John Ferrara, renowned bassist and composer (Consider the Source, Soloist), has embarked on a bold new musical journey with his latest project, Mono Means One. This progressive jazz/psychedelic trio, featuring keyboardist Isaac Young and drummer Rob Madore (both of PX3), has already garnered attention for their electrifying performances and unique soundscapes. Together, they have created something truly special with their debut album, Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces, a record that pushes boundaries while evoking deep emotional resonance.
Recorded in a—wait for it—yurt at Lakeside Retreats in Raleigh, NC, over the course of just two days, the album is a testament to the trio’s creative synergy and fearless approach to music-making. By stepping away from the conventional studio setting, Mono Means One tapped into an environment of calm and inspiration, allowing their improvisational spirit and intricate compositions to flourish. The result is an eight-track masterpiece that blends the atmospheric intensity of Radiohead with the dynamic experimentation of The Mars Volta and Medeski Martin and Wood.
Drawing influence from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, the album’s title speaks to the loss of agency in both war and modern life, where corporate control, social media, and material distractions often strip away personal freedom and spiritual fulfillment. Through their art, Mono Means One aims to challenge these forces—and Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces is their powerful musical response.
In this interview, John Ferrara discusses the band’s formation, the creative process behind the album, and the deeper messages woven into their music.
Prog Sphere: John, can you tell us about how Mono Means One came together? What inspired you, Isaac Young, and Rob Madore to form this trio?
John Ferrara: Though some of the musical ideas had been bubbling up for years, Mono Means One really started during the pandemic as a solo endeavor. Touring had temporarily halted for Consider the Source and I decided to use this time as an opportunity to sequester myself in a rental in Asheville, NC and spend my time really digging into tapping compositions that I had written on bass and seeing how they could exist as fuller compositions. I spent sometimes 8 – 9 hours a day working on these songs, recording all of the parts on bass using various techniques and effects to mimic other instruments and eventually had accumulated a body of work that could hypothetically exist as a band one day. Fast forward a few years later I did a short tour of MMO as a solo artist which was a blast but was definitely missing something. I already had tour dates booked and in a “if you build it they will come” spirit, I decided to contact Rob and Isaac about being the rest of the band and helping me take my compositions to a whole new level on the road. They were excited to jump on board and we hit the ground running. Pretty soon into it we were sprinting and have not stopped !!
Your debut album, Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces, was recorded in a yurt at Lakeside Retreats. What led you to choose such an unconventional setting, and how did it influence the creative process?
I’ve been recording albums for almost 20 years now and what I’ve learned about myself is that set and setting is more important than anything in capturing the material in its purest form. If you’re not in an environment that fosters creativity and can help quiet the mind and focus on the essence of the material, it doesn’t matter if you have the best gear or engineer, the album is gonna fall short of what it could be. I knew of the Yurt that we recorded in because my buddy “Soup” who’s a great guy and staple in the NC jam scene runs it. I had done some solo videos there before and felt completely at home while playing. When MMO got to the point where I wanted to start recording I immediately booked time there and convinced our brilliant engineer Ian Schrieir that this was a good idea too. He was reluctant at first as it was about as far from a controlled studio environment as you can get, but I also knew that Ian was talented enough to make anything work. So we ended up having the best of both worlds, setting and skill set, at that point the 3 band members just had to deliver!
Can you walk us through what it was like transforming a yurt into a recording studio? What were some of the challenges and surprises of recording in that environment?
Oh boy… It was a lot and to be honest I was a bit nervous once we were all there and getting set up. Ian looked at the yurt and was thinking it would be a challenge acoustically. We also found out that the control board that was there had several channels that were not working. The troubleshooting and set up was a bit worrying for a bit there. I did my best to keep a poker face of serenity to not bring down the vibe since I and everyone involved had put so much energy behind making this album work. But once everything was dialed in and we started tracking there was a magic that filled the room, sorry… yurt instantly.
The album title is a reference to “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut. How does the theme of lost agency in war connect to the music on Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces?
