Telemonster delivers with new Introspector
An aspiring bush pilot once told this writer a sinister joke she heard among her colleagues: if forced to make a nighttime emergency landing and, while looking for a suitable landing area, you don’t like what you see, then what should you do? Turn off your lights.
Similarly, on a personal level, one might prefer to bury his head in the sand and stay in the dark regarding his own internal darkness.
That’s not the case with the Chattanooga group Telemonster and its new, second album Introspecter, a meticulously and immaculately recorded effort with an uncommon and adept eclecticism among pop hooks and rock throbs; its title combines “introspect” and “specter” to suggest a glimpse at darkness and ghosts within.
“It seemed the overarching theme [of Introspecter] was an attempt to wrestle with personal brokenness,” said Ben VanderHart via email, a multi-instrumentalist and Telemonster’s primary songwriter and vocalist. “I think we all have some unseemly characters living in us, and we usually do a good job of stifling them or hiding them from people in ‘respectable’ society.
“The whole album is autobiographical,” said VanderHart. “Over the last several years, I felt compelled to write about vivid personal experiences that I could describe with palpable detail.”
“Things that aren’t often fodder for pop songs, but are still relatable to most people,” said VanderHart. “A fear of drowning (“Opheliac”), hiding aspects of your character to make people love you (“Facade 1”), coping with guilt and regret during a time of loss (“Birmingham”), seeking fulfillment and validation through things that are superficial or temporary (“In the Stones”).”
“But every day, it feels like they’re fighting to get out. And I wanted to know if other people felt that way too,” said VanderHart.
Joining VanderHart in Telemonster’s core quartet are his cousin Josh Barrett on drums, bassist John-Michael Forman (who met VanderHart as his college roommate) and pianist Dave Hess who, like the other three, graduated from Covenant College.
Although the origins of Introspecter date back to 2010, when VanderHart began writing the song “For Someone Not So Old,” the momentum for completing the album ramped up in 2016, when VanderHart began building a home studio.
“Every couple weeks, one of the band members would come over, and we’d work on new ideas or lay down various parts of the album, one instrument at a time,” he said. “The fact that we collectively had eight kids over the last four years probably had the greatest impact on how the album developed.”
“When Josh and I were in college, he once criticized my songwriting as having a limited range, saying it all sounded too much like a small handful of alt-rock bands I’d been listening to at the time,” said VanderHart. “That proved to be one of the most formative pieces of criticism I’ve ever gotten.”
“As I pondered that feedback over the years, I realized that most of the artists I aspired to be like were borrowing ideas from music that was pretty far removed from their own,” said VanderHart.
“So we often look to classical, jazz, film scores or even Broadway music for inspiration,” said VanderHart, who cited diverse sources including contemporary composer Steve Reich, jazz legends Miles Davis and Charlie Christian, Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, classical composers Tchaikovsky and Debussy, doo-wop music and even old Disney soundtracks.
“When we draw on these influences, we know the result can never sound like the sources that inspire us, because, in the end, we are still rock musicians—our brains will always default to a snare on the two and the four,” said VanderHart. “But when we attempt to recreate vastly different genres within that context, that’s when we really start to sound the most like ourselves.”
An event earlier this month at Daily Ration celebrated not only the release of Introspecter but also the launch of Yellow Racket, a new record label run by VanderHart intended to be more of a cultural institution than just a business.
“I started Yellow Racket in hopes of assembling a cadre of artists who have similar aesthetic and personal values,” said VanderHart. “In this context, a record label is not simply a company that promotes music, but a community of artists who can rely on each other for perspective, resources and support.”
Ultimately, by taking a deep look within, one can make a stronger connection to the outside world, be it through a record label or through the music itself.
“Even though these songs [on Introspecter] are autobiographical,” he said. “I hope they resonate with people and create opportunities for a few of us to become more vulnerable with each other. To be open about our flaws and to find some healing and reconciliation as a result.”