Welcome to munkeymusic.co.uk

Home of MUNKEY

Latest:

Apr 2008

So the dust has now settled – both in my head and upstairs at the Jericho, where we played to a frankly cracking crowd last weekend. Apologies it’s taken me so long to get an update on here – I think I’ve needed most of the intervening week to get my breath back! But, as anyone who was there will tell you, it was huge!
There were a few pre-gig jitters from a few of the band (who will remain nameless… they know who they are…) but it all turned out peachy. We road-tested a few new numbers, and were really really chuffed to see good responses – especially for Video Killed the Radio Star – Jim’s suggestion and an instant classic.

We’ve been wandering around this past week since the gig trying to get used to the normal day-to-day life again, after being up in front of such a great crowd for nigh on 3 hours. Sitting at a desk for 9 hours doesn’t quite give you the same buzz. Pub conversations have tended towards ‘remember when Dave did this’, or ‘when Monters did that’. As a result, I don’t think anyone really wants to go to the pub with us anymore. Gig-wallowing is a hard hard habit to break.
I really can’t say enough how genuinely touched we were to have so many of you turn out for the gig – from Oxford, Newbury, Birmingham, London, Winchester, even the South of France! It made the whole thing feasible (we just about hit capacity, and broke even – which makes us more inclined to do it again!) We will try to keep our door charges as low as possible, and our wallets thank you for parting with your hard-earned cash to hear us.

Since we clearly need to do this again, I’m looking to set something up for end of September/early October. I’ll keep you posted…
In the meantime, just one final thankyou to absolutely everyone who was there. It couldn’t have gone better – and from the view I had up on stage, and the feedback we’ve been getting, you guys feel pretty similar!

See you soon
Will

Feb 2008

Me again.
So as i sit here in sunny Australia, topping up the tan and running through a lengthy list of new material ideas with Monters, I thought I'd let everyone know what's new.
Monters will be back with us soon, plus his new recruit, Yoko – a particularly fine acoustic guitar which he has duly cherished as his only way to make noise out here.
The gig I promised in central Oxford is confirmed, and hopefully if you're reading this then you've seen the trailer – if you haven't, then Tom put it together (as he does with all our interweb stuff) – and it really is far more interesting than my ramblings – so i suggest you check it out right now.

{It's on April 19th, at the Jericho Tavern, Oxford. http://oxford.openguides.org/wiki/?Jericho_Tavern Doors will open at 7.30.}
We're hoping to see as many familiar faces as possible down there – it should be an awesome gig, since we've got a whole load of new material to throw together, plus all our stuff from last year – so come ready to jump around for some considerable time.
We'd also really like to see new faces in the crowd – I know a load of people ask when we're next playing a gig, and the answer is always 'soon, but it's private' – so we're pretty excited about this one as we finally give everyone a chance to hear us.
So spread the word, bring your friends, have some beers... if you've seen us before then you know that it's always a good show and a great night.
I'll be looking to confirm the line-up and timings for the show in the next few weeks, so stay posted and I'll be back here with some more info soon.

On the subject of 'soon, but it's private', i'm happy to say that we're fast getting booked up for this summer – the latest booking taken last night whilst i was still half asleep (that's what you get for leaving your phone on overnight when you've got an 11 hour time difference with the UK!)
So if any of you are reading this with an eye for a booking in the next 4-5 months, please get in touch sooner rather than later.
Finally, on a personal note, I'd like to say a big congrats to all the latest crop of medics, just qualified from the JR. Have a great time these next 6 months – and hope to see you all down in the moshpit soon!
Cheers
Will

Jan 2008

That's 2007 over with then. For those unacquainted with the occasionally moulting entity that is Munkey, last year saw some fairly hefty simian activity.

In the loss category, we had to say goodbye to two much-loved members of the band, namely Foxy and Monters, as they buggered off, without a single tear in their eye, for the considerably warmer shores of Australia.
Some cynics might claim that this move was enforced upon them by the eccentricities of the NHS's latetst shakeup.

These cynics would be well advised to take a close look at the quality of life the two gits are now enjoying down-under. One of my favourite texts from Foxy over the past few months read: "Surf's awesome today. 30 minutes in the ocean before jumping in the car and starting my shift over at the hospital." Truth be told, I'm worried they won't want to come back. Which is why yours truly is going out to see them for a while this month.
So if we're not at our most active and ear-bleedingly productive over the next 6-8 weeks, please be patient - Munkey has only Si's voice in the interim.

Which brings me conveniently on to the 'plus' category. Munkey has been twice blessed in the past few months, to have both Pete and Si swing gracefully into the void created, without demanding even so much as a banana for their efforts. As a result, we've been able to follow up the great success of Green College Ball in the summer (where we said goodbye to Foxy), with an autumn charity gig at the JR hospital, where Monters gave his swan/gibbonsong, and Si stepped up to the keys.

It was all hands back to the amps straight after, as we took on Pete to stand in for Monters, before a pretty congested Christmas timetable, which saw us play another fundraiser at the Randolph Hotel, Oxford, followed swiftly by jumping onstage at Merton College Winter Ball, and then finishing up playing at a particularly fine wedding on the outskirts of Guildford just before Christmas itself.

I think we all feel we need a few weeks to recover from all that, and then I guess we'll be back in the studio, working at putting some new tracks into our repertoire. We've already had a few enquiries for booking this coming summer, which is always nice - including 2 weddings, a ball, and a couple of black-tie functions in Oxford.

However, I guess the most important thing for me to say before I upload this update, turn off the computer, and go and meet Jim for a couple of pints and a good sound thrashing on the pool table, is that I've promised the guys I'll look into organizing a public gig as soon as possible. Given that I'm off to Oz soon (did I mention that yet?..) it's not likely to be before March - but keep your eyes peeled/ears to the ground/web. It's most likely going to be a 3-band night, and I do have a venue in mind, in Central Oxford.

Hope you've all had great Christmasses/New Years, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible pogoing merrily around the dancefloor in the near future.
Will