Meet MAH ~ Lex Coulstring

It took more than a decade, but Monsters Are Human co-founder, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist Lex Coulstring brough his vision to life. Recently he spoke with arts journalist Stephen Patrick Clare.

What are your own roots?
I’m from a small town in Yarmouth NS. I grew up on a farm with cattle and horses. Growing up was a very rural lifestyle. Doing typical chores, you would do on a farm and have limited social interactions. I had only a few close friends. My so called get away was in the summertime when I would spend my July month in Halifax city with my father since my parent’s divorce at the age of eight. For whatever reason when we took drives into the city, I would get excited for the more urban landscape. When I turned sixteen, I moved to Halifax to remained here.

When & why did you first get into music?
Interestingly being in a rural farm lifestyle, I rarely saw visions of what I would eventually fall in love which was music. When I was very young before my parent’s divorce, I would watch Dad play the piano then I would watch my uncle and grandfather play the piano as well. I was gifted with family who played music. But when my dad left, there was a huge void of music. My neighbor had a piano and somehow, I just started playing. I wrote mostly with maybe learned a few covers. My Dad, uncle and pops wrote their own music too. As I was growing into my teens and wondering what I wanted to do, I tried sports. Since most of my friends played sports, I figured it was what I needed to do. However, to put it bluntly, I sucked. I sucked really bad. I couldn’t throw, I couldn’t run and I could care less about watching it. It wasn’t until a friend of mine got me listening to AC/DC then Metallica. I was really digging the sound. Then I saw Enter Sandman on Much Music, then I saw Paradise City (Guns N Roses) video which was showing them in front of thousands and thousands of fans. I wanted that. I would play air guitar while watching VCR tapes of my favorite music videos I recorded. Until finally my Mom bought me a Sears Kingston guitar in which I still have to this day. I dove in and started learning so many songs. I was hooked. I would never look back at wanting to be a quote “Rockstar”.

Are they the same reasons you remain involved?
Yes. And I had many reasons to give up from building a work career, getting married twice, having kids of my own, and when one of the many bands I formed would just fizzle out because people moved on or didn’t have the drive I had.

What are the challenges of the vocation?
You really need to push out the negative thoughts from voices of others. I was told it was a “pipeline dream” to grow up and settle down. While I love my family, there is no support. To majority of all I know from high school friends to my family, it’s a hobby. That’s it. But to me, it’s an ongoing dream of mine to be on stage performing in front of thousands of people. So staying positive while continuing to run into brick walls and hitting speed bumps, I can still smile while batted and bruised.

What are the rewards?
The biggest reward is seeing mine and my bands craft being enjoyed by others. Everything else is icing on the cake. I feel rewarded when I see the numbers of listeners increased because more people are enjoying the music.

What have been some career highlights?
I think the largest highlight for me is to how many people I met and networked in the industry. It’s a large family and being a part of it is amazing. I done some touring and meeting new venues and fans is aways a highlight. Also in my music career, I have won a few awards which is a great achievement.

When did you start MAH?
In 2015, I was coming up with a third album title and theme for my previous band Chaos Theory. Although I was a founding member and started that group in 2008, a couple members wanted to change direction of the sound. I was slowly distancing myself not sure what to think and got more hooked on the news. On November 13th of 2015 there was a terrorist attack in Paris. First at a football (we call it Soccer) game and then some pubs. The next morning, I was watching a reporter speak to an elderly woman and she quoted “Humans Are Monsters” and I was emotionally drawn in to that statement. I was like, that could be an album title. But I didn’t want to be so literal like apples are red. More like Red is the Apple. I bit more metaphorical you could say so I thought “Monsters Are Human”. Being an avid horror fan, I just fell in love with it and I jumped on line and bought monstersarehuman.com domain that night. However, next band rehearsal when I presented my excited idea and theme for the third album. I was hit with “why are we discussing themes now” and “we should write songs first”. That was a huge blow along with the already distance I was feeling anyway. So I shelved the idea in my head. Until March of 2016 when I would quit Chaos Theory and begin my new project Monsters Are Human.

