Monkey Boy, a minimalist trio from London, have generated a massive buzz on the underground scene since they were formed in ‘95 by the Warren brothers, Paul (Drums & Vocals), and Mark (Bass).

Their self-titled - ‘monk rock’, has been described as an eclectic mixture of heavy bass-driven punk, blues and jazz.

August ‘97 saw the release of the bands debut “Untitled” 7″ on Polar Bear Records.

The band signed to Lockjaw Records in February ‘98. Three EP’s have been released over this period - “Monkey In A Rocket”, “The Aquatic Ape Theory”, “Baboon Saloon Blues”.

With the departure of Disco Stu at the start of 2000, Monkey Boy had a selection of guest bassplayers at live shows. These included Crawford Blair from Rothko and Sam from dBh. Brother James (no relation to the Warren Brothers) joined the band replacing Disco Stu in November 2000.

We spoke to them prior to the release of their debut album, Tales Of A Travelling Circus, in May 2001.

So, Monkey Boy were formed with the sensible base of drums and bass. Why the second bassist?

Mark and I (Paul) who are brothers jammed together as bass and drums throughout 1995. It came about because we knew a lot of bassplayers and not many guitarists we liked. We wanted a friend in the band and almost all the people we knew played bass. Rhiannon a girlfriend of mine at the time who I’d played with me in a few bands was our first choice and became the first Monkey Boy bassist for a year. She felt after that time it’s not what she wanted to do and left the band. That’s when friend - Disco Stu - joined who before this time was in fact a guitarist. That’s when the band sound started to take shape with experimentation. Stu left in 2000 and Brother James joined at the start of 2001.

Do you have set roles for each bassist? Is there a rhythm bassist and a lead bassist?

Well we start with the rule Rhythm (James) and Lead (Mark) on every song. Once the song has a structure of some kind we then bend the rules and it can change between the two.

The tour with This Girl was very successful, how was it for you?

Great fun! Mainly due to This Girl being such fun to tour with. It was their first tour and they handled it like true professionals, which is more than be said for us and we have been doing it for some years now.

Why has it taken/is it taking so long to get the album out?

Mainly because of the shift of line ups over the years and our lack of talent. We have 10 songs which we feel are ready for the album. I personally have not felt until now it is time for the first album. We didn’t want to put something out that a few good songs and loads of fillers. I’m happy with every song but one on this 10 track album (TALES OF A TRAVELLING CIRCUS)

It all seems to be taking off a bit lately. You’ve got a Rock Sound sponsored tour coming up and an album put together. Can you feel your hard work paying off?

Yeah, at last! We have toured a hell of a lot. Without major funding like many bands out there it’s been a bit harder to get attention but we prefer it this way. It’s been mainly word of mouth and hard work by our label Lockjaw, which is a lot more satisfying than having us shoved down your throat by a major. We are earning it rather than being given it.

Rock Sound have been very supportive and Metal Hammer have also been cool. It’s Kerrang that seem to care more about the business side than the bands. Fair enough they are a business after all but the lack of new decent UK bands (and there are lot of them out there) in their pages is disappointing.

Was the departure of Disco Stu a bit of a set back?

As far as the album was concerned, yeah. But the touring kept going. We know some great bassplaying friends who have helped out. Sam from dBh played a tour and Crawford from Geiger Counter has played a few shows with us. The last thing we needed was to stop touring and wait for a replacement. Thankfully James joined at the start of the year and now things are really moving. He is a great addition to the band.

Obviously, there aren’t many bands with multiple bassists around, where do you draw your influences from?

We have always just thought of ourselves as a band no different from any other out there. So when we are influenced by bands like all bands are we just try and incorporate into the format we have. We say “hey this riff is a bit like MC5, let’s do a punk rock/blues number” and of course in the end it’s sounds nothing like what we thought it was gonna be.

As for influences - everything from “Jon Lee Hooker”, “Captain Beefheart” and “Tom Waits” to “Fugazi”, “The Jesus Lizard”, “Nomeansno” and “Blues Explosion”

What bands are you listening to at the moment?

Paul

PENTHOUSE - White Slave Speak 7″
ROTHKO - Not Gone. Not Forgotten Live LP
CLUTCH - Pure Rock Fury LP
THE CUTTHROATS 9 - The Cutthroats 9 LP
SLOY - Plug LP

Mark

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART - Doc at the Radar Station LP
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS - The Good Son LP
THE CUTTHROATS 9 - The Cutthroats 9 LP
WU - Syndicate LP
PUSA - Freaked out and small LP

James

TOOL - Lateralus LP
TOOL - Salival DVD + LP
MY VITRIOL - Fine Lines LP
SQUAREPUSHER - Feed Me Weird Things MP3
WU - Syndicate LP

What was the best question you ever got asked in an interview and how did you answer it?

Question “without using the letters p, b, j or l, describe Monkey Boy in one quick, easy and quotable sentence” - Answer: below.

People’s opinions of Monkey Boy are usually quite strong; you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. What are the most extreme cases you’ve had in each direction?

You are right. It is a love or hate thing. The hate has been more extreme than the love of the band. We have a hate mail page on our website www.monkeyboy.co.uk where we have put up the abusive emails we have been sent.

The most extreme cases of love for the band have been from a group of youngsters who have started Monkey Boy tribute band. I’ve yet to hear them but that’s quite cool!

Are there any plans to do a new version of Death of a Stuntman? I love that song.

No, sorry. We are not to keen on that song. Every release before the forthcoming album makes us cringe. I see it more as what stage we were at at the time. From the album onwards is what Monkey Boy is about. We spent many years without a clue as to what we were doing or where we wanted to go.

And finally… without using the letters p, b, j or l, describe Monkey Boy in one quick, easy and quotable sentence.

It’s all good fun until someone loses an eye! (oh shit there is a couple of L’s in there somewhere).