Monica and the Explosion : 0161 Festival, Manchester, 02/05/2015

Monica and the Explosion, live at 0161 Festival, Miners Community Arts and Music Centre, Moston, Manchester, 01/05/2015.

Bio

‘Monica and The Explosion’ is Monica Welander, the Swedish punk rock artist who released her debut album “Monica and the Explosion” in 2007. Since then she has been touring almost constantly around the world, mainly performing solo with just her guitar, but she also does occasional tours with a backing band. In 2011-2012 she did a lot of shows together with ex-U.K. Subs bass player Paul Slack. “Keep it Alive!” is her third album and just like her second album “SHUT UP!” (2010) was recorded at Jigsaw Studios, Peterborough, UK with engineer Tom Savage, who also has mixed and mastered the album.

Her backing band on “Keep it Alive!” consists of Rob Baylis on drums (who also played on “SHUT UP!”) and Ian Stapleton on bass and percussion. Rob and Ian are both members of The Destructors and have been working together in the studio for many years. Ian Stapleton also plays bass for the 925’s and Rob Baylis has been working for Dun 2 Def.

Monica and The Explosion’s two previous albums were well received by the press and audience in both Sweden and in the UK, where Monica has spent a lot of time over the last few years. The majority of the songs on “Keep it Alive!” were written in 2012 – 2013 especially for the album. All the songs are previously unreleased in this format, apart from “I wanna go home”, which appeared as a live version on a 3 track DVD single (Radar Proof Recordings 2010).
Monica and The Explosion has made herself known for her dynamic live performances and her album promo tour in August 2013 saw dates in both the UK and Ireland.