The Monkery

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The Monkery, a post-punk band that’s creating a sensation, will take the stage in a live performance at the Battle of the Bands, on Saturday, Nov. 11, starting at 6 p.m., at the Bloomfield Avenue Café, 347 Bloomfield Ave. Admis-sion to the all-age show is $10.

The band members include vocalist Stu Warshawer, guitarist Phil Enock, drummer Jeremy Da, and bassist Adam Davie.

After recording their full-length album “One Blue Link” in 2003 (distributed by Rock Out Records), the band members traveled individual paths. Trials, tribulations and training sequences transpired, leading the members to realize their common musical destiny. Many protagonists undertake this kind of monastic retreat and return. This is “monkery.” The band, having traveled this path, pays homage to this concept.

Hailing from both sides of the Atlantic, their checkered pasts and musical backgrounds include everything from lame a cappella to the violin and xylophone. Having at last cashed in their long-distance relationship for the up close and personal of one band-one house, The Monkery combines a light sound with an unhinged energy verging on insanity.

Responding to the Fall Out Boys’ recent wave of post punk sounds and Coheed & Cambria’s wailing guitars, The Monkery fuses unexpected Sublime/Red Hot Chili Peppers elements with a touch of the Spin Doctors’ impulsive vocal stylings. Their unique brand of monk rock pushed today’s new punk sounds beyond power chords. For more information about The Monkery, visit online at www.themonkery.com. - Montclair Times (www.montclairtimes.com)

October 25th, 2006
Returning to their old stage, three young alums of the punk-rock band The Monkery are scheduled to rock the Homecoming concert on Nov. 3. In their years at Williams, Stu Warshawer '03, Jeremy Da '03 and Phil Enock '05 played in the campus band One Blue Link. Now, under the name of The Monkery, they are touring the East Coast with band mate Adam Davie and making a special stop at the school where they got their start.



Enock, who plays guitar and sings, is excited about returning to Williams as a band member. "The Williams crowd will definitely like the music," he said. The sound will be really well received, because it's the kind of sound that Williams people like."



When asked about his expectations for the Homecoming headliner, Nick Collela '08, head of ACE concerts, expressed similar enthusiasm. "They're a great band," he said. "They're alumni which is really cool for Homecoming. It ties back into the Williams community."



In fact, the band will be more recognizable to alumni than to many of the students now on campus, and Enock acknowledged that the concert will likely convince many alumni to return. "For some people, I think our show made the difference between whether they might come and whether they're definitely coming. It will definitely add to the alumni draw for recent [graduates]," he said.



On Nov. 3, alumni and current students will gather in the heated tent on Sawyer lawn to welcome the band back to Williams in its reincarnated form. Enock apparently was unaware that the band would be playing in heated tent, but when asked how he would deal with performing outdoors in November, the prospect of playing in the cold did not faze him. "We filmed our music video on Garfield lawn in mid-Jan. 2003," he said, "and the temperature on yahoo.com was zero degrees."



Even before One Blue Link was formed and made their debut video, Warshawer, a member of the Ephlats, and Da, a dedicated drummer, started a band called Bluntweak. Da recruited a guitarist in the Daily Messages and Enock came onboard. Then Da's friend Andrew Kao '04 filled out the band.



The band debuted at the Log to rave reviews, and the students continued to play to packed campus audiences. They began to call themselves One Blue Link in January 2002.



During Winter Study of 2003, the band went on to record a full length album. The album, entitled "Do It Yourself," was finished by the end of February. In celebration, the school sponsored a large show in Mission Dining Hall. Additionally, Warshawer's friend Nicholas Suttle '03 made a project of editing a music video for the band called "Postcard."



The band members went their separate ways after Warshawer and Da graduated, but at a reunion in November 2005, they drummed up the idea for The Monkery. "The three of us got back in touch one year ago and realized that it was all of our shared dream to make music together again," Enock said. Warshawer and Enock met up with Da in New York, ideas sparked and soon they were all moving to New Jersey to start things up.



But the band's reincarnation did not come without sacrifice. Da was working in Paris as a paralegal at the time he visited Warshawer and Enock in New York. When they invited Da to rejoin them in forming a band, "He really dropped everything and moved here from Paris," Enock said. "Everyone in the band has made great sacrifices and that's what keeps us strong."



