A Year’s Worth of Change: Abe Montalvo and MONOLITHS
Roughly nine months ago, Scenic Trend released an article with Abe Montalvo, the founder and sole artist of MONOLITHS, a local Chattanooga heavy metal band.
Photo by Dax Fowler with Side Shot Music Media
At the time, Montalvo was working with SevenStones, his solo band MONOLITHS had released its first single “From the Sky,” and was working on the single “A World Apart.” Montalvo himself had even been newly selected as one of the 101 PRS Pulse Artists. Since then, things have only grown for this Chattanooga artist.
Montalvo says that the past year has afforded him the opportunity to, “take a little bit of a pause on playing live music to focus on my personal life and the solo project (MONOLITHS).” For Montalvo, this meant leaving his former group, the SevenStones, to focus his efforts on his work in MONOLITHS. Montalvo says his solo work has been a truly new experience, “When I started this project, I had no idea that I would be singing my own music, playing guitar, and writing the songs.” Montalvo credits producer Dalton Skinner as a co-writer on his newest endeavor and looks forward to their future work together. Montalvo sees this upcoming work following specific themes, growing heavier with his upcoming single.
Photo by Dax Fowler with Side Shot Music Media
Described as “darker” and “musically heavier” by Montalvo, MONOLITHS’s newest single “Left to Suffer” will be released in late summer and serve as a precursor to his upcoming autumn EP. Montalvo says his EP is intended to explore his personal experiences and views of the world since 2020, a certainly divisive year for the country. Montalvo says “It’s themed around personal loss and separation. There are things about mental suffering and cancel culture. … I’m pouring my heart and soul into the writing and I hope it relates to those who are going through their own personal battles too.” True to these themes, Montalvo says that the working title for the upcoming EP is “Bridging the Divide” and that it “definitely has a theme from beginning to end.”
Photo by Dalton Skinner at Anchor Sound Recording Studio
Aside from upcoming releases, Montalvo plans on taking MONOLITHS live. Montalvo looks forward to performing at local venues in 2023 and bringing his new music to life. “A lot of the songs I’m writing have a potential to sound incredible in a live setting so having the right band and people to do it with would be amazing!” Montalvo is recruiting other artists to join him in MONOLITHS and hoping to have a full band for live performances in 2023. Montalvo is also hoping to become an official artist with PRS, which would help him to take the next step forward in his career with the guitar band.
Look for MONOLITH’s newest single “Left to Suffer” in late July and their upcoming EP this autumn. You can find MONOLITHS’ music on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. You can read more about MONOLITHS from Scenic Trend here. You can also check out MONOLITHS and Abe Montalvo on Instagram.