Ben Graupner of 100 Monkeys – Interview!

June 24th, 2010 | Posted by Nezi

Ben Graupner - 100 Monkeys

Ben Graupner talks to Entertainment Alley

This past Monday, I had the pleasure of talking with Ben Graupner of the band 100 Monkeys. If you haven’t figured out I’m a fan of this band by now, then clearly you haven’t been to this site very much! One shouldn’t categorize their music, because they have rock songs, pop songs, blues songs and at least one country song so far. 100 Monkeys is not typical of any music that’s out on the radio right now, which to me is quite refreshing.

Ben Graupner, Ben Johnson, Jackson Rathbone, Jerad Anderson and Uncle Larry make up the band. And if you see them live, you will see each of the younger guys switching around on all the instruments between each song. They call it the “monkey switcheroo” and it serves to add an interesting element to an already fun show. So when they start back their ’100 City Tour,’ head out to see them, but only if you want to see a high-energy, rockin’, fun show!

!!I have included audio of Ben’s answers and a transcript of the questions and answers. Please do not take my audio to post elsewhere, just link back to my site if you want to share with other fans! Thanks!!

Nezi:: Are the upcoming dates in July and August part of the ’100 City Tour’?

(My apologies that the audio is messed up in the first clip, our connection was bad.)

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Ben G: No, this two week tour that we’re going out on is (bad connection)..by recording the shows on the 100 City Tour. So this is just a short one, and then we’re gonna go back and launch the first half of the album. Then we’re gonna come back and we’re gonna start touring again on the ’100 City Tour’ after the Spencer Bell Legacy Concert in August, later this fall.

Nezi: Do you feel like the ’100 City Tour’ has been a success so far?

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Ben G: Yeah, it’s been a huge success so far and we can’t wait to get back out. We’re about 60 shows into the tour so we’ve got about 40 left and we’re already kind of, we’re sad that the tour is going to be coming to an end. But we’ve already got plans for our next tour to start up. But this has been just incredible getting to go around and see so many different people, and so many different places, playing all these shows. And you know, everything from bowling alleys to little, tiny hole-in-the-wall bars to big 600-700 seat venues – it’s just been a total grab bag.

Nezi: Did you have any shows that were ‘stand-outs’ on the tour?

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Ben G: Whenever, you know, we’ve been listening back to all the different recordings, because we’ve been tracking the shows to make the “Live & Kicking” album, and it’s interesting how some shows – like I remember Chapel Hill, North Carolina was a, just a really energetic show – the bar was packed, there were tons of people there and everyone was just, it was just one of those shows, it was just fueled. And then we went back and listened to it and it was so interesting because it didn’t sound on the recording nearly as energetic as it did right there in that moment in the bar, which is interesting. So the shows that we’re winding up keeping recordings of, and the shows that were what we felt like were the best shows don’t match up. So it’s interesting how much of a matter of perspective it all is, at least from our point of view. It’s probably much different when you’re out in the audience. Birmingham, Alabama was another show that was really, um, really exciting and just a great show. We played at the Workplay Theater there.

Nezi: So you guys will be hitting the cities you missed on the first part of the 100 City Tour after August?

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Ben G: Yeah, I believe it’s August 26 or something or 28th is the Spencer Bell Legacy in Detroit, so we’re gonna go out there and then make our way back to L.A. and then we’ll probably be announcing new tour dates around then. There’s a bunch of cities we’re gonna go back and hit ‘em, and bunch of cities that we missed on the first half. And some of them don’t even have a place that’s got a large enough PA and a large enough bar for us to perform, in some of the cities on that list. Which is why we’re going to be looking forward to doing sort of smaller – I forget where it was, it wasn’t Chapel Hill, um Richmond, Virginia where we played in a bowling alley – um, which was really great. So we’re looking forward to doing shows and sort of use more creative kind of venues along the cities that we’ve missed so far.

Nezi: When you guys are out on the road – and you don’t use a big, fancy tour bus, just a van and the little square car (made him laugh! ha!) and then with sharing hotel rooms – are there times when you just want to be alone? Where you’re like, OK, I’m going for a walk, leave me alone?

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Ben G: Well, you definitely don’t get a lot of alone time. That’s not part of the deal. Although I personally feel the opposite way, you know. I’m a people person, you know. I find it hard to work when I’m in a room and there’s no one in there, you know. I think a lot of us are that way.

Nezi: Well I guess that works out since you’re in that situation all the time on tour!

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Ben G: You know it’s interesting because most of the time when we end up at the hotel at the end of the night, we all wind up hanging out in the same room anyway. You know, you wind up renting four or five hotel rooms, so everyone’s got a place to sleep, including the crew and everything – and then, ya know, we all wind up down in one, partying and standing there elbow-to-elbow, hanging out and talking to each other. Yeah, we’re a really tight-knit group.

