Mondogreen are a rad local band bringing a humble, funny, & mellow vibe to the local scene. Lochie & Connor are some gnarly skaters from back in my hometown. When I was learning to drop in, they were the cool seniors who actually knew how to skate. Can’t lie, with the level of their tunes they’re still super cool, but I’ve got them in a game of SKATE nowadays. Joel, Lochie, Connor, & Aidan wrote the best comedy piece of Nexus so far this year with these slightly blazed answers. Listen to their recent track “Float Some” & enjoy

Who tf r Mondogreen?
Just the boys, really. Joel Newport from Raglan, Lochie McLean Begley, Connor F Quickfall and Aidan S-N.

Where can we find your tunes & any gigs coming up?
The quickest method of keeping up to date with all things Mondo would be to hop on over to our Insta, @mondogreentheband. It’s our main source of keeping connected with you lovely people and we post frequent updates on our process and what we’ve got going on in our funny little lives.

Wanna play at the Don, the University of Waikato’s student bar? Joe can pay u & I’ll bring a 25 pack.
You tell Don to give us a time and date and we’ll be there! Could you also please tell him that I miss our chats and that he frequents my dreams?

Who are ur guys fave bands?
Ocean Alley, Arctic Monkeys, The Grateful Dead, Khruangbin, Tame Impala, King Gizzard, Ty Segall, The Muppets to name a few – we dig a lot of local Kiwi and Aussie bands too.

Who inspires the sound of Mondogreen?
We’re so inspired by a plethora of different artists from various genres, which informs our particular blend of indie reggae (though we don’t like to be considered as confined to any particular genre). For example, our rhythm guitarist Joel comes from a big reggae background, so for him, it’s artists such as Cornerstone Roots, 1814, Kora, etc. The other boys come from backgrounds of indie, garage rock and metal, so it’s a real broad spectrum of artists that we take little pieces of inspiration from. But each person brings along their own preferred musical palate, which influences their musicianship, which then defines the flavour of our tones and overall sound. It’s a shared love of multiple genres.

Best cigarette brand?
Marlboro Reds if you have the funds to spring for ‘em, otherwise, whatever doesn’t damage the digital wallet will usually suffice.

Drink of choice?
Whatever you’re having but stronger and in large quantities.

Best hangover cure?
Bitching about it the next day until the headache goes away. That method tends to pair nicely with the addition of a morning beer.

What’s performing live like?
It’s a rush, to be honest. You spend so much time rehearsing and jamming weeks to months in advance; planning the set list, ironing out the kinks, working out the little technical errors… so when you finally jump on stage, it’s like a release of “here we are, we made it” and it feels like all that hard work is paying off. It’s especially cool when the crowd is vibing with your set just as much as you feel playing it, so everyone is kinda feeding off of one another’s energy. Cyclical, innit.

Worst kind of gig goer?
The bro who sinks nine Coronas before the opener’s first song has finished and decides to choose the path of being a loud, obnoxious prick for the rest of the evening. Really makes you believe in the power of hugging your children.

Fave local venue?
Has to be The Yard in Raglan. The sound quality is fantastic, the atmosphere is sexy and the general vibe of the people who rock up is warm and inviting. The local music community is also so sincere and it seems to be a hotspot for touring bands to add to their show dates.

Did skating effect any of your creative paths?
I think the type of music each of us would listen to when having a skate informs the kind of music we write and would want others to listen to when they’re hitting the decks. Don’t know if any of us could go pro though.

I see you guys play in comps, what’s the competitive music scene like?
It’s a strange thing to compete for your art, music is so subjective and it almost feels wrong to categorise your music as being “better” than that of someone else. That being said, Smokefree Rockquest (which we’ve all participated in previously via seperate bands before we met each other) is a grand opportunity for young ones to get a taste for ripping it up on stage and meeting like-minded musos – mature events like Battle of the Bands provides valuable insight into the local/domestic music scene(s) to see if we’re filling a certain niche that other bands/artists might not be, so in a way, competitions are a nice way of bringing people together in a fun environment.

How was battle of the bands on April 26?
Killer, man. We had a blast and we managed to sneak through to the regional finals! Hoping to make it to Wellington for Nationals and even surprise a Japanese audience if we can take it out further from there.

How was playing Sound Splash?
Man, we love a good festival as much as the next jort-adorned, socks-and-slides donning 16 year old who just discovered their first dose of the magical wonder herb. It’s always such a pleasure and we love to get amongst it. We had a bonkers turn out this year and absolutely looking forward to the next one.

Any projects in the works?
We’re currently in the process of getting ready to release our debut EP in May. It’s the culmination of two and a half years of playing together and we’re stoked to share it with the world. Beyond that, we’re constantly cooking up new tunes to share, so keep your ears to the pavement!