How Clover Stokes Built A Modern Classic Rock Band

You can look fearless under stage lights and still be shaking inside. That’s the truth Clover Stokes shares with us, and it’s exactly why her story hits. Clover is the frontwoman of Monarch, a Virginia Beach local band making waves across the 757 with classic rock covers, a growing original catalog, and a live show that pulls people in fast. We talk about the real work behind becoming “larger than life” and what it costs and gives back when you choose a public creative life. 

Clover takes us from karaoke nights and choir days to discovering Stevie Nicks performances on YouTube and realizing she needed the stage. We dig into her influences, from Fleetwood Mac and Heart to Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, and Linda Ronstadt, plus the Dominican and Latin music that shaped her ear early. Along the way, she explains how Monarch starts as a duo, learns the three-hour set challenge, books shows across Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, and beyond, and navigates the hardest part of band life: finding people who want to build something that lasts. 

We also get honest about stage presence and confidence. Clover describes exposure therapy, the nights the nerves don’t go away, and the freedom of being celebrated for being loud, expressive, and fully herself. We talk songwriting, why Monarch refuses to be “background music,” and what it means to hear a crowd respond to an unreleased original like “Lord Only Knows (God Bless Rock And Roll)” as recording begins. Plus: fan moments that trigger imposter syndrome, the weekday day-job reality, and the playlist range that keeps her creativity sharp. 

If you care about live music, building confidence, the Virginia Beach music scene, or turning influences into a real career path, you’ll take something practical from this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a push, and leave us a review with the most unforgettable concert you’ve ever seen.

Transcript

Pre Roll And Tech Setup

SPEAKER_04 0:01

Cool, I'm out of here.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Um, my phone.

SPEAKER_04 0:06

I hear it.

SPEAKER_03 0:07

It's out there. Can you just you don't know how to put it on silent, do you?

SPEAKER_04 0:12

No. No, just bring it up there. You wanna hear it up there when you want me to grab it?

SPEAKER_03 0:17

Yes, bring it to me and I'll put it on silent. Because I button keep texting me pictures. Oh it might even call you.

SPEAKER_04 0:28

All right. Um, I'm gonna shut and lock that. Well, maybe not lock, but definitely shut that door.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Yeah, you just gotta let them know.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Right, both cameras are recording.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Sorry. No. Just probably leave it there.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Yeah, you just don't know the brain.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

So this is recording.

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

You see it? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:03

I was in here last weekend. I usually record with like two cameras like that, and I tripped the camera that records me, and it fell, and my lens got stuck, right? And I have lenses for taking photos, but they're not um that size, so oh no. But you know, the phones they are amazing. Yeah, they're they're yeah, so I'm like let's just use it. I love that phone right there in fact, pictures were awesome. Okay, you ready?

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Yep. Three, two, one, and you're rolling.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Did you happen? Did you look at her? I don't know if we adjusted that. Remember last time?

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Does it look oh we did because we had what's it?

SPEAKER_03 1:53

But I may have I may have touched it.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Well you could do this for me. Seems okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Okay, good. We had the shutter speed now uh, yeah, we have the radio.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

You didn't think his hands is the only time I really noticed it. Alrighty, ready? I'm gonna talk with my hands. But that's fine. It was just I could tell only when I he was doing his hands.

SPEAKER_04 2:22

We're rolling.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Hello everyone, I'm Al Nealy with Listen Up Podcast, and today we have Clover Stokes from the band Monarch. It's a local band in the Taiwan area. Uh, she's a young, amazing talent. Um, I was at an event, I got invited to an event. I saw her on stage, and um just completely mesmerized. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_03 2:52

Good, yes. So I am so happy that you came in.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Oh my goodness, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 2:58

Yeah, so you uh I like to start out by you look so youthful. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yeah. How old are you?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

I'm 21.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Okay, 22 in October.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

And how long have you been singing?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

I've been singing my whole life, since I was a kid. Um, I was raised around singers, my mom, my cousins, and we would have karaoke nights at the house. And so that's where I I really learned the ropes of singing.

