Mono (Japanese Band) - Musical Style

Musical Style

Although Mono's musical style has developed throughout their career, it has primarily been characterised by dynamic, guitar-based instrumental soundscapes, the majority of which are composed by lead guitarist Takaakira Goto, in an attempt to channel and express the emotions of joy and sorrow. The band's style of music originally featured elements of minimalism and noise, and later developed to integrate more complex, orchestral arrangements and instrumentation. Mono's music is sometimes categorised as "post-rock", to which Goto has stated:

Music is communicating the incommunicable; that means a term like post-rock doesn't mean much to us, as the music needs to transcend genre to be meaningful. —Takaakira Goto, Time Out

Mono are primarily a live band, and have toured worldwide several times. Their live show tends to feature intense and emotional playing by the band members, as well as using extreme dynamics (in crescendos as well as diminuendos) in their attempt to create an "unforgettable" live performance. When recording their music, the band has always played live in the studio and, from 2004's Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined to 2009's Hymn to the Immortal Wind, worked with Chicagoan recording engineer Steve Albini, who they feel accurately captured a live band's "raw emotion to tape."