Interview With Monkey Intrusion Frontman Vincenzo Reina
- Samuel Stevens
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
How would you describe your music to any person who may have never heard it before?
Vincenzo: Well, I would say passionate, striking and authentic.
What's the significance of your band's name?
Vincenzo: It’s a funny story. I was travelling in Singapore in the peninsula of Rasa Sentosa, and in the room of my hotel, I found on the window the warning: "Due to monkey intrusion, please keep the balcony door locked at all times." At that time, we were just forming the band, and we were all enthusiastic about the name Monkey Intrusion, the crazy ape that intrudes into your mind to set your wild side free.
What are your musical influences?
Vincenzo: We have a rather mixed musical background. Marco Plesnicar (bass) and I (Vincenzo Reina, guitar and voice) grew up with prog and British rock like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Dire Straits, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. Enrico Goti (voice and guitar) and Marco Bertoli (drums) listened to lot of grunge and metal, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains, Dream Theater and Megadeth. On top of that, our singer Sara Cova loves music from Argentina and Norway.
What are your musical inspirations?
Vincenzo: There are many, and for all of us, because practically we are all five composers. I start generally from the sound that generates the guitar, it can be a particular chord or a sound that suddenly resonates with a state of mind. Then the rest unfolds either quite naturally, or I look for a harmonic and rhythmic progression that moves my emotion,s thinking about a real or imaginary personal situation. If given the chance, what musician(s) would you like to collaborate with? Rather this is to either write a song or be featured on a track.
Vincenzo: Dave Grohl is one of the still-performing artist that we like the most, because of his infinite love towards rock music and its roots. Having him playing guitar, drums or singing a vocal part would be amazing.
What's the album about?
Vincenzo: Pussycats and Monkeymen collects the thirteen of the best songs we have written so far. The songs speak about the universe of emotions arising from personal experiences and dystopic scenarios at the border between reality and imagination. The tracks are very different from each other. For example "Ouverture" opens the album with a musical summary of the tracks; the hallucinated musical short story "Cicuta Weston" throws you in a Philip K. Dick imaginary; the syncopated rhythm of "Off Beat" invites you to find ourself again; "Lady Death" is desperate and rough; "Rio Portrait" is a bitter-sweet ballad which turns in an unexpected fierceness and returns to quietness; the 7:35 long mesmerizing track "Revolution" closes the album.
What's something you hope people take away from the new songs on the album?
Vincenzo: Emotions, whatever they are: joy, melancholy, amazement. In any case, a positive energy. All that is expected from a good rock album.
Which songs on the album were the most fun to write and which were the most challenging to write?
Vincenzo: "Dogs are eating my legs" has a funny story and was written in hours. One afternoon, I brought to Marco P. a chorus with odd lyrics, and Marco had the chords of a verse that were looking for a chorus. And they incredibly matched immediately. Writing the complete lyrics, about a man lost in his mental journeys, came very spontaneously. ‘Bad Love’ was very challenging indeed. After having completed the main part of the song, that already followed a slow process to get to the point we were satisfied, we wanted the song to continue with a drum crescendo and a voice solo. In studio we realized it was far too long and Marco P. invented a recited part that positively upset the song and introduced seamlessly the voice solo of Sara.
What did you allow yourself to do creatively for this song that you haven’t in the past?
Vincenzo: We strive to never have creative barriers, and when someone in the band says ‘this is not Monkey…’ or ‘we cannot go in this direction…’ even more so, we explore that path. We are also very picky in trying to dig into unusual ways to develop our musical ideas. I think this is the lesson of prog and grunge, which undoubtedly influences us.
Do you have any favourite song(s) off the new album?
Vincenzo: I think we all would all agree on "Bad Love," the most challenging one.
Any habits, environments or even non- musical sources that help you reconnect with your creativity?
Vincenzo: A good beer or a glass of wine indeed, but the most important thing is to be all in a good mood. If for someone it is not the good day, we just stop and try to get him back in a good mood. We think the music business can also be tough, but having fun and helping each other should always be at the core of being a rock band.
Do you have any favourite songs to perform live? Could be your own music or even a cover. Any reason why?
Vincenzo: My favourite song to play live is ‘The brighter side’. It is the most energetic one, is quite varied, has amazing rhythmic and guitar parts and great backing vocals with three different voices.
If you could perform a show this very second anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Vincenzo: Rio de Janeiro. We were very pleased to discover that our music is appreciated in South America e.g. Brasil, Mexico, Colombia. Playing a gig open-air in Rio would be fantastic.
Is there any particular venue(s) or city/cities that comes to mind?
Vincenzo: If we are talking about a particular venue, it would be the CBGB in New York. It is legendary, and so many rock bands have contributed to build this legend by playing incredible concerts there.
What do you currently have planned for the remainder of the year?
Vincenzo: Play live as much as we can and continue to write songs for the new album. We are on a good path, and the new tunes we have so far are powerful. We love them.
If your music was a type of food, what would it be and why?
Vincenzo: Delicious barbecue meat with a lot of aubergines, peppers and all kind of dips.
What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you while performing?
Vincenzo: Before playing "Dogs are eating my legs" open air, I greeted my dog, who was present in the crowd, and he jumped happily, proud to be at the center of the scene.
What's the most random thing that has ever inspired you to write a song?
Vincenzo: I was fidgeting with my daughter’s toy, a cylinder with the picture of the head, body and legs of three animals that you can combine to form weird creatures. It led me to the idea of the "Animal Twister," a villainous character who tries to manipulate you in every possible way. By the way, he was a real person I have had the misfortune to meet.
What's the most useless talent you have and would you incorporate it into your music if you could?
Vincenzo: I have a strong talent for nonsense. A bit more of dadaism in our music could help indeed.
Thanks for the time today, Vincenzo. Is there anything else you may want to add that I didn't cover before you go?
Vincenzo: Listen to our album Pussycats and Monkeymen. We hope you enjoy it! Thank you very much for the interview.
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