MAKE IT MONO

Monohaus is an independent recording and documentary project.

I make records of people, performances, places, and moments through sound, photography, film, and writing.

The work begins with listening.

I record musicians together, in a room, with a limited number of microphones and a full-track mono tape recorder. I photograph on 35mm black-and-white film. I document the circumstances around the work, not only the finished result.

The limitations are deliberate.

They require attention. They require decisions. And they leave room for something unexpected to happen.

Monohaus is influenced by the traditions of documentary photography, field recording, jazz recording, and independent studio engineering. The work of Robert Frank, W. Eugene Smith, Alan Lomax, Rudy Van Gelder, Tom Dowd, Al Schmitt, Bill Putnam Sr., Sam Phillips, and Bill Evans has shaped the way I think about seeing, listening, recording, and preserving.

But Monohaus isn't an attempt to recreate another time.

It is a practice of being present.

People in a room.
A performance.
A photograph.
A reel of tape.

Things happen once.

I try to leave a record of them.

MONOHAUS RECORDERS
By Humans, For Humans.