She’s got the smooth and sultry voice we all recognize on the very first note and after years of collaborating with other artists, Monique Bingham has finally dropped her debut album ‘Best of the Last’ – and it’s everything we had hoped for. I sat down with the star and get the low down on how she began her incredible career, her new music and what the future holds.
Tell us how your musical journey began.
It all started on the filthy streets of New York literally. In the early 90’s a lot of live “acid jazz” bands were playing all over and one in particular, Groove Collective, captivated me. I auditioned to sing with them right on Broadway one night! Their percussionist, Nappy G, then hooked me up with the band Abstract Truth. He also invited me that night to a backyard barbecue he was throwing at his house where a little known DJ Lil Louie Vega was spinning. And I actually wrote the song “Bloody Lucky” with Jonathon Maron the bass player for Groove Collective in the 90s. SA’s own Chymamusique remixed it for my album in 2015. It all comes full circle.
What is the biggest challenge and biggest gift of being a musician?
Biggest challenge is getting the ideas and the music out of your head and materializing exactly the way you envision it. The biggest gift is when it comes out really close to that. Sometimes it’s even better. The stuff you cannot anticipate, the magic moments are the best gifts.
Your new album is fantastic. Why did you decide to release your debut album on your 20th anniversary of being in the music industry?
The house market is single driven. A lot of albums have “filler” songs no one intends to really push. Being in the underground has trained me to make every recording count but because it’s also a DJ/producer focused market, the singers and songwriters can get lost in the shuffle. The people that create the songs and the melodies become faceless and nameless. I wanted to collect almost everything I’ve done so people can put the name and the face to my voice. To have a double disc anthology from a house artist could only happen here in South Africa.
What would you like listeners to take away from listening to the album?
That real music is getting made in this scene. It’s not just mindless electronic loops and empty lyrics. There are real songwriters, real musicians that play instruments and real compositions being created in this scene. That Louie Vega record “Elevator” is as rich and deep as any Quincy Jones recording. We make real music down here. This is not flakey EDM. These are songs!
What do you think it is about your music that sets you apart from other house musicians?
I would say the writing if anything. There are amazing talents in this scene. We have vocalists that could blow away ANYBODY in the commercial scene. But the thing that I think has kept me relevant is my attention to the writing. I do not write in-studio. I take as long as I have to until I feel it’s something worthy of being published. Song lyrics should read on paper better than they sound I believe.
What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
When you think of it, do it! The moment you come up with an idea, know that 100 people around the world just came up with the same idea at the same moment. Beat them to the punch! Get it done now! Kerri Chandler told me that. Have a sense of urgency about your creative ideas and you will have fuel for the rest of your career.
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