Monkey Rope

about

Monkey Rope are a London-based rock band with a strong pop, soul, blues and funk influence. Our line-up includes two songwriting brothers, James and Dan McKean, on vocals and guitars, who hail from Oxford – where the band was originally formed, Ben Hooton (Bass) and Chris Philpot (Drums). We have been compared to artists as diverse as The Kinks, Marvin Gaye, The Libertines, Bauhaus, Willie Nelson, Love, The Brand New Heavies and Nick Cave, although we’re often puzzled by such comparisons! We do take inspiration from plenty of sources (both musical – classic soul, hip hop, blues, reggae and folk – and otherwise), but see ourselves as fitting into the lineage of (or aiming toward becoming one of the) classic, but forward-thinking, British rock bands; Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Clash, Smiths, Roses, Radiohead etc. In Oxford we played on the same bill as The A.M., who feature ex-members of Jeff Buckley’s band, Black Nielson and Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia. We also won Demo Of The Month in Nightshift, Oxford’s music magazine, with our first demo in 2003. We relocated to London in late 2004, armed with the ‘Nine Lives’ demo, which showcases three of the (many) strong songs we already have under our belts. Our current aim is to make a strong impact on the London music scene, through gigging and the internet. Thus far we’ve played most notably at The Metro, The Dublin Castle, The Bull and Gate, The 12 Bar Club and The Hope And Anchor. We recently finished our latest demo