The Christmas Band

Introducing the Lo-Fi Christmas Band:

Randell Neudorf: Vocals, Guitars, Keys...

Regan Neudorf: Bass Guitar, Glockenspiel

Adrian Mcfarlane: Drums, Tambourine

Lo-Fi Christmas

So things are on schedule for a November release of the 2x the Mono Christmas CD entitled: "Lo-Fi Christmas"

I began writing 2x the Mono Christmas songs six years ago in response to what I saw as a general humbug attitude towards Christmas.

Here is my humbug Christmas List:

1. People complaining that Christmas music all sounds the same and that the same old songs get sung over and over again.
2. People complaining that the season is too commercialized.
3. People complaining that Christmas is too expensive.
4. People complaining that the season is too religious.
5. People complaining that Christmas isn't religious enough.
6. People complaining that Christmas is too busy.
7. People complain, complain, complain...

I love Christmas time! It sounds cliche but it is my favourite time of the whole year. I'm like a little kid when it comes to Christmas presents. The feasting almost brings tears of joy to my eyes (in my family growing up not only did we have turkey with all the fixings, we would have traditional Ukrainian and Mennonite dishes as well). My tree is up for a good month and a half of every year. Spending time with family is an exciting marathon spread over an entire week. And all this is used to mark the birth of Jesus, a little taste of the heavenly celebration on Earth.

So how does one more Christmas CD answer the Humbug's complaints?:

1. Lo-Fi Christmas contains no covers or traditional songs. That's right I am adding to the Christmas Canon of Songs, giving you some new words and melodies to play in your iPod. I'm helping you fight off the mall's Christmas loop of jingle bells.
2. As for commercialization... I know my heart is in the right place making this album, but CDs aren't free to make so I'll be selling them for around $10 each (quite a deal I think).
3. Don't let Christmas be too expensive. If $10 is too much for a present, download one of my free songs on Myspace (along with all your other favourite indie bands) and make a mix CD with a hand made cover as a present. 2x the Mono will even have one Christmas song posted for you to download for free.
4. Christmas isn't religious it is irreligious, it has all the taboos in it and so does Lo-Fi Christmas. Take for example the slaughter of the innocents, a little talked about Christmas Story that is left out of the manger scene. Well never fear 2x the Mono doesn't leave such perplexing details out of the mix.
5. For those of you who think Christmas isn't religious enough, I don't quite know what to say? Christmas means "Messiah Church Service", that sounds pretty religious to me. I even kept the work Christmas in the album title.
6. To help not add to the busyness of Christmas, the Lo-Fi Christmas CD will be released in November.
7. If you feel the need to complain about something, don't take it out on Christmas, rather take it out on 2x the Mono. I would rather people said bad things about my music then nothing at all.

Like my father before me I am a Christmas Nut, and I hope that even if you are a humbug at heart that a little of my excitement about Christmas would spill out into your experience of the Holidays. If you are a music fan I hope you are able to appreciate the tunes all year round. My intent was to create music about Christmas in a way that wasn't just tied to December.

Under Construction

This Blog/Website is under construction.

2x the Mono is my musical project, I'm just working on getting this site up and ready to use. For more info go to www.myspace.com/2xthemono

Concerts

CD release party TBA for Nov 2008 in Hamilton

Listen

Myspace: www.myspace.com/2xthemono
CBC Radio 3: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/2x-the-Mono

Discography

Stereo EP, Aug 2007, CD
Sound Sketches, Aug 2008, MP3 Download Card
Lo-Fi Christmas, Nov 2008 Release date, CD

Media

Here is an article that appeared in Hamilton's the View Magazine:

Photo by Mark Richardson

IT SURPRISED US to hear that Hamilton mainstay 2X The Mono - birth
certificate: Randell Neudorf - created his sophomore effort, Sound
Sketches, completely by accident. The Buzz surrounding the collection
of electronic songs notes that they sound intentional, collective and
thematic all at once. But accident it was. Neudorf says, in fact, he
couldn’t be further from his original intentions if he tried. “My
second album was supposed to be a Christmas album of all original
material that sounds sonically closer to my first release (that album
will be coming out in December). I had about half the tracks done when
I started experimenting with some ambient electronic sounds.”


