What do you do after you’ve changed everything? For punk rock pioneer Tommy Erdelyi, better known as Tommy Ramone, you go right back to your roots. His current band, Uncle Monk, will play a show on Sunday, April 20th at the Mohawk Palace, but Ramones fans may be a bit surprised by what they hear. I recently spoke with Erdelyi about Uncle Monk and his upcoming show.
Hugh O’Donnell: Tell me a little about Uncle Monk.
Tommy Rammone: We’re basically a duo. We play acoustic instruments and we’re very much influenced by old time music and bluegrass, but we take those instruments from that genre and do modern music with it.
HO: What made you want to work with old time music?
TR: It’s a music I’ve always loved ever since I was a kid. When I was young, my older brother used to bring home records from the library and we used to make tape copies of it, so I kind of grew up listening to it and always loved it.
HO: Tell me a bit about your partnership with Claudia Tienen. How did it get started and what’s it like?
TR: Originally, we got started about 1990 and we had a three piece rock band called Uncle Monk. It was sort of like a jam band you have now. I played guitar, Claudia played the bass, and we had a drummer. While we were doing that, we started incorporating elements of old time music and bringing in other instruments. Claudia and I like the instruments so much we dropped the electric. By 2000 we were all acoustic and in 2006 we started performing as a duo.
HO: Could you tell me a little bit about the album and what’s next?
TR: The album has songs that basically relate to our lives and our philosophies. We delve into the depths of people’s psyches. It’s got a variety of stuff on it; some stuff that’s bluegrassy, stuff that’s old-timey, stuff that’s very modern. After we finish touring this year in the late fall we’ll start work on our next album, and we’re already working on songs for that one, so we’re looking forward to it.
HO: You played South By Southwest this year.
TR: We’ve played the last three years.
HO: Do you enjoy going down to Austin and seeing other bands?
TR: Oh, very much so. Sometimes you don’t get the chance, but we love to watch other bands. It’s a great time for music, and it’s a great atmosphere.
HO: Have you ever played Buffalo before?
TR: A long time ago, with the Ramones.
HO: What do you expect when you play in Buffalo?
TR: I don’t know. The shows we’ve done have been going really well, and we’re hoping for the same in Buffalo. We’re hoping for a nice variety of audiences; fans of bluegrass, indie music fans, punk rock fans. We usually have a good time and we’re hoping for the same thing. We’re looking forward to meeting everyone.
Uncle Monk will play Mohawk Place at 8pm on Sunday, August 20th. Chris Malachowski and The Steam Donkeys will both open the show.