It seems like Stormy Mondays could’ve gotten their name from experience. A series of Monday blues could’ve caused the storm in these group of musician’s lives to show up. Yet coming from them, a band who lives in Spain, Stormy Mondays started in Oviedo in 1991. Their first gigs were on the street and they used the Internet as their secret weapon. Having released 14 records, including CDs, EPs, vinyl records, live albums and singles, the members that make up Stormy Mondays are in no way affiliated with any copyright organization. They have embraced the use of new technologies to help them spread their music. Though at the time it seemed like a good idea to start their own record label, putting out great albums by artists they loved, the label was closed when they couldn’t continue to promote their artists and their releases. They instead decided to focus on releasing their own albums.
While much of independent music would’ve gotten under the radar if it weren’t for the raw input that record labels such as the one led by Stormy Mondays would’ve put out, nothing is like being inspired by a good song. Stormy Mondays did the same thing as the Rolling Stones did way back then: they had decided to take their band name from a blues classic. Theirs is “They Call It Stormy Monday” by T-Bone Walker, published in 1947.
Stormy Mondays consist of Jorge Otero (vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, Veillette Gryphon, Lap Steel, percussion), Pablo Bertrand (piano, Hammond organ, Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, Michelsonne toy piano, glockenspiel, background vocals), Danny Montgomery (drums, percussion), Dani Menéndez (acoustic and electric guitar, EBow, background vocals), and Rafa Sánchez (electric and fretless bass, Bass VI, electric guitar, ukulele, background vocals), and with Héctor Braga –(hurdy-gurdy, violin, violoncello), Juan Flores (tenor and baritone sax, flute, clarinet), and Miguel Herrero (trumpet, flügelhorn, percussion).
Their latest project, a double EP titled, Wading The River and The Lay Of The Land was mixed by Mike Stayrou (“Stay”), at his own studio in Australia. Stay worked for 10 years as a Sound Balance Engineer at George Martin’s AIR Studios. His resume includes famous collaborations with Bowie and McCartney to Crowded House, or a Grammy for the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me”. Initially, they were going to release the EPs separately, but they realized that together they formed a very powerful pairing, so they went ahead and released it as a double EP.
Wading the River best exemplifies the Stormy Mondays rock sound out of both the albums. Included in the album are musical instruments like electric guitars, horn sections, and in the rawer sounding songs they are able to fit into the bare minimal of outfit of the track, the electric piano and a cello. You can hear influences like Pink Floyd, The Who, R.E.M., Neil Young and The Beatles in this recording.
“Love and Fire” in Wading the River is sung with a foreign accent and with a great catchy sound, the song is something great to jam to. There is some electric soul apparent in this album. While “Nobody Knows” comes across as slower, the momentum of the rest of the album will really energize listeners. “Silent Star” is a slightly muffled recording. It has a good flow though. But what really revs audiences in is its melody and harmonies that is really the stamina to the song. In “Struck by Life”, the fourth track on this EP, we are struck to life by the excitable vocals and electric pop sound. The piano playing makes this a solid recording, backing up the vocals. The percussions also play a great number on this track. With a sax solo, the track finishes with a flourish, and we are left with a distinct reminder of the track toward the remainder of the jam session.
The second EP, The Lay Of The Land, follows a more acoustic and folk rock sound that introduces many instruments that they had otherwise not used in their other recordings: hurdy-gurdy (an instrument from the 12th century that seems almost futuristic), violin, flute, clarinet, tenor guitar, and an assortment of stringed instruments.
“My Lil Darling” is a great acoustic number with solid instrumentals that will get you tapping in time to the beat. While “Moon Almost Full” heeds a more soothing and convincing folk rock sound with its heady electric guitar sounds and tapped in trumpet solos. In “My Midnight World” the harmonies are sung in tandem to the gargantuan backbeat, giving the track an anthem-like feel to the rock track.
Though they have many accomplishments and have achieved a lot for a band who has released so many records, Stormy Mondays lets their music speak for itself. Their accolades are far reaching and include having their song “Sunrise Number 1” win a contest sponsored by NASA, called Space Rock, which meant having their song be used as a wake up song for astronauts aboard the Endeavour space shuttle, playing live with American rock legends Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Murphy, Willie Nile, Joe Grushecky and Cindy Bullens, and becoming the first and only Spanish band to play in the history of the Woodstock Festival for a crowd of 50,000. With so much going on their musical lives, it’s hard to put Stormy Mondays on the backburner of your playlist. While having achieved a lot, they have taught themselves to humbly accept what comes by to them. This attitude has helped them sell records and they are still at it with a more favored philosophy when it comes to copying music. Back in 2000, they declared themselves against the “anti-piracy” campaign and was in favor of Napster. They have since ascended that copying music was good and are offering their songs with a Copyleft or Creative Commons license, which allows you to copy their songs with a peace of mind. Stormy Mondays has made sure you get their music however you may, whether it be legally or illegally; they are all about spreading their music to the masses. And this has helped them elevate themselves with their fans. With a real flexible and royal attitude toward music, this earns Stormy Mondays, a 7.6/10.