About $6,000. That is what the US visas cost The Monsters for five East Coast shows this September, roughly 60% of the band’s entire tour budget. The process took a year. Beat–Man, aka Reverend Beat-Man Zeller, The Monsters’ guitarist and vocalist and the man behind Voodoo Rhythm Records, says they needed established figures in American music to formally support the application. Hutch, the sound engineer for Queens of the Stone Age, and Keith Morris both provided letters.
The Monsters have been doing this since 1986. They started in Bern, Switzerland, and have spent most of the following four decades travelling well beyond it, becoming one of the long-running names of the Swiss underground around the same generation as The Young Gods and Celtic Frost.
They are also coming into this tour with a new record. “Off The Road We Go” arrives in October on Voodoo Rhythm Records, with “You Got Me Going” as its first single, premiering below.
Beat-Man says the album moves through hardcore, trash rock’n’roll, garage punk and pop, and the sessions were handled very differently from the band’s usual way of working. Robert Butler of The Miracle Workers brought his mobile recording setup into their practice room, they spent about a month recording first and figuring the songs out afterwards, and Jim Diamond of The Dirtbombs was left with roughly a thousand tracks per song to sort through.
The Monsters have called what they do “trash rock” for years, pulling punk rock, garage punk and rockabilly into something much faster and dirtier around the edges. For anyone coming in cold, The Spits, Boss Hog, The Meteors, Motorhead, Zeke and Hasil Adkins are useful reference points. The current lineup is Beat-Man on guitar and vocals, Pumi on knobs, Swan Lee on drums and Janosh on bass.
There is plenty of history behind that. Louder Than War wrote of their previous record, “You’re Class, I’m Trash“: “Sometimes, an album comes out that in many ways defines and yet defies genres, bending and smashing them to shattered pieces before reconstructing a bastardized version of their own history. On their new album, You’re Class, I’m Trash, The Monsters are aiming for just that.”
MOJO put it more directly: “In 35 years, The Monsters have lost none of their fury.”
Maximum Rock n’ Roll went further: “It was records like this that steered Tim Yo away from hardcore (and emo) in the ’90s and damn near turned MRR into a fucking garage rock fanzine. You know why? Listen to this shit. This is punk, you punk!”
None of that makes getting into the United States any cheaper.
Their 2024 trip ran through Mexico and the US West Coast and was their first time playing that part of the country. The US portion alone had 11 dates and no festival appearances. After that run, another American tour looked hard to justify financially. The five dates happening this September exist because Muddy Roots booked them. It will be another appearance at a festival Beat-Man already knows well, both with The Monsters and through Reverend Beat-Man. Mickey from Ivy Agency then built four club shows around the Tennessee date.
Voodoo Rhythm has its own American problem. Beat-Man runs the label, which previously did roughly 30% of its business in the US. He says sending small packages directly from Switzerland became unworkable under the tariff situation. Their solution is simple enough: once a week, somebody drives the US orders to the German border and posts them from there.
Touring now carries part of the distribution job too. The Monsters have T-shirts manufactured in the US and sent a box of records, CDs and magazines ahead of the September run. Beat-Man calculates that they need to sell around ten records and five or six shirts a night. The shirts are white. He knows white shirts do not sell particularly well. They made them anyway because they like white shirts.
The Monsters have also worked with Slovenly Recordings and Sounds of Subterrania. “You’re Class, I’m Trash” had a US release through Slovenly. “Off The Road We Go” is staying with Voodoo Rhythm for now.
Beat-Man answered our questions as both a member of The Monsters and the person running Voodoo Rhythm Records.
On The Cost Of The Run
Visas make up 60% of the tour budget. What does that number actually consist of, and how far in advance did the process start?
The visa cost was about $6,000. Now you can calculate what kind of fees we would need to get that money, and that’s completely insane. We have a worldwide cultural exchange, and people have found that music and art connect people worldwide, so it’s almost visa-free to travel.
For example, an artist from the USA can do up to 11 shows in Europe without needing a work visa, but the other way around is a bit different, hahahaha!! Anyway, I needed a year to get that visa, and it was very complicated. I needed people who at least had a Grammy or something like that to petition the US government to say it’s important that I play in the USA.
The artists over there are very supportive and very helpful because they know about that problem. Hutch, the sound guy for Queens of the Stone Age, and Keith Morris helped us by providing an official letter in support of our visa applications.
Who fronted that money before a single ticket was sold?
As The Monsters, we do part of what we do as a non-profit-oriented company. A bit chaotic, but we try to set aside money for stuff like that, and funding also comes from Pro Helvetia; they’re a Swiss Arts Council. That was also the case the first time we came to the US, and the Swiss Cultural Diplomat even showed up at our first NY show at CBGB’s. Whenever we tell that story, no one believes us, but it’s true because Switzerland is a small country and stuff like that happens here.
What got cut from the tour to make the visa line work?