This is kinda heavy. Through my travels as a musician I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some wonderful people and to learn about other people’s perspectives that I never would have otherwise had. About 10 or so years ago, Consider the Source was touring in Israel. We met some wonderful people and got pretty close with them. I remember one musician friend out there telling me about how because everyone has to join the army as a citizen many of them are forced to see action and many have the experience of taking a life. They said to me “I don’t hate these people, they are just like me. It is our governments making us go out and do these things.” That was the first time hearing directly from a soldier in another country about their subjective experience at war and how deeply sad and traumatized they were over a decision made by a force that was beyond their control.
You’ve mentioned that the album also speaks to how modern life robs us of purpose and dignity. How did this theme manifest in the music and compositions?
Though “Slaughterhouse Five” which talks about themes of war, the title for me conjured up a broader social meaning as well. We are living in a time where corporations get to decide what we like and do through the money they put into advertising, movies, TV, politics and social media. Many of us know this is going on but feel that we are smarter than the masses so don’t have to worry. Some of us laugh it off and lean into it. The truth is, regardless, we are all victims. For me, playing the music that we do, and staying true to the things that genuinely interest us, we are not succumbing to popular sounds and sentiments. I write from a very honest place. Music is my life and I play and write this way because it’s an extension of who I am and how I see things. That is my relationship to artistic expression. So the music is inherently purposeful and I am very proud of it, despite the fact that it is anything but mainstream.
With influences like Radiohead, The Mars Volta, and Medeski Martin & Wood, how do you incorporate both improvisation and composition into the album? How do you balance the two?
When I first started touring I found myself identifying more with Jazz and prog music but ended up in the jam scene because of the improvisation. But my love has always been in beautiful nuanced song writing. The initial batch of songs written for MMO were through composed. However, for nearly two decades of touring in a band where we write epic compositions and improvise within them it was hard to not lean into that when I heard back from Isaac and Rob who are so exceptional at improv. One thing I definitely try to do is have the improvs have arcs in and of themselves where they can be looked at as songs in and of themselves. As time goes on I look forward to working on more nuanced structures to improvise within that also serve the overall story of the composition. One of the toughest and funnest parts of writing in this context is figuring out ways of structuring the songs to get in and out of solo sections. You have to really be in touch with the general sentiment of the song and keep it in mind during the improvised sections.
Mono Means One has been described as having the ability to bring listeners “to the brink of insanity and back to a serene homeostasis.” Can you elaborate on how you achieve this dynamic range in your music?
Both the compositions and our improvisations have many dips and valleys. My favorite art finds ways to use juxtaposition to convey their point. If you have a pretty melody, follow it with an aggressive and heavy riff. If you’re playing really fast, make the next part slow. And the same goes for all three of us trying to do the opposite of what the other is doing at the same time so that all parts can exist in their own realm. This dance constantly engages the listener so they have an opportunity to experience the wide range of emotions contained within the song.
Your bass playing in Mono Means One is quite unique, especially with your use of Taurus pedals and bass tapping techniques. How do you approach integrating these elements into the trio’s sound?
Tapping has become my main vehicle for expressing myself on the bass. Although I’ve always loved and wanted to play other instruments I made a decision at a point to try to play piano, guitar and drum parts that I liked on the bass and see how far I could go with it. I feel that this gave me a much wider palette and array of unique techniques and approaches to pull from. When I’m writing a solo piece that will become an MMO song, I’m thinking more like a piano player and will even suck the “bass” out of my tone to make room for the taurus pedals and Isaacs synth bass to take the “bass” lead in those moments. By swapping roles and textures we are able to achieve a much more unique and diverse sound as a band. It is something that I love about what we do and very much look forward to experimenting more with.
What was the songwriting process like for Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces? Did the tracks emerge from jam sessions, or were they more structured compositions from the outset?
They were all written more or less first but then finessed together when we started playing. As I mentioned before I wrote a lot of this material initially intending for it to be fully composed but I chose to modify it and rewrite certain parts to have improvisation sections built into the songs. These sections do have their own structure to them, bench marks that we hit that bring us back into the song proper, but what happens within those sections is new night by night. I love and am very proud of the chord progressions, melodies and harmonies in the songs and it is really exciting hearing them played out as a full band in this particular manner.
Considering that the album was recorded in just two days, did you feel pressure during the recording process, or did the time constraint contribute to the creative flow?
