Monoscopes are a band founded by Paolo Mioni (vocals, guitars, keyboards), a multi-instrumentalist from Padua and former member of Italy’s Jennifer Gentle, with whom he toured coast-to-coast America and played at SXSW, as well as festivals and venues throughout Italy, and also founder of the alt-blues band Nicotine Alley, with whom he released two albums.

Around 2015, Mioni began writing songs more oriented towards psychedelia, power pop and shoegaze, so much so that in 2016 he felt the need to start a new project, which was initially developed completely as a solo project. When the composition of the new songs was finished, however, Mioni went in search of new musicians to play them with, in the studio as well as live.

The musicians who joined the project are all veterans of the North-East Italian indie scene, and joined the band like in a Brothers Grimm tale: first Francesco Sicchieri (formerly of Nu Bohémien) on drums and percussion, then Francesco Pagliarin (SlowMotionLove, Hinamuri, Replace The Battery) on guitar and bass, and last but not least Marco Degli Esposti (Cranchi, Art of Wind, The Great Northern X, La Notte Delle Streghe), who plays bass, guitar, keyboards and sings backing vocals. With their arrival, the Monoscopes turned into a full-fledged band.

The debut album Painkillers And Wine, released in 2022 by Big Black Car Records, the band's own label, was finally recorded and mixed by Mioni, who also produced the whole thing, with the exception of a couple of tracks previously recorded and mixed by Marco Fasolo at TUP Studios in Brescia.

Painkillers and Wine was very well received by the Italian and foreign press. Here are some quotes from the various reviews:

"A stellar debut" - Shindig! Magazine, UK

"Top grooves to support [Mioni’s] Cohen/Lou Reed-ish vocals" (4 stars) - MOJO, UK

"Intriguing and old school" - Rumore, IT

"Pure sonic grace" - Rockit, IT

'Great artistic depth' - Radio COOP, IT

The album was presented live at several concerts throughout Northern Italy.

Meanwhile, Monoscopes started recording their second album at Marco Degli Esposti's Happenstance Recording Studio. The new record sees the band reaching new levels both on a lyrical level and in terms of songwriting and performance.

The album, entitled Endcyclopedia, has been released in January 2024, again by Big Black Car Records, and was preceded by the singles The Electric Muse (I wanna know why) and Hey Atlas. Endcyclopedia features guest appearances by Tommaso Cerasuolo, the lead singer of Perturbazione (a leading Italian indie band), and Francesco Candura, who played bass with Jennifer Gentle for several years. It is being presented live by the band with the help of new band members Tommaso Mioni (keyboards, backing vocals) and Alex Villani (bass). In 2025, the new drummer Alberto Toffano joined the band.

Songs from Endcyclopedia have been played on radios all over the world, from the USA to China, from Australia to the UK.

Some quotes from the press on Endcyclopedia:

"Records like these keep the bar high, not caring about the present and the current music trends." Rockit, IT

"Warm and chiselled pop, with echos of power pop, psychedelia, of dream pop. Simply beutiful" Rockit, IT

"In my world, this is a grand 2024 album. It should be in yours too." Album of the Week, Top records of 2024 List - Turn Up The Volume, Belgium

In April 2025, the band has published new single The Failure, adding new Spaghetti Western influences to their sound palette. They're working on their third album, which will come out in 2026.

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