“People saw us setting up and thought we were a ska band. Then we’d start playing and they’d just get more confused”: How nerd septet Thank You Scientist made the Oops! … I Did It Again of prog rock

Thank You Scientist.

Is prog a sound or a way of making music? In 2019, as Thank You Scientist released third album Terraformer, band leader Tom Monda discussed the nature of genres, being mistaken for a ska band, the studio-versus-live debate and embracing the nerd within.

“I look at prog the same way I look at punk,” says Tom Monda, guitarist and bandleader of New Jersey miscreants Thank You Scientist. But before you run for the hills at the mere mention of punk, fear not – he’s not talking about just bashing out three power chords.