Nezi: Now you guys just finished some recording when you got back from the first half of the tour, right?

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Ben G: Yep, we recorded two singles, “Kolpix,” which you know was posted on the 10th of this month, and then another single “Future Radio” that’s gonna be posted on the 7th of July. Yeah, and then the first half of the live album is coming up. And our full studio album is gonna be announced probably in November of this year. So that’ll be coming in, probably towards the end of the 100 City Tour we’ll be announcing the next studio album.

Nezi: Will Shy Water be on that one? Thought I had read that somewhere?

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Ben G: You know, we’ve got a giant treasure map, which we write all our songs on, and the list for the untitled album that’s coming up is really long. There’s a whole bunch of new songs on there. So we aren’t sure what is, we can’t make any promises. Shy Water is definitely on that list of songs to go on it. But we’re really striving this time to create an album that’s really cohesive and moves and has a lot of elements and a kind of story that takes all these songs and puts them together into one much larger piece that’s kind of got a narrative to it. So we’re gonna record all these songs and lay them down and shuffle the pieces together and find exactly how they’re gonna have to lay for the album.

Nezi: So there will be some new songs and some songs that we’re familiar with probably then?

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Ben G: Yeah, definitely. There, I mean, there could be songs all the way back from Monster De Lux that we might re-record and put on there. And there will also probably be some songs that no one’s ever heard before on there.

Nezi: So when will we know who is going to be in Detroit in August? When we show up and see you standing there smiling, is that when we’ll know? We know some of you have other obligations.

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Ben G: You know, it just might be. Um, you know, we can’t make any promises for who is and who isn’t gonna be able to make it to the Legacy concert. But it is definitely going to be a hit, that’s for sure.

Nezi: Obviously the Spencer Bell Legacy shows mean a lot to you guys. What does it mean to you that the shows sell out so quickly, knowing that people want to show up and celebrate Spencer’s life with you all?

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Ben G: Well, that’s exactly what we hoped would happen. Because yeah, the goal that I’ve got in my heart is for everyone in the world to be able to hear one or two of Spencer’s songs and to be able to connect with his artwork. And the fact that people receive it so well and that “Brain” has been so well received, his most recent album that came out, you know, just makes me certain that we can keep doing this. It’s gonna take off and people are gonna get the most out of the artwork that he created during his lifetime, which was why he created it. He wanted people to see it and he wanted people to be affected by it. So things like the Trees show down in Dallas are exactly what you want to have happen. You know, it’s like a dream come true.

Ben talks about Spencer Bell’s latest album, “Brain”:

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Ben G: Yeah, you’ve gotta order it or you can listen to it on the Spencer Bell Legacy website. That’s the newest album that Ben Johnson produced and it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s got some tracks of his that haven’t been released to the public yet. We’re covering a couple of tracks off of “Brain”, we’ll be doing those on the upcoming tour dates and stuff.

Nezi: There have been many musicians over the years take a darker path, clearly nobody ever wants to see that. Are you guys conscious of taking care of yourselves? Sure there are times for having fun, but do you keep each other in line? Do you guys feel like you are positive influences on each other?

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Ben G: Yeah, we definitely, we try to take care of ourselves as much as possible. I think Uncle Larry is probably the most positive influence on all of us. He’s got a little age and wisdom on all of us together. Jerad’s a bit of health nut too, so. And then the other thing is travelling safe. I think half – 50% of musicians die getting to a gig, ya know. That’s just the way it is. It’s dangerous to travel, it’s dangerous to be in cars and airplanes. And so we make sure to drive as safely as possible. And you know, if there’s snow or bad weather, it’s something, we always – we hate to cancel a gig and we’d do anything to get there but we’re never gonna put ourselves or especially other people on the road in jeopardy. I mean it’s crazy the things we’ve already seen driving around.

Nezi: I think I remember reading about you guys being behind a drunk driver when you were leaving Chicago.

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Ben G: Oh yeah, we saw a crazy guy drive off the road, we saw another guy smash into a semi. We saw a semi went across the road and jumped over the median and hit a car and another semi. We’ve seen so many things. Our trailer, the rear axle overheated and the wheels broke apart. It’s just a matter of odds, you know, the more you travel, the more the things are gonna happen.

Nezi: If you could have any musician or singer come over to your house to jam with you – just hanging out in the living room playing music, who would you choose?

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Ben G:
Yeah, there’s one person who we got a shoutout from on Nardwuar and who I’m really looking forward to doing a cover of some of his music soon and yeah, hopefully someday meeting him is Daniel Johnston. Who, if you’re ever heard of him, he’s a pretty fantastic singer-songwriter from Texas. You should go listen to his music and watch his documentary, The Devil Vs. Daniel Johnston.

