1. How did the band get started? How did you meet
and how long have you been together?
Alan Weiss:
The lyrics of our songs are written by the vocalist Randy, and most
of the songs relate to personal inner feelings and views of the world,
life, and specific situations or thoughts. Song titles such as "Just
What I Want", "Listen to my Heart", "Freek", and "Fits of Depression"
give you an idea of the substance of the songs. However, some of our
songs were written simply as songs that people to groove to. An example
of this is a very popular song titled "Coffee, Tea" where the only
lyrical content consists of "I like coffee, I like tea, I don't like
it when you fuck with me".
2. How would you describe your
music?
Alan Weiss: Our music can best be described
as heavy power-groove. The music is a mixture of metal, rap, and alternative
influences, all with a new unique groove, depth, and all with an interesting
psychological twist.
3. What are your biggest influences?
Alan Weiss: We have a wide range of influences
that come from the band members. Some of our main influences include
KoRn, Pantera, Limp Bizkit, Primus, Tool, Slipknot, Machine, Incubus,
311, Slayer, etc. to name a few.
4. What influence do
you think your bands has in music and metal today?
Alan
Weiss: Our music has mainly influenced our local music scene so
far. We bring a new level of metal-rap fusion with melodic overtones.
Monkeynut has also done a series of "firsts" in our local scene: we
were one of the first bands to release a full length CD (as opposed
to cassette tapes); our merchandising series continues to be one of
the best and most comprehensive; our new CD has a CD extra video on
it, which has yet to be done on our local scene. We have seen written
examples where other musicians have listed Monkeynut as an influence
in their music. Our next step is to take this influence to the national
level.
5. What made you want to be in the band? And if
you weren’t in the band what would you be doing now?
Alan Weiss: Speaking for myself, I got into the music
for a couple reasons. First was the love of creating original music
that people enjoy. Also, the adrenaline rush of performing in front
of a crowd while relaying that music is something of which I cannot
get enough. Live performance gives me a "high" that is hard to match
by doing anything else. If we weren't in a band, we would probably
be working regular 9-5 jobs, trying to find that "rush" by some other
means.
6. Are any band members in side projects? If so
what are they, and explain a little about them.
Alan
Weiss: No, there are no members of the band that are in side projects.
We like to stay focused on this band. At this point, side projects
would diminish the focus on Monkeynut's music.
7. How
would you feel if a band took their sound from yours and became very
well known?
Alan Weiss: We would feel partially
honored because other musicians would believe that our musical style
is strong enough to be very successful. However, we would also feel
partially cheated because someone else is using our style to gain
recognition that is deserved to us.
8. What current bands
do you like or respect?
Alan Weiss: Some of the
bands that we like are Slipknot, KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Pantera, Machine
Head, Sevendust, Tool, Primus, Kid Rock, Deftones, Incubus, System
of a Down, and others. We respect all the bands that have been able
to make their music a career, and all the local bands that have the
balls to TRY and make their music a career. There are no guarantees
in this business, and anyone who has the guts to try to "make it"
in the music business deserve a lot of respect.
9. How
many demos/albums do you have? Tell me about them!!
Alan Weiss: We currently have 4 releases:
1. Traces of Reality-1993. This demo was our first publication under
the name Dominion. This is hard, heavy, and more "thrash" style of
music.
2. Into the Negative-1995. This release was our first full-length
CD under the name Dominion. It includes music that is still hard and
heavy, but with a more developed musical style. This release was early
in our development.
3. Dominion-1998. This release was our first full-length CD under
the name Monkeynut. This was our "breakthrough" CD in terms of style.
It is more groove-oriented, but it is still heavy and "in your face".
4. Groove Bus-1999. This CD is our best music yet. The recording is
good quality, and the music eminates a unique, well developed style
of metal-rap fusion, it is very groove-oriented, yet heavy enough
to knock your teeth out.
10. What demo/album do you like
the best?
Alan Weiss: We like our latest CD Groove
Bus the best because it represents a well defined style that we feel
is "us". This is the CD where we feel that we are "coming into our
own" in the way of a unique style.
11. What is the meaning
behind the songs?
