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Monica Madas was born in Romania.
London-based Romanian singer-songwriter anr puppeteer Monooka (also known as Monica Lucia Mada) can easily be distinguished thanks to her amaying voice, clean resonanc and her rhymes full of feeling.

She graduated from the acting & puppetry section of the Theatre and Film University of Bucharest in 2003. In 2006 she made her first public appearance at the Art Jazz Club in Bucharest invited on stage by Anca Parghel. After that, along with two talented musicians- Arthur Balogh (double bass) and George Dumitriu (guitar and violin) – she initiated her first project “Doina Jazzului” - a very original mix of free jazz and traditional Romanian songs.

In 2007 she relocated to the UK and formed Monooka's Caravan, a project that blends fiery Romanian traditional and gypsy songs from the Carpathian Mountains with refreshing spontaneitz, free improvisation, and anecdotes from life in Romania.

She initiated a powerful new collaboration with three Balkan music specialists from the UK: Meg-Rossaleen Hamilton, Matt Bacon, Paul Moylan and special guest on some concerts of Moonooka's Caravan the cymbalom player Vasile Cozma from Bacau, Moldova.

Already very popular on London's world music scene, Monooka's Caravan has recorded a debut album called “Carpathians” and has already performed in numerous of prestigious venues: the Royal Festival Hall, Bloomsbury Festival, Union Chapel, Ignite series at the Royal Albert Hall, Vortex Jazz Club, to name just few.

During her performances, Monooka combines singing, puppeteering, dancing and storytelling, so you can expect laughter and joy, as well as deeply touching old songs and fine musicianship.