Ivy Mono

Henry Kaye, aka Ivy Mono, is an LA based musician with modern look on indie pop. Although he is only one year ahead in his single career, Henry has a long history of music behind him. And it shows, as he writes, records, and even designs his own album art himself!

Describe your music in a Tinder bio

Indie pop music from the end of a horror movie.

When did you get into music?

I've been playing music for pretty much my entire life. The first band I was ever in (The Static Jacks) started when I was about 14 years old, and that band went on for like 10 years of my life. After that, when I turned 25, I moved out from the east coast to the west coast. About a year ago I started this new project Ivy Mono.

So you've played in The Static Jacks and then you started for yourself, was that a difficult transition?

It was, because I was so used to being into a full four person band where everyone wrote the songs together. Songwriting then was like I'd present maybe 20 to 30 seconds of a song idea, and as a band we would finish it out and complete it. Someone would write the lyrics, and someone else would write the music. It was very difficult to go from that democratic group setup to something that is solely myself. There is no bouncing board and no one that I talk to during the proces. Although I definitely share throughout the process with friends, my girlfriend or the people around, most of it it's just me, my laptop and my guitar.

Who’d you say is the person who supported you most throughout your single career?

I would say my parents. When I graduated high school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and The Static Jacks was starting to take off. I had like registered to go to this art college in New York, where I was studying illustration. About a few months in I decided to drop out and pursue music full time. My parents were never against that idea and they were always very supportive of the band. When I was a teenager they didn’t shun me for not completing school and getting a degree, because they believed in what I was pursuing. They were along for the ride from the very beginning and just such a blessing. My dad would always play guitar when I was little, that kind of passion definitely came from him. They completely understood the drive.

Album art by Henry Kaye

Do your parents also work in the music industry?

They don't, not professionally. My dad is a lawyer and my mother works at a museum in New York, but they are super interested in music and play as a hobby. It's a passion.

If you could choose one artist dead or alive to have a cup of coffee with, who would it be?

Currently I'm really into pop music production. Everyone is so fascinated by the producer Max Martin, because he seems to have cracked the code to write undeniably hooky songs. So if I could sit down with him and figure out how he does that would be an absolute dream.

Where do you hope to see yourself in fifteen years?

I would love to be doing this full time and be able to have time, money and stability to be writing music all day everyday. For myself or for other artists, hopefully be doing this steadily.

Wouldn't it bother you that you don’t get the full credits for the songs you’ve made?

I think it depends. There’s definitely songs that I write that have universal feelings, and then there’s stuff that I write specifically and individual to myself. I don’t know how an artist could separate that work and pass that off to someone else, but the stuff that’s more general emotion wise I think would be totally fine to pass off. With the last band I was in I was very protective of the songs and precious with them, and kind of the point of Ivy Mono is to be a little more open and loose about it. The feeling of not getting credits if definitely is something I had to overcome.

If you could pick one artist to write a song for, who would you pick?

I'm really into this pop headspace right now, I really love Charli XCX. Also Kevin Parker from Tame Impala, I love his production. I'm a big fan of Jack Antonoff, he grew up not too far from where I grew up so it's like we have this kindred spirit. I really love those guys, so i'd say working with those three would be it.

What's the golden tip for aspiring musicians?

Use the internet for everything that it's capable of. I started this project a year ago and haven't played one live show, but I’ve just been recording singles and putting them online. It has gotten so much traction already. I feel like the industry changes so much in the way the music is ingested, it's constantly changing and constantly growing. It no longer matters where you live or where you’re from, if you have the internet and put music on there, they are gonna find it and they can tell someone else about it.