Keith Monacchio has been one of my favorite artists from New Jersey for a long time. His career started with the Semi-Beings and then The Commons (who put out some of the best records of the era, in my opinion). He released his 5th solo record, Under A Nightlight Sky on March 22, 2022. The record explores themes of family, fatherhood, political tribalism, aging, and a hope for a better future in these very uncertain times. 2022 marks the 30th year of Keith's musical journey, which makes him the ideal subject for a new series that takes a look at artists who were part of my old Upstage Magazine days and still very much active today.
Congrats on the new release. Am I remembering correctly? I thought you had this album finished last year. Did you hold on releasing it due to covid? Were you waiting to be able to play some shows to support it?
I've been working on these songs off and on since 2018. I didn't have any sense of urgency about releasing it. Once Covid started it definitely delayed things for a good chunk of time. It was good in a way because I added a song or two during that time.
I’m not really that concerned with performing live the way I used to be. I was on a sort of break before Covid started and that just prolonged the break. I think I’ve played 5 shows at most in the last 3 years. Truth be told, my hearing is not what it once was. I have a hearing issue that I’ve been struggling with for the better part of the last 10 years. It’s called Auto-Immune Inner Ear disease. Basically, my hearing fluctuates, in sound levels. I think I function at about 60% in both ears. But on bad days it can go down to 50%. Also, 30 years of playing loud rock music in clubs and rehearsing in concrete basements probably didn’t help the situation. I wear hearing aids, so that helps tremendously.
I was always a hack guitar player; singing was always my strong suit. If the sound isn’t good, I can have pitch issues, which is completely foreign to me and as you can imagine really frustrating. My wife tells me it’s not really noticeable, but I can hear things that I don’t like. Some shows over the years I’m literally singing from memory of how it’s supposed to sound or how I remember it sounding, if that makes sense? I’ve had some shows where I had to have my wife stand at the back of the room and point up or down so I could hone in on the correct pitch. I mean, some shows it was a serious shitshow adventure. I’ve had some dark days because of it as you can imagine. The hearing aids help and I’m sure most people don’t notice when I perform, but I know it. I know I’m not operating at 100% and that bothers me. So, with the unpredictable nature of whether or not my hearing will be cooperating from day to day, playing live has kind of taken a backseat. I don’t miss it that much. I had a full slate of shows every month for the last 25 years. I still see things from time to time and say “oh, I’d like to play that show!” If someone asks me to play and it’s something that I think will be fun, I’ll do it. But, I’m not chasing it anymore. To answer your question, I wasn’t waiting to play live to promote it.
I’ve often told you that your songwriting was among my favorite of any current artist - Garden State or elsewhere. One of the things I like about it is that you are just as adept at crafting completely fictitious lyrics as those which seem to represent your own life. And you’ve never been shy about writing songs that seem personal. On this latest release, you have a line in “I’ll Protect You” that says, “I never thought I’d get this chance to make me a better man”.
You took to fatherhood so well and seemed to enjoy it so much, I’ve always wondered if you had thought you’d never get the chance to have a child. Was that thought on your mind?
Yes, there was a point in my life that I thought that might not be in the cards for me. I was bachelor for a long time, I didn’t get married until I was 40. But, as they say “when you find the right person” it all starts to fall into place. I just happen to find the right person playing a show and she was on the bill. She was sitting in the back and chatting during my set. I could hear her on stage. Apparently, she ran into someone that she hadn’t seen in a long time, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line is you don’t talk during another artists set. So, during a break in the singing of a song I plucked the strings really lightly and said “Sheli Aarden…I can hear you.” Now, who can resist a guy who publicly calls you out in front of a room full of people?!? What a lucky gal!! No, I’m the lucky one. The fact that she deals with my antics day in and day out is modern miracle.
It’s strange, but I think "I'll Protect You" is the first song of yours that ever reminded me of Springsteen.
That’s interesting, because he’s a big influence and sometimes I felt I was ripping pages right from his book. Good to know I fooled some folks. “I’ll Protect You” was the first song that I wrote for this batch of songs. It took me a long time to write about being a dad. I didn’t want to sound corny or cliché, which is very hard because it’s been done so many times. I first started playing this song with Joe Havard in 2014/15. In fact, he came up with the lap steel line that is played throughout. He wasn’t here to play it in the studio, but Arne Wendt did a great job on the record emulating the exact line Joe played live with me. It was very important to me to have a little bit of Joe Harvard on this record. It was a tremendous loss for me and so many others, when he passed. I still think about him often and still want to pick up the phone and kill two hours just talking about everything and nothing. This album is dedicated to his memory.
