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.”