I chose to do it in 2 days, partly due to financial constraints and partly due to setting a mindset parameter. The idea was to do each song three times and then pick the best take out of three. My philosophy in general is if you can’t get a good take out of three go arounds then the song simply isn’t ready. But I knew that we were in a good place with the songs and that Isaac and Rob are both pro’s and know how to immediately get their head in the game. That mixed with the amazing environment we were in I knew we’d be able to get some great takes!
Mono Means One’s music has been described as both progressive and psychedelic. How do these genres influence the trio’s overall sound, and what makes them blend so well together?
As any artist, it’s hard to know how to define ourselves but I think we hear these two because we play in odd time signatures, we lean into certain technically challenging techniques and unique compositional elements but we also love to explore soundscapes and that’s where we become more psychedelic. I think they work together, again because of my favorite word in art “juxtaposition.” The tension and release of the really intense fast paced playing which opens up to a more relaxing textural exploration serves both sounds by providing foreground and background for each other.
Isaac Young’s mastery on the keys is a central element of the band’s sound. How does Isaac’s keyboard work complement your bass lines and Rob Madore’s drumming?
Isaac is an exceptional player and sound designer. When I present a song to him I let him know what I’m thinking as far as who will take what part, who will play melody and who will play bass/ chords. We discuss the logistics and then arrive at what roles make most sense given our skills set and limitations on our instruments. The fact that Isaac is so flexible due to his massive amount of skills and knowledge is an immense part of how we can play these crazy compositions live and have it sound as full and nuanced as possible.
The album explores heavy themes about losing spiritual freedom in today’s society. How do you hope listeners connect with or interpret these themes through the music?
I hope that they hear the honesty and love in our playing and are embedded in the structure of the compositions. We challenge our listeners in several ways from the extended length of the songs, to the fact that we don’t have vocals and that at times we go absolutely nuts and abandon time all together. The songs are also quite darker and lean almost entirely in the direction of minor keys. But what we can say is that if you see the band live and you’re not someone who would normally listen to this kind of stuff, you’ll get it! We’re happy to say that we’ve “turned” many viewers who wouldn’t normally dig this kinda stuff into fans! And hopefully that will open people’s eyes not only to us but to the hundreds and thousands of artists out there that don’t fall into the mainstream but do something powerful and honest that deserve to be heard!
Your live performances have been praised for their energy and musicianship. How do you translate the intensity and dynamics of your live shows into the studio recordings?
We had only been playing together for about 6 months or so before we recorded but I had booked a stupid amount of shows between then and the yurt session. And luckily we had a bunch of shows booked right around the recording so that live energy was right at our fingertips. I took a sort of sink or swim approach to this project and the guys are very much the “go for broke” types as well. We recognized that in each other right off the bat so I think we all went into the studio knowing it was going to go well.
Improvisation seems to be a significant part of Mono Means One’s identity. Can you tell us about how the trio approaches improvisation in both live settings and during recording?
It’s pretty much the same in both contexts though in the studio we did make an effort to condense the lengths of the solo sections somewhat. The live versions of the songs can sometimes go on for 15- 17 minutes !! We listen and try to make space for one another while also feeding off of the lines that each other creates. We are still a young band so we still have many layers to explore. I keep saying we need to play with space more but when we play together we all just kinda go nuts cause it’s fun!! But I think all the nuances will come in time and I look at it as a good problem to have if we’re all having fun. I think our audience sees that too.
Rob Madore’s explosive energy behind the drums has been highlighted as a key part of your sound. How do you work together rhythmically to create such tight and powerful performances?
He’s an absolute beast and a blast to play with. We have similar rhythmic minds and I very much play like a drummer, especially when I’m slapping, so it’s really fun pretending that we have two drummers on stage sometimes. That being said, I try to give him a lot of space to do his thing. I initially thought I might solo more in the band or take the lead in all of the improvs but I’m a firm believer in adjusting to dynamics and personalities and seeing what a band needs to achieve harmony. So I get the benefit of chilling out often and listening to him play while I just hang back and groove with him.
With the themes of societal control and spiritual freedom in mind, do you see Mono Means One’s music as a form of protest or resistance against the modern distractions of celebrity culture and technology?