SPEAKER_03 3:30

I heard that. I heard that from one of the friends that invited us.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

So that's that's where I got my start. And I've just been in love with it ever since.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Are you from the Tiawood area?

SPEAKER_00 3:39

I am. I was born in Manhattan, but I was raised in Virginia Beach my whole life.

Discovering Fleetwood Mac And Stevie Nicks

SPEAKER_03 3:44

Okay. All right. So let's talk about what I found that was pretty unique was what you were saying. Okay. And I walked in and it was a lot of fleet with Mac.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Of course. My favorite.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Yes. And um 70s folksy, folksy music. Where did that come from? I mean, 20, I can ask most 21-year-olds about Fleetwood Mac, and they would have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Um, I was definitely raised on some, you know, all kinds of music. You know, my mom, like I said, I was I was born in Manhattan. My mom's from there. So she was exposed to all kinds of music. So from like house music, techno to classic rock and and the Eagles and then something like that.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Manhattan? You said it?

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Yes, Manhattan, New York.

SPEAKER_03 4:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

And so I Harlem? Uh not all.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

No, Spanish. Okay. No. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Little Dominican Republic is what we we call it lovingly in Washington. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Okay, Washington Heights. Yes, yeah. All right, good.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

So um my mom would show me all kinds of music growing up, and you know, there was the classic rock thrown in there. Um, but I'd say I kind of rediscovered it um for myself around the time I was about 15 years old, um, was when I discovered uh live performances on YouTube of like Stevie Nickes in the 70s. And seeing those video, I would literally like put them up on my TV in my living room and watch them incessantly. Um, because I was just like, this is so cool. Because like I said, growing up, I would sing around the house and I was I did choir in middle school for like a minute. Um, but I'd never seen a female powerhouse such as like Stevie Nicks doing that ever, especially in like the 1970s. I was like, this is like something completely different, you know? So that was where I was like, that's what I have to do. I have to be on stage, I have to be larger than life. That's my calling.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah, your stage presence and your stage signature definitely speaks to the next.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

So I'm mental.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Yeah, absolutely. Is who else is, would you say, is sort of been your mentor thing?

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Um, I mean, of course, my mother was my biggest mentor, my biggest supporter. She would always like, she's very no-nonsense, very like blunt, very serious about everything. So she she would she would uh not be the person to like tell me I'm good if I'm not actually good. And so she was always encouraging me to pursue music and pursue being artistic and everything. So that's a big influence to me. Um, as of at more so like uh artistic influences, I'd say I'm big into heart. So Ann and Nancy Wilson, you know, being two sisters, female fronting, you know, musicians in a band, um, also very powerhouse type thing. But I also say a lot of my original music is inspired by folk artists of the 70s, so like Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, um, Linda Ronstadt, um, especially Joan Baez and Linda Ronstadt because they are both like folk Americana Latina artists.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

And that is something that I I didn't really grow up seeing was like, you know, Latina artists doing like this Americana classic rock sound sound. And so finding it in the 1970s was like a whole new world for me, you know, it's very inspirational.

unknown 7:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

So you got started with the band was in 22?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yes, actually, I think um and you have some start with you.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Okay. Yeah. So to take us through how you you know it came about.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah, like I said, it started around the time I was like 15. Um, and I was just so like, I need to be on stage, I need to be on stage, but I needed to find other people who were like-minded. And I actually met this girl, her name's Grace, um, in high school, and she had just picked up guitar during quarantine. And so we were both very obviously new at the music thing, but we both were very into this genre of music and like we bonded over grunge music as well. So like I said, I I span genres. Okay. Um and so her and I started doing like little band practices um in the garage, you know, stuff stuff like that. And we started by doing open mics around the time like our senior year of high school, so 2022, 2023. And we would go out to like these little local bars and sing like three songs, just two 18-year-old girls having fun, you know. And um then one of the bars that we were at asked us, Do you guys have three hours worth of music? I'd love to book you for a three-hour show. And we were like, sure, you know, let's learn three hours worth of this classic rock stuff. And so her and I just started as the duo doing like little acoustic things here. And like I said, that is what really, you know, opened the door. And um people started hearing about us in the area. And so through word of mouth, we started getting more gigs through Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, like Portsmouth, everywhere. So, and then that's how the the word of mouth is how we started gaining more bandmates as well. You know, people would hear about us and like, oh, I know this guy who plays this, he loved to like come out, or like, hey, I played this. Do you need like a drummer? Do you need whatever? And that's how it got started.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