How has the band evolved over the years?
In the beginning, it started basically like me continuing Chaos Theory with guitar riffs that never got used in that band. I got my lead guitarist from Chaos Theory to join me in this new project. But I wanted to explore newer sounds. More synth. But I wasn’t wanting to at the time jump on keys. I was very attached to being a “guitarist” because that’s how I viewed myself on stage. So I brought in a synth pedal and started integrating that sound I yearned for. A darker atmospheric ambience. But in all honesty, the first group of Monsters Are Human was still a metal / hard rock band with a touch of dark synthwave. After a bunch of turmoil within the significant others of the band. I left, just like Chaos Theory. I was pretty bummed, everything both in music and personal was falling apart. Except this time, I snapped myself out of it and reclaimed the band as my own. It was since I had a copyright for the name since the very beginning. So again, I would seek new members from scratch and start the second rendition of the band. This time I was bringing keys into the band, and I had a setup ready and material to share. This I believe was 2018 and by this time I have spent a lot of time working on what Monsters Are Human was all about emotionally and it was like “we all have monsters inside us” and these monsters are the emotions we live and deal with daily and our actions depend on what these monsters are doing in our head. So back to the band, we played a few shows with me playing guitar and keys. We tried bringing in a keyboardist, tried using backing tracks and the lead singer wanted to bring his own project to light so we split rehearsals to one time spot for MAH and the other time spot for his. Not surprisingly I was hyper focused on MAH and he was hyper focused on his. Because we were rehearing at his place, I was let go in 2019. At this time, I was done. I didn’t know what to do. I once again lost my dream again. At that time my daughter was born and I was working on a new business. So Monsters Are Human as a band was going to be dormant for an unknown duration. In fact was so sick of band members in general that I started writing material and I setup a recording studio (my computer LOL). I tried my best to learn to record, use drum software and be a quote “producer”. I was going to continue the project as a project, not a band. This was also the period where Covid 19 hit us hard and I had no choice but to stay home so the departure of the group in the band would of happened anyway. After a couple years of relationship issues, in 2022 I had a mission to start the band again with members and solely focus on playing keyboard exclusively live. I wanted to bring in the dark atmospheric sound so much that the only way was to play it. I would still write riffs but I then would hand them off to the guitarists as well as we all had “bring your material to the table” attitude which really has shaped the sound of Monsters Are Human you hear today. Its honestly a miracle how I met the guys in the band and what we have now.

How would you describe the band’s sound & style today?
For years I had a hard time narrowing down a genre of the sound we have because for the most part I had members that didn’t really have a coherent agreement on what we were. It wasn’t until Avery Legacy joined me a couple years ago, we were able to zero in on what the Monsters Are Human sound should be. We both have a strong love for metalcore and bands like Bad Omens, Architects, Dayseeker. While I grew up on the classic bands like Metallica and Megadeth, I also grew as a fan to newer metal bands over the years and the metalcore formula of heavy guitars, keys and melodic vocals with screams really resonated with me. So with Avery’s amazing talent as a musician and producer, he is the real reason why we sound like we do. I give credit where credit is due and he really helped me shape a sound for what I can see. if that makes sense. So when you hear the name Monsters Are Human, we are a Melodic Metalcore band. Intense bridges/breakdowns. A mix of amazing melodic vocals with powerful screams. Each song tells a story leaving the listener in an awe struck look on their face.

What went into the new recording?
Time – lots of time. Mostly on Avery’s part as the producer. He is a perfectionist in every way. We also all have day jobs and Avery does have a couple other projects so finding time to work on the album was tricky. On top of this we were dealing with loosing members, finding new members, getting them caught up to play live shows and welcome their own ideas. And when that was all done and with many tracks recorded, we further fine tuned the sound by dropping the tuning resulting in re-recording many parts and introducing new ideas like a non-stop play after play of each song. The hardest part of all of this was presenting Avery with a deadline. He is always finessing the sound. To say, yup this is it, is very hard to say.

