Q&A: Zach Sutton Explores Collaboration as Solo Artist Mono Moon With His Debut Album ‘Boundary’
THOUGHTFUL IMAGERY COMBINE WITH INTENTIONAL LYRICS — across Mono Moon’s debut album, Boundary. Each song is uniquely vulnerable and passionate. Though much of his work as a musician has been collaborative by nature of being in a band first, it’s clear Zach Sutton has found his own sound as a solo artist.
Sutton has been releasing music since 2015 with Hippo Campus, but he recently leaned into establishing himself as a solo artist in addition to the band. On Dec. 16, Sutton dropped his first solo record, Boundary, under the moniker Mono Moon. Boundary follows Mono Moon’s debut single, “One Liner,” released on Dec. 1. This record, Sutton says, is essentially a culmination of his songs that didn’t make it onto past Hippo Campus records but deserved to be seen to completion.
Boundary is largely indie and indie-folk influenced, drawing inspiration from artists such as The Tallest Man on Earth and Gregory Alan Isakov. He credits his bandmates and other friends for their impact and creative assistance on the record as well. Sutton jokes that this project is his opportunity to direct his bandmates and have the final say in decisions.
Sutton took time to have a conversation with Luna about the evolution of this record and what it’s been like to work with his bandmates in the context of a solo project. Read below for a glimpse into Mono Moon’s inception.
LUNA: First of all, I’ve listened to the album once, twice, three times — and it’s just so great. No skips. You really should be so proud of this. On Instagram, you mentioned you’ve been working on Boundary over the last couple years. Can you tell me about that journey and what made you feel ready to release it now?
MONO MOON: I mean, I’ve been writing songs for a long time, but all of that creative energy was always directed into Hippo Campus. Sort of as we kept writing albums and kept touring, there were inevitably songs that didn’t make the cut for some of those albums. Whether they were songs that we wrote together as a group or songs that some individuals wrote, you just didn’t want to see them end up in the trash heap to die. While we’re recording and writing these songs, we’re learning more about production and recording yourself doing stuff. So over the years there was this group of songs that didn’t fit the Hippo Campus mantle, and I didn’t want to see them just die. As some of the other boys released their solo projects, it became commonplace for that to happen. Every now and then, you get into hot water. You see a band with one solo member going off and it seems kind of contentious, but with us it was very accepted and encouraged. I felt supported in doing it, and I didn’t want to see those songs die. It just took a long time to fully realize it.
LUNA: Already with this first solo project, you seem to have established your own style and sound. What would you say have been your biggest inspirations in that process? (Musical inspirations or otherwise)
MONO MOON: You can ask anyone what their favorite band is and they’ll give you the top five. I guess for any artist, [whoever] your favorite artist is will inevitably influence you, or you’re gonna want to express yourself in a similar way. I mean, why is it your favorite? It represents something about you that you like being expressed, you like being seen, you want to see more of it in the world. When it comes down to creating your own music, you’re obviously gonna emulate some of your influences. I guess for me, a lot of my influence comes from bands like The Tallest Man on Earth, Pinegrove, Big Thief, Gregory Alan Isakov. A lot of folk, or sort of indie folk. The terms themselves do a disservice to the whole thing, but bands like that are huge influences.
LUNA: Where does your moniker, Mono Moon, come from?
MONO MOON: I’m not sure why, but I was gifted the nickname Moonboy by some dear friends: Nathan and our friend Julia. Our little friend group had little nicknames and mine was Moonboy. It’s referenced in a couple Hippo Campus songs. I guess I identified with that name in the part of myself that wanted to be separate musically. It was just a really fitting thing to call myself Mono Moon. Just me alone. I liked the way it sounded, but also the moon is a sense of imagery, and all of its poetic connotations I really enjoy as a bedrock for lyrical reference and stuff.
LUNA: “All Better” is the first song on Boundary. How would you say it sets the tone for the rest of the record?
MONO MOON: I think it’s this cynical … acceptance of a problem. You’re sort of addressing a problem but you’re not trying to fix it in any way. I think it sets the tone thematically for the rest of the record because I am grappling with concepts or problems for the rest of it. “All Better” is just the beginning of that. I’m addressing [it,] and now we can start talking about it. I feel like it was a nice way to start the record — it sort of jumps you into it and keeps the energy going.
