Frisky Monkey

Great album from the Atlanta-based duo. The 11 tracks comprise an emotional trip through the soul with an eclectic blend of atmospheric music and sounds fronted by haunting vocals. It’s like Depeche Mode meets modern rock/pop dance music, but with lyrics from the heart that mean something. Highlights include the title eponymous track, “Afterthought” and “Submission Day”. However the whole is definitely as good as the sum of its parts. Recommended for those who have even a mere interest in catchy, haunting dance tunes that speak to the romantic in everyone. - Carl Cunningham - Co-Author of “In A Galaxy Not So Far Away”

Great album from the Atlanta-based duo. The 11 tracks comprise an emotional trip through the soul with an eclectic blend of atmospheric music and sounds fronted by haunting vocals. It’s like Depeche Mode meets modern rock/pop dance music, but with lyrics from the heart that mean something. Highlights include the title eponymous track, “Afterthought” and “Submission Day”. However the whole is definitely as good as the sum of its parts. Recommended for those who have even a mere interest in catchy, haunting dance tunes that speak to the romantic in everyone. - Carl Cunningham - Co-Author of “In A Galaxy Not So Far Away”

Frisky Monkey was created in May 2011 by vocalist Juan Cezar, who hails from Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

“My last band The Sex Kittens had just broken up and I wanted to return to a more synth-pop type of music with my next band, so I placed an ad on Craigslist for a keyboard player along the lines of Vince Clarke,” Cezar said. “I had a few responses and met a few people, but gut instinct told me that John was the one.”

“John” is John Miklaucic, who handles guitar, keyboards, and programming duties for Frisky Monkey.

Frisky Monkey is perhaps an anomaly on the Atlanta music scene: a duo that writes and performs wholly original music that harkens back unabashedly to the ‘80s New Wave sound. In fact, Cezar and Miklaucic are influenced by classic ‘80s synth acts including Depeche Mode and Erasure, bands that “have that sense of melody and musicality yet are electronic acts that rock.”

Cezar is queer and Miklaucic is straight, but Cezar marvels that his musical partner “is one of the coolest, most laid back straight boys I’ve ever met.”

Perhaps because of that dynamic, there’s never an agenda to veil Cezar’s sexual orientation in coded messages in order to make Frisky Monkey more palatable to the masses.

“My lyrics are always from my life, so I think they’re pretty queer,” he said. “I never worry about changing pronouns no matter the venue. On stage I never think if something is too queer. I’m just me.”

Frisky Monkey primarily plays straight venues because once the lesbian bar Bellissima closed, there are no gay clubs in Atlanta that book live music, according to Cezar.

“We get good responses on the rare occasions that we play to a gay audience, maybe because we’re kind of retro sounding and harken back more to the New Wave sound of the ‘80’s,” Cezar said. However, “I think that GLBT audiences in Atlanta are just aloof to live music in general. The sad fact is that they seem to think that if it’s not drag then it’s not entertainment.”

Frisky Monkey has taken the stage at such venerable Atlanta venues as Smith’s Olde Bar, Kavarna, and Red Light Café. It also performed at Savannah Pride in 2011 and the Spring Bear Fest weekend at the gay Roy’s Hideaway Campground earlier this year. Cezar and Miklaucic are scheduled to play Marietta Pride on July 28th and again at Smith’s Olde Bar on August 10th. The Pride gig will also serve as the duo’s unofficial one-year anniversary; it first played live on July 30th last year.

Check out Frisky Monkey’s self-titled 2011 CD. Cezar and Miklaucic are currently recording that disc’s follow-up, Involved But Not Committed, which Cezar promises will be more upbeat and will feature a few guest vocalists.

You can catch up with Frisky Monkey on the following sites:
www.friskymonkeymusic.com
www.facebook.com/friskymonkeymusic
- David Magazine

If you’re fed up with the pop mess that the radio has become and you want some true-to-form, 80’s inspired electronic pop, then look no further – Frisky Monkey’s debut has everything your ears need. The duo doesn’t forget their music’s roots, with a throwback medley of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” and “Heartbreaker” that are stylized perfectly. “In the Air” is my own personal favorite. The verses keep your attention like a strong whisper, building into the melodic and moving chorus. Frisky Monkey are not afraid to be raw and real with their music, so don’t miss it. Turn the bass up, your calendar back,and bob your head to a new wave of electro-pop. - Trey Hawkins of Echo Collection

People who went to college in the late 80s/early 90s know all about moody, synthpop music from the likes of Bauhaus, Joy Division, New Order, Nitzer Ebb and, of course, Depeche Mode. The world of rock changed when Nirvana and Pearl Jam hit the scene. Grunge became the rage forcing the synth bands into oblivion.

Luckily, for those of us who were raised on this type of music, a local band called Frisky Monkey has hit the scene to pull synthpop back into the warmth. Their debut album arrives just in time to finally save the music world from tweens singing about making love to their baby, baby, babies.

The first beats from Frisky Monkey’s song “Four Letter Word” set the tone. The beats instantly take you back to the dark, hole-in-the-wall gay bars where the boys wore eye-liner, girls wore fishnets
and they all gazed at their creepers. As the album continues with songs like “ReciProstitute”, “In the Air” and “Crashing Down” you realize this band is the real deal. The sullen lyrics combined with the brooding beats take you into the deep, dark.

The original songs are truly fantastic for the genre, but the true gem on the album is their cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Frisky Monkey takes this song to a completely new level.
- Fenuxe Magazine

David Bowie, Depeche Mode and Gorillaz ménaged and birthed a love child... This album reminds me of the freedom of self-expression of the 1980's, without the abusive usage of nose candy. It puts me in a whimsical, dark place of wonderment. Think Warhol and Basquiat, two artists that merged and developed a movement that not only was rebelliously astounding, but also a reminder of how beautifully crazy art can be. - Deedra Lavon - Feelance Writer

David Bowie, Depeche Mode and Gorillaz ménaged and birthed a love child... This album reminds me of the freedom of self-expression of the 1980's, without the abusive usage of nose candy. It puts me in a whimsical, dark place of wonderment. Think Warhol and Basquiat, two artists that merged and developed a movement that not only was rebelliously astounding, but also a reminder of how beautifully crazy art can be. - Deedra Lavon - Feelance Writer