I recently had a great talk with Drew Holloway of Recess Monkey about their kindie career and how they got to where they are today sonically. How once upon a time they were just three school teachers recording in a school. That he and Daron Henry would play guitar and drums and Jack Forman would record them. Then when they (Daron and Drew) got done recording the guitar and drums Jack would record his bass while the other two plotted out the next song. No fancy studio for them as they recorded in the classrooms they taught in. It was a very sophisticated way of making a CD. Just three guys playing three instruments making good music. A long way from the band that’s playing with the Seattle Symphony on May 17th! This is as far as I had gotten in this article
about the growth of the Recess Monkey. Especially in the world of music production. I’d love to tell you about the many other cool things about Recess Monkey. But it seems the notebook I recorded my notes in has disappeared. In my house! It may be under my son’s bed or being used as a diary by my daughter. Perhaps the wife’s been jotting down grocery lists. I’m not sure. If I had it I’d tell you about their awesome experience recording with Dean Jones (Most mentioned guy on this blog. Due for an interview.) on In Tents. Perhaps we’d discuss the addition of Korum Bischoff after long time drummer Daron Henry left the band. (They have a drummer coming out party on the song Fish Sticks on last year’s Deep Sea Diver. It is a truly amazing piece of drumming.) Then I’d make mention of the fact that Deep Sea Diver and Desert Island Disc were originally one CD that grew into two because of the plethora of songs. Talk about the heavy Brian Wilson vibe on Desert Island Disc. That their upcoming disc was recorded with their musical hero John Vanderslice and that after Drew packed up all the Recess Monkey instruments into the minivan, drove them to the Tiny 
Telephone Recording in San Francisco he ended up using just a mandolin. That John recorded the upcoming CD all on two inch tape. TWO INCH TAPE!!! On a Neve no less. Why you ask is that so impressive? Tape is a finite analog recording experience unlike digital. Once you get the right take you erase the rest to use the tape again. So when you’re in the recording room you better be damn ready to record the song (Watch the documentary Sound City to get the scope of why recording on 2 inch tape and a Neve is so impressive.) Those are the things I would probably talk about. Did I mention that Drew is still teaching, Korum has around 3 jobs including Drum Teacher and Director of Events and oh yeah… Jack Forman. The bass player, song writer, original engineer and now the late afternoon host on Kids Place Live (We’re big fans of Jack and the Monkey House listening most days in our car). These are things I would discuss if I could find my note book. Wherever it is. What I did come away with from my conversation with Drew is the idea that a band becomes greater than its pieces. That new recording experiences whether with Dean Jones, Johnny Bregar, Tor Hyams or John Vanderslice help fuel the way to more music and keep it interesting for the band. In the beginning they recorded everything they wrote and then learned to write more and record just the cream of their writing. They’re still having fun and still writing, playing and grooving out with audiences coast to coast. Maybe I’ll find that notebook. Would of been a heck of an article. Now go support a kindie artist today! I leave you with my kids favorite Monkey video. Self produced of course…
Congrats to Jack Forman and family on the arrival of the new Baby! May she and mom be healthy and you all get lots of rest!
Poochamungas 