Voodoo Monkey

Rated promised to publish our review of Mammal's album this week, however owing to the upcoming Battle of The Bands Final this Saturday, we are offering an insight on one of the Finalists - local band Voodoo Monkey.

Mammal will be delivered next week.　

Rated had the pleasure of meeting up with VM's frontman, James Culatto, in a funny discussion on names that could be associated with monkeys, we also asked some serious questions about the band. From their origins to their musical direction, James offered a very candid and sincere insight on their journey as a band so far, and of his excitement and disbelief on their opportunity to play the Finals of Battle of The Bands this coming Saturday 29th August. James is not new to the music scene in Gibraltar, and since he penned his first lyrics almost 8 years ago, he has since been songwriting and forming part of previous bands like "Sabotage''. But despite his past history with cover bands, James is currently intent on delivering original material instead, and this is the main focus of Voodoo Monkey today.

Voodoo Monkey are James Culatto on vocals, Charlie Moore - drums, Paul Santos - guitar, Justin Phillips - lead guitar, Richard Camilleri - bass.

Rated: What is the origin of your name?

James: This was ‘'off the cuff'' really, piecing random words together. Ive always like the word Voodoo, it's dark, interesting, not very mainstream. A friend suggested Monkey, and they go together well.

Rated: How would you class yourself in terms of genre?

James: I would say a mixture of punk, funk, classic rock, progressive and slightly industrial. I would class ourselves under the bracket of rock. Im also trying to get away from the whole grunge tag, which I've had because I'm an Alice in Chains fan, and my music seems to be labelled as having an Alice in Chains-esque sound, which, although they have been an influence, we sound nothing like them.

Rated: Who have been your major influences?

James: Not any one particular band, but from groups who produce catchy riffs and big choruses, I would have to say bands like Led Zeppellin, Pearl Jam, even Nine Inch Nails. From a vocal point of view I tend to draw from most of my favourite singers such as Mike Patton (Faith No More) and Phil Anselmo (Pantera/Down).

Rated: How long have you all known each other and how did you meet?

James: Me and Charlie have been friends for quite few years... for about 5 or 6 years now. But since this project began we have become really good friends and the bands been going for about 3 years now. Paul, Justin and Richard i've known them since before the Voodoo Monkey but became friends since each of them have joined the band.

Rated: When did you form the band?

James: The project started 3 years ago but the live side of it just over a year ago.

Rated: So what inspired you to make music together?

James: Well, I've been writing songs since I started playing guitar back in 2001. In past bands if we played originals I was the main lyricist, so once I learnt how to play guitar it kinda made sense to write my own stuff. In my previous bands we pretty much did covers only..... it just made sense eventually to find someone who wanted to work with me, which was Charlie.

Rated: ....and you approached the other band members or...?

James: Yes. Once we decided we were going to start a live band, we then approached them and asked them if they were happy playing our original material. Once they became a part of the band they then had a creative influence too.

Rated: So you recently recorded original material?

James: We released an EP last christmas which quickly sold out.

Rated: Any new ones?

James: Yea, originally we only released 5 tracks, but we have several more recorded and a few new ones that we want to go into the studio and record and then hopefully by christmas or just after, release the full length LP.

Rated: Good to hear, we are looking forward to it. Which venues have you performed at and your favourite being?

James: To be honest, because most places in Gib require bands to play covers we have mostly played at Rock On The Rock. Actually, Rock On The Rock is the ONLY venue in Gib where we can play our own material.

Rated: ...not even, say, Lord Nelson's?

James: Yes, we can but the majority has to be covers, and we really don't want to be doing that.

Rated: ....so amongst your originals, what covers are you likely to play?

James: We do stuff by Soundgarden, Pantera, Led Zeppelin...

Rated: ...Black Sabbath?

James: Yep, Black Sabbath, and guess what? We do some Alice in Chains as well (laughter) Oh well..... and we do some Michael Jackson too, we open up the set with an acoustic version of Dirty Diana or Billy Jean.

Rated: What's your favourite Voodoo tune when performing live?

James: My favourite one is probably ‘'The World'' (Rated starts singing it)

Rated: I like the fact that your vocals and the music seem to be on different notes on this song...?

James: I know what you're saying, it almost sounds as if the melody I'm singing sounds out of key....that's definitely my favourite song live.

Rated: Do you write all your own material?

James: Yea, about 90% of the originals.. Obviously now, its a combined effort between the whole band... which is great. They bring a lot more layers and have made the songs much bigger.

Rated: What's the main theme in your writing, and have your lyrics changed over time? Ive realised these are written on a first person basis...

James: Yes, there are other ones in third person but we haven't played them live yet. In terms of themes, some of the lyrics are being written from another person's perspective, about contemporary issues, problems friends of mine are experiencing.

Rated: ....so it's mostly topics people can relate to?

James: To an extent, yes. Personally I don't see any point in writing about topics that people cannot relate to. I'd rather they listen to my songs and be able to say ‘yeah, I know exactly what he's saying'

Rated: What are your rehearsals like?

James: We have a strict rehearsal schedule, but our main focus is making it enjoyable. Recently its been more about refining a set that flows rather than just throwing a collection of songs together.

Rated: Do you think your music has evolved since you first began playing together?

James: Definitely, yes. The level of songwriting has definitely improved. Not just on songwriting, but on how to better structure our songs....getting the best out of our creative sparks.

Rated: What has been your biggest challenge as a band?

James: Sticking to playing original material...and not jumping on the bandwagon of playing covers and getting more gigs. [Kudos to Voodoo Monkey]

Rated: .....and have you been able to overcome that challenge?

James: Yes.

Rated: Sometimes do you think is it easier to just say ‘I really want to play Casemates, lets just do covers?'...or do you make a point of not doing that?

James: I refuse to....I do enjoy going to Nelson's and jumping on stage with eg Area 52, doing 4 or 5 covers, and its great. I used to play in Nelson's quite regularly and I really enjoyed it...But, I've been doing covers since I was 16 years old, and you develop, as your singing and guitar playing will improve...but we all want to take this band as far as we can with our own material, whilst including a few covers, ones we really like. Our main focus is originals. It's a shame we can't play our own material on events such as Summer Nights or National Day because we seem to be classed as a heavy metal band because we just play at Rock on The Rock, and its a shame... Other bands from abroad get to play their own stuff so why shouldn't local bands get their chance too.

Rated: How do you see Voodoo Monkeys future?

James: The satisfaction of writing and playing our own material to people, enjoying the fact that we are just that little bit different and finding our identity within the local music scene. Hopefully discovering a wider audience.

Rated: Is there anyone you would like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

James: Definitely Alan and Gina Alman at Rock On The Rock for letting us play there so regularly over the past year. Also from ROTR Steven Belilo...... and everyone that comes to our gigs! Especially those who were cheering us on in Battle of the Bands when we got through to the finals, it was good celebrating with them.

Rated: So are you ready for it?

James: Oh yes, definitley!