THE FINAL FUNKTIER

Recess Monkey, Seattle’s nationally acclaimed trio of elementary school teachers, is preparing to embark on
a journey that’s out of this world! Launch countdown on a brand new album is commencing... fifteen songs
about outer space! Put on your Moon Boots and strap yourself in to your Booster Seat. It’s time for...
Full Name: Jack Forman
Occupation: Teacher, 1st & 2nd
Disposition: Excitable
Instruments: Bass, Voice & Keys
Hometown: Bloomington, IN
Playing music since age: 4
Favorite subject as kid: Math
Favorite subject to teach: Writing
Favorite fruit: Peach
Favorite vegetable: Broccoli
First album bought: Huey Lewis and
the News’ Sports
First rock show: Joan Jett
Full Name: Daron Henry
Occupation: Teacher, 2nd & 3rd
Disposition: Funny
Instruments: Drums & Percussion
Hometown: Jamestown, IN
Playing music since age: 10
Favorite subject as kid: History
Favorite subject to teach: Reading
Favorite fruit: Mango
Favorite vegetable: Rainbow Chard
First album bought: Kenny Rogers’
The Gambler
First rock show: Bryan Adams
Full Name: Andrew Holloway
Occupation: Teacher, Pre-K & K
Disposition: Charming
Instruments: Voice, Guitar & Keys
Hometown: King of Prussia, PA
Playing music since age: 3
Favorite subject as kid: Science
Favorite subject to teach: Reading
Favorite fruit: Bananas
Favorite vegetable: Asparagus
First album bought: Sha Na Na’s
Greatest Hits
First rock show: Sha Na Na
www.recessmonkey.com
PUBLIC RELATIONS:
ELIZABETH WALDMAN FRAZIER
130 Maywood Drive, San Francisco, CA 94127
Phone: 415.334.2787
Mobile: 415.203.0220
Fax: 415.334.2727
[email protected]
recess monkey
praise for
2009 in review: These kids’
songs are … awesome!
“There are bands you can’t go wrong
with, and this is one of them.”
The Best Kids’ CDs of the Decade
AOL ParentDish
With five great albums released in the past four years, this trio of Seattle
teachers has become a force to be reckoned with in children's music.
Kathy O’Connell, on NPR’s Morning Edition:
“A brilliant, multilayered concept album of stories and songs heavily
influenced by '60s rock. If Brian Wilson had written for kids, he would have
created ‘The Pool,’ a song of yearning for time to pass while waiting to jump
back in the water after lunch.”
MSN Mom & Pop Culture
“How many bands can say they've opened for the Dalai Lama? We know of one:
Recess Monkey, a trio of Seattle teachers that sounds a bit like a mix of Donovan
and the Beatles, and they have a wacky audacity that's hard not to love.
Comedy gold!”
2010 Notable Children’s Recording: Field Trip
“Recess Monkey, acclaimed children’s band from Seattle, takes children
on one amazing field trip with their catchy tunes with kid appeal, precisely
matching the alternative, rock and roll style of today’s music.”
#1 CD of the Year! Field Trip
Top 10 Children’s CDs of 2009
“The most congenial trio in kindie rock released its fifth and, to date, finest album
this year ... pure genius. Field Trip is, hands down, our favorite CD of 2009.”
My Favorite Kids and Family Albums of 2009
There's no other band playing just for kids who's turned out as many
great albums as Recess Monkey has over the past few years.
Mindy Thomas
Program Director – SIRIUS/XM’S Kids Place Live
“These guys are able to tap into elementary school so well that it’s like they never
left. In this never-ending nationwide talent show of kid and family music, they are
most definitely at the top. That’s it. I’m scratching their name on my locker door.”
