Named for their Cranston music teacher... Monty Are I has hit the road

By JOE KERNAN

June 15, Columbia, Maryland; June 16, Columbus, Ohio; June 17, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; June 18, Minneapolis, Minnesota; June 19, Bonner Springs, Kansas…

It is pretty safe to say the Cranston-based “action rock” band Monty Are I is probably the busiest band that ever grew up in Cranston, and everywhere they go, they bring a little bit of Cranston with them. They named themselves after Arthur “Artie” Montanaro, their music teacher at Cranston High School West, who they credit with inspiring their careers, but Montanaro thinks they would have made it anyway.

“There are a lot of kids with talent,” said Montanaro, “but when you get kids that really work at it like they do, that’s different. They were always very professional, very dedicated. They arranged, they composed, they were really serious.” Band members all graduated in 1999 and during their college years continued to stay together, turning professional within the last three years.

Like most teachers, Montanaro is reluctant to say who his favorite students are but it is hard to miss his admiration for and good wishes for the band that named themselves for him.

“I think they give me too much credit,” said Montanaro. “I don’t think I’m that much of a deal. I’m a teacher and I’m glad they were inspired. But beyond being good musicians, they were great kids. They all had real character. If there was something worthwhile going on, they were usually involved in it.”

Montanaro, who has been teaching at Cranston High School West for 18 years, has made a much bigger impression on his students than he realizes. Students remember his playing off campus with more than a little admiration.

“He is a very humble guy,” said Justin Muir. “I never knew how great a player he was. When we heard him play, it was just ridiculous; it was amazing that someone could play the trombone like that.”

With three “Warped Tour” stints under their belt, a strategic nationwide victory at the Ernie Ball Battle Of the Bands, and a self-financed independent extended play, The Red Shift, that won four and a half stars on Absolutepunk.net, Monty Are I is now the first act to be released on Stolen Transmission on August 1. Monty Are I recently completed work on their debut album, Wall of People. Along with five new tracks, Wall of People will include 6 tracks from The Red Shift.

Described by the Providence Phoenix as “blazing, meticulously crafted, melodic punk with great songs, burning harmonies, and stunning arrangements,” Monty Are I has pursued an aggressive grassroots touring over the past five years that has yielded an avalanche of positive results. Their music has won radio programmers across the country, from their home turf in Providence (New England's largest alternative radio station 95.5 WBRU is a staunch supporter, with Monty winning the 2003 Rock Hunt Finalist live perform­ance competition, judged by record industry professionals) all the way to Seattle (where Monty was the most requested band on KGRG).

In 2003, Monty Are I won the onlinerockfest.com competition (Best Band and Best Song Composition). They were selected by a staff of industry professionals (Warped Tour Production Company) as winners of the Ernie Ball MusicMan Battle of the Bands 7, and went on to play 22 dates on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, and 30 dates on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. Back home, they are two-time winners of the Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll as “Break Through Act” of 2004, and “No Longer Local” band of 2005. They were finalists in Buzzplay.com’s Best Unsigned Band in America contest.

None of this surprises Montanaro.

“They were unique in that they always wrote their own songs. Did their own arrangements. They were always original,” said Montanaro.

In February 2005, Monty Are I was tapped by Alternative Press as "Unsigned Band of the Month" in the "Bands to Watch Out For" section. They were the overall winner (10,000 submissions) in Takeover Records’ “Sign My Band Contest,” as determined by online votes. Their independently booked tours over the past three years have found them on the road with My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, Yellowcard, Less Than Jake, Taking Back Sunday, Black Eyed Peas, RX Bandits and countless other bands.

Monty Are I is comprised of Steve Aiello (vocals, lead guitar), Mike Matarese (bass), Andrew Borstein (keyboards, synthesizer, trombone, sequencing), and identical twins Justin (drums) and Ryan Muir (vocals, trumpet, guitar). After entering the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands competition in 2002, they were still in college when they released their self-titled montysfanclub 4-song EP in early ’03 and played the local Warped Tour date in Boston that year. The EP sold about 4,000 copies without any label or distribution, and set the scene for the release of The Red Shift in June 2005 that has independently sold 6,000-plus copies. To date, Monty has generated at least 80,000 downloads on purevolume.com.

But don’t look for the limousines and the groupies when Monty Are I comes to town. They are still riding all night to their next gig.

“Being on the road can be pretty brutal,” said Ryan Muir. “You have to get used to being sweaty and wearing dirty underwear.”

The band has 23 dates in July alone, and Ryan says the average road trip is eight to ten hours.

“One or two of us don’t get to sleep,” said Justin. “We might call ourselves musicians but for a lot of the time we are drivers.”

Fortunately for the band, they have made many friends on the road and frequently stay with real people with real homes and bathrooms and laundries. When they are not on the road, they have a place in Narragansett, but it is not likely they will be spending much time there for a while, a reality they accept as part of the price for doing what they want to do.

“All of our parents, our families have been amazing,” said Justin. “They help us out and do what they can to help us. I can’t thank them enough for all the support they have given us.”

No one wishes them well more than Artie Montanaro.

“They are following their dream,” he said. “At first, the name was kind of a joke but if they do make it, maybe they will get a scholarship going for kids in Cranston. I’m just waiting to see what happens with them.”