Monty Are I represent roots with new album

“We take a piece of Cranston with us wherever we go,” said Andrew Borstein, the keyboardist and trombonist for Monty Are I.

“We’re all from here,” he said, while sitting on a sofa with his band mates at Café Latte on Atwood Avenue early Monday evening.

Monty Are I originally formed in the band room at Cranston High School West and most of its members have been playing together for about 10 years.

They’ve amassed a growing and dedicated national following and are now on a major record label, Island Records.

They’ve also gone through a couple of slight name changes and one line-up change – when Borstein came onboard about five years ago.

But the five guys now in their mid-20s – Steve Aiello, Justin and Ryan Muir, Mike Matarese and Borstein have not forgotten where they’re from. They’re proud of their Rhode Island roots.

In fact, it’s evident from the band’s name.

“Monty” pays tribute to Arthur Montanaro, the band director at Cranston West High School, while “Are I” is just a homonym for R.I.

Unlike other bands that have sought the limelight, Monty Are I has not opted to relocate to bigger cities. They still live in their hometown.

As Aiello, the band’s lead singer, guitarist and lyricist, points out, “We all live within walking distance from this place [Café Latte].”

Most bands have much shorter shelf lives, lucky to stick it through a year, or even two. Monty Are I has an admirable work ethic, however, and has learned to take both success and failure in stride.

Although it hasn’t necessarily translated to financial comfort and luxury, the band is enjoying a high level of national exposure. Their Island Records debut, “Break Through the Silence,” hit record store shelves and digital music retailers like iTunes and Amazon last week.

Monty Are I characterizes their sound as “action rock.” The songs on “Break Through the Silence” can probably be best described as three- to four-minute epics – cinematic genre mashing soundtracks to Armageddon.

It’s a bold musical statement, conveyed with a unique sense of urgency.

It’s over the top, beginning with the album cover, which depicts a running rhino completely clothed. From here it’s clear Monty Are I set out to make a risky and bold statement.

Some songs feature guitar riffs destined for replication. Others feature a 12-piece string section, sitar, English horn, electronic drumbeats, brass and dynamic changes that range from soft, to get on your feet loud.

“We took stuff out this time,” said drummer Justin, referring to how “Break Through the Silence” differed from their 2006 album, “Wall of People.”

“I think it shows a little more maturity,” added Matarese, the band’s bassist. “We go in to record a record before we record a record.”

When describing how the songs come about, Aiello alluded to his love of movie soundtracks. He often pictures a scene when conceptualizing a song. The music and lyrics follow.

Though most of the album was recorded in the Los Angeles area, the band did commandeer the old Cranston West band room to record some percussion, Justin notes.

For Monty Are I, it’s been a difficult and rocky road leading up to the album’s completion. The process began in 2007, and the album, produced by industry aces Matt Squire and Don Gilmore, was finally finished last April.

Monty Are I’s previous label, Stolen Transmissions, folded before the album’s production. They suddenly found themselves without a label, and wondered what the future would hold.

“A lot of things sort of hit us hard,” Aeillo said. “But it was never like we were going to give up.”

Instead of allowing themselves to succumb to the shifty nature of the record industry – especially in this digital age – they’ve continued to forge ahead, together.

“It wasn’t a definite thing,” said Justin Muir. “We had no idea. We just kept going forward, thinking positive.”

Monty Are I was able to overcome the struggle, because from day one, band members set small goals to achieve, rather than lofty, unattainable aspirations.

“We always had a goal ahead of us, from writing our first song in high school,” Aiello said.

From their first show, a high school Battle of the Bands, the band has always been dedicated to honing their live performances.

They play every show as if performing in a roomful of people, regardless of how many people are actually present. It’s how they were able to perform in a room of record label executives, including former Def Jam CEO Jay-Z.

“I like trying to win over crowds that don’t know who we are,” said Ryan Muir, who sings and plays guitar and trumpet.

Touring will make or break most bands but it hasn’t broken Monty Are I, who can consider themselves road veterans.

“Going on the road for us is not a function. A CD for us promotes the road,” Borstein said. “Selling out shows is what you’re hoping to do. Having really great shows is what makes it worth it.”

They’ve journeyed as part of the traveling music and skate festival, the Warped Tour. The band has also opened for other bands, including My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, Sum-41 and the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Although they enjoyed the luxuries of traveling in a tour bus for a few weeks, for the most part, they traverse in a van hitched to a trailer.

While on the road, hygiene and overall comfort are sometimes forgone. They drive overnight, navigating the continental United States from city to city by the GPS capability of their mobile phones. They sleep in their van, and even on top of guitar cases in the trailer.

Some routes, like the drive from Denver to Salt Lake City, are long, and borderline treacherous.

But no matter how difficult the journey, it’s the show at the end of those drives that’s important. And no matter how worn out they are, they muster up the ability to bring it, to make sure their shows are worth the price of admission.

They jokingly hope to spread, like a musical virus, in which, Matarese says, “Everyone gets infected.”

Monty Are I are set to go coast to coast in November. On Friday, Oct. 9, Monty Are I will celebrate their record release with a show at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence. Also playing are The Coming Weak, Lights Resolve, These Green Eyes and The Intel. Admission is $12 in advance and $15 at the door. The show starts at 8 p.m.