It's difficult putting together a band.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yes, it is. Um, especially in in this area, because um there aren't there's there's lots of musicians, but I've come to find that there's a quite a few that would just rather get here, you know. Like they'll they'll come in and then you know play bass for this show, but then like they they don't want to like, you know, stick with this one band, they want to play multiple. And so it's difficult to find, it was difficult for me to find people who wanted to stay with me in this band, but I'm very fortunate that the configuration of guys I have now are willing to to go this way and you know do the bigger shows and record music and all that.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

That's awesome.

Stage Confidence Through Exposure

SPEAKER_00 10:06

So where have you um as far as branching out and performing, where have you performed throughout the uh East Coast or right now, right now it's been up and down the like 757 area. Um this past weekend we were up in Hampton and then in Smithfield, Virginia, and then in not this coming weekend, but the following, um, we'll be in Culpiper, Virginia, which is probably like our our farthest like official school band show. Um we did go to Nashville back in like 2023, me and Grace as the duo. We just went and did like a 45-minute little set at uh a little Nashville bar. Um I do like Nashville. Oh my god, it was so nice, but this was when I was like first starting, yeah singing on stage. So I was like, oh my god, like there's so many talented musicians here, like I feel like I don't fit in, blah, blah, blah. Um, but I mean, I was telling you you all earlier that um growing up, I was very, very shy. And then through being on stage is when I started like, you know, planting my feet, I suppose, and and really gaining that confidence. So if I was to go back to National now, I'd be like, oh yeah, I I love National.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Do you find yourself um because when I when I saw you perform, I didn't had no idea that you were shy or you had any kind of stage, right? You were yeah, you're very entertaining as a performer. So uh do you just find you go in yourself, or is at this point you've done it so much? Just just tell us how you've gotten to that point from being child.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Um, I'd say just exposure therapy, just getting up and and being brave anyway, you know, because there there are still some shows where I get up on stage, I climb up like the steps to get on stage, and I'm shaking actively, you know. So it does it never really like fully goes away that shyness. But um I've definitely come into myself more, you know, taking on this this character of Clover Stokes is like the most me I've ever felt. And I feel like a part of the reason why I was so shy growing up was because I never really felt like myself. And now being on stage is where I like I said, I just feel more me. I feel the most me. And I feel like on stage, the audience can appreciate just every part of me, you know, the loud and the the you know, taking up space kind of thing. And and it's it's celebrated, you know, it's it's such a beautiful thing to be celebrated for being a woman being loud and taking up space.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Yeah, that's good. Um, your family has been instrumental with with helping you, especially your mom. Okay, yeah, okay. Right. We don't we definitely don't want to leave mom out.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

So yeah, she's she's like I said, my number one supporter. Um, she's been working as our manager, booking us the shows and everything. Um, I wish that she would start writing songs and doing all that, but she's like, no, that's that's your thing, that's that's all you. So she'll sing with me here and there, you know. I'll get her on, I'll pull her up on stage and have fun with her. But uh yeah, she still has to work out that stage right thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Really? Oh wow, very much so. Yeah, I do remember her needing upsetting as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

So what do you want to do with your performance? Have you thought about it, or you're just letting it flow?

SPEAKER_00 13:45

I this is something that that plagues my mind all the time. Like, first thing I wake up, I'm thinking about my singing. Last thing before I go to bed, I'm thinking about my band, my music, everything. Um, so the reason I want to be a public artist and not just like write songs in my room or whatever is because I want to be for future generations what Stevie Nicks was for me. You know, I want to have younger girls, you know, growing up who are like super shy see videos of me on like YouTube or something performing and then being this larger than life character and be like, that's what I want to do. You know, I I want to just inspire future generations to be something, to, to to take up that space and and be unapologetic about it. That's that's my life goal with being a performer, being a public figure, being an artist. It's it's just I want to reach people, I want to connect with people.