June 15, 2010
BEAM YOURSELF UP TO
‘THE FINAL FUNKTIER’
with
RECESS MONKEY
NEW CD TO BE RELEASED JUNE 15
“2009 in Review: These kids’ songs are … awesome! … There are bands you can’t go
wrong with, and this is one of them.” – USA Today
“RECESS MONKEY: If Seattle is the new bastion of kindie rockers, then the trio of
elementary school teachers — Jack Forman, Daron Henry and Drew Holloway — are the
city's breakout stars.” – Time Magazine
“BEST KIDS’ CDs OF THE DECADE: With five great albums released in the past four
years, this trio of Seattle teachers (who have even garnered Beatles comparisons) has
become a force to be reckoned with in children's music.” – Chris Healy, AOL ParentDish
“Dan Zanes may be the godfather; They Might Be Giants, the legitimizer; and Laurie
Berkner, Ralph Covert, and Justin Roberts the genre’s superstars. But Recess Monkey is
the heart of kids’ music today.” – Stefan Shepherd, Zooglobble
SEATTLE, WA (May 15) – To explore strange new songs, to seek out new beats and new
planets, to bravely go where no monkey has gone before! Celebrated independent children’s
recording group Recess Monkey invites families to join them on an intergalactic voyage with the
June 15 release of their sixth studio CD, The Final Funktier (Monkey Mama, $15.00, for ages 3
– 7, run time 34 minutes).
The Final Funktier presents Recess Monkey in outer space: fifteen songs of high-energy funk
and new wave grooves, taking listeners on a stratospheric dance party that occasionally touches
down on solid ground with moon boots, jet packs, sunglasses, satellites, and booster seats in
hand. The album features special guests galore, including a “kindie chorus” comprised of such
luminaries from Seattle’s burgeoning kids’ music scene as Chris Ballew (Caspar Babypants),
The Not-Its!, The Harmonica Pocket, Johnny Bregar, and Eric Ode, plus award-winning NYCbased Morgan Taylor and Rachel Loshak (Gustafer Yellowgold). Chris Wiser, of the Sugar
Free Allstars, and famed kids’ music producer Tor Hyams show off their keyboard chops on The
Final Funktier, and, in keeping with a Recess Monkey tradition, kids also participate, performing
as chorus on five of the album’s songs. Children’s author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch
Lady, Punk Farm) interprets the journey visually with stunning interior album artwork.
The three members of Recess Monkey are teachers who met while working at the same Seattle
school. The trio’s genuine enthusiasm for a grad school project morphed into their 2005 debut
release Welcome to Recess Monkey Town. This was followed by another popular (and
zoologically correct) hit, Aminal House. The teachers — Jack Forman, Daron Henry, and
Drew Holloway — made history with their next release, Wonderstuff, the first double CD
children’s album produced from material generated at a kids’ summer camp workshop. Likewise,
2008’s Tabby Road and 2009’s Field Trip each came from real life children’s experiences.
Notes Jack Forman, “We think of our classrooms as focus groups for what's on kids' minds. It's
crazy how many ideas come up over the course of a day that could make great songs. Tons of
ideas have come up about losing teeth, getting a new backpack, going on field trips and so many
more... We like to wordsmith and are big-time pun fans. On The Final Funktier there's a song
about how a booster seat is like a booster rocket, another song about what space elevator music
might sound like, and even one about a ukulele-playing alien called ‘Ukulalien.’ Laughter
permeates our experiences with kids, in the classroom and out!”
- more-
Jeff Bogle, of Out with the Kids, recently wrote, “As the title ‘The Final Funktier’ suggests, Recess
Monkey’s new disc is going to be heavy on the funk. Whereas prior albums showed only
glimpses of the band’s penchant for that side of the music spectrum, album #6, with ‘lots of slap
bass,’ will take that funky flirtation up a notch. It could be said that Recess Monkey and the Funk
are now going steady. According to [Jack] Forman, the band has also tinkered with new
electronic gadgets and gizmos during the songwriting process and, as such, promises a side
order of new wave with the funky entrée.” Album highlights include the ELO-inspired epic synth
rock song “The Galax Sea,” “Beat-Box-A-Robot” in which a funky little robot builds itself one sick
beat at a time, “Constellation Conga” (Hey, all you planets: Get in Line! It’s time to dance!), and
“Ukulalien,” described by the band as “the weirdest song Recess Monkey has ever written.”