LUNA: I want to talk about “Mississippi,” which is actually my favorite on the album. The guitar sort of reminds me of “Rocky Raccoon” by The Beatles. I’m wondering if this is an intentional reference? Especially with the song having that kind of storytelling style.
MONO MOON: I love “Rocky Raccoon,” but that was not on my mind when I wrote that guitar bit. If anything, I was channeling The Tallest Man on Earth. I think I was trying to sort of elicit that timeless guitar sound where it’s a little bit hokey, a little bit pedantic. It’s a cliche sort of guitar thing, but it works in terms of a storytelling mode.
LUNA: I saw that a couple of your own bandmates — who I assume are also some of your best friends — worked closely with you on Boundary. How has the process with this solo project differed from making Hippo Campus records? What has it been like to work with them in this context?
MONO MOON: It’s been so nice because I can finally tell them what to do. In Hippo Campus, we’re all democratically trying to figure out the best way through something. It’s like I wanna do this, but I wanna respect your opinion. It’s obviously still a collaboration, but at the end of the day I can be like, “That’s a terrible idea, you shouldn’t have said it at all.” But obviously, you know, I love them for their ideas, and it wouldn’t be the same thing without them. It’s nice to be able to swap that place with friends or coworkers where it’s either one or the other. Doing the solo thing expanded the way in which we can be coworkers and friends. It was deeply nourishing for the friendship itself. I don’t see them exclusively as a bandmate or a coworker. We’re collaborators, where we can do things together and still be friends.
LUNA: It’s clear that collaboration is an important part of your artistic process. Has the Twin Cities music scene influenced your work?
MONO MOON: Yes and no. Hippo Campus being based in Minnesota… we grew up here, we started the band here. We love it here, so we live here. I think as our years in music continue to roll on, the ecosystem around Minneapolis and around Hippo Campus continues to have new characters come in, and you make new friends and meet new collaborators and those become very fruitful relationships. I think I was actually nervous to open up a collaborative avenue within my own solo thing. I really didn’t want to add other people, but I knew I needed to ask for help. I think just the process of asking for help was extremely challenging. Jake was really budding as a producer. We recorded this in April of 2021, so he had been doing all this other stuff. I had started to really love and appreciate what he was doing as a producer and I said, “Hey, I want your help on this.” Nathan is sort of the “Swiss Army Man” of the studio, where he can play any instrument and add whatever creative input you want. Every now and then Raff Meloni would be in the studio and she would make a contribution and inevitably make the song better. I think that sort of collaboration was challenging to open myself up to, but I’m very glad that I did.
LUNA: You released visualizers on your YouTube channel for each song on the album. Is there a reason you chose to show the songs in this art style?
MONO MOON: The state of the music industry implies that you should have a visual component to any sort of musical release you make. I mean, music videos are very popular! I was doing this completely DIY with no label, so I didn’t have a budget to play around with. I didn’t feel very inspired to make a music video, but I did want to have some sort of visual component that adds to the universe a little bit. My manager recommended Emily Scaife’s work and I was like, “That’s really cool. We could just do visualizers or a canvas thing for each of the songs.” I was just a big fan when I saw some of her work. When I proposed the idea, she really enjoyed it. She just kind of took free reign and did her own thing. In my opinion, they are sort of the visual extension of the realm of the album, standing instead of a music video.
LUNA: Continuing with the visuals, I saw you worked with the talented Grade Solomon (@castlesystems) for the album art. What was it like to work with him, and how does that imagery tie into the themes of Boundary?
MONO MOON: I was just a big fan of Grade Solomon. I think I found him on Instagram or Twitter and I was just a huge fan. I DMed him and I was like, “This is probably a hard no, but do you want to shoot this thing for me?” and he was like, “Of course.” He was super kind. I flew out to Virginia and we just spent two days wandering around Richmond. He had full creative control. I told him to do whatever he wanted to do. I wanted there to be water in the picture, but that was really pretty much it. He took full creative license and just delivered the goods. I think he’s a super talented photographer. I wanted the whole thing to be photography-based because it’s easy to build multiple facets of a universe with photography. With graphic design or some other type of album art, it’s hard to create multiple different things on a budget. You can just capture a lot with a camera, and with a good photographer like Grade, it was a very easy choice.
LUNA: I saw you’ll be touring again with Hippo Campus in 2023. Can we expect any solo shows from you in the future as well?
MONO MOON: I think it’s a lofty aspiration of mine to play my own show, open for someone, or just do a Mono Moon show. I think it is in the stars, I just have no idea when.
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