our bus broke down on the first day of one of our last tours. That sucked. Putting the album together in such a short time was also a little hectic, but I wouldn't qualify that as a bad memory. So I guess we've been pretty fortunate!

I believe this interview is sent to Chris Baretto, then, can you tell us more about you? How have you become part of the band?

CB: I sure can. Like I said, I'm a musician that grew up in The United States and I'm currently (and have been for a long time) a New York City resident. I have another band back in NYC that is called EVER FORTHRIGHT that utilizes a jazz sound that's more on par with my sax/musical "training", so to speak. I came to be a member of MONUMENTS by way of being with another band that was on tour with MONUMENTS a little more than a year ago. If you know me, you know that I've been around for a minute haha and so, in this particular case, I was filling in on vocals for the HAARP Machine when I met the rest of the guys (MONUMENTS). They were having problems with their old singer and after the tour was over and they let him go, we stayed in touch and talked about working together. I made my demo of what is now "I, The Creator" for them and after the audition phase was over, I was offered the gig. Having spent a good amount of time together on the road also helped me ease into the band with little hesitation, as we had already been in each others personal space and knew it was fine. I mean, Swanny put his balls in my bunk within like, the first five days of that tour. It's safe to say that we got close pretty quickly.

Your new album, "The Amanuensis" will be out in June, what is the idea behind this title?

CB: The title is derived from the movie/book called "Cloud Atlas". An Amanuensis is someone who dictates what has been said or written by another. For this record, I have written a rather in-depth story to accompany the music by way of concept and lyrics. The idea behind calling the title "The Amanuensis" is that the listener is, in a way, dictating the story being told them by the main character(s) of the story. So it's like you are part of the tale being told.

What are the lyrical themes of the album?

CB: The lyrics are based on the story that I've written for the album. Each song is a chapter, if you will, that chronicles the journey of our main character Sam and it's basically your classic hero tale where he has to discover his "destiny". The idea is also a play on words, as the Samsara cycle was an inspiration to the thematic content of the record. The two main figures in my story are Sam and his female counterpart, Sara. They're like the yin and yang of their universe. They also could be described as the Samsara cycle, personified.

How was the recording? And how was the writing process like?

CB: Haha, the writing process was awesome at times. Other times, it was a complete Hell-on-Earth! I cannot tell you how many times "Saga City" was bounced around and how close that song was to being scrapped. Writing the chorus to "Quasimodo" was another hair-ripping moment for myself. When that finally came together, I annot express the amount of relief that I felt. It was like taking a huge shit that's been piling up in your stomach and you couldn't do anything about it because you're stuck in traffic. The recording process was good but we were on a strict deadline that was much shorter than we were all used to working with. We wanted to take advantage of the momentum we had going so rather than draw out the process and try and make the "perfect" record, we decided to push ourselves to maintain a professional approach and work within the guidelines that were given to us by our management (The Euroblast Collective) and our label (Century Media). Mike recorded drums at Monnow Valley and achieved some amazing takes and drum tones for the record. There was no sampling, there's no replacement, it is just all Mike on the kit. That's something we don't get a lot of these days, unfortunately. Browne recorded all the guitars and bass at his place. I think he's achieved some really fat, raw sounding guitars. I recorded vocals with Eyal Levi at Audio Hammer Studios in Florida, USA. Browne then mixed and mastered everything on his own. We had a very limited budget to work with so that's why we tried to take on as much possible on our own. It's definitely not perfect, but, for the amount of time we had, I can say that I'm proud of the work we've achieved.

Will you shoot a music video to promote your album? If so, what kind of visual style would you be looking for?

CB: I would love to shoot a video for any of the songs on the record. It truly all depends on the budget we have, as I have the vision in my mind to make an epic like an MJ meets George Lucas type of video. Essentially, a Captain Eo type of video but Monuments style and within the context of my story. If you haven't seen Captain Eo, google it, watch it, dig it. THAT type of production is what I want.

You are one of the main bands in the "djent" scene, but many metalheads deny the existence of "djent" as a genre. What is your opinion on that?

CB: Honestly, I have no opinion on that. That kind of discussion is bound to happen anyway and it might as well be encouraged. My responsibility as an artist is to create music, not worry about how it's labeled. The way I see it, "djent" is just like the when the term "be-bop" came into existence. It's a term that is used so that the majority of people have something to understand and relate to in its most reduced form. Call it the E=MC2 of metal (not saying we're geniuses or anything but it represents the simplest explanation for what this "new sound" is). As long as it helps people to understand it, that's fine. Like I said, it's gonna happen anyway, regardless if it's Djent or some other word. But say the word "thall" in my presence and I swear I will fucking strangle you with your own innards. I HATE the word thall. Passionately, Blindly, and Completely.

What bands are your main influences?

CB: For me, the bands I grew up with have been my main influences. So that would be bands like Deftones, Pantera, Lamb of God, Meshuggah, Slipknot, Soundgarden, Sevendust, Tool, just to name a few. Recent bands that have influenced me though would be the likes of Fair to Midland, Dead Letter Circus, Karnivool, Twelve Foot Ninja and Queen/Freddy Mercury. The one artist that has been all across the board though, for me, is Michael Jackson. He has been timeless in my life and I use his work as an education and a reference in my music constantly.

What albums impressed you recently?

CB: Haha the new Michael Jackson record! Specifically, the deluxe edition that has the "old" versions of his songs. I love the original arrangements that MJ had at least somewhat intended for people to hear. Not that Timbaland blasphemy they decided to include, that stuff is just wrong.

What is your opinion on illegal downloading?

CB: It's a double edged sword. It's a great way to get material out to tons of people but then it also affects album sales, which in turn, has the potential to reflect badly on a band that is under contract with a label. Either way, it's going to happen so I just hope that enough people like the material enough to support it. No matter what you may think about the music industry, when you buy a record, you are helping the band. Either monetarily (as it is our living) or in terms achieving a higher profile, it's not a bad by thing by any means to support the bands you like.

Will you tour in France to promote your new record?

CB: I imagine we will do so at some point! I love Paris so I would be PISSED if we didn't get to come to France. France has a particularly special place in my heart because of how much the country had supported my father when he was a touring musician. France put a lot of food on my table as a kid and for that, my heart will always be with the French.

Thank you very much for your time, I'll let you have the final word :

CB: Thank you for taking the time, once again, to ask me some cool questions. I hope to see you on the road along with all the fans as well. Pick up a copy of "The Amanuensis" on June 23rd and come represent your MONUMENTS love!


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