Monkey Puzzle (rock band)
Encyclopedia
Monkey Puzzle is a New Zealand
based high energy rock act that has performed and recorded since 1995. Monkey Puzzle has consisted of various lineups over the years, led by guitarist and lead vocalist Danny Rodda. Danny grew up on the Kapiti Coast 50 kilometres north of Wellington New Zealand and went to school with Karl Kippenberger
(Shihad
) and Ara Adams Tamatea (Katchafire
)
Over the years Monkey Puzzle have performed at many live events, including the Queenstown
Winter Festival, and were the opening act for the 1999 Creed
tour of New Zealand, Planet X New Zealand 2002, and Vodafone Xtreme Air 2002, 2003, 2004. Multiple tours of NZ and Australia saw the band sell over 35,000 albums over a 10 year period. After a few years off while Danny Rodda pursued other musical outlets, Monkey Puzzle returned to the world stage in late 2008 with a new album and tour.
Since 2005 Rodda has been playing with a side project called The Rascal Kings and as of January 2010 TRK has been his main musical outlet with 2 E.Ps and an Album already under their belt their output has already been quite prolific.
Over the years Rodda's music has been featured on over 30 X-Sports videos and compilation soundtracks, numerous TV shows and has received extensive airplay throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the USA. In 2000 the track "How 'Bout You?" also made it to the semifinals of the Channel V Australia Leg Up band contest, beating out over 15,000 entrants to make the top 100. The track still gets plenty of airplay and the video, which was infamously lost by New Zealand post for over 6 years, is finally getting airplay as of March 2008.
The band has released three EPs
, 5 albums and 1 DVD.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
based high energy rock act that has performed and recorded since 1995. Monkey Puzzle has consisted of various lineups over the years, led by guitarist and lead vocalist Danny Rodda. Danny grew up on the Kapiti Coast 50 kilometres north of Wellington New Zealand and went to school with Karl Kippenberger
Karl Kippenberger
Karl Brenton Jamie Kippenberger , grandson of Captain E.T Kippenberger, great nephew of Major-General Sir Howard Kippenberger, is the bass guitarist of the New Zealand band Shihad....
(Shihad
Shihad
Shihad is a New Zealand hard/alternative rock band, currently based in Melbourne, Australia. During Shihad's recording career, they have produced four number-one studio albums and three top-ten singles in their home country of New Zealand....
) and Ara Adams Tamatea (Katchafire
Katchafire
Katchafire is a New Zealand roots reggae band from Hamilton, New Zealand.Katchafire formed in 1997 as a Bob Marley tribute band and later began writing and performing their own songs...
)
Over the years Monkey Puzzle have performed at many live events, including the Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
Winter Festival, and were the opening act for the 1999 Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
tour of New Zealand, Planet X New Zealand 2002, and Vodafone Xtreme Air 2002, 2003, 2004. Multiple tours of NZ and Australia saw the band sell over 35,000 albums over a 10 year period. After a few years off while Danny Rodda pursued other musical outlets, Monkey Puzzle returned to the world stage in late 2008 with a new album and tour.
Since 2005 Rodda has been playing with a side project called The Rascal Kings and as of January 2010 TRK has been his main musical outlet with 2 E.Ps and an Album already under their belt their output has already been quite prolific.
Over the years Rodda's music has been featured on over 30 X-Sports videos and compilation soundtracks, numerous TV shows and has received extensive airplay throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the USA. In 2000 the track "How 'Bout You?" also made it to the semifinals of the Channel V Australia Leg Up band contest, beating out over 15,000 entrants to make the top 100. The track still gets plenty of airplay and the video, which was infamously lost by New Zealand post for over 6 years, is finally getting airplay as of March 2008.
The band has released three EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, 5 albums and 1 DVD.
Band members
- Danny Rodda - Guitar/Vocals
- Ryan Tregurtha - Drums
- Toby Mills - Keyboards
- Matt Whipps - Bass
- Ben Chapman - Drums
- Matt Swain - Drums (also see band OdESSA)
- Aaron Passmaore - Bass (Crumb)
- Tyson Hill - Bass
- Shane Ryan - Bass
- Scott Mead - Guitar
- Karl Johannsen - Drums
- Danny Ortiz - Guitar
- Jim Ware - Bass
- Adrian Win - Guitar
Discography
| Date of Release | Title | Label | Charted | Country | Catalog Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 1997 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy... |
Monkey Puzzle/Brubeck | Onefoot Records | - | - | |
| 1997 1997 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy... |
Cigarettes & Sourbears | Evolutionary Mistake | - | - | |
| 1998 1998 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia... |
Unequivacle Jones | Evolutionary Mistake | - | - | |
| 1999 1999 in music -Events:*January 7**After eight years of marriage, Rod Stewart and supermodel wife Rachel Hunter announce their separation.**Paul McCartney attends the first of his stepdaughter Heather's first housewares collection in Georgia.... |
Chew This | Evolutionary Mistake | - | - | |
| 2002 2002 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI... |
Turn Down The Shit Knob | Evolutionary Mistake | - | - | |