by
Purple Munkie are a teenage four-piece from
a small town called Eglin, near Aberdeen, Scotland. They’ve been around for 3
or 4 years, although they’re not sure exactly when or how the band came to
form. They’ve recently started to play gigs in Aberdeen and this is when they
caught the attention of Alphabetty Records. Who released their magnificent debut
E.P in the first week of August. They’ve had quite a successful couple of
months; they had a support slot for Irish indie rockers Wilt in Aberdeen, they
played their first London gig with Hundred Reasons, Steve Lamacq’s been
playing tracks from the EP on the ‘Evening Session’ and the ‘Session in
Scotland’ played three songs from a recent gig plus they’ve just got news
that there be on the next Fierce Panda 6-track compilation. For more information
on the band check out http://all.at/purplemunkie
What was the inspiration behind the name Purple Munkie?
Errr, I wish I had some really cool
philosophy behind it but I haven’t thought it up yet. I suppose its kinda to
do with Monkeys that are purple. I’m not sure, defiantly nothing to do with
The Simpsons. That was just an uncanny coincidence.
How would you explain your sound to someone that hasn’t heard you before?
Dammit, I hate these questions. We've been
compared to loads of people. The strangest being Belle and Sebastian. I would
say we sound like a cross between Weezer, Idlewild and the Smashing Pumpkins.
But I’ll probably have a different combination tomorrow. Other bands that
people have compared us to are Deftones and My Vitriol. So I suppose that
can’t be too off the mark. The best thing to do is to buy our EP and decide
for yourself. Some people say we sound shite too. So. Yeah.
**If you had to put a CD together with your
top 10 tunes on what would they be?**
Jeff Buckley – Lover, you should've come
over
Weezer - The world has turned and left me here
Smashing Pumpkins - Hummer
Idlewild - Self healer
My Vitriol - Always your way
Deftones - Be quiet and drive
Therapy? - Stop it your killing me
The Pixies - Debaser
Arab Strap - Girls of summer (live version)
Joy Division - love will tear us apart
**Apart from those bands/artists, what
other things influenced you to become a musician?**
I think just my general surroundings when I
was growing up influenced me. My Mum is a music teacher and my Dad always
listened to music. I’ve played the trumpet for about 8 years too so the band
is quite a recent part of being a musician. Without music I’d have a pretty
boring life because it’s all I do.
**What records have you been listening to
lately?**
Hmmm. The new Deftones album, 'Retreat from
the sun' by That Dog and the new Jeff Buckley live album. Em. Also I’ve
listened to My Vitriol a lot as well as Queens of the Stone Age. Those are the
most recent albums I’ve bought. I’ve got loads of other stuff I’ve been
listening to as well. If I listed them all there wouldn’t be space for this
interview.
Are there any new bands you particularly like?
Yeah. My Vitriol are fucking fantastic. Also
I’ve just come across a band called Stumble who I think are also fucking ace,
Hundred reasons are ace too.
How useful do you think the Internet is for new bands?
It’s great, without it I think you'll have
a hard time getting attention. With us being isolated from any sort of music
scene the Internet allowed us to get in to a community of people involved in the
Aberdeen scene. Without the Internet we wouldn’t be anywhere. It was because
of it we got our first gigs and got the attention of Alphabetty. Anyone with
access to the Internet can go to a bands website and find out about them with
relative ease. It’s great, an indispensable tool for any band. It’s also a
great medium from which you can slag off bands on message boards or vice versa.
What do you think of Napster and MP3s?
I think it’s great, like I said in that
other question; the Internet is a great thing for bands. MP3’s allow unsigned
bands to let people hear their music for free and without any great hassle.
Napster is also great and bands shouldn’t worry about it. Now it looks as if
its future is in doubt, which is quite sad because I love it.
Can you tell us a joke for our sites joke section?
Nah. Just watch spinal tap
