Monty (band)

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Monty Are I

Origin	USA
Years active	Late 1990's – Present
Genres	Action Rock
Labels	Stolen Transmission
Members	Steve Aiello, Justin Muir, Ryan Muir, Andrew Borstein, Mike Matarese

Monty Are I (Formerly known as Monty's Fan Club and Monty) is an Action Rock band from Providence, Rhode Island.

With three Vans Warped Tour stints under their belt, a strategic nationwide victory (over 6,000 bands) at the Ernie Ball Battle Of the Bands, and a self-financed indie EP (The Red Shift), Providence, Rhode Island ‘action rock band’ Monty Are I is now the first act to be released on Stolen Transmission Records on August 1st, 2006 (an imprint of Island Records). Monty Are I completed work on their debut album, called "Wall of People" with producer Matt Squire (known for his recent success with Panic! At The Disco and the Receiving End of Sirens), recording at his Baltimore studio. The album includes a handful of tracks from The Red Shift.

Described by their hometown Providence Phoenix as “blazing, meticulously crafted, melodic punk with great songs, burning harmonies, and stunning arrangements,” Monty Are I has pursued aggressive grassroots touring over the past five years as an independent band. Their music has won radio programmers across the country, from their home turf in Providence (New England's largest alternative radio station 95.5 WBRU is a staunch supporter, with Monty Are I winning the 2003 Rock Hunt Finalist live perform-ance competition, judged by record industry professionals) all the way to Seattle (where Monty Are I was the most requested band on KGRG).

In 2003, Monty Are I won the onlinerockfest.com competition (Best Band and Best Song Composition). They were selected by a staff of industry professionals (Warped Tour Production Company) as winners of the Ernie Ball MusicMan Battle of the Bands 7, and went on to play 22 dates on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour, and 30 dates on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour. Back home, they are two-time winners of the Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll as “Break Through Act” of 2004, and “No Longer Local” band of 2005 and 2006. They were a finalist in Buzzplay.com’s Best Unsigned Band in America contest.

In February 2005, Monty Are I was tapped by Alternative Press as "Unsigned Band of the Month" in the "Bands to Watch Out For" section. They were the overall winner (from more than 10,000 submissions) in Takeover Records’ “Sign My Band Contest,” as determined by online votes. Their independently booked tours over the past three years have found them on the road with My Chemical Romance, Story of the Year, Yellowcard, Less Than Jake, Taking Back Sunday, Black Eyed Peas, Jack's Mannequin, and countless other bands.

Monty Are I – comprised of Steve Aiello (vocals, guitar), Mike Matarese (bass), Andrew Borstein (keyboard synthesizer, trombone, sequencing), and identical twins Justin (drums) and Ryan Muir (vocals, trumpet) – have been friends since high school in Cranston, when the first incarnations of the band were assembled. In the grand tradition of Lynyrd Skynyrd and others, the band’s name is homage to one of their high school teachers, specifically their high school band teacher whom they affectionately called "Monty." After entering the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands competition in ’02, they were still in college when they released their self-titled montysfanclub 4-song EP in early ’03 and played the local Warped Tour date in Boston that year. The EP sold about 4000 copies without any label or distribution, and set the scene for the release of The Red Shift in June 2005. To date, Monty Are I has generated 75,000+ downloads on purevolume.com.

Monty Are I’s most valuable asset of mass promotion is their dedicated Street Team of 1,400 loyal and indefatigable members – spread around the globe from New England to Australia. Together with the 18,000+ friends they’ve made on myspace.com, and the visitors to their own website, montyarei.com, they are ready to taking their own ‘action rock’ to the top of the charts.