Alan Weiss: The lyrics of our
songs are written by the vocalist Randy, and most of the songs relate
to personal inner feelings and views of the world, life, and specific
situations or thoughts. Song titles such as "Just What I Want", "Listen
to my Heart", "Freek", and "Fits of Depression" give you an idea of
the substance of the songs. However, some of our songs were written
simply as songs that people to groove to. An example of this is a
very popular song titled "Coffee, Tea" where the only lyrical content
consists of "I like coffee, I like tea, I don't like it when you fuck
with me".
12. What are the bands favorite songs?
Alan Weiss: Our favorite songs are on our new CD. Songs
such as "Disappear", "Listen to my Heart", "Suck It", and "Hold On,
It's About to Get Crazy". Some of our favorite older songs are "Fear
is the Enemy" (from Into the Negative), "Freek" (from Dominion), and
"Greaseball" (from Dominion).
13. What does the future
hold for the band?
Alan Weiss: The entire band
is committed to making our music a career. We are currently working
with several independent record labels to obtain a contract that is
acceptable and profitable for all parties involved. If all goes well,
we will soon be able to take our music to a national (if not worldwide)
audience.
14. If you could play with any band who would
it be and why?
Alan Weiss: We would love to play
with any of our favorite bands, such as Slipknot, KoRn, Limp Bizkit,
Pantera, etc. Other national acts that we have played with in the
past are Crowbar, Propain, Souls at Zero, and others.
15.
Who writes the majority of the music?
Alan Weiss:
Randy writes the lyrics and vocal lines of the songs, but all of us
write the music. Our best songs are ones where the ideas just "jump
out" while we are warming up at practice, or just messing around during
practice. If we like the idea, then we all add to the songs, we bounce
ideas off each other, and we work on the structure of the song together.
Very rarely does any member bring ideas to the practice room and say
"I wrote a song, and it goes like this…."
16. Who
has been the favorite band you’ve played with and why?
Alan Weiss: Again, speaking for myself, I think the band
we played with I liked the best was Souls at Zero (formerly Wrathchild
America). Those guys were very cool, and I think they are one of the
most underrated bands ever. I think our favorite show, however, was
a show called Woodshock '99 in Bellefontaine, Ohio. There were thousands
of people there, and we were very well received. Some of the bands
we played with were Shovelhead, Workhorse, Ground War, Dimlight, and
numerous others. This show was a spin-off of Woodstock, and it was
complete with rain and lots of naked women!!!
17. Where
did you get the band name from?
Alan Weiss: The
word "monkeynut" is actually in the dictionary, and a monkeynut is
medicinal nut. We were involved in a trademark dispute when we were
named Dominion, and we found the word "monkeynut" while flipping through
the dictionary during a discussion on changing the band name. At first
we thought it is a silly name, but it grew on us, and we knew that
people would not forget it once they heard it. It is also not easy
to "pigeonhole" the band into a certain musical style based solely
on the name.
18. Describe what the band is like live?
Alan Weiss: One of the best features of Monkeynut
is our live show. We have a very high energy show, complete with special
effects, and various props. We are always looking for new things to
use in our stage show. Randy (vocalist) has become very skilled at
getting the audience involved in the show, and many times audience
members join us on stage. We firmly believe that an exciting stage
show is crucial to the success of a band. After all, it is a performance.
If I just wanted to hear a band's music, I'd just buy the CD! People
come out to shows to see a show, not just to hear the music.
19. If you are gonna do any kind of video what would be in it?
Alan Weiss: Actually, we have already done a video, which
can be seen as a CD extra on our new CD Groove Bus. The video is mainly
shots of us performing in a studio, with extra "special" footage.
On our next video, we want to include a lot of audience shots from
our live shows. We might also do a "concept" video based on the concept
of the song for which the video is being produced.
20.
Are there any touring plans made; if so tell me about them?
Alan Weiss: In the year 2000, we are planning on performing
all around Ohio and the regional area to suppourt our new CD. Information
on our scheduled show dates will be available by visiting our web
site at www.monkeynut.com,
or by calling our information line at (614) 672-0023.
21.
Where do you think the band will be 20 years from now?
Alan Weiss: My crystal ball is in the shop, so I really can't
answer that question. What I can say is that Monkeynut has a lot to
give to the music industry and to our fans, and we plan to continue
to give it all we've got well into the future. |
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