Recess Monkey’s 2009 Release, Field Trip, was named to the American Library Association’s
Notable Children’s Recording List, and the album was included among USA Today’s “Favorite
Releases of 2009.” Enthused Cookie magazine, ”How does this prolific trio keep on getting
better? Its fifth album somehow manages to top the rest.” Time Out NY Kids declared Field Trip
to be the #1 CD of the year, calling it “pure genius.” Field Trip was on “Best of 2009” lists by
Zooglobble, iVillage; Cool Mom Picks; Boston Children’s Music; Out with the Kids; Spare the
Rock, Spoil the Child; Family Man Online; A Family Runs Though It; The Art of Irreverence; Red
Tricycle; and more. Warren Truitt of Kidsmusic.About.com who included Field Trip on his “Best
Kids’ Music of 2009” list, declared, “Recess Monkey is arguably the most inventive and
imaginative, certainly the most prolific, kids' band around today.”
Mothering magazine wrote that Recess Monkey’s 2008 release, Tabby Road, “has a Beatlesesque feel … You might just enjoy these songs about sleepovers, sandboxes, and sugar goblins
as much as your kids do.” Time Out NY Kids enthused, “As its punny title suggests, this fourth
album from a trio of Seattle schoolteachers is heavily influenced by the Beatles—more
McCartney’s hummable melodies than Lennon’s psychedelic romps.” Tabby Road was a
Parenting magazine “Our Fave This Month,” a KIWI magazine “Best of 2008,” and was one of the
Christian Science Monitor’s Top Stocking Stuffers in its “Best of 2008 Holiday Gift Guide.”
Christopher Healy, of AOL ParentDish, recently included the 2007 release Wonderstuff among
his “Best Kids’ CDs of the Decade.” Kids’ music authority Stefan Shepherd (Zooglobble), declared
Wonderstuff to be “the best pop-rock musical since ‘Tommy.’” NPR featured Wonderstuff’ in its
list of 10 Best Kids’ Albums for 2007. Kathy O’Connell, host of Kids Corner on Philadelphia’s
WXPN-FM, chose Wonderstuff as one of her favorite albums of the year during a guest
appearance on NPR’s Morning Edition, calling it “A brilliant, multilayered concept album of stories
and songs heavily influenced by '60s rock.”
School Library Journal wrote of Recess Monkey’s 2006 release, Aminal House (not a typo),
“With fantastic vocals and instrumentation, Recess Monkey often sounds like a 60's band similar
to Herman's Hermits … The lyrics tell fantastic stories that are fun and educational. This musthave album will be circulated again and again.” Wrote Children’s Music That Rocks, “Incredibly
hooky chord changes and sophisticated arrangements elevate this CD far above your average
kids' album; and the spacious, in-the-same-room production is extremely well done. It's hard to
believe this is an independent release! and a kids' album, at that! by three silly teachers! Lots of
goofiness, lots of awesome songs, lots of fun. Recess time!”
The Final Funktier will be available for purchase and further exploration at
recessmonkeytown.com,
amazon.com,
cdbaby.com,
pokeypup.com,
theAVCafe.com,
bigkids.com, and iTunes.
###
THE FINAL FUNKTIER SONG LIST:
Lift Off, Moon Boots, Jet Pack, Science Fair, Ukulalien, My Brother is a Satellite, Beat-Box-ARobot, Sunglasses, Space Elevator Music, The Galax Sea, Booster Seat, How Do You Build a
Robot?, Constellation Conga, Black Hole in My Room, One Tiny Light.
For more information about RECESS MONKEY or to schedule an interview, please contact
Elizabeth Waldman Frazier at Waldmania! 415.334.2787 or [email protected].