Songwriting Originals And Recording Plans

SPEAKER_03 14:42

Awesome. So part of being an artist is song writing, right? Um, how much of it have you done?

SPEAKER_00 14:51

I've been writing songs since I was about 14.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

Um you you do have three hours worth of music. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

I have like right now we're doing primarily covers, but we've slowly started implementing more original music because to get into the scene in this area, you know, a lot of these places hire like background music kind of bands, but we've we've certainly established ourselves as not a background music kind of band. We are like an attraction. So we've started um implementing more originals now, and and because I I started by writing a lot of like funky kind of valody softer songs, and it's kind of difficult to to perform at a bar or a pub or something. And uh so I started dabbling in more um rock music and and and writing more of that because obviously I love to sing it. And it's really, really amazing the response that we've gotten from the audience of people who will come up to me after a show and be like, I loved that song, that original song that you wrote. Like, that's insane how you wrote that. And it's just it's writing songs has always been uh a big thing for me. I've I've I was in so many like um specialized gifted English programs growing up because I just loved reading and writing so much. And writing songs and poetry and all that has just always been like a part of me. And so writing songs is just an extension of that.

unknown 16:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Do you um what we were talking about a song that you just written, I guess, within last year. Um, what is that song?

SPEAKER_00 16:30

The song is called uh Lord Only Knows, and then in parentheses, God bless rock and roll.

unknown 16:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

And they can people can find that on it's not out yet.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Okay. We actually just started recording um this past weekend. So, but we've been performing it live for the past few months, and that's the number one song that we've gotten like the best reception to, uh, or reception from was uh that one. People be like, that's gonna be like a radio hit, and they're like, Okay, cool. And it's good to know that people like that one. That one's like, I'd say our biggest like rocky, roly, fun, just dancy kind of number that we have now.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

So you're gonna have to educate me out, you know. I I don't do that, so I probably don't know what it's like to be a a rock star. Do you have people following you? Do you you notice that there's familiar people? Oh yeah. Usually I have. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

Actually, um, this past weekend we were up in Smithfield, and this woman came up to us. And like I said, we performed mostly in like the 757 area, and so Smithfield is a little bit out of the way. And this woman came up to us and was like, I saw you guys when you performed at this show, and I heard that you were playing here, so I just had to come out and see you. And I'm like, that is so crazy to me that like not only do they like follow us from like, you know, oh, I saw you at this Virginia Beach show, I'm going to the next Virginia Beach show, you know. It's also like it makes me, it kind of gives me an imposter syndrome a little bit because I'm like, I live with myself, and so obviously I know who I am, I know what I am, and I I'm like, I'm just at home like watching TV and and like you know, doodling and drawing at home or whatever. And these people will come to my shows and it'll impact them so much that they follow my band and they come out to different shows, they keep up with my schedule, and they're like, I saw you at this show, I wanted to come out to the next one because you guys were that good. It's like, me? Little old me? Because like I remember, I mean, obviously, I started as a fan, you know? Yeah, so I would be the one going to like these different concerts. There were there are bands I've I've gone to South Carolina all the way up to Detroit to go see, or Florida and like New York to go see these bands. And so for that to now be in the beginning stages for me, yeah, it's like this is so wild. And I'm so extremely grateful that that's like my life now. It just it every single time, it just it'll shock me. I I don't think I'll ever get used to that. To like people coming up to me being like, I saw you here, I came out to see you again because I loved you so much. Like, what?

