This next AUK mini-gig is brought to you live from Monica Aben’s bedroom studio in California, which she shares with a Taylor 714 CE guitar that she got for a gift instead of a car for her sweet sixteen. “She’s my prized possession for sure,” Aben enthused. There is also a keyboard hidden away in a handy pull-out drawer. It’s a lot more practical for a musician’s bedroom than plush toys and fancy pillows.
Aben is a fourth-generation Venice Beach kid. But in recent years, she felt like the heart of LA had left the city. “That’s when I knew it was time for me to leave, to,” she said. “We went to a small town out in the California desert, and I’m happier than I ever thought I could be out here. While I’ve been playing music since I was five, I would say the last six years have been professional. I’m so grateful for the all the places my music has taken me and all the friends I’ve gotten to make along the way.”
“Postcards” was her first EP, released in 2021. For this recording, she pulled the shoebox packed with letters and postcards from under her bed, and while reminiscing about the past, wrote a collection of songs that explores every unsent word from those pages. Her second EP, “Everything I’ve Ever Known,” chronicles a journey of introspection and growth, weaving together soulful melodies with profound lyrical narratives. Reflecting on the EP’s inspiration, Aben explains: “These songs weave together the story of me rediscovering the woman I was meant to be. It’s about reconnecting with nature, trusting our instincts, and embracing a new reality of freedom and health.”
A contender for the EP’s strongest song is ‘Force of Nature.’ Aben likes to think of it as one you sing barefoot in the dirt with people you love. The words are almost meant to be a meditation. In all that you do be a force of nature / Don’t fight the land that feeds you / Thank the sun & your creator. “It’s about recalling the ways of our ancestors. How we lived in harmony with nature long before buildings, before technology, before we severed our ties to the earth in the name of progress. A friend of mine said “we are the regeneration,” but before you can even process that you must remember that you are a force of nature.”
Beyond her musical endeavours, Aben finds solace in regenerative farming and holistic health practices, aligning her artistic expression with a deep connection to the natural world. “Through just a few generations we’ve become puppets of propaganda to fit into the machines of big tech, big pharma, you name it. It all comes down to food.”
She has a point. The United States ranks among the lowest of nations in the developed world in the overall health of its citizens. Life expectancy is low and infant mortality rates high. There is more teenage obesity than almost every other country. And the US has high rates of preventable and treatable deaths. As Aben posits, much of it has to do with what is in our food supply.
“Everything I’ve Ever Known” can be seen as an open letter to her generation, the millennials. “It’s an ode to simpler times, simpler ways of life. We have become so disconnected from our natural world and each other at the hands of convenience and tech.” Aben is smart and savvy as well as a solid songwriter. As the late Brian Wilson would say, that’s why we love the California girls.
Find out more about Monica Aben at her website, and you can also check out her music on Bandcamp. But first, listen to a fine set of five songs on her exclusive AUK mini-gig.
1. Everything I’ve Ever Known: The title track of the EP, reflects on life’s unfolding and finding freedom in letting go.
2. How Free Do You Wanna Be: My version of an empowering anthem about creating your own reality.
3. Of All the Things (unreleased): A song about realizing that of all the things someone can be to you, sometimes they aren’t meant for you.
4. The Runaround (unreleased): A good old fashion breakup song about getting mixed signals and being blind-sided.
5. Force of Nature: This one celebrates our connection to Mother Earth and out ancestral roots.