Enock also found a dedicated bassist in his childhood friend Adam Davie. At the time, Davie was a junior at the University of Atlanta, but decided to take on extra courses in order to graduate early in August 2006 and join the band. Soon after, The Monkery was on tour of East Coast during September of this year.



The Monkery channels several different sounds. One song might make you think Fall Out Boy, another Green Day and still another the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their mix of rock, classic punk, and new punk sounds is truly impressive. The band brings variety, coming through as "at times punk, at times rock, always monk rock," according to its Web site. Great musicianship and a tight relationship among the band members create a cohesive sound.



The Monkery's lyrics are meaningful, yet fun and quirky. They put to music the thoughts and feelings that this generation of college students is going through. Songs such as "Postcard" tackle the issue of heartache, adding a little humor and a lot of rock to give a real show-all, tell-all feel. "Serotonin" deals with the subject of drugs and fear. Lyrics such as "Are we all crazy? A continuum of hysteria, obsessive or compulsive medium ... We can't master ourselves, but take a drug or two or three, they�ll get you more help..." really hit home in a society that often depends on substances for a good time. Meanwhile, "Spinning" shows a more sensitive side of the band, telling about a girl dealing with her inner strife, with a repeating line o - Williams College Record (www.williamsrecord.com)

By Hal B. Selzer

“This resurrection is the product of destiny,” exclaims Phil Enock, guitarist of The Monkery, referring to the reuniting of the group after a brief hiatus. “Like those who enter a monastery in search of discipline and truth, this band has returned with tenacity and the desire to fill you with unabashed rock madness. And Kung Fu.”

Following the release of their debut album in 2003, which was distributed by Rock Out Records under the moniker One Blue Link, the band members went their separate ways, only to realize their common destiny. Enock, along with singer Stu Warshawer and drummer Jeremy Da, invited new bassist Adam Davie to join them, and in February of 2006, The Monkery was born. It wasn’t long before they made the ultimate band commitment and moved in together in a house in Whitehouse, NJ, last month.

The music of The Monkery has been compared to Sublime and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with a touch of the Spin Doctors’vocal stylings mixed in. “Their unique brand of ‘monk rock’pushes today’s new punk sounds beyond power chords,” adds Enock. “With a smirk and a Chuck Norris roundhouse jump-kick, they’ll take you on journeys within. At times punk, at times rock, always monk rock.”

Each member of the band makes a contribution to the development of what they call monk rock. “We have a collaborative and democratic writing process, where every member has a say in every single aspect of the music,” Enock relates. “With four writers’ideas combined, we create more innovative and varied music than one person could possibly write alone. Each song comes alive differently, but many songs follow this typical process: Enock writes guitar parts, Warshawer writes lyrics and vocals complementing these riffs, while Da and Davie contribute ideas for new sections and their own instruments’ parts to complete the song. Throughout this process, the entire band critiques and revises every element in the song. In fact, we often return to a song, even months after it had seemed finished, and end up revamping it for a completely new feel.”

Some of the songs they’ve produced have rather, well, interesting themes. “The fans’favorite is ‘Breaking Up.’ Anytime the words ‘This song is about masturbation’are uttered on stage, the crowd goes wild,” laughs Enock. “The chorus reads, ‘I’m breaking up with myself, Mama says that masturbation is bad for your health,’ with verse lyrics ‘Spankin’, jerkin’, punchin’the munchkin/No small talk, no dinners or luncheons/Gonna say goodbye with the help of my band/I’m breaking it off with my trusty right hand.’”

But the best is apparently yet to come. “The band’s favorite is a brand new song, ‘The Sensei Song,’ which is a tribute to the great, wise teachers in Warshawer’s life, which include his karate teacher and vocal coach,”Enock explains. “The chorus explodes, ‘So punch me in the face!’”

The group made its live debut at Don Hill’s in New York and drew a sizable crowd. They’ve toured throughout the East Coast in their newly purchased van, the “monk-mobile,” playing shows in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Local stages graced by the band include the Bloomfield Avenue Café in Montclair, the Blair Academy in Blairstown, the Hamilton St. Cafe in Bound Brook, the Empress Ballroom in Danbury, CT, and The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan.

