Born: January 30, 1971 Primary Instrument: Drums
Augusto Monk was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1971. As a child, he played the drums and later on the piano, the vibraphone and the orchestral percussion.
At the age of 24, he went to Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated in Composition Magna Cum Laude. He studied the piano at The Boston Conservatory, and after working as an orchestra manager and a freelance keyboard player he moved to London-UK to gain his Master’s Degree in Composition for Films; he also worked as a ballet pianist and piano teacher. Later on, he gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Music Education, and after several frustrating experiences in the classroom, he started a PhD in “Pansonic Co-ordination”, i.e: playing several instruments at the same time as a one-man band.
He started his career as a composer in 2000, and from the very beginning, Monk became aware of the difficulty of engaging an audience in new works. Several attempts followed in order to overcome this issue. Eventually, the idea of including visuals, groove-based music and narrations materialized in his first illustrated comic audio book “Dath Awaiting Moon”. Thirteen other works followed as well as changes and experiments in visual styles, music genres and instrumentation.
The way it stands today: a man who tells a story as accompanies himself on drums, keyboards and bass pedal-board as we see projected drawings that illustrate the plot.
His music has been influenced by Frank Zappa, Anni Di Franco, James Brown, Hindemith, Varese and Stravinsky; and his stories, by many of the mishaps and hardships known to every musician or working man for that matter.
Monk’s aim is to connect with the audience through sharing experiences that listeners can relate to; through making new music accesible to the audience by adding stories, a plot and visuals in which humor plays a major role. “In a nutshell, it’s all about the people”.
He sounds like Tom Waits at his most sinister (”What's He Building?”) and dissolute. (...) but then the man is playing piano at the same time - and, during THE BAND, the drums as well on some lovely, laid-back jazz. And yeah, he's good - real good . Page 45-Sept. ‘06
(...) this was a really enjoyable, different approach to comic-book style storytelling. Zine World- Feb. ‘07
This album made us laugh and that's a fact. (...) If you have mainstream tastes then this might not appeal (...) the Bluesbunny has to give this the thumbs up. We actually laughed so much that we spilt our drink. Blue’s Bunny-Dec. ‘07
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Primary Instrument:
Drums
Willing to teach:
Intermediate to advanced students
Clinic/Workshop Information:
Demonstration on pansonic co-ordination i.e: playing several instruments at the same time. Covers: 1)how to develop the dexterity to do it. 2)How it can be applied to different mediums. 3)Examples of application in different music contexts.