Nezi: Well, that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Ben!

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Ben G: Yeah, thanks for talking to me too. And look forward to ‘Live & Kicking Part 1′, which will come out on the 20th(July) and then the tour, which is gonna kick off in Saint Rocke. And also people should know the Saint Rocke show is gonna be broadcast on a live stream. Yeah, so it’s gonna be the same deal. And we’re also gonna be celebrating the release of ‘Live & Kicking’, so it’s gonna be a bit of a special show. It’ll be available for digital download on the 19th. It’ll be on iTunes and Rhapsody and all those other guys. Then the CD’s will be available on the 20th and we’ll be selling them at the show on the 21st. And it’ll be at different independent record stores around the country. We’ll have a list of those up on 100monkeysmusic.com and of course, you can order them from the Monkey Mart. Yeah, it’s gonna be a really cool album. We’ve been working on it day and night.

- – -

Well there you go, 100 Monkeys fans! Huge thank you to Ben Graupner for taking the time to chat with me! And now we know to be expecting the single “Future Radio” on July 7, the first part of the ‘Live & Kicking’ live album on July 20, the continuation of the ’100 City Tour’ after the Spencer Bell show in August and a studio album later this year sometime!

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Comments

  1. Air says:
    June 24, 2010 at 11:46 am

    Fantastic interview, Nezi! Great job!

  2. shannonh08 says:
    June 24, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    Awesome interview! If you haven’t seen these guys live….DO IT! They are amazing!!!!

  3. Twitted by kerrymannah says:
    June 24, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    [...] This post was Twitted by kerrymannah [...]

  4. LC says:
    June 24, 2010 at 1:36 pm

    Great Interview Nezi, Thanks!

  5. Melissa says:
    June 24, 2010 at 1:43 pm

    Great interview! I’m gonna post a link to this on my blog =)

  6. Scooby Lady says:
    June 24, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    Nezi,

    Thanks for sharing the interview, it was so nice of Ben to chat with you and stuff. Darn, I had really hoped that Invivisble Monsters will be the next single to be released on July 7th, lol- oh well, I’m sure we will love any song they release. Ooh, I can’t wait for the Live album on July 20th, I’m sure it is going to be great, but I’m also looking forward to their studio album release too, hopefully it will be released during my birthday in November. If it is released during November that is, the boys always seem to change their minds. I’m looking forward for their 100 city tour to start again in late August, I hope they stop by Texas again, hopefully San Antonio and Austin. I would love to see them perform. Its been months since I last saw them. :)

  7. Jessica says:
    June 24, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    Thank you! Great questions and he did such a good job of providing in-depth answers instead of just “yes,” or “no.” All-around excellent monkeyjunkie fuel until we can get our hands (or ipods) on the album in a few weeks! =)

  8. Tweets that mention Ben Graupner of 100 Monkeys – Interview! | Entertainment Alley -- Topsy.com says:
    June 24, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kerry Mannah, Monkeys Aholics, HopeRathbone, Greenbone, Iris and others. Iris said: A new and extensive interview with Ben G! Thanks to @MiraTL for the link. http://bit.ly/djFlro @100MonkeysMusic [...]

  9. SaraSublime27 says:
    June 24, 2010 at 3:36 pm

    Wow, great interview. It’s nice to hear the band from different perspectives. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Jackson, but I like to hear from the other guys, too! Great job. :]

  10. Tweets that mention http://entertainmentalley.com/2010/06/24/ben-graupner-100-monkeys-interview/#more-583?utm_source=pingback -- Topsy.com says:
    June 24, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by . said: [...]

  11. SheliLC says:
    June 24, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    Thanks for the interview!! Ben is such an awesome musician and businessman. Saw 100 Monkeys in the bowling alley in Richmond…it was so much fun!!

  12. Ben Graupner interviewed by Entertainment Alley | Monkey Effect says:
    June 25, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    [...] 26th June 2010 Posted by fox View all entries filed under Monkey press   ShareThe crew at Entertainment Alley recently interviewed Ben Graupner of 100 [...]

  13. JoJo says:
    June 25, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Great interview! I liked the questions that you asked, you had a nice variety there:)

  14. Spencer Bell Legacy Europe » An interview with Ben Graupner says:
    July 1, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    [...] Thanks to Nezi for authorising us to publish this extract. For more of the interview, go there: -> http://entertainmentalley.com/2010/06/24/ben-graupner-100-monkeys-interview/ [...]

  15. New 100 Monkeys Single! Future Radio | Entertainment Alley says:
    July 12, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    [...] If you missed my recent interview with Ben Graupner of 100 Monkeys, check that out HERE. [...]

  16. heidi says:
    December 3, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Petitioning to get Jerad’s band 100 Monkeys on Breaking Dawn 2 soundtrack

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