MONTY LOVE "I will plead ignorance," announces Monty over the phone lines, "we are the only east coast hard-core band out there." Rather a bold statement coming from a band that most east coast inhabitants have never heard of ... but that'll all change. /tr> Monty Love, reigning from the slums of Shaolin (a.k.a. Staten Island) has been ready for their close-up since the band's first inception in 1999. Fronted by none other than alias Monty Love, himself, this four-piece firing squad is notorious for putting on a show that puts Macy's Fourth of July fireworks to shame. Recent past performances included an exploding fire extinguisher, a bulk of stolen plastic balls (courtesy of McDonald's playpens), and Monty's famous WCW wrestling move that broke a table among other things. "My mom thinks, it's a good show when you get hurt a lot, but in honesty, less pain is less work." This "Less Pain - Less Work" rationale constitutes an intense attachment to the Monty Love audience. "If I feel like I'm losing the crowd, I gotta do something to get Œem back and if that consist of bloodied knees and broken bones then so be it." Now that's what I call dedication. What brought about such an "in-yo'-face" gala performance to a Monty Love show happened several years back, when Monty witnessed Riot Coalition at NYC¹s Brownies. "The show was chaos," recalls Monty, "Drinks being thrown, instruments breaking, ... there was such a great deal of hostility towards the crowd that the crowd got really nervous at one point. Now that's what I wanted in my show." With this inspiration to work off of, the band thrives on audience participation to the point where the stage becomes the entire venue and Monty spends most of his time within the crowd. "I try to get the crowd riled up as much as possible so everyone needs to be part of the show. It's definitely not the Œus vs. them' mentality here," insists Monty. "Putting on a good show and playing our music are our first priorities. We aren't something to watch but something to be part of." The band prides on their carnival-anarchist performance, of setting no rules and no boundaries, but there is one line that Monty vehemently defends. "We are not some comedy band, a joke band. I get a lot of people coming up to me and saying Œyou guys are so funny' but we're not suppose to be funny! There are a lot of haters out there who just don't get Monty Love and don't take us seriously. But I take this band very seriously. Some people have no idea that we are a real band and that we write our own songs. Once they do come out to the shows and hear our stuff, they're amazed." Amazed might just be an understatement for what Monty has in his bag of tricks. With a new album ready for release and his own label - Fresh Kid Records - hitting the music market, Monty Love looks to spread his gospel of "Be Your Own Idol" beyond the ferry ride to Manhattan Island. There's no denying the delegation of idolatry that goes on in the Monty Love crew. Even though the band bears his name, Monty doesn't consider himself the Jesus of his disciples. "We want everyone in the spotlight. It's like there should be four action figures and you don't know which one to buy." With Monty as lead vocalist, Gravy as bassist and fellow story-teller, Devo as the manic drummer, and Joe Taco as the "permanent temporary guitarist", these four anti-heroes compliment one another with ease. And whether you buy all of them or none of them, Monty only demands one thing from his listeners, "Be your own idol! Set your own standards and be your own person." So with the title of "the only east coast hard-core band out there", Monty Love is well prepared to prove it with their many war-wounds to flaunt. The only way to experience the full Monty is seeing the band in the flesh. As their newest single appropriately chants, "You want what we got" - Monty Love has got the goods that everybody wants but you just have to work for it to get it. So any advice from the words of Monty Love? "Get with the program, watch and you'll learn. Follow the leader, now it's your turn. You want it, we got it. There's a difference between the two." With that in mind, good luck ... you've been warned. check out - www.montylove.com - for more advice on getting what you want.