The sound of Shiloh Monaco’s virtuoso performances at the helm of his piano-
led romantic rock band, Fathom, first gained recognition around the music-
savvy club scene of his hometown Baltimore, Maryland. Right away, his
keyboard skills playing off of his darkly romantic image attracted a local and
then regional following. Soon, fanatic fans from around the globe started
posting his iconic hand-sign that was the symbol of Shiloh’s specially created
sub-genre of rock music that he trademarked RomantiCore: Romantic music
and lyrics with lush melodies and chords driven by a hardcore beat and raucous
backing.
Before long, regional radio stations like 98Rock (97.9 FM) and local
publications like Shockwave Magazine were reporting interviews with him and
more club dates were scheduled: Hard Rock Café, the Johns Hopkins Festival,
and the biggie, Ram’s Head Live! Currently, the streaming site Reverbnation
lists him at #2 on their local and regional rock chart. A sold-out gig at the
Ottobar only increased his audience.
Shiloh Monaco (Romanticore)
Listen to Shiloh's music on these links and go to ReverbNation to purchase your favorite songs or purchase all songs. Enjoy :)
More about Shiloh
But not only rock fans and groupies were taking notice – a few music
professionals were noting Shiloh as a composer, noting the originality and
structure of his best songs and the sophisticated chords that marked many a
Fathom hit. Two of those songs were turned into lushly sensual music videos
that were (what else?) darkly romantic at their core. Shiloh saw to their funding
and the co-direction of the videos, at the same time raising the funds to produce
a 10-song album of his best work. In album notes prepared for the release, we
learned a bit of the background of this most original musician: Born in
Baltimore where his family including an older brother has always lived,
Shiloh’s August 25 birthdate places him on the astrological cusp between the
passionate character of Leo and the perfectionist of Virgo. He was first drawn to
the family’s old piano as a child, fascinated by the hyper intricacies of boogie-
woogie and ragtime music. And yet, the melodies and typical chord
progressions of baroque classical music like Vivaldi or Bach or Handel
intrigued him too. At the same time, like a lot of young teens, he spent lots of
time playing video games but, unlike most kids, he was noticing and
memorizing the music scores that went behind those games and learning how to
reproduce them at the keyboard.
All of that, filtered through his own personality, was becoming a distinct
personal sound, shortly influenced further by the rock music he was listening to
at the time: British bands like Muse and early-to-mid Coldplay and, what some
might call ‘Love Metal’ bands like Finland’s The Rasmus, Negative, and the
darkly haunted atmosphere of HIM. These were bands with a dark core but a
melodic and memorable voice, eager to reach out – not metal music, certainly
not pop. From them grew Shiloh’s own “RomantiCore.”
Coming out of college with a degree in Music Production and Audio
Engineering, Shiloh was now able to produce, orchestrate, record, multi-track,
and mix his own songs and he gained the additional attention (because of the
strength of those mixes and those solid songs) of professionals. For instance, he
was able to work in Manhattan with the famous producer/engineer Ted Jensen
to master several of his recordings at Sterling Sound and, later that year, he was
invited to pay a successful set in L.A. at Boulevard3 where he was privileged to
hang out with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Steven Tyler, Davey Havoc, and
Sean Lennon.
That previous experience filming music videos increased Shiloh’s visibility and
drew him towards that other entertainment world -- films -- where he quickly
became a Screen Actor’s Guild member appearing in and performing some
music for the Disney/Buena Vista movie Step Up and has been featured in other
flicks like the Nicholas Cage/Jon Voight film National Treasure 2: Book of
Secrets, and the streaming net-pilot, La Funéraire as a character actor playing
the artsy, quirky roommate.
As for now, Shiloh is writing new songs and seeking new ways to spread both
his music (new album of songs? video game scoring? movie score composing
opportunities?) and his acting career (on-screen and voice acting?) It is a long
way from practicing on a family piano to the sophisticated and crowd-pleasing
songs and performances of Shiloh Monaco today – but on stage, recording or on
screen, Shiloh is in a great position to be discovered.
