They’ve just recently released ‘Water Off A Monkey’s Back’, with B-side track ‘Firechaser’ [Naked Ape Records], it’s their first release since ‘Ha Ha EP’ back in 2007.

The new track sees grievances aired; rock meets rap meets ska and the government getting a good kicking on route: lies, corruption, deceit, media manipulation, the establishment!  It is the first single of the forthcoming album ‘Chronicles of Banania: Superhuman Evolution?’ which is currently in production and due for release this coming summer.  You can get yourself either a download from the usual places: itunes, emusic, amazon, napster. Or visit the band MySpace page or Naked Ape for physical copy.

Here’s Monkey Sons on the Q10…

How did you get started?
Monkey Sons is a merging of two former UK hip hop groups, Sons of the Tribe and Hundredth Monkey. We had been collaborating for some time on each others’ releases in the form of guest appearances and remixes and were getting on stage at each other’s gigs, so it became a case of why bother pursuing two bands. So we combined our efforts to create Monkey Sons! Hundredth Monkey still exist as a side project (Monkey Sons presents Hundredth Monkey) but it’s much more of the hardcore hip hop (britcore) and it doesn’t involve a full band. (Remark & Bandog used to be in old school UK hip hop acts Deliverance & Killa Instinct respectively)

What ingredients did you need to mix together to ultimately produce the recipe for your sound?
We all come from different musical backgrounds but share a love of hip hop, so the influences are varied. Some of us have been hip hop artists for years; others have been in rock or jazz band, funk, electronica etc… There’s no one recipe for our sound, we try all sorts of things and pick what we feel works best. It’s gotta have a catchy element to it, and preferably a sense of fun or an uplifting message. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and too much hip hop moans about everything, and we’re not into that! We want our audiences to enjoy our music and shows and have a great time.

Did your first gig make you hungry for more?
We’ve had a great response to Monkey Sons from day one. The audience really seem to get it. We encourage crowd participation as we want our fans to feel involved. It usually works and everyone asks us to come back to play again. We’re happy to oblige if we can fit it in!

What’s the biggest ‘cock up’ to date?
Probably our next gig will be an almighty cock up so I’ll get back to you! Oh, hang on, the bass amp blew up on stage mid song once!!! Not really a cock up but it sounded like a fleet of B52 bombers overhead. Probably a few perforated eardrums from that one!

What is it that inspires you to make your music?
We love music. It’s a huge part of our lives and has been for as far as we can remember. We inspire each other. Other artists inspire us. Life inspires us.

What would be the icing on the cake?
Hip hop’s hard to be successful at unless you’re American, so we just wanna have fun whilst we can. If we can get a decent career out of it, then brilliant.

How will you be remembered?
A band who produced some brilliant music and put on a great live show.

Describe your music as if it were a fine wine.
Hmmm, I’m not a big wine man, but I’d say a vintage Rioja!

AfterMint! Does your musical style influence your underwear?
No.

Finally, what do you know about Luxembourg?
I think it’s between France and Belgium and is an independent state. Pretty certain it’s tiny too. Sort of like Monaco I guess. For some reason it makes me think of Eurovision (did they win it once?) and a world cup from the 80s, maybe they qualified or something, I need to know! I guess they speak French, but I know nothing of landmarks etc… Is it expensive or cheap there? I would imagine one or the other being that it’s independent! Not sure if you’re in the euro though!

More info: www.myspace.com/monkeysons