This upcoming tour will be without a member in tow; unfortunately, it’s too expensive for us to bring tour manager Friedhelm [Hofmann] with us this time. American clubs don’t have European-style accommodations for small touring bands. But as I said, we set aside some money to play in countries where we’re minus a member on the road, like Brazil, Asia, or the USA.
You toured the US properly in 2014. Same five-city stretch costed then and now, what has moved the most?
The USA is constantly changing, and I love playing there. They’re great people; the people we deal with are super nice and friendly, but we see small changes over time. In the 80’s, there were still segregated parts of towns, and now these towns are mixed, which is great. It used to cost $10 for a full plate of food, one I couldn’t even finish, as it was so much food and made me see how people get so big there. Now it’s $20 for a half-full plate, and the people are thin! Little things like that, which I see. Last year, I was on the West Coast, playing with some of the best bands ever (btw, you have to see a Las Vegas band called The Crotches; they’re incredible). I think the political problem the US has helped make artists amazing; I can’t wait to come over and hear some East Coast action bands <3!.
Was there a specific moment after the last tour when you decided you couldn’t afford to come back?
Yes, it’s very sad and breaks my heart. I have family in Los Angeles, so I would love to come back there, but as an artist, it’s so complicated and expensive that you need consistent, well-paid shows to make it work, and we’re sadly not in that league. The Monsters are an underground punk band, and that’s what we’ll be forever. We like that, don’t get me wrong! We don’t want to play big, profit-driven festivals where the bottom line is the main concern. We make music and play shows because we’re born to do that; it’s our habit.
On Muddy Roots
The booking is the reason this trip exists at all. What did the offer have to cover before it became possible?
We knew the Muddy Roots crew from the beginning when they started this festival idea. It’s a whole family with the fans, the bookers, and the bands. This festival and everything around it is why people keep making music. It goes back to what I was saying at the beginning of this interview: there’s a worldwide musical exchange, and the Muddy Roots people just do it their own way. They connect with everybody. It would be amazing if the borders were more open so that more bands from around the world could play at Muddy Roots; they’re a positive force. This has to change in the future, and the rock’n’roll community will be reunited again.
Four other dates got built around one festival slot. How did you pick them?
Mickey from Ivy Agency filled the spots; he also helped us on the last US tour. In New York, we’ve known Jonathan Toubin, one of the TV Eye owners, for a long while. The same goes for Mike Decay, who organized the first shows for The Monsters in NYC. We’re very happy when people want us back! That means we didn’t do a bad job last time hahaha, and it’ll be great to see them all again. I can’t wait!
Two years ago you played the West Coast for the first time. What do you expect to be different about the East Coast, if anything?
Less sun, I guess, and more Christian church crosses the more we drive towards the South, hahaha!! On the West Coast, I saw people waking up from their sleep and getting very political, like they really want to change something for the good. I liked that a lot and hope to see a similar reaction from the youth and the bands on the East Coast. The bands we played with were amazing too, and I hope it will be the same on this run.
On The Label
When did shipping orders to the US stop making financial sense for Voodoo Rhythm, and what was the order that made it obvious?
It was because we were forbidden to send small goods to the USA due to tariffs. Anyway, things are still the same; it’s a shame for us small labels and companies, but we have someone who drives to the German border once a week and drops them off at the post office. Europe is not so heavy, but the US government doesn’t like Switzerland, so the tariffs are way too high.
Roughly how much of the label’s business was American before that?
It was about 30%, and that’s pretty high. The EU is our main market, along with Switzerland.
What happens now when someone in the US tries to buy a record from you?
We drive to the German border hahaha!!
Did you look at workarounds, US distribution, licensing, pressing stateside, and what killed them?
I had many US distributors; many of them never paid their bills, and we stopped. We stuck with Cobraside; they’re in Los Angeles, and they’re honest people, but they have the same problem as the whole world in the music business: nobody wants to pay for music; they want it for free.
Are other bands on the label making the same call about not touring the US?
Yes, we wanted to send The Devils over, but they were scared of getting rejected at the border; the others couldn’t afford the visa.
On What The Shows Have To Do
With mail order closed, the merch table at these five shows is one of the only ways an American gets a physical record from you. Does that change what you’re bringing?
Yes, on Voodoo Rhythm, I don’t release bands anymore that aren’t touring bands. On tour, we can sell most of our stuff and bring the music to people in person. On this tour, we have T-shirts made in the US, and I did send a box over with records, CDs, magazines, etc. It helps a lot, and it’s a big tour support.
How many records do you have to move across five nights for this to not be a loss?
That’s always a difficult calculation. Sometimes you sell a lot; sometimes nothing. We make this time white shirts, and white shirts don’t sell well, but we like white shirts hahaha!! Anyway, I calculate 10 records per show and five or six shirts at minimum.
Does knowing that change how you play?
