Space Monkeys
Biography
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..And he ain't far wrong Space Monkeys turn conventional rock `n' roll standards on their heads: how many four piece rock `n' roll bands are there who combine the standard guitar / bass / drums line up with a live mix on turntables? How many can say that they're one of the hottest up and coming remixers (under the alias of Chopper Squad)? How many can - Honestly - say that they're unlike any other band around at the moment.
A MESSAGE FROM THE SPACE MONKEYS We don't want to tell you how great the music is or how it speaks for itself. It doesn't. We come from Manchester but we're not going to bore you with the history or sing from the terraces how the North will rise again. We've got our passports stamped already. We were asked to write a biography or if needed make something up. We don't think that we have to. We've released three singles, though you probably haven't noticed. We started in 1994. While other bands spent their dole cheques on demo tapes and rehearsals we used to book hotel rooms under pseudonyms, listen to tunes through a ghetto-blaster, drink brandy all night and smoke, run riot through thecorridors annoying all the neighbours until they kindly threw us out without paying. We played our first gig in the basement of The Hacienda, November 1995. It was alright. A week later we signed a six-album deal with Tony Wilson's Factory label for exactly the same reason that Joy Division and Happy Mondays had done years before. Nobody else wanted us. It is a commitment we intend to keep. May 1996. While everyone was scrambling around looking for the new Oasis we released Keep On Tripping On, a classic house record littered with guitars. The music press ignored it. The DJs didn't. It entered the club charts at number ten. No hard feelings. We didn't like Kula Shaker much either. We spent the rest of the summer making our debut album with legendary Manchester hip hop producer Johnny Jay, recording at Monnow Valley, Wales and the infamous Moonraker Studios in Longsight where Voodoo Ray and many other acid house classics were created.Bored by Manchester's superclubs and its imposing house scene we put on our own parties in warehouses and lofts in some or the city's less salubrious hangouts. DJing ourselves and mashing up Jungle, Hip Hop and House with ail the funkiest guitar tunes, we made our own style and a lot of new friends.
The second single, the critically-acclaimed double-A-side Blowing Down The Stylus/Dear Dhinus, took all these influences on board - a stew of chemical beats,. fucked up guitars, Wu Tang Clan attitude and Dylanesque lyrics exploded onto the airwaves. John Peel played it to death. Once. We finished the year playing to a quarter of a million people at the Edinburgh Hogmanay Festival. The biggest New Year's Eve party in the world. How did that happen?
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| What the press say:- And here's a little of what the press have been saying about the band this Summer...
Space Monkeys are one of the most exciting live bands in Britain today and their feverish mix of rock `n' hip - hop has to be seen to be believed... so check them out!
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