Fatherhood and getting older are definitely two of the themes on the record and I thought you did an excellent job of telling your thoughts and worries in several songs. “Shoot the Wolf” is one of my favorites. Despite the aging (body parts no longer working as well as before) and the need to protect your family now, you have lines in it like, “It’s such a beautiful view”
Are you completely comfortable with your life right now?
I am comfortable with my life. When I lay down at night and everyone is where they’re supposed to be in my house, it’s a good day. Considering what we’ve all been through the past few years and with the current situation in Ukraine, my life is fine. Like I said before I used to be chasing after it. Getting gigs, getting noticed, getting my due, jealous of others who got better shows, or better press, why can’t write songs for a living, why do I have to work a day gig, wah, wah, wah. It’s such a bunch of meaningless bull-shit. It makes me want to kick my own ass for even getting caught up in any of that (maybe not the “writing songs for a living”, that’s still a wish). At this point in my life at 50 years old (I turn 51 the day this new record comes out 3/22/22) my family is the most important thing. Making sure that we raise a kind and respectful human being. That his 8 yr. old travel soccer team, that I coach, wins the spring league this season. Ya know, the stuff that really matters. LOL!
There is a bit of a Cars vibe on that track. I remember The Commons once covered “Moving In Stereo” — were you a fan of The Cars?
Your ears do not deceive you. Big Cars fan!! My older brother, Ed, had the Cars first album and “Candy O” he would play them religiously. Very influenced, like most kids with older siblings, by what was coming out of their speakers growing up. I believe I was the only 3rd grader to list The Doors as my favorite band and The Cars “Let’s Go” as my favorite song. I’m pretty sure my mother was called in for a parent/teacher conference after that assignment. That song also has a big Genesis “Abacab” influence running through it. Rode my bike to Rock Dreams in Hamilton, NJ and bought that record.
I thought fatherhood and political division came into play wonderfully on “These Days” and, as someone who does not have children, I wondered what is it like raising a child today - in a world so very different then you and I grew up in? I mean, I never once went to school and worried about a shooter killing people inside the school. That thought never occurred to me.
How difficult is it to see the news from around the world and remain hopeful for the future?
Yeah, I generally stay away from political writing. This is the first time I’ve even broached the subject, and it’s only a verse. Like most kids, my son has a lot of questions about things. You don’t want him to worry about things like that, but you don’t want to shield him either. When your kid comes home from school and says “yeah dad, we had lock down today, everyone had to shelter in the bathroom” and doesn’t miss a beat, you know it’s a different world for sure. He handled that much better than I would of at 8 yrs. old. I had a lot of worries as a kid and that stayed with me into my adulthood. I adapted by honing an intense skill for biting sarcasm and general wiseass-ism. Mostly to my detriment. I don’t want him to be like that. We don’t talk politics in front of him or bad mouth any political figure or party. He has plenty of time to wade into that mess when he is older. His mom and I both worked straight through the pandemic (no work from home for us). We talked with him about the risks, but it had to be done. He had a few moments of being worried, but he got through it.
Is your brother really like the guy in the opening track? That guy reminds me of my late father in law. My wife and I were glad he never had cable tv. He was always listening to weird political talk radio - if he had been watching Fox News, the guy would have completely lost it.
Yes and no. He doesn’t have a bunker or a fallout shelter, but he does have a bugout box and a stockpile of rice. He has raised chickens in suburbia and he did tell me that I would not be able to come with him in the event of an apocalypse. Something about me not having any sort of outdoor survival skills. Every Christmas I buy him something else for his bugout box. Prepper books, portable stoves, multi-tools, etc. Not sure why since he said I’m not allowed to come to the fallout bunker (should he build it) with him? Also, he really hates being the center of attention so that was an added bonus to writing the song. In fact, this article will really get under his skin. Hehe..
You have a nice blend of musical styles on the album. When you compiled the songs together for an album like this, do you choose the songs you think are the strongest? Or do you consciously look for a mix of sounds and musical styles as well?
I started off with 13 demos that I gave to Sean to listen to. Sean Glonek (SRG Studios) has produced all my records from 2000 with The Commons through my solo work starting in 2008 and straight through to this one. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. I let him pick the songs to record. It took me a long time to get to that point to trust someone enough to pick the songs that I record. But, he knows what I do well, what I’ve done before and when I should try something new and different. Tom Kale has been drumming for me since the Commons and always plays the right thing for my songwriting style. Sean played all the bass on this and the some lead guitar. Arne Wendt came in and played piano/synth and did exactly what was needed for every song he contributed too. A consummate professional and all around good dude. I wanted this album to be concise and to the point. It’s 31 minutes long. I didn’t want the songwriting to be morose or longwinded. I was trying project positivity all the way through. Of course, skepticism always weaves its way into my thoughts, but as a whole it leans towards a hopefulness of better days to come.
