Name: Monotronic
Interviewee: Ramsey Elkholy
Nationality: American
Current release: Monotronic's Looking Away EP is out now. A new full-length album will follow in 2025.
Recommendations: I would recommend the book Sapiens by Yuval Noha Harrari because it covers so much ground and really gives the reader a broad framework through which to make sense of the world and human history.
As far as music goes it's hard to give one definitive answer or recommend one piece, I guess my response would depend on what I'm currently listening to. If you want to hear something very unique I would recommend Baka Pygmy Yodelling.

If you enjoyed this Monotronic interview and would like to know more about the band and Ramsey Elkholy's music, visit their official homepage. Monotronic are also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Definitely closed! I see color and shapes as well. Often, when listening intensely, you'll find that all your other senses become one and where the body experiences things directly without sensory mediation.

On the bodily level I think the greatest change happens when you are not actively "listening" but just letting the music take over - basically letting yourself go as you might during a mediation session for example.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

What I'm drawn to most is the ability to lose oneself in music.

Music is like a portal into another world. Creating music is another thing altogether, it's almost a magical experience creating something from nothing or a fully ill song out of a hook, lyric or simiple idea. When the song writes itself it's magic and in the performance sense the same thing happens when the music plays you.

It's all happening at the bodily level, I wold call it "pre-cogizant".

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Funny, when I was 12 my father took me to a Kiss concert at Madison Square Garden! That certainly had an impact on me.

A few years later I discovered Led Zepplin and then Grateful Dead, which then opened me up to the world of jazz and John Coltrane, Charlie Christian, Django, etc.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

I lived a year in India and studied music. Prior to that I didn't have any "compositions" to speak of, I was more of a guitar player who liked to jam (how unique lol).

Since opening up to world music I can say I'm happy with some of the lap steel songs I've written, even  those that I never released.

What is your current your studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

Funny you should ask, I just moved to LA. I'm currently converting my garage into a rehearsal studio where I can play loud and work on new music. I didn't have that luxury living in NYC, so should be fun!

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

There isn't one process. Some songs were written on the beach in Tulum, others were just ideas in my head that I brought into the studio to thrash out. Sometimes I will start with a voice memo.

Once I start tracking, the chaos becomes something more tangible. That's another mind set altogether, especially when it involves guiding other musicians through your song idea so they know what's in your head.

And then mixing/mastering is still yet another mind set.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

I don't necessarily have rituals. I've always believed that if you become a creature of habit your creativity dies. So I try to mix things up in terms of the things I do, even the approach I take to writing or performing music.

With that said I'm a little OCD or whatever it's called. When fanatically fixing a tilted painting, I often get too caught up in the aesthetics - like fixing a painting that only I will see, but still I MUST do it lol.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

I'm sure I am in ways that are happening subconsciously, even the lyrics.

I 'm not much for expressing myself through language and words, so music fills that void and makes me feel like I'm engaging with the world in a more pure way. I feel more like I am embodying myself.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

I agree 100% - why even play one genre of music? Never got that. The Beatles are a great example of that. If you listen to any Beatles album or follow their career trajectory, there isn't one "style" or genre of music that they play.

Perfect juxtaposition would be the Rolling Stones. They do one thing.

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

Not sure what society is. It's a pretty nebulous concept, and exists on so many levels.

So with that in mind I would say no, I don't feel like my music needs to fill a societal purpose.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

I don't. I'm fine with people interpreting my music any way they like. That's part of the fun of music! I try not to be too self important!

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I lived in the jungle of Sumatra, Indonesia for 2 years while doing anthropolgy research, I fell asleep every night to the sounds of the forest and that was very intense. Polyphony in the most organic sense, truly an orchestra or cacaphony of sounds and polyrythms. Truly amazing ...Y ou can actually listen to forest sounds on Youtube - worth checking out.

But it's much more intense when immersed in the environment. What people don't realize is that it's REALLY loud in a tropical rainforest.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Silence is equally important … so you can hear the music inside you.

Does't need to be audible for you to connect with it, but you do need silence and calmness to really get in touch with your inner voice and rhythms.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Obviously music is more fun and more meaningful than mundane tasks! And when you're done, there is music in the world, unlike a cup of coffee lol