No, we plug in our instruments and catapult ourselves to another planet; that’s the time of the day we disconnect ourselves from the normal world; we become The Monsters.
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On The New Record
“Off The Road We Go” comes out in October. When was it recorded, before or after the tariff situation hit the label?
It was in between; we went with Robert Butler of The Miracle Workers and his 2-cent mobile recording studio to our practice room, fooled around for a month, and recorded stuff; that’s how this record was created. It’s the first time we did something like that; normally we write songs, then we record them. This time we did it the other way around hahhaha!! So we had about a thousand tracks per song, and the only person who could make anything of it was Jim Diamond (The Dirtbombs), whom I had already worked with a couple of times.
Does the title have anything to do with where the band is at, or am I reading too much into it?
When I brought the song into the studio, we tried many variations. Janosh, our bass player, was totally against the song. But then I tried to explain what it’s all about: the feel is, you are in your normal 9-5 life, working like a machine, and on the weekends you go drinking; you have sex, etc. You’re part of the machine. The song is about going off that road; it’s easy: you take the wheel and just drive in another direction. You let it all go and all behind you; you open the door to go into something unexpected and new. Anyway, after that it was all good; the song took a direction, and the album title was made
Is the US release being handled differently than the last one?
Yes, for the last record we were happy to work with Slovenly Recordings for the US release; this time it’s released only on Voodoo Rhythm, our label. But we will see what happens in the future; we are open to everything
What’s the first single, and what should people know about it going in?
The first single ‘You Got Me Going’ will be released August 28 its a song that we thought may represent the whole album the best, its very divers the whole album, has hardcore elements, Trash Rock’n’Roll, garage punk and pop etc.. for ‘You Got Me Going’ my and my daughter did a video clip, sadly all other Monsters where in Hollidays that periode so we did play all characters ourself hahah
On Thirty-Nine Years Of It
The Monsters started in Bern in 1986. What has changed most about getting a Swiss band across a border since then?
We were playing across the border from the start. Our town and our country always seemed too small and narrow-minded for our music, so we played all of Europe from the beginning. The USA was easy at first; border control was always happy to see someone with a guitar. Today you feel like you’re a criminal hahahaha!! The Monsters like to travel; we played all across the world, and last year, the first time in Kenya, Africa, that was a blast, and we gained a lot of new friends
Can the Bern scene still absorb what touring costs now, or is that over?
You know Switzerland is on a different level from the rest of the world. We almost have no inflation, and we’re a socialist political country with seven presidents. If you’re poor, the government supports you to help you get back on track. But here, like elsewhere in the world, nobody wants to pay for music anymore. Festivals are getting super expensive, and small clubs are dying off too, but the people in my town are very supportive of theatre, concerts, etc., because they go to them and keep them alive. The deals are normally fair; when it’s a door deal, it’s 70/30 (the band 70), and the clubs promote the shit out of the event so that a lot of people show up.
If a young Swiss band asked you today whether to tour the US, what do you tell them?
Yes go !!! You will love it !! Don’t let bureaucracy ruin your dream. Try to find a way. Jazz, Rock’n’Roll, Blues that’s the music of the Americans. This is the home country, and it’s a privilege to play here. It’s where a music revolution began, making the world a better place after WWII.
Is there a version of this where you just stop crossing the Atlantic?
I would never stop; rock’n’roll has no borders.
The Monsters Tour Dates:
01.09.26 USA – Brooklyn. NYC, TV Eye
02.09.26 USA – Silver Spring, MD Quarry House
03.09.26 USA – Chapel Hill, NC, Local 506
04.09.26 USA – Cookeville, TN, Muddy Roots
05.09.26 USA – Atlanta, GA, Star Bar
21.10.26 DE – Munich, Feierwerk
22.10.26 DE – Nuremberg, Kunstverein
23.10.26 AT – Vienna, Arena
26.10.26 DE – Dresden, Chemiefabrik
27.10.26 DE – Berlin, Neue Zukunft
28.10.26 DE – Hamburg, Hafenklang
29.10.26 DE – Bochum, Theater Rottstraße
30.10.26 NL – Nijmegen, Waalhalla
31.10.26 NL – Haarlem, Slachthuis
25/11.26 CH/BERN – Cafete
26/11.26 CH/BERN – Kairo
27/11.26 CH/BERN – Hardwarestore 17:00
27/11.26 CH/BERN – ISC 21:09
28/11.26 CH/BERN – Planet spade (w/Attycs)
29/11.26 CH/BERN – Rössli (w/RATC)
19.02.27 ESP – Barcelona, Sala Upload
20.02.27 ESP – Cox, TNT
21.02.27 ESP – Madrid, Fun House
22.02.27 ESP – Zaragoza, Sala Creedence
23.02.27 ESP – San Sebastian, Dabadaba
25.02.27 FR – Paris, Le Chinois
27.02.27 BE – Sint-Niklaas, De Casino