Do you have a favourite track?
They are all amazing tracks. I think my favorite track would be “Awaken”. No so much because of the song itself but more about the evolution of that specific track. It was originally an idea for Chaos Theory so it would be the oldest Monsters Are Human song and itself has been through three variations of members over the past 10 years. It’s amazing to see one track stand the test of time and now it’s the opening track to the debut album.

What’s the response been like so far from those that have heard it?
These songs have been performed live for the past year and a bit. I don’t want to toot my own horn (beep beep) but the response was “WOW” and eye opener. We want people to experience and journey when we play. These songs are emotionally driven and Avery’s ability to fine tune the pacing, structure changes to be as impactful to the listener is truly felt in each song.

Is your creative process more “inspirational” or “perspirational”?
I believe I started as inspirational. Seeing what I want to be such as other musicians but then I just jumped into perspirational. If I just focused on being inspired, I think I really wouldn’t put in the work to drive my passion. I been an entrepreneur for most of my adult life and I know you need to hustle hard to get where you want to be. Many people including band members themselves can’t take that entrepreneur mindset and its OK. But without drive and push, I don’t think luck alone is enough to propel your dream. I put in so many hours of learning, investing, designing, writing and wishing something big will happen. In the past it would be frustrating when others didn’t have that drive, but I accepted it now and know not everyone yearns for the same dreams I have.

What are your thoughts on the current state of metal?
Being a metalhead for over 30 years it amazes me how that genre never phases out. It only expands. In my teens I think I was into thrash and industrial metal. Then my tastes got into nu metal, death metal and metalcore in the later years. I think the one thing we call all agree on is that people are very passionate and protective of their type of music. I find there are some real hardcore fans of a specific genre and will call out other genres is they are not “heavy enough”. In my earlier years as a musician and I used to worry if my bands were going to be accepted. But what I love now is that there is a huge market share for any genre through streaming. Sub genres to other sub genres are blending more and more and its allowing people to expand their catalog of bands to get into. So I think its great. Of course, with this flow of music, its more saturated so it can be difficult to break through but honestly, that’s always been any bands issue.

What are your thoughts on the Canadian music scene today, and – in particular – Nova Scotia’s music scene?
Not sure about Canada, there are many awesome bands that have gotten recognition and are doing very well in Canada as a whole. I find if you are in Toronto or Vancouver, you have a good shot to chase the dream. I took a band to Toronto 20 years ago for that very reason. Unfortunately, the stress of living in Toronto and the much more saturated market really hit me hard and I came back to Halifax. But I did try and I am proud to say that. When it comes to Nova Scotia, metal is are hard genre to crack to be noticed. The amount of talent here is overwhelming and there is a great amount of metal loving people. Just seeing a packed stadium of Megadeth fans is proof there are many metal fans in Nova Scotia. There just isn’t a whole lot of support for the metal genre. Most songs on any radio station in Halifax is barely above hard rock. Which has been the norm for decades. We had a couple stations come and go that catered to the heavier genre. But there is a safety blanket I feel for what is played on the air waves. We have college radio, special Sunday spots on Q104 and some events that can shine light on some heavier bands. Not sure what can be done without making metal/hard rock a more prominent part in our music organizations. One thing I will say is if Monsters Are Human expands to national and even international recognition, I will be proudly bragging about Nova Scotia bands and hopefully put our province on the map of heavy music.

What are your plans with the release, and after the release?
This has been a labour of love for so long, I just want as many ears as possible to hear it and see us. Being a graphics designer, I worked on the lore of Monsters Are Human and I believe we can help bring people together in a community. I’m an advocate for mental health awareness and I think if people can see and hear what the lore is including the world of emotional traits (Monsters) and living in our heads as their home called the “Monster Realm”, people can relate to the message we bring. This is the first album for Monsters Are Human so what comes after is all new. I think the band all has their own goals in mind, but mine is to reach as many people as possible and to perform to as many people as possible. This will be by marketing the band and having accessible songs to promote through streaming outlets, videos, radio, magazine, podcasts, shows and more. Its going to be a new adventure to me. I will probably have a better answer on the second album.