Mono Inc.

The new album by Mono Inc. will finally be released on 15 August this year, and there will also be a German/Swiss tour in October/November. I had the chance to do a little interview with Carl Fornia (founding member and guitarist of Mono Inc.). But read for yourself. As always, I hope you like it!

This year Mono Inc. celebrates its 25th anniversary (congratulations from me!), so it's like a silver wedding anniversary with the scene, how are you celebrating?

In our timeline, we only have 2028 to 25 years. For us, the founding date of Mono Inc. is linked to the first album, which was released in 2003.

It's a good thing that time is relative, 22 years is a bronze wedding anniversary, also something nice!

Before Mono Inc. there was Wild Thing and Mono 69, why was Mono Inc. founded?

The band Wild Thing had a short lifespan because the singer at the time left the band after a short time due to a lack of financial success. The 3 remaining band members, Miky Mono, Martin Engler and I, needed some time to reorganise ourselves. We knew that we wanted to continue together and therefore chose Miky as our singer. After the demise of Wild Thing, which was contractually bound to the major record label Virgin (now Universal), we were free to decide what sound we wanted to make. It took us a few months, if not years, to finalize our musical direction. At the time, we were suddenly free to decide what was new and exciting. Looking back, you could say that Mono69 was the trial and error phase before Mono Inc. German, English, electronic, industrial... we were experimenting. Mono Inc. was therefore not ‘founded’ but was more or less a renaming, with the addition that Manuel Antoni completed the line-up at the time.

Mono Inc. is derived from monomania and incorporated, how did this name come about?

Well..., we felt like the corporation of the partially insane. So the path to the band name was a short one.

Is Mono Inc. with Martin, Carl and Katha Mia a family band? Will there be a kind of Kelly Family in the future? So the Englers Family?

Shouldn't a band always function like a family? We've never differentiated between blood relatives and soul mates. Miky, Manu, Val... Like today with Ilja... All family.

I can only agree with you!

Your first six albums were recorded entirely in English. Why? People often think they can express themselves better in their own language.

Head Under Water was the product of what had accumulated during the time before Mono Inc. German was tried out and then discarded. Martin lived and produced in Los Angeles for a relatively long time, which is why he can express himself just as accurately in English as in German. Temple of the Torn and Pain, Love and Poetry paved the way for Voices of Doom, Viva Hades, and After the War. We simply loved dreaming of reaching an international audience. Admittedly, we had hardly any international performances until the release of Children of the Dark, but we didn't want to miss out on the opportunity. At the time, we also felt that music was being neglected with songs written in German because people pay so much attention to the lyrics and not to the sound, production, and musicality. However, that's still the case today, which is why we only occasionally record and intersperse German songs.

Your album "Darkness" is coming out in August. What can we look forward to? What are your expectations?

"Darkness" is a very personal album – in our opinion – not surprisingly – one of the best we've ever produced. It's diverse, sonically truly the best of all time, thanks in no small part to Ilja's phenomenal bass playing, and some songs have hit potential. Let's see if the fans (will) see it that way. Our expectations? We don't have any expectations (anymore). It's important to us that we like it, so we can look ourselves in the mirror and have fun with the songs on stage. From experience, however, our taste is pretty close to that of our fans.

Mono Inc. is from Hamburg, or rather, was founded there. Hamburg connects many musicians from the scene (Witt, Lord of the Lost, etc.). What makes this city so attractive?

In addition to its beautiful cityscape, the city of Hamburg has always been known for its vibrant music scene. Before reunification, numerous major labels were located here, thanks to the diverse live and club scene. Hamburg remains a hotspot for international artists (probably because the Beatles helped spread the word).

Mono Inc. has collaborated with many artists (music and concerts). Do you have a favorite, and is there anyone you'd like to collaborate with?

That's a good question! Currently, nothing is planned, and nothing is hoped for. Martin always wanted to do something with Anna R, but unfortunately, that won't happen anymore.

With "Children of the Dark" and the collaboration with Joachim, Chris, and Tilo, you've created a true anthem for the scene. How did this song, or rather, this collaboration, come about?

The chorus of the song is, as you know, "We are the children of the dark." Martin was at the microphone and, after recording the demos, said something like, "It feels weird singing about us when I'm alone in the vocal booth." Since we were doing a lot together with Joachim at the time, it made sense to ask the grand senior. Tilo was important to us because, in our opinion, he had a massive impact on the black scene. And lo and behold, he agreed without hesitation, which was a very positive surprise for us. And Chris has been close with us ever since Lord of the Lost supported us on our Viva Hades tour.

There has been and always has been criticism or ridicule from the scene (about this song), even though it's arguably your most successful song. How do you deal with it?

I've honestly never noticed such criticism. We feel great humility and happiness at the thought that it's our "only" global hit.

In 2020, you covered Lacrimosa's "Lichtgestalt" in English with "Shining Light." Why this song, and how was the collaboration with Tilo in particular?

Yes, "Shining Light" was a brilliant moment in my opinion. Tilo was as uncomplicated as he was with COTD. He finished his vocal tracks in no time. And we even released a video for the song.

Do you have a nice anecdote from the scene?

Hmm, that's not so easy to answer. After more than 20 years, the anecdotes pile up. Many of them have already been told, some of them don't belong in the public eye. Let me put it this way: The Count is back, and his manager at the time, when we were touring with Unheilig in 2010, said that my band would definitely become a big hit. He was partly right, because there's still room for improvement. 😊

Do you have anything else you want to say or confess?

Well, definitely not confess. We are open and transparent. Maybe it falls into a different category, but when I used my badminton racket as a guitar in front of the mirror in my childhood bedroom, I had a 100% different image of a "rock star" than I experience today in everyday life (if you can call it that).

Thank you very much!

Home - MONO INC.
MONO INC. Shop official - cooles Merch!
Mono Inc. | Spotify