There are plenty of bands featuring talented musicians in St. John’s, but not every group has a handful of experienced engineers or producers among its ranks. The Monday Nights are an exception, however, with plenty of recording time under their belts.   

The band is made up of notable St. John’s musicians: Mark Neary on bass and Elliot Dicks on drums (both play in The Novaks), Grant King on keyboards (Pathological Lovers, Big Space), and lead guitarist Brad Power (Mark Bragg, Jug Habit). Along with frontman Kalem Mahoney, The Monday Nights have spent the past two years in the studio hard at work on their sophomore release, which was produced by Neary and Mahoney.

“Map in My Hands”

“We didn’t want to settle or compromise,” says Mahoney. “We were going to take as long as it took to get the record sounding the way we wanted. We spent countless hours in the studio and utilized the talents of four different engineers to ensure a great final product. We actually used multiple studios as well. We spent two years on this record and we’re very happy with the results.”

The result of all this hard work is a full, clean, and very well put together rock record, mixed and mastered in Toronto by Laurence Currie (Sloan, Wintersleep) and Noah Mintz (Broken Social Scene, Death from Above), respectively.

The album features nine driving rock tunes with rich textures and a smart pop sensibility, led by Mahoney’s powerful, clear vocals and Power’s creative guitar licks.

Beginning eight years ago as an outlet for songs that Mahoney had written after the split of his former band Gearbox, The Monday Nights started out as Mahoney, Neary, and Dicks, before the trio recruited a guitarist to record a few demos.

“Next thing you know,” says Mahoney, “we have a show booked and a deadline that we set for ourselves in order to get a set of music ready for the night.” Soon after, the band began recording its debut, and it was during this recording process that Power became the group’s full-time guitarist, and King joined the band on keys, solidifying the group’s personnel and sound.

As for the latest record, Mahoney says “the title represents to us that while we are very much the same band, we have evolved, a new phase, and that’s good.”

With Goodbye Monday Night recorded and released to the public, The Monday Nights plan to begin playing some shows in St. John’s before heading out on a couple of short tours in support of the record.

“I’m looking forward to the future of the band,” says Mahoney. “While we may not be knocking on every door all over the world or anything, we will be doing what we can to continue to have fun making music, and hopefully people enjoy it.”

Goodnight Monday Night is available now at Fred’s Records or on iTunes, and look out for upcoming shows with The Monday Nights, both in the city and on tour across Eastern Canada.