Monophobia was originally formed by Philip Quinton and Bryn Rosenwould, two drunken media students who met in Watford in 1991, and had nothing in common, not even music. Phil couldn't play an instrument and neither of them could sing. The duo parted company in 1994 having made several juvenile, semi-musical college recordings and Monophobia was silent until 1997 when Phil met Tony Longworth, a songwriter from Shepherd's Bush with a nameless band and a handful of very cool tunes.
They rehearsed//recorded infrequently between long stints in other bands until Tony became Monophobia's full-time frontman in 2000, giving Phil's project the vibe it needed to work as a decent live indie band.
Many other musicians and songwriters joined and left during the group's last few years, contributing to an eclectic range of tracks varying in style and quality, most importantly singer/soner/keyboard player Zizi Schuh from Munich, and guitarist Nimesh Hathiwala from Leicester who both joined in 2001. The band started getting regular gig offers towards the end of 2001 and by early 2002 were getting plugged on Xfm and broadcast on independent radio in Europe.
The live band split at the end of 2002, precipitated by the departure of two key members of the band, although more recording work was done in 2003 to complete the band's first proper album "Coldharbour".
This may not be the end of the story though. Tony Longworth and Phil Quinton (the two main songwriters) are still mates, and may be recording more demos in 2006. A reunion is not out of the question.
Genre(s):
Indie, Post-Punk, Alternative
Influences:
The Charlatans, Joy Division/New Order, Blur, Pulp, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Oasis various others
Members:
Tony Longworth - Guitar, voice
Tony has fronted and co-fronted several west London bands since 1994 including Form Field, River's Edge, The Honeymoon's Over, Tremens, Free State Prophets and Monophobia.
Phil Quinton - Bass, keyboard
Phil is the founder member of the band. Her was also loosely a member of rap/rock band A Space + A Half, and bassist for indie-pop band Jeray. He now produces music for rap artist Spaghelli.
Zizi Schuh - Keyboard, voice
Zizi is a classically-trained musician from Munich who came to London to live the rock'n'roll lifestyle. She joined Monophobia in 2001 and became an integral member of the band. She left in 2002 to continue her studies and now fronts Munich-based electro/indie band Samson.
Nimesh Hathiwala - Guitar
Nimesh joined Monophobia in 2001 and stuck by Tony when the band split at the end of 2002 going on to join Tony's reformed band The Honeymoon's Over in 2003.
Dave Bateman - Drums
Dave joined Monophobia in 2001 and left after a few months. However, he kept on turning up to rehearsals when Monophobia's other drummers bailed out and actually played most of the live gigs in 2002, although he is not on any of the recordings.
Kian Chanter - Drums/voice
The youngest member of Monophobia to join at 17, and probably the most multi-talented. Joined in 2002, Monophobia was his first band. He's since gone on to waste that talent doing cover versions in Middlesex pubs.
Website:
http://monophobia2000.tripod.com
Page Manager(s):
Phil Quinton