Enter The World of Monster Rally: Collages of Sound

Those who listen to Monster Rally, or multi-instrumentalist and producer Ted Feighan, likely assume this international sound comes from somewhere tropical and outside of the United States. Despite appearances, Monster Rally is a project built out of Ohio by a music fanatic compelled to interact with global and timeless music. 

The name, Monster Rally, may also take some by surprise and seem unrelated to the music itself. However, referencing Charles Addams the American Cartoonist and creator of the Addams Family, Monster Rally is a short series of comics first noted by Feighen on a book in his Grandmother’s house.

This fantastic realism within the Addams Family books touches on a similar energy that Monster Rally creates sonically. Acting as a music historian, Feighan captures moments within global music and uses them to build a fictitious atmosphere.

“The whole thing is like the soundtrack to a Scooby Doo movie, there’s a danger or there’s ups and downs, but everything is gonna be fine” Feighan explained.

Feighan has spent most of his life working with music despite being the only musician in his immediate family. His first instrument, an acoustic guitar, was a gift from his uncle, his only musical relative. In 5th or 6th grade, radio hip-hop began to catch Feighan’s ear. Studio production of music evolved rapidly with the turn of the century, fostering a new generation of self-taught producers unlike any before. Hip-hop artists in particular, like Jay Z, built an age of production-heavy hip-hop that Feighan observed with great detail. 

“I would download the instrumental versions of songs just to hear the production and the samples,” Feighan explained and reminisced about freestyle rapping with music friends. Eventually, he bought a guitar and a four-track recorder of his own and began to experiment more. 

Through adolescence, Feighan explored punk music, emo and screamo, all the while tinkering with his music-making skills. Through continued interest, Feighan began to find more niche producers like Madlib and J Dilla, now widely known as revolutionary figures in the hip-hop world. 

“I didn’t really try to become that good, I just tried to make songs.” reflected Feighan. Perhaps this relaxed approach to the creative process is what has allowed for such a long relationship with the art form. Even casual freestyling altered Feighan’s musical brain. Making up songs for his two daughters off the cuff much to their surprise, comes with ease and nostalgic joy.

Many hours spent from childhood to life in his thirties letting internal dialogues and feelings transform into sound built the artist we see as Monster Rally today. Despite this relaxed relationship with his auditory art, Feighan does feel there is an important distinction between pieces of the process and the final work. 

“When music makes you feel something, then you see something. I know a project isn’t done if I don’t see something.”

This concept of visual and sonic relationships is often understood as synesthesia, a connection between the brain between sensory information. 

“The music tells you what it is,” Feighan further described.

This synesthesia Feighan experiences makes all the more sense of the remarkable visual side of the Monster Rally project. Each collage is a handcrafted piece, scavenged from old books, records, or art transformed into a unique visual. This connection in creation between the music and the visuals is striking. Both mediums serve as resurgences of older art that Feighan is making his own and sharing with the world. 

Feighan’s desk for all things Monster Rally art.

Growing up in Columbus Ohio, Feighan has not physically experienced many of the natural wonders that his music depicts, but this didn’t stop his creative mind from running wild. When Feighan looks at international landscapes he finds himself wondering, “what sounds would be in those places?”

 “I fall in love and get inspiration from the idea [of a place], it’s what you make it,” Feighan said, expressing the freedom of creativity he has in building soundscapes that are more imagined than the real physical spaces of our world. 

Now settled in Cleveland Ohio, Feighan adds to his library constantly. New music can be sampled or cut and supplemented by his own instruments. After adding his own instrumentation or mixing, Feighan listens for a theme or pattern. He finds that often these occur over time between sounds that complement each other and build an atmosphere. With much of Feighan’s music, the theme feels geographic. 

Describing his sound as something “tropical hip hop, indie, or sunshine pop,” Feighan clearly understands the atmospheric and generally light energy of his music but was hesitant to truly define it. Each project holds a very special energy and no area of the world is too outlandish to be heard. 

 “I have this concept of sampling old country western albums,” Feighan highlighted, “there is just so much out there to find.”

As a listener, Feighan can’t help but trace samples back to their origin. This aids the constant search through the vast history of music just waiting to be heard. “I like to listen to old music, that is new to me,” Feighan emphasized.

Spotify and modern-day streaming services help so much with these journeys down the rabbit hole. This use of technology has perhaps done wonders for the musical world, opening minds earlier and with more accessibility to the sounds of the world. Feighan described a surprising youth to his audience potentially due to the way younger people explore all genres with ease these days. 

Building this project off and on full-time for about ten years now Feighan sees no sign of stopping. 

“The creative energy is moving,” acknowledged Feighan, and with the rise in fans he has seen, there is no doubt about it. 

In addition to music Feighan and his wife run a business called Valley Cruise Press, sharing their artistic eye within the world of home goods. This year has plenty on the docket from remixes and features to an EP, and then a full-length project expected in 2025.