Ninja Monkey

I Am Giant – 11/2/12

NinjaOwen — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:42:10 +0000

Tomorrow night, Saturday the 11th of February, we are playing at the Sideline Bar in Napier, opening for I Am Giant and Cairo Knife Fight.

This was all made possible by all the incredible supporters that voted for us on the I Am Giant Facebook competition to choose an opening band for them We ended up winning by around 30 votes. Thank you all for your votes!

We are on-stage at 8:30pm.

Details of the gig are here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/164421246993374

Shotgun Alley gig

NinjaOwen — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:10:28 +0000

Last Saturday we played a gig with Shotgun Alley and Alec Withers. What a great night! Shotgun Alley are an incredibly impressive live band, lots of energy and off-the-scales talent all round. Really looking forward to hearing their new album when it’s done

Check out their tour video for the Napier leg:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHIccOXYVok

If you like 80′s based rock music, then make sure you check these guys out next time they are in your town!

Good times in the recording studio

NinjaOwen — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:36:17 +0000

We are currently recording our second EP with the good people at Sister Lung Productions in Napier.

Paul was up first, recording drum tracks for all four songs in one day, a great effort! Then Cara layed down her bass tracks, followed by a couple of long days of Ben and Owen recording guitars. Nick at Sister Lung is busy putting a mix together so we can head back in and record all the vocals.

At this point, this is looking like being a real rock EP Lots and lots of big guitars and driving rhythms.

Here’s a few photos from the sessions so far:

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Update time!

NinjaOwen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:10:12 +0000

Hey everyone, happy new year! Just a little update on what we’ve got coming up in the next month or two!

This weekend we head back into the studio to start work on our second EP. We will be tracking drums for the four tracks this weekend, with our good friends Nick and Rui at Sister Lung Productions in Napier. Click tracks and muffins will be the theme of the weekend

Not too many gigs planned for the next little while, so we can focus on the recording, but there are a couple of things on the horizon:

On the 25th of February 2012 we are playing at the NZ International Tattoo Expo, at Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton. Check out www.tattooart.co.nz for more information. We are on-stage at 2pm on Saturday.
We are in the running to open for I Am Giant in Napier on the 11th of February 2012. To get this opportunity we need as many votes as possible on the poll they are running on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/pages/I-AM-GIANT/43730526195?sk=app_20678178440. So please give us a vote!!

Gig at Kazba, Napier – 17/12/11

NinjaOwen — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:37:58 +0000

This Saturday we are back at Kazba in Napier for our last gig of the year. Free entry, and the music starts around 9pm.

Gig at The Cabana in Napier – 9/12/11

NinjaOwen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:07:09 +0000

This Friday we will be playing at The Cabana in Napier, with our friends On The Verge.

Entry is just $5 and the doors open at 8pm. Music will start around 9pm.

Lots of gigs this weekend!

NinjaOwen — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:56:48 +0000

This weekend is going to be a big one in the land of Ninja Monkey! Four gigs in four days

Thursday night, we are playing at The Cabana in Napier as part of the Music Machine Muso Night. Six bands playing, for just $5. We are the guest band on the night, so will be playing for about 30 minutes. Included in our set will be two brand new songs.

On Friday we are heading down to Wellington to play at Medusa with Invader Cain, Kobosh and Killing Bear. Details here: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=295858857106677

Saturday night sees us back at The Cabana in Napier with Invader Cain, Alec Withers and SKAper. Facebook event here: www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157015171058347

Sunday we are playing at Kazba in Napier, after the NZ vs France RWC final. Last time we played there it was crazy times, and we are hoping for an even bigger night for the final

Times and dates:
Thursday 20th October – The Cabana, Napier – 8pm doors, $5 entry

Friday 21st October – Medusa, Wellington – 8pm doors, $5 entry

Saturday 22nd October – The Cabana, Napier – 8pm doors, $10 entry

Sunday 23rd October – Kazba, Napier – music starts after the RWC final (about 11pm), FREE ENTRY

Post-RWC gig at The Kazba

NinjaOwen — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:29:45 +0000

If ever there was a night that we all felt like rock stars, Sunday was it.

