Monika Fikerle is an Australian musician and multi-instrumentalist, most noted for her "energetic, quirky" drumming style. Fikerle began her music career in Hobart in 1994, becoming Sea Scouts' drummer after having taken up the drums 'about a week' earlier. She later played in

Surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

and 1001101 before rejoining Sea Scouts in what would become the classic line-up. Fikerle's drumming style during her early years in Hobart featured a lot of tom work, and used cymbals only to accent the end of the bar, creating a thunderous wall of tribal pounding. Fikerle's later work re-introduced more traditional rock kit elements such as snare and cymbals. Since relocating to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Fikerle has continued to work in more than one band concurrently, including her current projects

Love of Diagrams Love of Diagrams are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2001. Their sound is characterised by a mix of energetic drumming, angular guitar and bass riffs, and call-and-response vocals. History Love of Diagrams were formed in Melbourne ...

and the Misanthropes, and her previous projects

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, Miniature Submarines, and The Bites. Although Fikerle is best known for her drumming, she has contributed to bands on bass, melodica and piano accordion, and has also featured as a vocalist.

signed to

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

for the release of

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

, becoming the first Australian act to appear on the Matador label.

Tours

Fikerle has also toured internationally with several of the bands that she has contributed to, including Sea Scouts, Baseball, and Love of Diagrams. The tours have encompassed several locations that are not widely visited by Australian bands, such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Discography

On compilations

*Puppet Show, 1998: Sea Scouts – Inbuilt Obsolescence *Make Mix Tapes Not War!, 2003: Love of Diagrams – La Violencia; The Bites – Eno; Baseball – Gods & Stars, Priests & Kings *Melbourne Water 2, 2006: Accidents With Magnets – Twig

Videography

*Acting Normal (1997) with "Surgery" (live footage and interview) *

Sticky Carpet ''Sticky Carpet'' is Melbourne's alternative Rockumentary of 2006, a community driven documentary film by Mark Butcher, co-produced by Glenn Waterworth and Pip Stafford. A cultural recognition to Melbourne's independent music scene, the film i ...

(2006): with Love of Diagrams (live footage); with Baseball (live footage and interview) *Live at Bar Open (2006): with Baseball (live footage) *The Super8 Diaries Project (2008): with Love of Diagrams (live footage); with Baseball (live footage and interview)

References

External links

* Monika Fikerle's listing at allmusic.com
Tour news for Baseball

Love of Diagrams releases

Love of Diagrams at Matador Records

Love of Diagrams, ''Mosaic'' album review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fikerle, Monika Living people Musicians from Melbourne Australian rock drummers Australian women drummers 1974 births Musicians from Hobart Australian indie rock musicians Australian heavy metal drummers 21st-century Australian drummers Women in metal Women in punk