Here's this month's Defunct Local Band Profile on The Sault Metal Scene! Our monthly spotlight feature on one or two disbanded or inactive local bands (one this month, all randomly selected) brings us to a prominent punk band from the early 2010s that definitely made some waves with their high energy and unique sound! Read on below for what you should know!
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RedD Monkey
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Hometown: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (previously Kelowna, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario)
Members: (Members not in their last full lineup in italics. This information is incomplete, particularly regarding the identity of their original bassist seen here. If you can confirm his identity, let us know!)
Steve Mozarowski (Smeltzer, Faceityoureametalband), vocals/guitar
Pete Mozarowski, cello
Joe Bumbacco (Theriac, The Fury), drums
Christopher Langevin (Dodge City Death Warrant), drums
Kevin Overton (Exploring Detritus, Smeltzer), drums
?????, bass
Audio/Video: RedD Monkey released three studio albums, including their 2010 debut EP "Thought Control Tower", their 2012 full length album "All Baroque", and their posthumous final EP "Opus 2: Untitled" in 2015. While no longer are in print, all can be streamed via their YouTube channel and/or Bandcamp page, though the former doesn't have "Opus 2" or "Dr. Fatty" from their first EP, and the latter doesn't have their One Day As A Lion cover from "All Baroque". A number of live videos from their run can be found on YouTube, most notably from the channels RedDMonkeyMusic, cammicam, and saultmetalscene, among others. Here's RedD Monkey live here in 2013!
Info/Analysis: Launching out in Kelowna back in 2009 (though they would move to Ontario not long after), RedD Monkey brought a unique brand of punk to fans that was reminiscent of frontman Steve Mozarowski's prior local band work, but the inclusion of his brother Pete on cello helped ensure that they stood out here & abroad until the band went on hiatus in 2014. Keeping a stable lineup aside from drummer changes & their initial quartet lineup upon their debut, RedD Monkey mounted multiple tour runs across the province and country, often in support of their first two CDs. Local fans will recognize them from such high profile gigs as December 2009's Algoma University Battle of the Bands (where they finished third), 2010's Rotaryfest Second Stage & Soo Zombie Walk afterparty, 2011's Clusterfolk festival, and the first three Swampstravaganzas. The band was last seen on a local stage in December 2013, though they played a one-off reunion show in Toronto in 2015, and Pete remains locally active in varying music projects.
A fan favourite attraction locally throughout the early 2010s, RedD Monkey built on prior Smeltzer success with a creative blend of classical cello instrumentation, alternative/punk rock, and even some rap, with the band's sound getting heavier and faster with age to boot! Steve was a commanding presence as usual on vocals and guitar, Pete's cello work was welcomed and unique, and they always had solid drummers with clear chemistry, particularly Joe in their later years. Hopefully we see RedD Monkey back in the future, but be sure to follow members' current projects here and abroad!
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I hope you guys liked this month's Defunct Local Band Profile! To end the year in this series, our random selection gave us a Sault Ontario project with not enough material to cover a full profile for the first time since March, so I've added a Sault Michigan profile to round things out, ending another 2-1-3-1-2-1 cycle for this series. As such, we'll be looking at defunct local punk band Oceania and Highway 63 guitarist Nathan Switzer's solo project next, so look for them on or around December 10th, and stay tuned for more news on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
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