What is it like having your son and your wife on songs with you?
It’s always great to have your family in the studio. Jacob is 8 yrs. old and already has two album credits under his belt. That makes me laugh every time I say it!! He sang backups on Sheli’s last record, Maternal Instinct. He’s very serious in the studio and doesn’t like to fool around in there. He gets a little irked with me when I start acting up and laughing. His teacher played the video for “New Day” that he sang on, for his class. Little Rock star!!
Is your son a musician yet?
Um? I wouldn’t say musician. He’s musical for sure. He takes piano lessons and makes a heck of a noise on it. He did write a song called “Lightsaber” about Jedi’s that I thought was catchy. He says he has a band at school called “Temple of Rock” but I don’t think they’ve rehearsed or had any gigs yet. It’s a band in theory at the moment. The day he calls Scott at the Saint for a show is the day Scott says “Maybe, I’m getting to old for this?” Hello, Mr. Stamper, my name is Jacob Monacchio, can I pay a gig at the Saint?? My dad told me to tell you we can bring 20 people! Lol.
This was your first record (I believe) with songs written while you had a son who was able to talk and old enough to play. Did your songwriting process change? Like did you used to have all night writing sessions and had to reel that in? Or did you treat this album like any other?
Most of these songs were written in the last 5 years. Except, “Survivalist” I’ve had for quite a while, since 2012 I think? It never really fit with the theme of what I was working on at the time. Since this album is really family oriented I thought this would be my only chance to put it on an album. It also gives some levity to the heaviness to some of the other themes. I’ve never written “funny” songs. This was my first and only foray into that kind of writing. I don’t have the free time that I once did to write songs as often as I would like. So, I really have to carve the time out to write something. I used to put self-imposed deadlines on myself, I don’t do that anymore. Not going to force it. If something strikes me, I’ll jot it down and work on it.
How does your songwriting process generally work? Do you work on completing a single song at one time or are you always writing lyrics for use in multiple songs at the same time?
I work on one song at a time. I’ll do a rough pass on it and record on my phone mumbling into the recorder. Play it a few different ways. Slow, fast, picked, strummed. I listen back to see what I like about the phrasing and try to work off of that. Sometimes, I’ll just write a song title down and work off of that. That’s how I wrote “Jesus Had a Brother” a zillion years ago. I think I was watching the History channel and they were doing something on Jesus having siblings. I took that and went with it. Being a Catholic school kid I had a lot of references to go to. I guess the thing that’s changed the most about my process is I’ve made a real effort to get away from those sad-sack type of songs. I was that guy for a while and I just got tired of it. My last album, the Dust-Up, had some of those types of songs on it. Probably why some of it rings a little hollow for me. When I listen to it now, I realize that I wasn’t really that guy then. I just didn’t know how to totally break out of that mold yet.
Finally, what is it like being a musician in your fifties? That line in “Shoot the Wolf” really gets me, “my future used to look so distant / and now it’s right here in full view”
Yeah, I just never thought that I would get there for some reason. I couldn’t visualize what that version of myself would be? My eyes just were clouded on it. I gave the music thing my full attention for a long time. I hustled and tried really hard. I still love making records and writing songs. But I just don’t have the drive in me anymore to do it full force. Right now I have an empty plate as far as songs go. I usually have half an album laying around. I don’t even have half a verse. I have a blank canvas and it’s a completely different place for me. It’s pretty liberating in a weird way. I’m sure I’ll get the urge to do write something?
Do you have any musical goals left to accomplish? Or is creating music just something you were meant to do and maybe you feel you have to do?
Not really. I used to feel that way, but I’m at peace with what I’ve done up to this point. I’ll still write songs, if I have the want and will to do it. But, if Under a Nightlight Sky is my last release, I’m okay with that. Because in my opinion, it’s some of the most contemplative, simple, and concise writing that I’ve ever done. I really hope people will take some time and give it a listen. It’s only a half-hour long, c’mon!!
I'll close out this interview with the song that first caught my attention and led to my first interview of Keith back in the days of The Commons. It's a song that I'd talk to other music writers about - we all seemed to love this tune. The song comes from the album, Come On Get Gone, which is one of my top 10 all-time releases from a Jersey artist.
