Montt Mardie

A little bit about Montt Mardié

Herein follows a short series of facts about Mont Mardié;

• His ultimate ambition in life is to make a frame-by-frame remake of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ with him playing the role of Harry.
• At the age of 3 he could not fall asleep unless Mozart was playing.
• Releasing his first short story at the age of 5, the aspiring young author sold his typewriter to buy a guitar aged 10.
• Upon hearing ‘Cars and Girls’ by ‘Prefab Sprout’ for the first time at 11, he didn’t leave his apartment for 8 days.

This gives you some idea of what makes up Sweden’s newly crowned prince of pop ‘Monty’ – an esoteric hybrid of classical influences and popular culture all tied up in a beautifully cut 3-piece suit. He is to Noel Coward what Stephen Fry is to Oscar Wilde, and to his mother he is known as David Pagmar.

‘Pagmar's voice can evoke Smokey Robinson, with hints of more recent heirs from Michael Jackson to Justin Timberlake, on originals like the synth-laden nouveau Northern soul number 1969’ – Pitchfork

Montt Mardié (pronounced mar-dee-yay) is releasing his first UK album, modestly entitled ‘Introducing… The Best Of’. A romantic and wistful dreamer, Monty’s music has the melody and singalongability that you would expect from a list of influences that include Genesis, Prefab Sprout, The Cure, The Temptations, Elvis and Jay Z. It is introspective, personal, beautiful. To hear the album is to listen to your best friends diary being sung accompanied by Burt Bacharach’s lost songbook.

‘...and each (track) is entirely satisfying on its own terms. Taken together they offer a bounty of tuneful and inventive pop music as rich as any that's emerged from Sweden, or anywhere, in recent memory’ – 4 ½ stars out of 5 AMG / All Music Guide review.

Still only 23, Mont Mardié has already released two albums in his native Sweden - ‘Drama’ and the double album ‘Clocks / Pretender’ to much fanfare and many plaudits. His debut ‘Drama’ was recorded entirely in his bedroom and the latter was a justifiably indulgent affair involving orchestras, big bands and duets with a veritable check list of Swedish indie pop royalty. ‘Introducing....’ is a combination of ‘full band’ re-recordings of tracks taken from Drama and a selection from ‘Clocks / Pretender’.

Although Monty does credit God with 50% of the writing credit (tongue firmly in cheek) such success is to be expected. Self effacing and cocksure in equal measures once engaged in verbal discourse with Monty, the following gems become unearthed…

‘My Creativity almost suffocates me. I try to break something and end up framing it. Sometimes I'm worthless; other times I'm the greatest thing you'll ever see. When everything feels good on a stage. It is the most beautiful and seductive drug in the world.’
With tracks that are theatrical yet intimate, eccentric yet understated. They make you feel that you grew up knowing the tune. The insanely hooky ‘Set Sail Tomorrow’ is the first single, with any number that could follow from the beautiful ‘Modesty Blaise’, to the more upbeat ‘Names Not Forgotten’ to ‘Phone Call Drama’ which will make you laugh out loud. It is a fantastically diverse debut not to be missed.

The Life And Times Of Montt Mardié

1983
Born on the 16th of September with brown eyes. They turn blue on the 21st of December.
1984
Learns to walk, talk and sing. The family moves to the top floor of The Keyser Building.
1985
Learns to write and play the piano. In December he stops talking. He is silent from the 11th of Dec 1985 to 5th of May 1987. His first word after one and a half year of silence is “kite”.
1986
Gets suspended from kindergarten when he refuses to apologise for stealing a hair bow from the girl next to him. From the third of July he can’t fall asleep without his parents playing him Mozart.
1987
Starts to talk again. Spends the summer with his aunt in Paris. He tells her that he is going to be an author. From August to December he buys three kites a week from the Skiezerkite Corporation, with his emergencies-only credit card. He keeps them on the roof of The Keyser.
1988
Writes his first short story, “When Spring Left Us”. The reviews are moderate.
1989
Writes his first play, “A Story Told Twice”. It never goes into production.
1990
Starts first grade. Meets Annie Reed for the first time on the 17th of August. He has frequent correspondence with his aunt.
1991
No data found.
1992
On the night of the 16th of July The Keyser burns down. Luckily the family is on vacation in Vienna. They decide to stay another week and make arrangements for a new home. He writes his 16th short story, “A Kite for Mr K”. It is his best work so far.
1993
On the fourth of September he reads “Other voices, other rooms” and doesn’t leave the apartment for two weeks. On the 17th, the day after his birthday, he takes a bus downtown and buys a guitar. That night he writes his aunt a letter, telling her he will no longer be an author.
1994
Hears “Cars and Girls” by Prefab Sprout for the first time and doesn’t leave the apartment for eight days. Writes his aunt a letter, telling her he will be a pop musician.