Fans Following Shows And Imposter Syndrome

SPEAKER_03 19:07

All right, so now you have to tell us when you're not singing or you're not on stage, what is an average day, what does a day look like for uh Clover Stokes? Just what's that like? You know, you're walking around.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Just tell us I am your average, like little artsy chick, I guess. You know, I grew up, I was I did art school for about 10 years. I started in like second grade and went all the way through high school with it. And so when I'm at home, I'm usually drawing on like my iPad or like painting stuff and doing anything artistic is like my calling. Um, I love to go thrifting, like my entire outfit was secondhand. I love like curating of little vintage inspired or vintage outfits. Um, I collect so many things.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

I collect like mugs and like little trinkets and things. Like I'm I'm just like an average girl, you know. I work as I work at a restaurant as a hostess and a server during the week. And so on the weekend, I I feel like like Superman, you know, whereas like during the week I'm like Clark Kent, and then on the weekend I'm like this completely other character, which is it's so fun to be.

SPEAKER_03 20:26

So when you're out have people have come, I say, You look familiar or Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

I've gotten that. That's that I think that's one of the weirdest things is when people will come out to my restaurant and they'll be like, I recognize you. Are you a singer in a band? And I'm like, no, like no. It's it's just it's wild to me getting recognized or you know, like we were saying before, people coming out to different shows because they saw me at this one. It's it's because like I said, I'm just that girl who will sit at home and watch her TV shows and draw her little things, and and so it's it's wild to me. It's just wild to me.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

Do you have any pets?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I grew up with pets. I don't have any currently.

SPEAKER_03 21:08

Okay. I imagine your lifestyle is on the weekend. You're probably exhausted.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Oh yeah. I I get home after engagement.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

What's a typical show by the show?

SPEAKER_00 21:20

It will do it. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Usually, yeah. Okay. Especially like in the warmer months, there sometimes we'll perform on a Thursday, you know, like they'll we'll have shows all the time. Um and usually it starts like, you know, the whole day is usually dedicated to it. So like wake up and I'm drinking like uh tea for my throat, and I'm doing vocal warm-ups, and I'm picking on my outfit, doing my hair, doing my makeup, and um getting to the show, performing my heart out. It's really an exercise. If you've been out to a show, you know I'm I'm never in one spot for longer than five minutes or five seconds. So I'm just I am constantly moving, constantly doing all this stuff, and then on the way home from the show is usually when I'm like I crash and I fall asleep in the car. It's always a big exercise.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

I see. So typical shows last how long?

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Shows are currently usually around three hours. That's like our our usual. We'll have shows that'll be like shorter, so like an hour and a half, maybe two hours, and then we have shows that are longer, like four hours or four and a half. So it'll take a lot out of you. I'll tell you that much.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

I'm sure. And then you talk to people, so it's it takes a lot out of you.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

It certainly does. I I I put on the the how would I describe it? I I wouldn't say like a mask because I still like being authentically myself. I don't ever like to disconnect who I am on stage versus who I am on off stage. I like being the same, you know, weird girl, you know. I like being personable to people. Yes, I was gonna say that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:06

So you do talk to people.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

I do. I love to talk to people. People always come up to me. Well, they'll ask me like questions like you're asking me now of like, well, how'd you how'd you start at doing this? And I just, you know, I I love talking to people, I love interacting. I love, like I said, having that that impact on people as well, enough to the point where they would care enough about me to ask me such questions, you know.

SPEAKER_03 23:28

Have you had um any professional vocal lessons or um nothing like long-term.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

I mentioned earlier that I did choir in middle school, um, but I only did that like in seventh grade, so like a year. Um, I did a little bit of like musical theater in middle school. Um I did school of rock for like a little trial run for like two months. Um but recently, this was like when I was a teenager. School of rock is like, I think the cutoff is like 18. So this when I was like 16, 17. So like back before the band officially started. So I learned a few things here and there. Like I learned um breath control is a big thing in singing, um, so that you don't hurt your vocal cords and that you don't you don't push yourself too hard. Um, but like I couldn't reach you music, you know. I don't play any instruments, like I can't, I can't do any of that. So I I'm not really professional, professional. I just I do what feels good, you know. I sing what feels good. I, you know, write songs that just feel good. And so when I when I present original music to my bandmates, I'm not I'm just singing it. I don't have any instruments to go with it. And I'm more so like, oh, in my mind, I have like guitar does and drums, you know, whatever. So I I I couldn't tell them, like, oh, play this in the key of blink. I don't know any of that stuff. Maybe I should learn. I think that'd be a lot easier for my bandmates if I had just learned. But yeah, I do not have any real professional training.

