The psychedelic doomdream that is The Roller is headed west for a few weeks of summer sludge on the road. Check their myspace page to find out where you can taste the devastation that Texas has to offer.
“The Roller is a four-piece from Austin, Texas, and these are some seriously pissed off dudes. While an army of shredding guitars and pounding drums assault your ears, vocalist Mike Morowitz roars into the mic with such vehemence it’s a little bit scary.”
-XLR8R
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When Creative Types Combine Powers

Monofonus Press’ multimedia ambitions

“We made a lot of mistakes,” grins Morgan Coy. “But now, look, we have a calendar,” he adds, pointing to a dry-erase board on the wall of their tiny Eastside office, a board filled with deadlines and blocked-out days. Last fall, the fledgling Monofonus Press won Most Multiple Multimedia Idea in the Chronicle’s annual “Best of Austin” issue but had yet to release the second in their multiple multimedia series. On this humid May morning, Coy and his similarly bespectacled associates Becca Cohen and Will Slack feel a bit more optimistic holding the physical evidence of their trial and error: former Austinite Rebecca Bengal’s short story “Captioning for the Blind,” with illustrations by Virginia Yount and a five-song EP by doom-metal band the Roller. The idea of the series, essentially, is to shack up local artists, authors, and bands and package their works in an aesthetically pleasing bite-size format. Coy tried it out for the series’ first release, pairing his own plague tale, “Days uv Bloat,” with illustrations by Colleen Matzke and a CD by the country-folk collective Over the Hill.

“One way I tend to relate to people is [by] working on projects,” Coy explains. “And all the people I knew had an array of skills, all very artistic types. I’m a writer and musician myself, so it was like, ‘Why do I have to separate these things?’ I knew there was a way to capture that all in this cool little community. What a crazy scene there is down here, if you go looking for it.”

The idea for Monofonus came to Coy after he worked for local literary magazine American Short Fiction last year and was inspired by reading both the good and bad stuff. He relates that artists and authors tend to fall into Monofonus’ orbit more often than they have to seek them out. It’s like three degrees of separation rather than six and an interesting experiment in artistic matchmaking that has a distinctly Austin feel.

“The collaborations are very loose,” Coy says. “We’re packaging it together, but you’re not tied to both. I just really like the idea of showcasing three pieces, instead of a hodgepodge. We do try to make good combinations. If we get something that’s good and it doesn’t fit with what we’re releasing, we’ll hold on to it.”

That desire for synchronicity is apparent in “Captioning for the Blind.” The anxiety of Bengal’s tale of disappearing animals in the Hill Country is heightened by Yount’s eerie, static paintings of landscapes and the Roller’s neon gloom glow. It’s a perfect partnering and one that benefited from collaboration: The Roller was inspired by Bengal’s story to write the song “Zugunruhe,” about strange behavior in migrating birds.

Monofonus also acts as label, having just released the Golden Boys’ latest EP, I Smell Gold, and releases from locals the Diagonals and Pillow Queens are lined up for summer. There’s also an attendant podcast of local live recordings by the Golden Boys’ John Wesley Coleman on the site (www.monofonuspress.com).

While Coy and friends are still working out the kinks of running a small press in 2008, a handful of authors and artists is already in the hopper for upcoming releases, and they’re hooking up with a video artist to solidify their multiple-multimedia vision. All this based on a made-up word, which seems to be quite inspirational to the group today. So, what exactly is a monofonus?

“It’s a spiritual, philosophical thing,” Coy says. “It can be used to describe anything. Life is a monofonus.”

“Oh, we should use that as the tagline on the books,” Cohen adds.

Domy Books, in association with Monofonus Press, is pleased to present…

American Trashcan

a JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN reading
with paintings by Michelle Devereux and videos by Max Juren

Saturday, July 12, 2008 at Domy Books, Austin
913 E Cesar Chavez, Austin, TX 78702
7–9pm
Videos presented at 7:30pm
Reading will start at 8pm
Show runs through July 26

THE GOLDEN BOYS LAUNCH EAST COAST TOUR

The Golden Boys will be on tour in late May in support of their upcoming EP “I Smell Gold”

Hot off a raucous, whiskey-drenched west coast tour earlier this spring, the Austin, TX, psych-country demigods, the Golden Boys, launch into an east coast tour in support of their upcoming EP “I Smell Gold”, a precursor to their summer ’08 LP “Goodbye Country,” out on the Austin label Monofonus Press in May.

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John Wesley Coleman Live:
03/31 Austin, TX @ ACC at the Rio Grande Campus, Book release

John Wesley Coleman III, much like that of his namesake John Wesley Hardin, comes from a fugitive place of whiskey drinking, depravity and poor hygiene – but that’s no coincidence.

Hailing from the bosom of football country, otherwise known as Irving, TX, and comprising one-fifth of Austin’s psych-country outfit the Golden Boys, Coleman showcases the literary element of his upcoming print + music package, “American Trashcan”, with a special performance of his brand of avant-trash rock, at the Austin Community College Rio Grande Campus on March 31, 2008 at 7 p.m.

Coleman’s new but rare 7 inch Ghetto Blaster/Faith, which Goner Records tagged a “retardo-brilliant interpretation” of the George Michael masterpiece, will also be available for purchase.

MP3 samples from upcoming album, American Trashcan:

• Ghettoblaster (mp3)
• Lonely Nights (mp3)

On The Web:
www.myspace.com/johnwesleycolemaniii
www.myspace.com/thegoldenboys

If you missed it during SXSW, here is a link to the online version of our lovely, little CD Sampler that could. Click the image above and check us out.

SATURDAY MARCH 15th @EXFU

SUNDAY MARCH 16 @ Groady’s House 1313 Cotton Streetw/ Samothrace, Git Some, Kingdom of Magic and Lethe

WEDNESDAY MARCH 12th @ Lamberts 401 W 2nd st

Keep an eye out for the Monofonus sampler CD that’s gonna be going ’round.  Lots of good music from all of our upcoming releases.   The Roller!   John Wesley Coleman!  Pillow Queens!  Over the Hill!  The Golden Boys!  Diagonals!

Hello! Hello! Welcome to the new Monofonus Press Site! Its been quite a bun in the oven and we ain’t even there yet. Much more to come, like things to listen to, items to own and dreams turning true. Please come and visit us again. Things are just getting started around here.