Willie Shakes said, “What’s in a name?” Monty Are I says right back, “Plenty.” In Lynyrd Skynyrd fashion, the Cranston, R.I., quintet named the band after their high school band instructor Arthur Montanaro. Unlike Skynyrd, the band’s original name — Monty’s Fan Club — reflected their affection for their former teacher.
The band eventually shortened it to Monty, and then added Are I, a nudge/wink reference to their home state abbreviation. When Monty Are I coalesced nearly a dozen years ago, the quintet (vocalist/guitarist Steve Aiello, keyboardist/trombonist Andrew Borstein, guitarist/trumpeter Ryan Muir, bassist Mike Matarese, drummer Justin Muir) was a Skatecore/Ska band. That aspect of the band still creeps up in their current Alternative/Punk/Pop sound (which they’ve dubbed “Action Rock”) when Borstein and Muir break out their horns.
Monty Are I’s newest album, Break Through the Silence, is their first for Island Records proper. From squealing guitars to double clutched drumming to symphonic swells, Monty Are I lives up to their Action Rock reputation.
They play the Southgate House with Hawthorne Heights, Just Surrender, The Story Changes and Nightbeast. Get show details and Sound Advice here.