Playlists From Folk To Reggaeton

SPEAKER_03 25:06

Gotcha. I've always wondered. I was kind of touched on a little bit earlier. What do you listen to? If we were to on your phone, like grab your phone and put on your playlist, what do you have when you playlist?

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Oh my goodness. I I don't have any one playlist. I have like 18 playlists that list it and everyone is for like a different mood. Like right now it's getting warmer out, so I've been listening to a lot of like southern 70s classic rock and even like some country folk. Um, but I also like on the way here, I was actually listening to um Who's your favorite folk art? Folk artists?

SPEAKER_03 25:49

You said right.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

Yeah, I like uh Joan Bias, George Mitchell, like John Staff.

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Um you have a lot of that.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Oh yeah, absolutely. Um, but I also, like I said, my mom exposed me to a lot of like early 2000s, 90s club music. So I listened to some of that. I've been getting really into um alternative electronic. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Um, I've I've been getting really into a lot of alternative electronic um reggaeton as well, which is uh I'm I'm Dominican, so reggaeton has always been a thing for me. So to find different kinds of subcategories of this like overall genre is just so cool and it's so unique. And it's the artists that are doing it are so so increasing talented, you know. A lot of them aren't DJs or like producers for other people and now they're making their own music. And it's just I love discovering new things, you know. Like I never really get tired of certain things, you know. Like I'll listen to the same song for years and years and years. And obviously, there are songs I've performed for years and years and years that I don't get tired of, but it's just so nice and refreshing to listen to new things, discover new things. I'm always discovering new things. So I I say two of my or three, I'll give you three. Three of my favorite on-repeat artists have been Jane Remover, Arca, and Ethel Kane, who are all these like electronic alternative. There's some that's electronic, some that's just alternative, some that's almost indie, some that's like the reggaeton. Um, and they're just such unique, interesting artists that it's it's just every single time I find a new song of theirs, I'm like, how do you come up with something like this? It's so cool, you know. So yeah, it's I wasn't everything.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Yeah, you you can go in a lot of different directions with music.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

And I'm very passionate about it. I could talk about it for hours. I'm I'm trying to like, you know, not, but I'm trying to talk about all kinds of music for hours. I could talk about all this this stuff. I love it so much.

unknown 27:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:56

Did your mother listen to a lot of um Latino artists?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Yeah, yeah. All all the time when she would like cook in the house or clean, she would have a speaker on.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

And who does she like?

SPEAKER_00 28:09

She she likes a lot of people. There's some people I don't even know the names of, but I know the songs, you know.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Because like I said, I was raised on it, so it's like songs that she would listen to since I was a little kid. Um, but like she'll listen to a song that's like classic Hispanic, you know, music and and stuff from you know, decades ago. And then right after it will be like Tina Turner, and then right after that will be like Azalea Banks, you know? So it's just like such a range. Oh, yeah. That's diverse. Of course. So um it's I mean, now here I am doing pretty much the same thing. So yeah, my mom has been a big influence on my my music taste and my I guess my willingness to to listen to everything.

Local Awards And Cover Band Pride

SPEAKER_03 28:55

Yeah, that's awesome. The um this area is it's a pretty diverse area. We have a lot of people coming in, so uh I can definitely see um why you have a following for what you sing. Um you know, this Southern Rock is just it it hits doesn't seem wrong. You can't go wrong. Yeah, absolutely. A few months ago you received an award for figure magazine.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

I got second place. I haven't received an award yet, but I got second place, which is pretty wild to me in my book still.

