Monospore is a Danish duo set up in 2009 by Jannik Vittrup and Søren Brandstrup. They last year released their second full length album “Into Darkness”. The opus features ten EBM songs driven by aggressive bass lines and carried by cold tunes. The vocals are harsh but not too much. “Into Darkness” is an accomplished production which I can only but recommend to EBM-lovers.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You guys seem to be involved with music since quite a long time and have been busy with multiple projects and music styles. Tell us a bit more about your background, the different projects and how did you finally come to set up Monospore?

Søren: Jannik and I started in 1986-87. We made music inspired by Depeche Mode and Camouflage and a bit of Front 242/Nitzer Ebb on an Amiga computer and we added two EMAX’s to the setup. However, we never actually got anything released. During the many following years, we made several different music styles with various singers, in styles like Ace Of Base, Paul Elstak etc.

I have only made some small project alone and with a few other people, but nothing was ever released.

Jannik: Besides the projects I did with Søren I also did some solo projects called, Executor, Bioreactor & Johhny Mnemonic amongst others. I also collaborated with other musicians most know is probably my collaborations with Thomas Elers on Cellblock X, Cbx Project and Latex Empire.

After a very long break we went to see a lot of live acts like Combichrist, Nitzer Ebb in the late 2000’s, and decided to follow our hearts in our new project just doing the music that gives us energy and that we love. We have always been huge fans of EBM (Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 etc.) We started to experiment with a lot of track, sounds and vocal styles before we found our style. First real Monospore track was “Blue Haze” which ended up as a bonus track on our debut album “Control The Game, Regain Control” from 2012.

Q: Monospore has been set up in 2009, but you’ve been mainly busy releasing singles and the album “Into Darkness” during 2023. How comes and how do you perceive the evolution from the band from the first albums till “Into Darkness”?

Monospore: We had a long break after our debut album “Control The Game… Regain Control!!!”. We both have families, and in that period we both build houses. At the same time, we both had professional careers as our day jobs. Søren finished his Master-degree in Building Physics in 2016, and Jannik finished his academy degree in Business IT a little earlier. We did do a lot of demos in the time in between the albums and one track (cf. “Fall For Me”) in 2018 for the Danish Electro v.2 compilation though.

There has been a huge leap in the production from our first album “Control The Game… Regain Control!!!” to the second album “Into Darkness”. First of all, we build a new studio in between the 2 albums and second, we also decided the overall sound to be more ‘old-school’ and less distorted than on our first album.

In our opinion the tracks on the new album have a much better and dynamic sound, but we appreciate both albums and are super proud of them. In the process for album 2, we did several new tracks that didn’t fit on the new album. These take Monospore in another direction and will be included on our next album.

Q: What more can you tell us about “Into Darkness” and what do you try to reflect by its title?

Monospore: We are very much into very hard music and find our inspiration in that as well as we wanted to evolve our sound. Nothing inspired us for the album as such except some of the bands we listen to ourselves. We love the soundscapes of Gary Numan’s productions as well as Alan Wilder’s and the album also has a much more dynamic sound than our first one. The title was mainly inspired by the cover photo location as well as it is the title of the last track on the album.

Q: What makes the chemistry between both of you and who’s taking care for the different aspects of the composing- and production process?

Jannik: I see it as a very shared process, we do a lot of demos separately and then work on them together. Often, we do some details on the tracks separately and then send it to each other to listen to. We always finish it together in the studio and do the mixing and mastering together as well.

Q: What about Monospore as a live band? How do you transpose the songs from the studio to the stage?   

Søren: We always strive to make our live set as hard as possible and bring some special versions for the audience though it is important for us to keep the sounds and vibe from the original track. It is always very motivating to feel the response from the audience and see the venue boiling of aggressivity and moving bodies. We are very grateful for the very positive responses we have got from our performances so far. Now we are working on getting booked outside of Denmark which is a bit hard when you are not yet an established name.

Q: All works have been released by Delta-Ego which I think is your very own label, right? How do you manage all the aspects aside of composing music like promotion, distribution, management etc…?

Monospore: You are right, Delta-Ego is our own label that we formed in 2012. To be honest our focus is writing the songs and creating the music and eventually playing it live.

The promotion and distribution are a necessity but often take away the focus from what we love, which is producing and playing the music and it can be hard doing promotion when having a full-time job and family.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Active since 2009 the Danish duo Jannik Vittrup – Søren Brandstrup this year released their second full length album featuring ten songs.

Content: From the very first notes of the debut song you recognize the addiction to EBM. The music sounds dark and danceable, driven by aggressive bass lines and carried by cold tunes. The vocals are harsh but not too much.

+ + + : Monospore don’t reinvent the EBM sound but has great skills to compose it. “Into Darkness” features all essential EBM ingredients but has been accomplished with knowledge. Some passages might appeal for Leather Strip-lovers (maybe a typical Danish touch?) but Monospore also has their own approach. I’m addicted to the solid bass lines and cold tunes. The work features a few outstanding cuts like the aggressive “Fall” and “Going Down” carried by a deep, bouncing bass line.

– – – : I don’t see real minus points however the album doesn’t bring anything new not surprise.

Conclusion: If you don’t know Monospore yet and you’re in search of a cool and accomplished EBM album I can only but recommend purchasing “Into darkness”.

Best songs: “Fall”, “Going Down”, “Into Darkness”, “Next Generation”, “Alive”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.monospore.com / www.facebook.com/Monospore

Label: www.delta-ego.com

About Monospore

Monospore is a Danish duo formed in 2009 by Jannik Vittrup and Soren Brandstrup, both previously involved in other music projects since the late 1980s. The duo released its debut album “Control The Game… Regain Control!!!” in 2012 on Delta-Ego, the label they formed the same year. “Into Darkness” (2023) is Monospore’s second full-length album.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com