Monroe’s doctrine reaches youth

While Bono may be saving the world — or trying to, at least — on a global scale, glam… While Bono may be saving the world — or trying to, at least — on a global scale, glam rockers from the group Cherry Monroe are doing it on a local level. This morning, the Pittsburgh band takes a break from promoting its new album to rock the ears and minds of Lincoln High School students in Ellwood City. The show is not simply to save students from second period, though, as the band members will follow their set with a talk-back session about teen depression and suicide.

The show is sponsored by the Jason Foundation, Inc., a parent-founded organization that promotes awareness about conditions leading to teenage suicide.

“We’ve all been in depressing situations, so we talk about ourselves first and tell how glad we are that we didn’t do something stupid,” said drummer Jason Levis.

The band’s goal in these educational shows is simply to show teenagers that although they will face the good, the bad and the beautiful — which also happens to be the title of their new album — nothing is worth throwing away their own lives.

The men of Cherry Monroe are no strangers to hard work, as their high school pit stop surely shows. In fact, to record their Universal Records debut, The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful, the band helped build a studio. Before laying down any sound, these musicians doubled as construction workers, painting, fitting windows and soundproofing the newly erected Big Audio in Pittsburgh.

“We got some discounts because of that, too,” joked Levis.

The album’s ultra-catchy first single, “Satellite,” became a staple in many college radio markets after the band sent out more than 600 copies. “Week after week, we were in the top five on college radio. The bigger labels started calling Rust [Cherry Monroe’s previous independent label], and, well, you’d be stupid not to answer those calls,” said Levis.

Only four months after recording the album, a showcase in New York drew seven different record companies, with Universal rising to claim Cherry Monroe as their own. “We could tell they were good people. That weighed our decision the most. They were all about business, and they didn’t mess with our artistic freedom at all,” Levis said.

Cherry Monroe’s brand of rock — free of record-label interaction, of course — recalls that of a much sadder Sugarcult or a much happier version of The Killers. Much like the latter, Cherry Monroe’s music touches on 1980s radio rock with a modern edge.

“We’ve been calling ourselves glam-alternative — we mix that ’80s glam style and sound,” said Levin, further clarifying that they are, “like The Cure meets the Foo Fighters.”

Though the band built and recorded in the studio, they feel most at home on the stage — but they weren’t always so comfortable. To the band’s first gig, singer Matt Toka arrived crippled with food poisoning. “It was our first ever show and Matt had to sit onstage with a bucket. The audience was all sitting too! We’ve come a long way,” said Levis.

Luckily, Toka got better, as did the band’s live act. Levis described his band’s performances as energetic, intense, theatrical and fun. Harking back to Cherry Monroe’s ’80s influences, Levis said, “Our live show is very Guns N’ Roses or Motley Crue.”

Whether they’re playing at a school or a club, audiences can be sure Cherry Monroe is having a good time. “We don’t care if it’s in front of 10 people or 1,000. We just love to play,” Levis said.

The show at Lincoln High School, however, is more than just fun and games, and the band members take their role seriously — especially after receiving an e-mail from a girl on the edge of taking her own life.

“She just thanked us for making her rethink things, showing her that people really do care.”

While students aren’t always quite so receptive, the band believes they’re doing the right thing. “It’s ironic,” Levis said. “At the last one we did, we opened it up for questions, and a kid asked us to take off our shirts. I mean, when you’re surrounded by 1,000 kids, you’re not going to ask a personal question about your life.”

Joking students, the members of Cherry Monroe know what they’re doing is important — be it building a studio or taking on teen suicide, the band won’t back down.