An interview with the legendary Mad Monkey
label, purveyors of experimental electronica. 1) How did the idea of Mad
Monkey start, and how did you get it off the ground?
We weren't happy with the status quo and someone told us that instead of bitching about
it we should do something. So we did. And we got it off the ground with a little help from
our friends.
2) How much did it cost to start it up?
A little over a grand, and several hundred hours.
3) Why Mad Monkey?
We are monkeys, we are mad, we like kung fu.
4) Where would one go to find the first two releases (the out-of-print ones) and
what made you decide to make only 23 copies of the second one?
MMR01 -- it is out there --- look around on some of the smaller online stores and you
are bound to find a copy. I know of one distributor in Germany that has a few... MMR02
Each of the cages took much time and effort to make. We wanted to give something special
to those who helped us out early on...most were given away.
5) How did you recruit the musicians that are now on your label?
Through email -- some contacted us and others were contacted by us.
6) Any interesting/funny/weird stories to tell?
I dunno, perhaps cutting out inserts, drinking beer, at kinkos at midnight for ETM. Or
our friend Nilla Wafa (aptly named by Neutral/Nicole) walking the streets of Chinatown
with DHS asking random people for pirated DVDs on our off-time from sinfest.
7) Who drew the monkey on the "Enter The Monkey"?
A friend of ours named Joe Rabbit. He is a graphics designer for Origin.
8) What's next (ie. shows, releases)?
A new Neutral 12 inch called driving backwards -- this is a co-release with hymen
records. And sometime in the future: a CD by ENE, the second Neutral CD and a new series
of releases called circumvent. As for shows-- we never really plan those out, They just
kinda happen.
9) What is the weirdest demo you've ever received?
I think we got a really bad rock demo once. I sampled the drum track...also, we got an
email from a boy band.. need I say more?
10) Situation: A Sony executive comes up to you and asks if you want Mad Monkey to
be a part of Sony. What do you do?
Are they offering Playstation 2's for all our artists? Seriously, there would be a lot
of discussion between us and our artists. This is not a simple thing...
11) What is your favourite colour?
Blue...no yellow... |