FunkeyMonkeys

about

FunkeyMonkeys is a delightful children's band in New York City, who record albums and play live shows. When Joshua Sitron first thought of the idea for FunkeyMonkeys in the year 2000, he was the composer and musical director for Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer. Seeing no possibility of putting on tights and performing on Dora (as it is a cartoon), and frustrated with the creative constraints and marketing agendas of big-time kids TV, he soon left the show to dedicate himself full-time to the monkeys. The debut album, FunkeyMonkeys!, was recorded in the Spring of 2001, and featured the vocal stylings of some of Broadway and TV's best child stars. It's Boots the monkey (a.k.a Harrison Chad) of Dora the Explorer who intones the album's opening call: "All right FunkeyMonkeys! Are you ready". Released in the fall of 2001, FunkeyMonkeys! was received with wild enthusiasism by 3-year olds and 50-year olds alike. Soon after, Josh began getting requests to hire the 'monkeys' to play live. He had to explain that the 'monkeys' were a studio creation and there was actually no 'band' per se, as he played all the instruments on the record, and the 7 kids and one adult vocalist were recorded at separate times, in separate studios. Tired of having no real-life monkeys to play with onstage, Josh decided to find some. While working on the demo for the album Jewish FunkeyMonkeys, Josh met Carey White, a teacher of music and violin at the Ramaz school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Her zan