monstersoffolk.com

A deep love of creating music coupled with the fresh, invigorating energy that comes from working with a new band drives the four minds in Monsters of Folk. Each a young legend in his own right, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Ward (She & Him), Mike Mogis and Conor Oberst (both Bright Eyes) came together as friends to form a group in which everyone’s style can be felt and heard, woven through the band’s self-titled debut like an Americana quilt. Live performances reflect this, too, as members join forces on their unified tunes as well as delve into their own cache of songs from their alternate projects. James, Ward, Mogis and Oberst first toured together six years ago and spent time at Mogis’ studio in Omaha, Neb., and at Shangri-La in Malibu to put together a collection of 15 songs that riff on politics, relationships and God. Recording the album, the artists all took turns with new instruments, choosing to play everything themselves instead of relying on outside studio musicians. In the band’s website bio, Oberst says that this in-house instrumentation added excitement to the process. “It had that feeling of adventure and experimentation, with everyone cheering each other on, encouraging each other to do things they don’t normally do.” The resulting songs jam in all different genres, including roots rock, beautiful ballads and, of course, delicate, echoing folk.