Monofonus Press

Teleportal 2.3: Chocolate Shearwater Fountain is Tonight!
Jan 27 11

It seems like Teleportal Readings was a twinkle in our eyes only yesterday, but the multimedia lit series is celebrating its first birthday at 8pm tonight at the ND (E. 5th and Brushy) in Austin. In addition to live readings by Shannon McCormick and Carrie Fountain and a solo set by Shearwater frontman Jonathan Meiburg, we have a teleportal reading from Timothy Donnelly and Amanda Joy, international video art, and free chocolate from FoodArts! More info here!

Side 2 of Tim Kerr’s Mixtape
Jan 24 11

Tim Kerr’s new book comes with a mixtape of Tim’s favorite tracks from his many bands. If you don’t have a cassette player, you can listen, cassette-style, right here!

Here’s the track listing for Side 2 of Tim’s tape:
1) “Look to Tomorrow” Now Time Delegation
2) “One Step Closer” Poison 13
3) “Godzilla vs. King Baby” Lord High Fixers
4) “AngelHead” MonkeyWrench
5) “Joe McCarthy’s Ghost” Jack O’Fire
6) “White Streak” King Sound Quartet
7) “History” Big Boys
“Theme from the Ballad of Jessie Sawyers” Lord High Fixers

Side 1 of Tim Kerr’s Mixtape
Jan 20 11

Tim Kerr’s new book comes with a mix of his favorite songs from his many bands, but if you don’t have a cassette player, shame on you. Just kidding: If you don’t have a cassette player, you can still listen, cassette-style, right here!

Here’s the track listing for Side 1:
1) “Miss Jean Louise, Miss Jean Louise, Stand Up Your Father Is Passing” Lord High Fixers
2) “Bye Bye” Now Time Delegation
3) “Our Friends Are Friends” Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee
4) “We Got Soul” Big Boys
5) “Party Platform” Bad Mutha Goose and the Brothers Grimm
6) “Freedom” Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee

Prom Dress Pizza Surf
Jan 05 11

We’re not even going to explain this beyond telling you that it’s Monofonus artist Michelle Devereux, clad in a prom dress and surfing through Austin on a slice of pizza. Hence the title.

AVB ‘Compound Fantasy’: Prom Dress Pizza Surf (Michelle Devereux) from Austin Video Bee on Vimeo.

Two Idea Fund Grants for Monofonus Friends!
Dec 13 10

We are beyond psyched to announce that not one, but two Idea Fund Grants have gone to close Monofonus friends! Both grants are for $4,000. Not bad!

Boozefox (Jules Buck Jones, Drew Liverman, and Scott Eastwood) won a grant to construct Battleship Earth, a large sculpture/watercraft resembling an iceberg, which will be “driven” around Lady Bird Lake over the course of one or more days. Jules and Drew both have studios at the Monofonus compound, and you might remember the gigantic dragon puppet they transformed the warehouse into two SXSWs ago.

Here’s a video of some of their exploits to jog your memory:

Andy Rihn, who also has a studio at the compound and whose book we recently published, won a grant to make Texas’ Longest Hammer Choir, a slow-rolling short film of an event consisting of 500 people hitting hammers together across abandoned railroad tracks, filmed from a custom-made railroad cart that houses the soundtrack musicians, propulsionists and film makers. If you attended the Tiger’s Last Toothball and donated a hammer or made a promise in the promise booth, this is what that was for!

Big hugs and high-fives to Jules, Drew, Scott, and Andy!

Tim Kerr’s Your Name Here, Free!
Dec 03 10

Monofonus is thrilled to announce the publication of artist and musician Tim Kerr‘s Your Name Here. In celebration, we’re offering an awesome holiday three-for-one deal on our 2010 catalog: If you purchase Jules Buck Jones’ Everglades, you get free copies of Your Name Here and Andy Rihn’s The Tiger’s Last Tooth. That’s $30 off! Books can also be purchased singularly and read in their entirety online for free! Yaaaaaay!

Oh, and if you share the news with five friends and write orders@monofonuspress.com telling us so (you don’t need to name names, we trust you), we’ll send you a special treat!

Browse Tim’s book:

Andy Rihn: Redux
Dec 02 10

Did you miss Andy Rihn’s installation at the compound last month? You’re in luck! Andy’s recreating it from 2-6pm at Domy Books (913 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin) this Saturday. Stop by! More details here.
We’re also doing a monthlong deal on the books we published this year, both in-store and online. Buy Jules Buck Jones’ Everglades and receive Andy Rihn’s The Tiger’s Last Tooth and Tim Kerr’s Your Name Here for free! That’s $30 off!

Ralph White Tonight!
Nov 21 10

The amazing Ralph White is playing tonight, Sunday, November 21, at the United States Art Authority (210 W. 29th St) with Paul Geremia. Check it out, and listen to Ralph’s most recent release on Monofonus here in its entirety!

Secrecy Is No Longer a Secret
Nov 16 10

If you had the major misfortune of missing out on Andy Rihn: The Tiger’s Last Toothball this past week, you’ll never truly know what it is to have a vibrating pile of denim read to you or to wash down a breadsnake with a tequila-absinthe concoction. You will, however, be able to watch the new videos we premiered for Secrecy, so console yourself with that. This first one was directed by Teleportal Readings art director Scott Gelber, and stars some of the ladies of Austin Video Bee – Elana Farley, Sally Bergom, Amanda Joy, Matti Sloman, and Michelle Devereux – as well as Deena Oh, Marie Butcher, and Jess Sauer. To listen to Secrecy’s entire album, which is included in Andy Rihn’s book, go here.

Secrecy “To The Left” from Scott Gelber on Vimeo.

Diana Welch on The Tiger’s Last Tooth
Nov 10 10

Come to the Monofonus Compound (610 Vermont Road, Austin, TX) tonight – Wednesday, November 10 – or Saturday, November 13, at 8pm to get your mitts on a copy of Andy Rihn’s new book, The Tiger’s Last Tooth, and explore the bizarre environment Andy Rihn has created with his own two hands. Admission is $5 or a hammer and a promise (any hammer will do, but we get to choose the promise) and includes Andy’s book, the new Secrecy CD, tattoos, breadsnakes, and tequila from Ambhar Tequila. We’ll also be premiering Secrecy’s new music videos, directed by Mike Aho, Scott Gelber, and Eric Power.

Here’s a book report on The Tiger’s Last Tooth from Diana Welch, co-author of The Kids Are All Right:

I recommend reading this book in the bathroom. The opposite of “impossible to put down,” it is best digested with many breaks. There are parts of it where I found myself wondering how much of it is true. I can see Andy Rihn scaring the milk out of somebody with a bread rattlesnake, or writing down 63 famous sayings he overheard homeless people say. Just as easily, I can see him making all those things up. His parables, poems, pasts and plays could be described as a series of comedy sketches full of disfigured people. The thing about Andy Rihn is that he looks at the party from the perspective of the brownie. Also, in his poem “I Fucked a Laser Once,” he solves an age-old conjugation problem by replacing the past-tense of “cum” with “cummed” instead of “came,” forever clearing up any ambiguity that might arise in certain situations, such as “cumming into a laser light show.” All in all, I love this guy.