Here, in Napier, Canada played France in the World Cup and we were on the bill at Kazba to play afterward and help keep the party going! The night went a little like this (from Cara’s point of view in case you’re wondering):

The game ended and we start our set with a couple of covers, playing to a handful of people, and just doing our thing… next thing I know people are pouring in and before I could even register, the place was totally packed out and buzzing with excitement. We played for just over an hour and then had a little break. When I returned to my spot on stage, my mic stand had been adorned with a Canadian flag and later on, during our set, a lovely Canadian joined me on stage and draped me in my very own Canadian flag! He was quickly followed by a lovely French man who had me in a beret in no time. Owen ended up with a very pretty French girl draping a flag around his shoulders, as did Ben, and Paul ended up with a glorious red and white curly Canadian wig! I’m sure that there will be photos surfacing on Facebook of a crazy band from Napier looking like a hot mess!

There were so many great moments during that second set, but one that really sticks out was when we were sorting ourselves out in between songs and the French side started singing their anthem. Their voices swelled well above any other bar noise and the result was spine tingling! Of course, the Canadians wouldn’t let the Frenchies get away with that and, after we’d played our next song, two of the boys jumped up on stage and led their side in the Canadian national anthem and that was just as awesome.

The coolest part, though, was looking out to the crowd and seeing people rocking out to our original songs and singing along to the choruses after they picked them up! AMAZING! Ever After and These Eyes were particular crowd pleasers and we were so tight and together it made for a great ride!Afterward, I totally felt like a rockstar. I was nearly mobbed with people asking to have their photos taken with me and say how great the band was and how they loved NZ and everything else that they wanted to say in broken English! Drinks flew, I was wrapped in flags and one guy even took his French jersey off (it’s ok, he was still fully clothed!) and put it on me to have a photo in it! It was just plain good old fun.

It was a really late night (or early morning!) and none of us got home before 2:30am and all of us had to work on Monday. I was buzzing so much I couldn’t get to sleep and woke up feeling the same so couldn’t get back to sleep again! It was just incredible and so unexpected and just, well, amazing. I loved it. Every minute… let’s do that again soon!

An update!

NinjaOwen — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:21:14 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, it’s been hectic in Ninja Monkey land!

We’ve played some really fun gigs in the last few months! Opening for Devils Elbow, Sleeping Dogs and House Of Mountain, a benefit gig in Masterton and at The Kazba in Napier.

The Devil’s Elbow gig was great fun, with a really good turnout and amazing bands. But a bit of sadness that it was Valve’s last gig. Good luck to all the lads, it was great sharing the stage with you.

Our gig with Sleeping Dogs was very rock ‘n’ roll! The night ended out to be a lot of fun, and all the bands were on form and delivered superb performances. Unfortunately time was against us and A Beautiful Chaos did not get a chance to play, which was very disappointing as we are big fans of the band! Hopefully we can organise something soon to see them play.

Our gig in Masterton for the Jam For Lincoln was amazing! Great turnout, fantastic bands and really good people involved It was an honour to be asked to play for such a great cause. And the after-show shenanigans were top notch

We played a really fun gig at The Kazba in Napier on the 3rd of September. The first with our new guitarist Ben! Here’s some photos from the night:

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Our next gig is back at The Kazba, on the 18th of September. We are on right after the France vs Canada World Cup game, which is happening in Napier. Hope to see you there

Gig at the Kazba in Napier – 3/9/11

NinjaOwen — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:35:27 +0000

After a few weeks off, we are back into it next Saturday (the 3rd of September) at the Kazba in Napier. A mix of originals and covers will be the plan for the night! Music should be kicking off around 9:30 or 10pm and going to midnight

As the poster says, it’s FREE ENTRY, so get along and have a great night out with us!