This Is For You
Singer/songwriter Monti revealed her new EP This Is For You on May 9th.
The personal 5 track EP touches on life difficulties and coming out of the darkness.
“No one is ever alone or without a voice. I hear them and so do many more that they may not realize. I hope to be a voice to those who feel they have been forgotten,” says Monti.
Signed to Stadium Music Enterprise, Monti sends a powerful message of love and strength for the younger generations.
The EP includes her previous singles “Echo” (Ft. Josh Stevens), “Cowards Castle” and “Shadow”.
This Is For You is now available worldwide.
Hi Monti, how are you?
Great, thank you!
You've just completed a US tour. How was it like? Any favorite memories from this tour?
It was phenomenal! Definitely a victory. I'm very proud of my crew and everyone that made this possible. I faced many challenges some even for the first time, that could have given me more than enough reason to postpone or cancel but I persevered and had great support to see it through and it was a major success! There were many favorite memories throughout the tour. One that sticks out for me is when we got asked to do this last minute performance by a man who wanted to do something special for his wife for Mother's Day. We were schedule to play a show in Nashville that night on Mother's Day and got this request to come and play in this couple’s living room as part of a special surprise this man was preparing for his wife. We played right there in their dining room with this couple and their son while he had a personal chef serve them dinner. His wife was so surprised and was just crying throughout our whole performance. We connected in so many ways through my music and our stories. They became family after that incredible experience.
This Is For You is your new EP. What's the story behind this particular EP?
This EP is a project that has been a work in progress since 2015. I wanted to create something deeper with my music. I really wanted to share my own story and tell the stories of the youth that I mentor, about their struggles and my struggles growing up. I wanted to speak out to them and to the next generation in general to let them know that I've been there, and I made it out and therefore so can they. I met Josh Stevens through another project I was brought in the studio to work with him on and approached him on my vision for my next project. He believed in it and this led to me working with him and his company Stadium Music Enterprise where we worked on bringing this vision to life.
We wrote the first single, "Echo” which refers to our voices and the next generation’s voices to be heard. I found that I not only wanted the voices and message to be "heard" but to "echo" so it may continue to be heard by the next person so they can hopefully be inspired and so on... Then we continued to write more songs that were more personal for me and we even took some old songs I had released previously and had them remixed and remastered to complete this EP. We came up with the title last which was inspired by the tattoo I have on my forearm of my mic holding arm that reads, “This is For You” while I’m on stage performing. It seemed to make perfect sense to make this the title of the EP!
Could you describe us the songwriting/production process for this EP? Who did you work with?
For this particular EP, it started with collaborating with Josh Stevens. Him and I were in the studio along with one of my mentees from the nonprofit Hope Generations who was joining us for his first time experience in a recording studio and writing session. Josh played piano and I sang, and the melodies and lyrics just developed from there. We write very well together as it always comes natural to where the songs feel like they write themselves and we are just the vessel. Like I mentioned previously, there were a couple songs I co-wrote with several other great songwriters; Mara Shultz. Adam McInnis, and Lance Kotera that Josh Stevens reproduced for this EP. The song Shadow was produced previously by another great producer, Mario Marchetti and we kept his production and just remastered for this EP. Every process was different with the different cowriters and timing with what was currently going on in my life. Some were more difficult than others, but I believe that each writing process served its purpose as well to make the song come out the way it did.
Click on the artwork to stream This Is For You
What are the different topics you are talking about on this EP?
There are so many. Tumultuous Relationships, a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, gang life and homelessness, being poor and coming from nothing, battling mental health, transformation from that unhealthy life to a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle, the pressures of doing big things in this world, not being able to save people, authenticity, empowering the next generation, finding self-love and worth.
What lessons did you learn after finishing the EP?
That I literally can make anything possible when I stick to my commitment no matter what life may throw at me and that that same thing is more possible for others than I ever knew before because our example can inspire and transform the next person.
What do you like the most about this project?
That there is a plan for after the music was made to launch it properly and that it seems people are receiving the message and are "getting" it. So far, we've had great responses and people are receiving and connecting with it as I had intended and hoped they would.
What message do you want to convey though this EP?
That no one is a victim to their circumstances. No one is ever alone or without a voice. I hear them and so do many more that they may not realize. I hope to be a voice to those who feel they have been forgotten.
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