Mondays Off
Mondays Off As a newly formed band, Mondays Off out of Wilmington, NC has made strides. The original lineup consisted of Woody Woods on bass and Xander Farr on drums. The search for a lead did not take long and our guitarist, Kevin Butler, joined in September of 2004. He had no idea what he was in for. His training and style was wrapped up in 80's hairbands, which may seem like an interesting choice for funk and jazz, but his noodling has carried over and supplied just enough of a mix of rock - and we enjoy the blank stares of awe during his solos. Starting with open mics in the Fall, we earned our right as more than just a "jam band" and began to be noticed for our meditated melodies and rhythmic approach to playing. However, we thought that songs could be intricate yet unfocused at times as a trio. After playing steadily though each month, we realized the necessity for expansion and picked up a saxophone in May of 2005. Rob "Chicago" Cosgrove brought a lifetime of technical training and a personal love for jazz. We dove in to the music headfirst to create a sound that would challenge us all as musicians as well as get the crowd moving. Using the local spot Lucky's as a stepping stone, we broke away from the open mics and began extending in to the region, opening up for other bands and accruing fans of our own. Through relentless, and sometimes perhaps a little bit shameless promotion by Xander, the sound was soon being pushed out to the region with good words all around. The summer of 2005 proved to be a big one for us and no one was really expecting the pace or response. We started getting on bills with bigger bands such as SeepeopleS, Bellyfull, DJ Williams Projekt, greenLight, Keller Williams, the Bridge, Purple Schoolbus, cerulean City... as well as numerous regional groups. We hope to continue this pace and release our full-length album in 2006. The future of Mondays Off is unlimited. There might be room for more additions to the lineup down the road, keyboards are very possible, but only time will tell. At such a young age and with such steam, our funk-jazz collective will be one even for us to watch grow.