AVOCADO MONKEYS: MUSIC WITH PIZZAZZ
By J. Brock (FINN)
The Avocado Monkeys have been entertaining Falkland Islanders for some years now and it looks as if they will be a household name for years to come, although the age differences mean that they can’t be a unit at all times. They have just produced a CD with their music, as Mike Triggs (MT) explained to Lizz Elliot (LE) of FIBS. He began Thursday night’s interview by explaining who the band members are.
MT: Band members are Jay Moffatt, Noel Igao, Chris Didlick and myself. Jay went away to college last year and Chris went away a few months after that.
LE: What made you decide to do a recording?
MT: Over the years some of us have played in other bands and we have other recordings of those other bands. With the Avocado Monkeys, we never had a recording as such. I suggested this before last Christmas so we could be together and we took the recording equipment down to the Town Hall. We did a quick session and laid a couple of tracks down. And, if it was a clear enough recording, it was suggested we make a CD out of it.
LE: So it was recorded in the Town Hall?
MT: The initial recordings were done under the stage in the Town Hall.
LE: That puts a special touch on it, to think you have done something like that. Doing it in the Town Hall makes it a bit more special. What about Copyright? How did you get around that?
MT: It was a problem at first because we didn’t know how to go about getting permission to record someone else’s music. It was difficult to get a hold of the right people and it seemed like we were going around in circles for a few months. Eventually I had a lucky break and came across a newsletter that answered various questions about it. In this newsletter there was a German woman who was looking for something similar. I used the contact number they gave her and that’s when things progressed. A few weeks after e-mailing, I had an answer back, giving ne the phone number of the MCPS Database and I got all the information required.
LE: Did it go without a hitch?
MT: After that, there was no problem.
LE: We are talking about copyright so we are not talking about your original music.
MT: That’s right. With other people’s copyrighted material you’ve got to seek permission to be able to cover a song. But then there is a secondary copyright, if you want to alter anything in a song, you’ve got to have permission from the copyright owners and the original song writers.
LE: So, you can’t just change a bit here and there?
MT: Unfortunately not because that comes under “Derogatory Treatment of Music and you are liable for that.
LE: How long has it taken you to get to this stage in producing your CD?
MT: The first recordings were done towards the end of June last year before Jay went away. It took until early December before I actually managed to get all the contacts sorted out and applied for the clearance to change the music. For me it was a lot of form filling and laying down the music and what we were doing with it. Then we waited for them to come back and say they were happy with it. We had to sign an agreement handing the copyright of the changes over to the owners, so our alterations are acknowledged as being penned by the original writers.
LE: Tell us about the tracks. Why have you chosen these two tracks in particular?
MT: Personally, I like these ones because I am a Beatles fan. But there is a rock and roll song, which is suited to the older generation. The other track is more suited to the younger generation in that it has a heavy metal sound. That one is “I want to be Your Dog.”
LE: When are you expecting your first consignment here in the Islands for sale to the general public?
MT: The first consignment should be here on October’s boat.
LE: It should be a nice stocking filler as it will be here in time for Christmas.
MT: Most definitely! The sale price is £2.99 per disk
LE: It is a single - just the two tracks. Just looking at the cover here, I really like it. It’s Surf Bay with Cartoons on it. What was the idea behind this?
MT: I wanted something to represent both tracks that were on the CD. The first track, “Boys,” meant that I had cartoons of boys doing things on the beach at Surf Bay, with a silhouette of a lady walking her Poodle. The lady with the Poodle represents the second track, which is “I Want to be Your Dog.”
LE: Would you tell us a bit more about the pictures on the inside cover?
MT: I want to aim the CD also at the tourist market down here. I wanted them to have a reasonably priced souvenir to take away with them.
LE: There are some good old King Penguins on the back cover.
MT: That was taken at Volunteer Point.
FINN had the opportunity to listen to the music and found it tastefully done, with the right amount beat, tempo and pizzazz. Enjoy!
(100X Transcription Service)
