Monowhales (stylized in

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) were a Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Their lineup consisted of lead vocalist Sally Shaar, drummer Jordan Circosta and guitarist Zach Zanardo. To date, they have released two studio albums, '' Daytona Bleach'' (2020) and their most recent, ''Tunnel Vision'' (2022). The group are best known for their 2019 song, "

RWLYD (Really Wanna Let You Down) "RWLYD (Really Wanna Let You Down)" is the lead single from Canadian alt-rock band, Monowhales, MONOWHALES, off their debut album ''Daytona Bleach''. The song is considered the band's breakout hit, reaching No. 2 on the Canadian rock music charts, ...

", which broke Canadian radio records as the highest charting single by an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

musical act ever, reaching #2 on the Canadian Alternative Rock Chart. At the 2022 Juno Awards, Monowhales were named the winners of Breakthrough Group of the Year. On April 9, 2024, the band announced that they would be disbanding.

History

The band (originally called Ginger Ale & the Monowhales) made their debut as a four-piece band in 2017 with their first single "Take It Back", produced by

Al-P Alex Puodziukas known by his stage name Al-P, is a Canadian musician, record producer and recording engineer, best known for being part of the electronic music duo MSTRKRFT along with Jesse F. Keeler. Al-P was producer for Black Cat 13, Death ...

of MSTRKRFT, which went on to peak at #25 on the

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analyti ...

Canada Alternative Rock Chart. This was followed by the six-song EP ''Control Freak'' on June 1, 2018. Three songs off ''Control Freak'' were featured in Season 1, Episode 5 of 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series

Spinning Out ''Spinning Out'' is an American drama streaming television series, created by Samantha Stratton, that premiered on Netflix on January 1, 2020. In February 2020, the series was canceled after one season. The series stars Kaya Scodelario as Kat Ba ...

, which also included a cameo appearance by the band. After spending the latter half of 2018 touring, the band flew BC-based producer

Ryan Worsley Ryan Worsley is a Canadian record producer, recording engineer and songwriter based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Worsley started Echoplant Recording Studios in 2007 and in 2015 purchased the former Vogville Studio. He has worked wi ...

to Toronto to record new material. The resulting single "

" was released on September 13, 2019. Overwhelming support from Canadian alternative rock radio propelled the single to #2 on the

Canada Alternative Rock Chart, making Monowhales the only

band in Canadian radio history to reach that high on the chart. Between dates on their subsequent cross-Canada tour during 2019, the band spent two weeks living above Worsley's Echoplant Studios in

Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam ( ) is a city in British Columbia, Canada. Located east of Vancouver, it is on the north bank of the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders it on the north, the Coquitlam River borders it on the west ...

, British Columbia, working on material for their pending debut album. On July 30, 2020, founding member and synth player, Holly Jamieson announced she had left the band to pursue a career in

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music th ...

. The group would continue as a trio, following Jamieson's departure. Monowhales' debut album '' Daytona Bleach'' was released on March 5, 2021. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the band promoted the release using storefront displays and guerrilla projection installations around their hometown of

. Later that year, the band released a cover of the iconic

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

song "The Hand That Feeds" and announced their label TRUE Records had signed a distributed label deal with

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. In January 2022, Monowhales announced a national tour supporting

Mother Mother Mother Mother is a Canadian indie rock band based in Quadra Island, British Columbia. The band consists of Ryan Guldemond on guitar and vocals, Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin on vocals and keyboard, Ali Siadat on drums, and Mike Young on b ...

in April/May 2022. The band released a new single "CTRL^^^" along with a music video on February 4, 2022, and announced that a new album "Tunnel Vision" was slated for release that fall. Soon afterwards, Monowhales won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2022 The Juno Awards of 2022 were held on May 15, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario. The awards were presented at the Budweiser Stage, an outdoor venue, and was hosted by actor Simu Liu.David Friend"Actor Simu Liu to host first outdoor Juno Awards at Toronto� ...

. Soon afterwards, Monowhales performed at

Osheaga Festival The Osheaga Music and Arts Festival (french: Festival musique et arts Osheaga) is a multi-day indie music festival in Montreal, Quebec, that is held every summer at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène. The festival takes place on six sta ...

Festival d'été de Québec Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) is the biggest outdoor musical event in Canada. The event was held since 1968, the 11-day festival takes place every year in July. FEQ's programming includes many international stars and emerging artists from ar ...

Hillside Festival The Hillside Festival is an annual three-day, five-stage (including one kids' stage) summer festival occurring in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, hosting musicians, spoken word artists, workshops and more. The Hillside Festival occurs in late July on Gue ...

, and more before embarking on a cross-Canada headline tour that fall. In the summer of 2023, Monowhales performed at

Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place each July in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. While the festival's lineup historically focused on blues music at its inception, it has increasingly showcased mainstream pop, ...

before touring as direct support to

Grandson Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

on the Canadian leg of his I Love You, I'm Trying world tour. Immediately afterwards, the band released a new song entitled "Hear Me Out" and announced a tour of the USA and Canada for fall 2023. On April 9, 2024, Monowhales released a statement on their social media accounts announcing that they would be breaking up. They stated that they "no longer feel we can do justice to the vision of MONOWHALES we set out with", but shared that each member has "exciting endeavours ahead".

Members

Former * Sally Shaar –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

(2017–2024) * Zach Zanardo –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

, backing vocals (2017–2024) * Jordan Circosta –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, percussion, synthesizer, backing vocals (2017–2024) *Holly Jamieson – synthesizer, backing vocals (2017–2020) Touring *Dylan Burrett – bass, backing vocals (2022–2024) *Gina Kennedy – bass, backing vocals (2021–2022)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Awards and nominations

Charting History

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2017 Musical groups from Toronto 2017 establishments in Ontario Musical groups disestablished in 2024 2024 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian alternative rock groups Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners Female-fronted musical groups