Welcome back, fellow monks! We hope you're enjoying the summer breeze as much as we are.

For the ones missing out, go check our "aVANT gARDE" compilation released on 19th July & grab the vinyl and/or a t-shirt in one of your favourite colours 🔴🟢🔵

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This monthly weekend session was a little different from usual... We started the first session slightly later, on Saturday evening. In case you wonder why, it was the outcome of my "brilliant" idea of cycling from North London to Northampton on my new e-bike. You see, since the start of this summer season, I (Miguel) became a cyclist and bike aficionado, to the point that I was so overconfident and delusional that I could actually finish this 77-mile (123 km) trip in a single day... I clearly didn't measure all the factors accordingly (battery charging times, resting breaks, and long riding cycles). Still, I'm impressed with myself that I managed to get to Wolverton, just 20 miles/31 km away from the final destination! 

Our friend Filipe had to pick me up at Wolverton's station and drive us to Rafael's house, as I couldn't force my legs and back anymore for the next 2 days...

Enough of my silly ideas, and let's continue with what we did in the actual music sessions!

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For the first session, Saturday evening (1st August), we started with a close listen to "LIFT" (Monkery's next compilation) to see what needed to be prioritised at the moment. The verses for "Roots" and "Feeling" were improved, respectively, with the overall vocal flow and delivery becoming more genuine and closer to our taste compared to what was recorded in the previous months.

At the end of the session, we shifted our focus to "Pirates", a future compilation with a different vibe and sound from anything we've been creating so far! Nordi recorded his main vocal idea over a jam he started on – we call it "Lock".

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For the second session on Sunday afternoon (2nd August), we carried on working on the "Pirates" compilation, creating a new track from scratch – "Fernão Magalhães", the original name of the illustrious Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand Magellan.

Finally, Stairstep added the bass and Nordi the guitar takes, respectively, for "Lock", which was initially started in the previous session.

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As usual, around 8:30 pm, Rafael dropped me and my bike off at Northampton's train station, where I took the train back to London.

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We'll be back next month for another monthly weekend session. Until then, stream our most recent "aVANT gARDE" compilation and enjoy the 🌞!