Half of DFW band Mon Julien will move to New York City

The twosome will continue to make music despite the 1,600-mile difference.

Jill Johnson

Mon Julien

New indie-pop band Mon Julien, which just celebrated its album release and first big show at the Granada in mid-January, will be geographically split in two in a few weeks.

Singer and guitar player Cory Watson told us that he's moving to New York City but will continue to keep the band going with keyboardist Brian McCorquodale, who will continue to live in Fort Worth. The twosome are the only permanent members of the band, and were both formerly involved with popular local group Black Tie Dynasty, now disbanded.

Watson's day job as a store manager at Starbucks gave him the opportunity to move to New York City, which he had personally wanted to do for several years, he said. "I'm going to go up there and work my angles and promote the band," he said.

The 1,600-mile difference between Fort Worth and New York City will be an adjustment, but it's not all that different from when he and McCorquodale lived in Dallas and Fort Worth, respectively. Their first record wasn't done in the same room: Each would record a section, pass it to the other, and layer in new elements, building each track electronically. "It's really just taken that same approach – just adding a few miles in between," Watson said. "Brian and I have been writing together for about 10 years now. We have such a good relationship that we don't necessarily have to be in the same room at the same time."

Bill Ellison

Mon Julien at Granada Theater

Mon Julien is working on several gigs in New York City, and they plan to book some shows in DFW in late spring or early summer. Each gig will feature Watson and McCorquodale, plus a different drummer and bass player depending on the city. They hired Mark Pirro (Tripping Daisy, also their producer) and McKenzie Smith (Midlake) to play the Granada show, for instance, but the band will have different supporting casts for most future gigs.

They're also working on a second album, half of which is written and should be finished by the end of the year, Watson said. The new album walks away from the Black Tie Dynasty sound, Watson said. "So far, the songs that we have are a little more pop, a little more electronic, maybe a little less guitar-heavy," he said.

We critiqued Mon Julien in their debut performance by saying they'd plunged too far into an '80s sound. Watson says that characterization is pretty fair. "Brian and I don't just listen to Flock of Seagulls all day, but we do like the simple pop hooks and synth pop hooks. ... A lot of some of the vibe that we get has roots in that '80s pop," he said.

"Whatever label we get is okay. We're just trying to write clever pop songs."