Monks Of Mellonwah

A tuneful yet energetic alternative rock outfit drawing from classic and progressive rock alongside electronic textures, the Monks of Mellonwah formed in Sydney, Australia during 2009. The founding members—Vikram Kaushik on vocals and guitar, Joshua Baissari on drums, William Maher handling lead vocals, John de la Hoyde on bass, and Joseph de la Hoyde, John's brother, on lead guitar—first connected as students at the celebrated King's School, an all-boys boarding institution in New South Wales. Sharing comparable musical tastes, the quintet began composing and playing original songs soon after completing their studies. By 2010 they were building a following in Sydney clubs while issuing their debut EP, Stars Are Out, which secured solid Australian radio exposure. In 2012 the band delivered the more electronically driven Neurogenesis EP, at which point William Maher departed to pursue law studies and Vikram Kaushik assumed lead vocal duties. They also completed a video for “Swamp Groove” that aired widely on Australian television and appeared at multiple local film festivals, while “Neverending Spirit” was featured on the series The Real World St. Thomas. That same year the Monks of Mellonwah made their initial U.S. club tour and received the Best International Rock Artist honor at the Los Angeles Music Awards. Three further EPs arrived in 2013—Sky & the Dark Night, Ghost Stories, and Afraid to Die—whose Los Angeles sessions, overseen by veteran producer Keith Olsen, were later compiled as the group’s first full-length release, 2014’s Turn the People.