For those not in the know as far as martial arts, the name is a derivative of one aspect of the discipline. “The name of the band began with Warshawer watching too many kung-fu movies,” says Enock. “In such films, there is a salient theme of the protagonist’s retreat from society, training (typically captured in the famous ‘training sequence’), and subsequent return, with more cunning, skill and power. This process, Warshawer and his brother, Andy Warshawer, decided, is called ‘Monkery.’”

Indeed, The Monkery have returned from their “Monkery,” and are poised to take their music to the next level. “We have two vital goals,” comments Enock. “To carve amazing music out of our combined beings and to get this music into the ears of as many people as possible. If we need to get signed to spread our music, we’ll be ready to go for it when the time comes.”

You can get more information about The Monkery from their website, at themonkery.com, or at myspace.com/themonkery. You can also catch the band during their return to Don Hill’s in New York City on Dec.1. Doors open at 7:30. - The Aquarian

There’s a new sound coming on campus. Awakened from its millennia-long slumber by an ill-advised nuclear test, the beast of punk rocking goodness that is One Blue Link [now: The Monkery] has emerged from its underwater cave and is running a rampage through the Tokyo of the Williams party scene. Those in the know may have seen this reptilian apocalypse coming in the form of the band Bluntweak, the former incarnation of One Blue Link, but few of us could have predicted the sheer prehistoric rocking power that would be unleashed when ungodly amounts of gamma radiation mutated it into something bigger, something badder, something ridiculously funked out.

What makes them so block-rockingly good? First, they’ve got a great set list – they lay down a foundation of solid, crowd pleasing and highly danceable covers, mostly alt and punk rock, with a few older numbers thrown in for good measure. But then they start to mix it up with an incredible collection of original pieces, and you start to see what separates them from your average college cover band. These guys have song writing skill, and they just keep turning out better and better work. Listen for pieces like “Magnets of Loneliness,” “June” and “Breaking Up with Myself” and you’ll see what I mean.

But One Blue Link isn’t just about good songs; if anything, it’s the delivery – the stage show – that really gets people on their feet. And that’s all about musicianship and stage presence, which these guys have in spades.

Leading off the rotation is frontman Stu Warshawer ’03, a newcomer to the rock band scene with a solid background in the a cappella circuit that comes through in his incredible vocal talent. He’s got total frontman charisma too – he can get an audience with him and ready to go in seconds, and has the stamina to keep up an incredible amount of energy throughout sets that can run as long as two hours.

On guitar, another newcomer to the Williams band scene (if only because he’s a freshman) is Phil “the Professor” Enock ’05. Despite his relative youth, he more than holds his own alongside the older members of the band. According to other band members, he can hear a song once and play it back on the guitar, and watching him play you don’t doubt it. On stage he’s reserved and focused, the guy who anchors the operation technically and keeps the playing tight even when the rocking energy builds to explosive levels.

And where are those explosive levels coming from? Look to Andrew “Swerve” Kao ’04, a seasoned veteran of the Williams band scene, pumping out rocking badness on the bass. He’s a classically trained musician, and it shows not just in his masterful playing but also in his original compositions like “June,” a great song that works as a punked-out version of Pachelbel’s Canon. Watching him on stage, you can see how totally comfortable he is playing music. Even as he dances and moves like a madman, breaking strings and generally getting the place rocking, he still keeps his playing right on target – a very sweet combination.

Finally, throwing out some incredible beats on the drums is another well-known Williams band expert, everyone’s favorite French expatriate, Jeremy “Snoop” Da ’03. The founding member of the band and one of their most prolific songwriters, Da keeps a little behind the scenes until a big drum opportunity comes along, and then all hell breaks loose. He blasts out sound with machine-gun speed that’s amazing to watch. Catch him after a show and ask to see his hands – they’ll be absolutely shredded from his playing.

According to all the band members, there’s a lot of chemistry and a lot of compromise that goes into their work. They have great respect for each other as musicians, and as Da said, “I’ve played in a lot of bands for a long time now, played with some great people, really good musicians, but this is definitely the most skilled group of guys I’ve ever worked with. They’re incredible, I feel really lucky to be able to play with them.”

The band members also bring different musical preferences, ranging from metal to punk to Irish hard rock. Although this diversity can lead to debate over musical direction, out of it comes some compromise, some fusion and some very good music.

Asked about what they’re going for on stage, the consensus was that basically they were out there to have fun with music and the audience. As Warshawer commented, “we have a great time when we do the party band thing. We’re at our best when there’s a lot of people, that critical mass where you can really get people dancing. The most fun venues for us are things like row house parties, because you can get that really energetic atmosphere there.”

