The Monday Smile // Nobody's Coming to Save Us and Nobody's at the Wheel
The Monday Smile make music from that “something isn't quite right here” feeling — suspicious of the world, allergic to ego and entirely uninterested in bending over for the industry. We talked DIY debuts, sending a guitar through a venue floor, and why authenticity is the one thing not up for negotiation.
You say the band is rooted in that “something isn't quite right here” feeling. Where does that actually come from — modern life, the industry, or something more personal?
TMSI think it's a mixture of everything. I have always felt like something ain't right, I've never felt like I fit in and I feel that more than ever. I tend to be very suspicious of the world around me. Most of our music comes from that place.
If someone handed you the “2026 band playbook” — the formula for success — what's the first piece of advice you'd ignore?
TMSAll of it, cos it doesn't fucking matter anymore. The music industry is as fake as it gets and it's on its knees. It's dead. But thank fuck for that — it was a dinosaur and full of people who had no business being involved with making art. It's harder than ever for bands to make it now, which is ironic because for the first time in history the musicians have all the tools and all of the control.
Your debut was fully DIY. At what point did you think, “Actually, we don't need anyone else to tell us how this should sound”?
TMSWe are in service to our music. Sounds kind of hippy but we are just passengers to what comes out of us. We get out of the fucking way. Ego has no place in songwriting or making something authentic. It's never been a question of “we don't need anyone”. More like “nobody is coming to save us and nobody is at the wheel”. It's all just a ride anyway.
What's the most completely unhinged thing that's happened at a show so far — on stage or in the crowd?
TMSWe were playing a tiny show in a bar in Southsea for Icebreaker Festival. On-the-floor kind of show. Came to the end of the set and sent a guitar to heaven, got the crowd involved — three of us jumping on the guitar. Realised I'd put the guitar through the fucking floor. That was an expensive show.
Your music can be pretty dark, but you also clearly have fun with it. Do you think rock bands take themselves too seriously?
TMSBoth need to exist at the same time. Life and art are both serious business but nothing lasts forever, so it's best not to take it personally.
You've mentioned a second album already recorded with a shift in sound. When you finished it, did it feel like a sharp left turn on purpose or just where things went?
TMSThe first record was just supposed to be us putting out a collection of songs — allowing fans to discover us on our own journey of discovery. By the time the first record was done we had figured out what the band's sound actually was. It wasn't forced or pushed, it just kind of happened. I think a lot of bands go through that journey behind closed doors and some never quite escape imitating their influences. We've just been very lucky I guess.
Imagine a festival stage in five years. What had to happen for The Monday Smile to be there — and what would you absolutely refuse to sacrifice to get there?
TMSIt's a mountain of a task. We have big dreams and it's doable, but it would take a seismic increase in fans and interest in the band. Our authenticity is paramount and making music for the love of it and not for other people is all that matters. That's not up for negotiation. I'm not bending over for anybody. Even if it costs me big.
The Monday Smile aren't waiting for permission. A band built on suspicion, service to the song and zero ego — happy to put a guitar through a venue floor in Southsea but utterly unwilling to bend for an industry they consider already dead. Nobody's at the wheel, and that's exactly how they like it.
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