"It's a great feeling to be in a city where that zest of finding new music or a new moment hasn't ever let up," New York's latest hot new band Monobloc admit. They're not wrong too. With their brilliant new single 'Where Is My Garden', they're proving nobody does it better than the Big Apple. Check out our latest Hype playlist cover feature.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Julia Tarantino.

In the heart of Bushwick, Brooklyn, as dusk settles over a courtyard surrounded by shipping containers, five musicians fend off mosquitoes and ponder the mysterious presence of a black cat named Neptune. This is Monobloc, New York's latest buzz band, taking a moment between practice sessions to reflect on their whirlwind journey from inception to international acclaim.

Monobloc, comprised of Timothy Waldron on vocals, Michael 'Mop' Silverglade on bass, Ben Scofield and Nina Lüders on guitars, and Zack Pockrose on drums, are a testament to the enduring allure of New York City as a crucible for musical innovation. Their story is one of serendipity, perseverance, and the strange alchemy that occurs when diverse talents collide in one of the world's true cultural capitals.

The band's formation reads like a modern fairy tale, complete with TikTok meet-cutes and transatlantic email introductions. As Mop recounts, "We've all been playing together as Monobloc for exactly one year. However, the band started almost two years ago. I had been living with Tim in Philadelphia and decided to move to NYC after our old band broke up. He ended up visiting me almost every weekend until he eventually moved here, too. We spent that first year here conceptualising 'Monobloc' and writing the initial batch of songs."

Tim's journey to New York was a gradual one, marked by a period of creative limbo. "I was coming into town several times a month to either work a film job or write music with Mop for over a year," he explains. "I worked, played, existed, and created in NY while still sleeping in Philly. I finally broke ground in the city in May."