March BEAT

"STREET BEAT"

Local Band Spotlight On: MONKEY COCKTAIL

by Ernie Thomas

        The last year and a half has seen a lot of change for Highland
native, Jack Adams and his vigilant band of musical compadres – bassist Shawn
Farrell, guitarist Joey Miroballi and drummer Bobby Shaw.

    Once known as Dying Breed, the group were making noise in the right
industry circles and had created a strong selling CD of original music that
was on the cusp of enjoying national release. All in a relatively short time.

    A trademark issue concerning their name came along just at that most
inopportune moment and things seemed to start unraveling for the group.
“Seemed” is the operative word here, according to Adams.

    “Sidetracked,” says the frontman, vocalist and lyricist, “is the word I
would use for what happened to this band. We never gave up or quit being a
band, we just had to shift gears from our original plans a bit.”

     Along with a switch in names, came an assortment of personal changes for
the guys who comprised the band.

   Three of them got married, a fourth member left the group and a new member
was added to the fold.

   “Yeah, I guess there has been a lot of change,” agreed Adams, whose
marriage this past September took the charismatic frontman off the area’s
most eligible bachelors list. “But all of those changes, on both a
professional and personal level, have really strengthened us.”

    Now called Monkey Cocktail, a name inspired by a rather disturbing visual
that Adams encountered on the internet, the hard-rockin’ quartet is ready to
once again go for the gold...as in gold records!

    “In the last few months, we have gotten are so pumped up again that it’s
scary,” said the singer. “We are booking shows like crazy all over the
Midwest. In late 2000, Monkey Cocktail began booking shows in several venues
scattered throughout Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

    “We are starting to book in gradually widening geographic circles, said
Adams. Such was the method Adams used while fronting his former band, Sgt.
Roxx, back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. “We are determined to keep
building this band up and staying focused on the big picture,” said Adams.


    Even the loss this past summer of longtime guitarist/songwriter David
Carl in the midst of the band’s reorganization attempts, did not deter the
others.

    “We went from a five-piece to a four-piece,” said Adams, who now plays
second guitar to help fill any holes in the sound.   There are no plans at
present to replace Carl with a new member. “Joey is a strong guitar player
and has done a great job stepping up to the task. And with me playing again,
it’s all good baby!”

     The group had been recording new songs when Carl left to pursue other
interests. “Our intent had been to re-release the Dying Breed CD, First
Light, with five additional new songs, new artwork and a new title,”
explained Adams. “When David left, we decided against it, because he’d
written a lot of those new songs and with him no longer in the band our sound
was bound to change.”

     David brought a real pop feel to the band, according to Adams. “Since
he left, we’ve been writing a lot of new songs. They still have a lot of
hooks and melody, but they are much heavier and guitar-driven.” M.C. Tail,
as fans have come to call them, have also weaved several new covers into
their live show.

     Adams claims Monkey Cocktail will return to the recording studio in late
spring or early summer and that a very famous Chicago artist/producer may be
seated behind the studio sound console. “I’d tell you more, but I don’t
want to jinx anything,” he said.

     In the meantime, fans can keep updated on the progress of the band via
their newly reconstructed web site. It can be accessed at –
www.monkeycocktail.com – or at – www.mctail.com.