“Live had gotten stressful and I found these electronic
improvisations very relaxing and cathartic. One night I decided to
record on of these improvisations and when I listened back to the track
I got really excited and started overdubbing more and more sounds over
the Chaos until a melody was pulled out. That first recorded experiment
is the last song on the album. I didn’t know I was working on an album,
I just kept telling myself that maybe I would use these as bonus tracks
on a future project. The process of making these “sound sketches”
became so addictive that before I knew it, I had a whole new album of
material”


2X The Mono’s first release was decidedly art rock, a musical
concept that hooked many fans, local and beyond, but Sound Sketches is
mostly instrumental electronica. Neudorf wasn’t worried about the
shift; he looks forward to people getting into his self-described
“robot space invader” sound, thanks to his vocorder, synths and ambient
loop tracks. “One big evolution is that , whenever you heard keyboards
and drum loops on the first disk, they are intentionally lo-fi, being
done almost entirely on cheap little cassios found at garage sales.”


The synth featured on Sound Sketches is a Micro Korg, a great
little synth that has given me a lot more sonic options and a ton of
real time control. The other evolution is that the beats have jumped up
a notch. I made a lot of the beats with a Roland drum machine, and
performed a number of the beats in real time instead of just relying on
pre programmed loops. What has stayed the same is that I gravitate
towards retro sounds. The retro elements have just morphed from organs
and reverb washed guitars into moog like blips and bleeps.”


“These songs can stand on their own,” continues 2X The Mono on
whether listeners need to be well-versed in the previous sound to “get”
the new effort. “They are kind of like abstract paintings; you don’t
have to own the whole collection at the gallery to enjoy the one you
bought to go over your sofa.”


If art rock vs. ambient electronica wasn’t evolution enough, there
will be another big change with Neudorf on this release, but this time
at the merch table. Joining the Disc Revolt Team, 2X The Mono will
release Sound Sketches as a downloadable format. Those interested will
be able to purchase a download card – like a credit card – that is
pre-loaded with a code to take home and acquire the tunes via the
Internet. Neudorf is happy to wax poetic on the reason behind the
change, nodding to the inevitable and exciting direction the industry
is taking, and the unique opportunities that technology offers
musicians for their distribution and sales. “I still buy CDs; I love
vinyl and I even own an 8-Track player so I’m not a download fanatic by
any stretch of the imagination. Last summer I went to a “how to make a
living as a musician seminar” that was sponsored by Disc Revolt. I
learnt a lot over the four day seminar and was introduced to the Disc
Revolt product.


“I know downloads are becoming the dominant format choice for many
people, but as a gigging indie artist, what I saw in the download cards
was simplicity. They could be sold for cash at a concert, no Visa or
Internet transactions; no hoping your new fan can find your MP3 product
after they get home late form the club. Most upcoming musicians sell
the majority of their music live and until download cards; MP3s just
weren’t practical in a live context.”


“I love CDs and it is very cool to hold a finished disc, for me
the download card bridges the gap between CDs and MP3s,” continues
Neudorf. “The download cards can become collectable; they look like
little back stage passes that a fan can hang on their wall or a back
pack. It creates the physical component you get with a traditional
release. Will I ever release another CD! Of course I will! But for now
it is really exciting to be part of something new, something fresh;
(it’s) an experimental format for my experimental Sound Sketches.” V



[KATIE MAIN]

VIEW, AUGUST 14-20, 2008

2x the Mono mentioned on the cover of the View

Store

Buy the MP3s at: www.discrevolt.com/2xthemono

Shirts and CD info can be ordered by contacting: randellneudorf@gmail.com

Contact

Bookings: Randell
randellneudorf@gmail.com
(905) 544-9571

Web Links:
Myspace: www.myspace.com/2xthemono
CBC Radio 3: http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/2x-the-Mono
Buy the songs at Disc Revolt: www.discrevolt.com/2xthemono
New "Lo-Fi Christmas" CD info: www.myspace.com/2xthemonocd

Bio

"2x the Mono" (pronounced: two times the mono) is the musical voice of Randell Neudorf. A voice that might sing beautiful love songs one minute and scream anthems of protest the next.

Live, 2x the Mono is a one man band that takes you from an acoustic folk show into a wall of sound and back again. The set up is an acoustic guitar, synthesizer, and a host of other electric & acoustic instruments through a "loop station", as well as a foot controlled mono tape recorder that incorporates ambient sound effects, retro commercials, and radio static into the mix.

2x the Mono's unique music can be cataloged under "Art Rock" or "Experimental Acoustic" with a sound that has been described as Beck meets Neil Young.

2x the Mono has also been receiving attention for his electronic album "Sound Sketches." An instrumental recording released exclusively on MP3 download cards through Disc Revolt. www.discrevolt.com/2xthemono