Those at Perry House on April 6 got a chance to see what Warshawer meant – the band was clearly in its element, the audience was psyched and people were having a great time. As the school year finishes up, people are hoping for more shows from t - Jamie Gardner, THE WILLIAMS RECORD

Williams students Jeremy Da ’03, Stu Warshawer ’03, Phil Enock ’05 and Andrew Kao ’04 can’t wait for March 8. They are not counting down the days until Spring Break, or until someone’s twenty-first birthday. On March 8, their band, One Blue Link [now: The Monkery], known and loved at Williams, will release its first album, D.I.Y. The album’s title, which stands for Do It Yourself, holds a lot of meaning for the band members. “The only people with input into this album were the four of us, which makes it very personal,” said bassist Kao. Added drummer Da, “We’re doing this for ourselves and our fans.”

The close-knit band has been working on this album for quite a long time. The 10 songs on the record were all written either last spring or this past fall. Over Winter Study, the band spent a great deal of time in the studio recording the songs, then mixed and produced each song themselves.

One Blue Link is very proud of the songs on D.I.Y. and considers them to be some of its best work yet. “We have a high standard,” Da said. “We had a bunch of songs that we started writing, pretty much finished writing, and then decided not to keep because they weren’t quite good enough.”

Overall, the tracks kept by the band sound polished and professional. The album opens with “Suddenly,” an upbeat song that immediately sticks comfortably in your head, marked by infectious guitar hooks and highly original drumming.

Most of the other songs on the album share this energetic, catchy drive, fueled by fast tempos and lively guitar parts, including “Postcard,” “The Lala Song,” and “SoCal Girl.” “Go Quietly” and “Wake Me” are mellower, but propelled by the same combination of engaging guitar and drum parts.

“June,” perhaps the most experimental song on the album, begins with a violin playing “Pachelbel’s Canon,” then turns into an up-tempo and raucous yet strikingly accurate variation on this theme. “Breaking Up,” with lyrics that declare “Mama said that masturbation is bad for your health/ I’m breaking up with myself,” is genuinely hilarious, continuing with “tried to switch it up, tried to use my left/ but it felt like someone else so I got jealous and left.” “Life Sentence” is the last song on the album, and probably one of the best, seamlessly combining two very different musical themes.

One Blue Link’s original songs are all collaboratively written, with members of the band contributing to the effort in different ways. Guitarist Enock came up with the guitar part for “Postcard” and the other members of the band built the rest of the song around it. “Life Sentence” began with a drum riff Da kept playing during practice one day until Kao suggested that it be worked into something new.

Vocalist Warshawer writes the majority of the lyrics. “The band trusts me a lot,” he said. “For a lot of the songs they’ll just throw down the music and trust me to come up with lyrics. It doesn’t matter if they’re deeply personal – they’re cool with anything.” “Stu definitely has the best vocabulary,” Da said. “His lyrics make it sound like we go to a good, small liberal arts college.”

Other members of the band also write lyrics; Enock wrote the lyrics to “Get Over You,” Kao came up with those for “June” and “SoCal Girl” and Da supplied words for “The LaLa Song.”

Enock described the band’s songwriting process as “very democratic. We’ll play something and if any of us have any kind of problem with it, we all have veto power. We’re not able to be as efficient as other bands, but we all like what comes out of it.”

Over Winter Study, One Blue Link did a great deal of research on how to engineer a CD, though they also have previous experience from recording a three-song demo this past spring. In the end, they were able to engineer the entire CD themselves, layering sound tracks and mixing. They loved the process of layering the tracks, first recording the drum parts, then guitar parts, then bass and then putting them all together. “You actually hear the song slowly evolving,” Andrew said.

The band is releasing D.I.Y. on their own label. Da, however, worked at Atlantic Records last summer and is sending them a copy of the CD. “We have avenues,” he said. “Who knows?” They will be selling the CD in Baxter soon and are planning an on-campus release party. As for other goals, each member of the band would like to see certain objectives accomplished. As Da remarked, “We just want to have fun the next few months [of school] and play our hearts out.” Kao added, “We’re always looking for groupies” and Warshawer chimed in, “We’d love to see someone crowd-surf.” - Miriam Lawrence, The Williams Record