Last night, New York musician Industry Monk was strumming his guitar on the small stage at Pete’s Candy Store. Performing new music at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, bar’s long-running open mic is just a typical Sunday night for him and many other patrons. That is, until Olivia Rodrigo appeared and performed an acoustic version of her new single, “Drop Dead.”
“When you’re in the room, it’s kind of jarring,” he says. “There was a respectful silence … She was crushing it. [People were] just kind of letting her shred and paying homage to the patron saint of Gen Z angst.”
Industry Monk was seventh in the lineup that night, and he played his track “Stayed.” When Rodrigo began her slot, he was putting away his guitar, so didn’t have his eyes on the stage. The Pete’s open mic is strictly for original work, so his ears perked up when Rodrigo sang the first few lyrics, referencing the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, I know that song,’” he says. “Then I started listening to the tone of voice. I was like, ‘It sounds a lot like Olivia.’ So I shuffled back in and put my head in and did a double-take.”
Courtesy of Industry Monk
Pete’s Candy Store, located just a few blocks from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and McCarren Park, is packed every Sunday for its open-mic nights. Industry Monk recalls the room feeling slightly busier than usual, the sign-up list longer than an average night. Still, nothing seemed to give away that Rodrigo was in the crowd, let alone getting ready to sing. “I think her name was on the list, just like anyone else’s,” he says. “By the time she was onstage, no one really knew what was going on. It was a very real-time reaction.” The crowd gave her her flowers, but Industry Monk doesn’t remember seeing her after she capped off her set.
“She might have been hanging in the front, but yeah, I didn’t have eyes on her afterwards,” he says. After her performance, he posted a video that put all the details together, with Livies and local Brooklynites gathering in the comments section. Playful jokes abounded about Rodrigo’s celebrity: “Nice for you to let smaller artists have the stage,” wrote one commenter.
Industry Monk hails from Houston and moved to Brooklyn just over a year ago. He spent several years living in Nashville, performing a circuit of open mics in the city. He credits Music City for helping define his songwriting style and finds inspiration in Blonde-era Frank Ocean and mid-2000s Radiohead. If you scroll through his Instagram, he cover songs by Shuggie Otis, Chappell Roan, and more in a crimson-colored, fur-lined space called the Red Womb.
His second album, Monk, dropped last October. “This feels like my debut album spiritually … It feels more close to my identity and it was more of a personal project.” He sees the Industry Monk project as ever-growing and developing. His dream is to keep on creating records and connecting with his new community. “I do see it as kind of a slow-burn project, but I am in it for the long haul and I do love making records and playing it for people.”
Rodrigo’s third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, is out June 12 via Geffen. She worked with her longtime producer/co-writer Dan Nigro on the record. This weekend, on May 2, she’ll pull double-duty on Saturday Night Live.
Industry Monk is a big fan of Rodrigo and Nigro. He especially loves her wistful track “Pretty Isn’t Pretty” from Guts. And he was happy to see her at one of his favorite open mics. “The open-mic circuit is a great way to meet new people and test some new songs out,” he says.
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