SPEAKER_03 29:41

We'll talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

Oh yeah. So um we got second place for best cover band in the area. We were nominated in uh 2025 as well, um, which was also crazy because you know I started with the full band arrangement in August of 2024. And so within the span of August 2024 to January 2025, being recognized enough to get nominated that first time for best cover band was like wow, especially because we were up against people who've been doing it for like 20 years. And then um 2025 was a very, I'll say, transformative year for Monarch. That was when we were going through um so many different iterations of the band, so many different, like um, this guitar player this week, this bass player, this drummer. Um so to get nominated again for it this year was just so insane to me. And to get second place, um obviously not first, but uh second place is enough that we uh got recognized enough that people knew who we were, you know. And that was just so so wild to me. And I remember um one of my I I can't remember like who exactly it was, but somebody said to me, like, oh, it's just cover band. Like you just got nominated for cover band. It's like to me that doesn't matter, you know, because wait a minute. You mean it was it was like as a matter of fact, they were first it was like it was like you got nominated for doing covers, not doing your original stuff, you know, it's it's like less cool, I guess. And I didn't see it that way. I was like to me, it was just getting recognized, period, you know, getting recognized by this awards committee who so many of my local you know influences, like like someone like Anthony Rosano, who has been nominated and won so many times, or Bertalite, who has been nominated and won so many times, right? Um, to be noticed amongst these people was enough for me to be like like so honored and so just because like I said, I my brain will always go back to being 16, 17 years old with my you know friend in the garage playing these little songs and doing three songs a week at local bars at open mics. And so now to go from that to being on the elevation 27 stage or the Norva stage, you know, is is enough for me. It doesn't matter if I'm doing covers or original music. People are hearing it, people are impacted enough to want it to get recognized, to be nominated, to win something, you know, that it's that good that people want that. And it's I I don't have words.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

You're just getting started.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

I am just getting started.

SPEAKER_03 32:38

And it's like I guess they were comparing you with somebody that's been doing it for 30, 40 years. You're just getting started.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

And that's exactly that's what I said. Getting nominated last year when we were only like in that six-month-ish span of time to get nominated was like mind-blowing to me. And then, like I said, last year, I was so frazzled trying to like find permanent band members that it's like to be noticed even from last year's stuff is uh beyond me. Beyond me. It's it's such an honor.

SPEAKER_03 33:13

I I think so. And you're just starting to come out with what you have written. So um they have no idea what they're in for.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

I was telling my mom this year when I when I when they announced that I did get second place, I was telling her next year, uh, I don't mind if I get nominated for cover band again, but next year I will by next year I will have a original music out for them to hear because I mean two years in a row getting nominated is crazy enough. I'm like, I want to show them more of what I can get, you know. I I wanna I just want to show them everything.

SPEAKER_03 33:50

You like the challenge?

SPEAKER_00 33:51

I love a challenge. I love a challenge. I always will persevere. And whenever something negative comes up, there have been so many times that I've stressed about it that now when something negative comes up, I'm like, I know I'll always come out the other end. It might be different, it might be like I might have to change some things to you know fit this new version of me. Right, but I'll always come out the other end of it, and I'll always be proud of whatever I I do, whatever comes out is something I want to be proud of. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Well, I'm impressed.

Where To Follow The Band Monarch

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

I uh tell us where we can find you on your social media.

unknown 34:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Post uh let's start there.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

All our social medias are at the band monarch. Okay, and then I think on YouTube it's the band underscore monarch, but all of our other social medias are the band monarch.

SPEAKER_03 34:46

And if someone wants to come see you, uh how can they find I guess you'll you'll post all of that on your social media.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

I always yeah, I always post to uh a week or two in advance of a show, like we're gonna be here. Um, but I actually did come out with a whole calendar of all of our gigs that we have so far. There's always more to be added. Um, but I have like a baseline of all of our gigs from now to September right now, on all of our shows.

SPEAKER_03 35:17

And that's on the social media sites.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

On all of our socials, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

Okay, well that's awesome. Um I appreciate you coming in.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Oh my goodness. I appreciate you for having me. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Yeah, and I just can't wait to everybody gets uh gets to see this. So um I think that's it. All right.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Thank you for uh following us on Listen Up. We'll catch you next time on Listen Up.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Which button do I mean on this?

SPEAKER_02 35:52

The bottom one.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

I have no idea. I'll have to look at it. That's fine, I'll get that one.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

Hey I used to be I want to be a music history professor, but that's only like four jobs in I don't know a bunch of colleges around here that uh me.