Check out the Recess Monkey website at www.recessmonkeytown.com.
RECESS MONKEY
Drew, the singer/guitar player, spent many a boyhood evening in Wayne, PA, going through his dad’s
record collection, working his way from the Beatles and Beach Boys to Jim Croce and Three Dog Night. Lennon,
McCartney, and Wilson left their mark to be sure. Later, Drew would add his own choices to the crates of records in the
basement. Shanana, Van Halen, and 45’s like the “Dukes of Hazzard” theme song were just a few of his first selections.
Drew’s older, high-school aged brother had an extensive record collection as well, documenting a love for the “Rock Over
London” radio program and progressive rock. Drew became enamored with The Smiths and the Housemartins and would
sneak into his brother’s room to spin his favorite songs.
A Beatles fake book was Drew’s bible for learning his favorite songs and new chords on an ever-increasing supply of
instruments, ranging from Peavey amplifiers and Squire Stratocasters to, eventually, a Tascam Portastudio! Playing those
songs over and over helped solidify many of the wonderful chord progressions Drew had heard so many times on record.
These structures, along with the many vocal harmonies provided by listening to the Beatles and Beach Boys, served as a
foundation for Drew’s first (and last) songwriting attempts. Starting with a single cassette recorder, then boom-box
dubbing, the portastudio, and finally moving to digital recording on a computer, Drew’s process and development were
aided by the ability to record and, most importantly, multi-track songs, adding parts by layers.
Drew teaches kindergarten and full-day preschool at University Child Development School, where he incorporates music
into his curricula both formally and informally. He, Jack and Daron all met while teaching together at UCDS and have
been together as friends and bandmates ever since!
Daron, the drummer, a native of Jamestown, Indiana (where his family has lived for more than 150 years), has
loved music from an early age. He remembers hearing his first Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun,” when he was four
years old. Later in first grade, he would constantly dance down the school hallways to the pop songs that bounced around
inside his head. This would lead his first grade teacher to give him the moniker, “Little Dancing Bear.” When choosing an
instrument in fifth grade, Daron was drawn to the rhythm of the drums. He continued to play in the percussion section all
through high school. Eventually, in college, Daron taught himself how to play a drum kit and starting making music with his
friends. Since that time he’s played plethora of genres from Rock-A-Billy to Alternative Dance.
Daron started his teaching career as a K-8 Art Teacher. He later moved into the elementary classroom. Currently, he
teaches second and third grade at Spruce Street School in Seattle. He frequently infuses his passion for music into the
curriculum. Recently, his students used whole, half, quarter and eighth notes to learn about fractions as well as to
compose a piece of music.
Jack, the bass player, played musical instruments from a very early age. Starting with cello when he was four,
he progressed to piano, trombone and finally singing, which was how he cut the lion’s share of his musical teeth. Born in
Bloomington, Indiana, Jack moved with his family to Seattle when he was eight. He sang there in the Northwest Boychoir
and its partner choirs for the better part of nine years through elementary, middle and high schools, where he was a
featured soloist and somewhat less-featured (putting it mildly) dancer. This is where he learned how to sing and compose
harmonies, read music and feel confident on stage. Transforming gradually from second soprano to bass, he never
seemed to leave the organization: he now sits on its board of directors and frequently encourages his own elementary
aged students to become members.
Jack picked up the bass only ten years ago but immediately fell in love with it. An integral part of a band’s sound, the bass
serves with the drums as a foundation layer that helps feature guitar and vocals. Jack happily takes center stage anytime
that a bad joke needs to be told or a conga line of enthusiastic kids needs to be led around an exciting Recess Monkey
show!
Jack teaches first and second grade at University Child Development School in Seattle where he hopes he stays for a
very long time!
For more information about Recess Monkey or to schedule an interview, please contact Elizabeth Waldman Frazier at
Waldmania! 415.334.2787 or [email protected]. Check out the Recess Monkey website at
www.recessmonkeytown.com.