Looks like we'll be taking this monkey thing down yonder to Rock Hill next month.  Our first venture off the farm.  Of course, we're off to Gore, Va for Camp Barefoot in July, too, but we're hoping to get out a little more beyond the Triangle this summer,maybe to the beach, maybe out to western, NC a little.  We'll see.

Meantime, we've added Robbie Girardin to our lineup.  He'll be manning the drum slot, with Bongo moving over to, well, bongos and other such percussive stuff and assorted electronic weirdnesses.  Our experience with two percussionists at the Kimock gig gave us an idea of what that configuration might bring and we liked it a bunch.  Robbie's got a nice musical pedigree, most recently having played with Rob Watson in the bizarrely wonderful Oblivious Action Figures. 

And speaking of the Kimock gig, there are two fine recordings of that show on the archive at:

http://www.archive.org/details/mnr2007-02-25.miller_matrix
and
http://www.archive.org/details/mnr2007-02-25.sbeok.flac16

We also finally got around to dubbing the Miller matrix audio over the video that was shot there that night.  The video of the entire show is now available at http://video.google.com.  Just search on "kimock" and "navigated" and all nine tracks ought to show up. 

We're just about finished authoring a hi-q DVD of the Kimock video with the Miller matrix audio dubbed in.  Also, we ought to have our promo disk ready for distribution at the June show.  Will include 5 tracks we recorded in the studio over the last few months, with a nice mix of 'songs' and the usual fruity instrumentals. 

Happy New Years everyone!  Speaking for myself, I am hoping for some very fun things music wise, and I think I won't be disappointed.  As for the Robots, it has been an extremeley rewarding experience for myself, and I think the rest of the guys are really touching on something they hadn't felt in a while either.  So for 2007, we really hope to connect with you at some point.

That said, we have posted new tracks.  Although Funky Monkey, Spliff Factory, and Abacus have been on the site previously, these are new tracks and are done in Bongo John's studio as a multitrack session.  We got to make sure we have these songs to a reasonable extent and they will be part of a demo we will use to get out name out and all.  I think they sound great and are a good listen should you be so inclined, and it does remain to be seen whether it is just the first couple of tracks for an upcoming CD.

That said, we should have t-shirts soon!  I am completely stoked about this, Hillary Ucciardi has hooked us up with some great artwork that was too good not to make into a shirt, so we pulled the trigger on it.  For a limited time, you can get these shirts for 10 bucks by contacting us on this site.  Sizes are S-M-L-XL and XXL.

But from there, we'll have to see where the road takes us.  We have some new tunes that I totally didn't expect and really just sound cool as nuts, but hey, I thought that about the earlier tunes as well!  So, with that said........do long division.........

Leo

http://www.archive.org/details/mnr2006-10-09.flac16

Hey Everybody, Mike B here.  With many thanks to Dave Maley, the 10/9 Pour House Music Hall show is now available on the archive. Dave apparently opted not to allow for lossy derivatives (some tapers are fussy that way. LOL), so it's available only in flac format. Nevertheless, a very good quality audience recording. I really really like how loud he made the guitar!!

I, myself, am not so fussy about lossless, at least not during the work day, so here is a nice stereo vbr mp3 of the first tune, the inevitable "Funky Monkey":

http://triplefret.com/mp3/funkymonkey.mp3

*************************************
Monkey Navigated Robots - 10/9/06
The Pour House - Raleigh, NC

Disk 1:
1. Funky Monkey
2. Abacus
3. Aquafresh
4. Everybody's Africa ->
5. Highlife Reprise
6. Spliff Factory
7. Cole's Law
8. Hashish For Breakfast
9. Blubop

So, we had our first gig at the Pour House on August 9th, well...the only gig probably for a little bit but rest assured its cause we are working on material.  Anyways......

It went incredibly well considering all things, and we were able to get a couple of things after the fact as well. 

First, I met Richard Cox who takes great pictures.  You can see them here.  http://richardfcox.smugmug.com/gallery/1759181  .  In addition, I had a link to some pics THAT NIGHT, and that is just out of hand.  Richard, you rock.

Second, my man in englewood set up some recording device (there was another taper, not sure where that is) and captured the show, and it sounds freakin awesome.  http://www.archive.org/details/mnr2006-08-09.stage.flac16

And finally, we got a little review for that night, and they were EXTREMELY kind to us, so got to share that and some pics from it as well.  http://liveaudiomag.com/mnr.html

Well, that is about it so enjoy.  We'll see you soon with more of our own brand of infernal toodling.  RAWK.

So, this project is our lame attempt at sounding like Garaj Mahal jr.  Kinda.  Anyways, John Metcalf has been jamming in the area for like ever, Hank hails from Rock Hill/Charlotte area and migrated this way for the band Barefoot Manner.  Mike Babyak is a professor at Duke University (that's right) and has also been playing for like ever, and Leo is kind of a bass whore, just cause there seems to be a guy always needing a bass player.

Mike Babyak leads Mike Babyak's Triple Fret, an outstanding and diverse blues/rock/ funk act in the RTP area.  Hank and Leo are playing in Barefoot Manner, so that is how they met.  John Metcalf has been playing with Zegg and just about everyone one else (Jason Adamo and Rebecca Lynn and a few who are using his services), while all the time creating a PLETHORA of original ideas, some incredibly mind blowing and others just not fit for humankind.

Anyways, it seemed fitting to try and jam together, and we dig it.  So, we'll see what happens.  I would say, at least through August we'll be posting practice/ demo sessions to figure out what the game plan is.  Past that, these freakin monkeys might get a mind of their own!