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Monkeys
are back on track... Since their first concert at Frangipani, the Brass Monkey Band has certainly travelled far. They have played a lot of gigs, all of which have received favourable responses, released an EP and interestingly have taken a bit of a breather. As they played their final gig a few months ago they were hinting about the release of an album. Now months later they have released… ‘Monsoon Sunday 1; Warning Signs,’ the first part of their two-part album. So what is this album all about? The name doesn’t really give much – except probably the fact that this will be an interesting album just like the band itself. Released yesterday, the album features sixteen tracks of which three songs have previously been included in their EP. “But we have redone them and it’s got a new twist in it now,” says Aadhil Aziz, vocalist cum guitarist listing two of the songs, “Tumbleweed” and “Lay All Your Hands On Me.” Along with them are a whole heap of new songs which have not been on air but for those of you who have been to their gigs would have definitely heard them. Speaking about the tracks he says that the whole band is very talented, “and even though I write most of the music they all put in their thoughts to it as well.” Adding to what Aadhil says, Oshan Gunawardana who plays the cello and to put it in his own words “a bit of guitar,” says, each song has a part for each member of the band.” This brings out a variety of sounds that over the months have become a trademark of the band. “We have it all… sometimes an individual song holds different types of sounds,” says Anik Jayasekera their drummer. They even have a touch of traditional sound in their line up with Ravihansa Watekepotha coming in with the sounds of tabla and the percussion. Looking back Aadhil says that releasing an album has always been something they wanted to do from the time they started out. After deciding to take a break for a year he adds that they really worked hard to launch this album to coincide with the break. “This is all our hard work coming to an end,” adds Anik. Despite the amount of effort that has gone into making this album Oshan says that the whole thing has been a lot of fun. “We have also got a lot of support from so many people,” says Oshan. The Maharaja Group, Deshan Tennekoon and their parents definitely top this list. Something that gives an edge to this album is definitely Paul Jacob, an Indian producer very much involved in the music circuit who has in the past worked with the likes of A.R Rahaman etc. Having heard their demo tape, “Paul Jacobs decided to take us under his wing,” says Oshan and thereafter they went on to select songs which would make their first album. Because of their enthusiasm in creating songs they apparently came across a small hitch… They now had too many songs. This is where the idea of a second album came in… part two of the album they released yesterday titled ‘Monsoon Sunday 2: After the Rain’ will be released in the course of the next three months. “We will be starting to record for the album during the coming week,” says Aadhil adding that to really understand the album you would have to listen to both albums together. In other words it’s one album released in two parts. “I am really looking forward to recording the tracks for this album because it’s very different… more jazzy,” says Anik enthusiastically. So, it’s time for you to just sit back listen to Brass Monkey’s album which you could get from Vibrations and all their outlets. They promise it’s going to be something you would definitely not regret buying, and if you don't mind taking my word on this one… these guys are good. |
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