How was 2019 for you?
Ra Black: Quick. My grandmother used to tell me that life speeds up the older you get. And I used to think that was because generally as you get older you do fewer different things and it’s the different things that create the sense of time in your brain. But Monarchy did a lot this year but it still felt like the year went by very fast. So, not sure what’s going on there.
Andrew Armstrong: This year was good. We did our first big European tour, every night a different city, and we released another album. Any year that we release an album is a good year. Next year is looking good already! Ha ha.
Highlights?
Ra: My favorite gigs were at Joy Eslava in Madrid and Supersonic in Paris. I was really not expecting Paris to be so fun. The crowd was very enthusiastic. And in Madrid, to have so many people singing along was pretty special. Also, we’re just putting the finishing touches on another album so that’s a nice feeling of achievement.
Andrew: For sure I would agree with Ra. Joy Eslava in Madrid and also the Paris gig was amazing. We got a lot of travel in this year so that was a big highlight.
Lowlights?
Ra: Jetlag. I get over it faster these days. But it has a lingering affect for at least a couple of weeks. And this year I was in-between Australia and Europe twice.
Andrew: Politics in general is getting my goat at the moment. Brexit. Trump. Boris Johnson. Vox party Spain. It’s unbelievable we find ourselves in this position globally.
Song of the year?
Ra: “Hey” by Vetta Borne. It makes me all pouty.
Andrew: “Work It” by Marie Davidson (Soulwax Remix). It was my jam, and me and my friends had so many special moments to it. It also reminds me to leave the party so I can work the next day.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Ra: To lose ambition. It’s probably a bad idea, but I feel like there’s something destructive about ambition sometimes. It can lead to poor decisions.
Andrew: Read more. Watch Netflix less. There’s so many amazing books out there, on every subject, and I love learning from them. I used to read fiction, but I’m all about non-fiction now.