RedD Monkey Video Showcase (Part 2)

Following up from last month's showcase of videos from local/Toronto hardcore punk trio RedD Monkey (now that we're covering them fully on the SMS), here's our second all-video post covering their existing online videos! There could be more videos on other sites or not labelled under their name, but I'll address any I've missed in the future for sure! We're touching on two very different sources today, including an official channel with lots of 2011 live videos, and a pair of interviews from a Toronto web series at the turn of the 2010s, so read on below to see and find out more!

We'll start with an older official YouTube channel of RedD Monkey's, which features live videos from four different concerts during the band's Southern Ontario tour run in February 2011, though none of them were uploaded until this past December. The videos all appear to have been filmed on the same camera, with trial program watermarks sometimes visible, though they are small. The earliest videos come from their show in Ottawa at The Rainbow Bistro on February 21st, with one video featuring them playing "Lethargic Rampage", "Broken Parts" (which isn't on their first two CDs), and their cover of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades", while the other video features them covering One Day As A Lion's "Wild International" and playing their song "Zombie Epoch". Two other videos come from their show at The Spill in Peterborough the next day, one featuring just their cello rap number "Fo' Dozen Cookies" and the other featuring their "All Baroque" originals "Monkey's Paw (5th Wish of the Swamp Donkey)" and "Turbosledt 2027".

The other three videos come from their Toronto concert at Rancho Relaxo on February 23rd, and they include the guys playing "Friar's Ire" & "Bog", and "No Teeth & A Lazy Eye" & their cover of Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" (though the second half of that song is taken from a separate show at Norma Jean's in Tillsonburg from that same tour.) Embedded below though is five songs from their Toronto gig, including "The Attic", "Fight Skateboard With Fire!", "Losing Friends", "The Clock's Dement", and "The Jock Song", but click each link above to head straight to a specific track! Note that "Losing Friends" & "The Jock Song" are not on their first two albums, but "Losing Friends" was actually the second song of the video I shot at the Sewer Swampstravaganza last month, so I've since edited the title & info to reflect that (apologies for the omission!) It's great to see so many RedD Monkey videos online, which I believe captures their entire early-2011 setlist (albeit taken from different shows), though the watermarks and generally dark lighting can be an issue.

The sound's generally really solid, I like Steve Mozarowski's casual demeanor and occasional fake song titles, and the crowds tend to be active at these four gigs, so if you love RedD Monkey, you'd be well served to check these videos out! The five song video from the Toronto gig in February 2011 is featured below, so give it a look and see more at the above links, including some outdoor happenings outside of the Rancho Relaxo after the "Break Stuff" cover!

We'll close this post with a pair of interviews that RedD Monkey had with Hugh Reilly of the Toronto online talk show Liquid Lunch! There was at least one more from early 2009 with a different host, but I can't find it at present. The more recent one (which is embedded below) was filmed and uploaded to Blip.TV in March 2010, and they were the first interview subjects on this episode, though their segment doesn't begin until 9:45 in. Featuring then-drummer Kevin Overton in their lineup, the interview is actually held in between in-studio performances where they played songs from their then-upcoming EP "Thought Control Tower" (including "Fight Skateboard With Fire!", "Friar's Ire", and "No Teeth & A Lazy Eye") in an acoustic format, so this is definitely a unique way to hear these songs! The interview itself includes Hugh & co-host Stella Hunt asking about how they classify their sound, Pete Mozarowski's cello background, what they were doing in the Soo recently, their musical inspirations, how often the play acoustically, and info on their upcoming tour (which I believe was their last with this lineup.)

RedD Monkey's segment is 24 minutes long, and though there are some technical quirks (Pete's microphone gets very quiet later on), they seem relaxed and happy to talk about their music on air, and Hugh & Stella come across as genuinely invested in their material! The earlier interview (which came from an August 2009 installment of Liquid Lunch) can be seen at this location, and it includes three early MySpace copies of their original songs 7 minutes in, followed by an interview with Hugh and then-cohost Erin Ademoglu on how the band formed, their then-plans for the future, and how they got the band's name, while they also played a handful of early originals in between guests on the episode (again in an acoustic format.) The video quality is much lower on the earlier episode, but the audio sounds good, and it's great to see the guys get some early exposure! Check out the longer and higher quality 2010 interview below, but give the earlier video a look at the above links for more early RedD Monkey performances, and if I find the early 2009 video, I'll let you guys know!



Also, I apologize for early mentions of their 2009-2010 lineup being their original lineup. They played with drummer Christopher Langevin (source here) and an uncredited bassist briefly during their late 2000s infancy, with photos of this lineup available here, though little else for specific information remains online. We have one more RedD Monkey video to share on here, but for now, that's all for today, and stay tuned for this month's "Where Are The New Albums? post on the site tomorrow! Thanks everyone!