I do. Not necessarily intentionally, but I very much try to live adjacent to pop culture as I think a lot of elements of it are bad for us. I also very much believe that we should listen to our hearts and live our lives according to what it says. Writing and playing like this has always felt right to me even though I know it doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. But I do it anyway and proudly because it’s based on the roots of who I am and where I came from. My father is a musician and my mother is a director. They taught me to appreciate art based on the inherent value in it. So I guess in this way it is a form of protest but I just think it’s what everyone should do, follow the things that they find beauty in.
How did your experience as a solo artist and with Consider the Source shape the vision and sound of Mono Means One?
Consider the Source has been my band for 20 years now. We started the band from scratch, having three people with distinct voices who trusted each other enough to stretch out and play the way we naturally played while serving the greater good of the song. I’ve grown so much over the years with this band, from a person who could write cool riffs but wasn’t so good at writing full compositions to someone who considers themselves more of a composer than a bassist. My solo career started about 8-9 years ago when I started really digging into two handed tapping and I saw how perfectly the technique lent itself to composing. I love the way it opens up the neck and allows for players to see the full harmonic structure of a particular area of the neck. Years into trying out different ideas in this way led to the leap of transforming solo pieces into full band ventures. The pandemic was tough for everyone, and I know it was really tough on a lot of my musician cohorts who didn’t know how to make ends meet and fulfill their spiritual side that they drive from playing. But I was fortunate in being able to use that time to make this jump with my solo material into what would eventually become Mono Means One.
What were some of the most memorable moments from the recording sessions in the yurt? Did the natural surroundings inspire any particular pieces on the album?
One of my favorite parts was after tracking the songs and picking the best takes, adding the overdubs from the bass and keys. It was very meaningful to me to finally hear these songs that have been swimming in my head and scoring years of my life coming to fruition. Right after the recording we playing one show in Asheville while we were down there. It being the first show after the session, we brought a connectedness and fire to the venue and it was by far our best show up until that point. It’s funny, I remember thinking the recording session was when we really found our stride. Ever since we’ve brought a higher level of performance to all of our shows.
“Imagined Battles,” a song from the album, is featured on Prog Sphere’s “Progotronics XLV” compilation. What does it mean to have your music showcased on such a platform?
It means a whole lot as we’ve been hearing a lot from prog fans that they appreciate what we do. Though a lot of the sounds and the overall aesthetic is modern there’s also a lot of it that is reminiscent of prog and jazz fusion from the ’70s. So I think we bridge the gap between the old and new prog worlds while adding something that’s different and unique to us. I am really excited and thankful to have this music out there for your audience!
The band has been performing up and down the East Coast. How have audiences reacted to the new material, and what has it been like to tour with Mono Means One?
We have been very well received which has been so happy for me to see. Whenever you embark on a new musical journey you of course fall in love with the music because it’s born from your inspiration. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to vibe with everyone. But I’d like to believe that Mono Means One has something for everyone. Prog fans love the complexity, jam kids love that they can get down and dance to it, Jazz fusion heads dig the improvisation and people love that they can hum along to the melodies and get drawn in by them. We have been steadily developing a fanbase with people who have repeatedly come to see us from NC all the way up to VT. We’ve even had some people travel that far for a show!
Finally, what do you hope listeners will take away from Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces, both musically and thematically? What’s next for Mono Means One?
I hope people will hear us and get that we pull from a lot of sources. That we play from the heart and give literally every single show everything we have. We will be touring this fall up and down the east coast and continuing to spread the word about the band and the album. In our first year as a band we’ve done just under 100 shows including Bonnaroo and will be headlining a stage at Atlanta’s famous Chomp n Stomp festival. But we still have a long way to go, more music to record and much more touring to do. We already have new material in the works for the next album.
Finally, I hope that people will come and see us and be able to get down with us, feel the music the way we feel it, and share in our growth as a band. The relationship between artist and audience is truly symbiotic. We need each other to survive. 🙂
Mono Means One’s Listless Playthings of Enormous Forces is out now and is available from Bandcamp. For more about Mono Means One and John Ferrara visit the musician’s website at this location. Keep in touch with MMO by following them on Instagram.
