Monkeys With Tools

Monkeys With Tools was a punk / crossover band from Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany during the 90's. The guitarist Grischa Bender and the drummer Petrus Fischer had known each other for some time when they met the English bassist and vocalist Matti Rouse. After some jam sessions and parties, they had their first appearance under name Monkeys With Tools in the AK 47 in Düsseldorf. They played a fresh mix of Metal, Punk, Funk and Reggae - with all these elements present in almost every song - and all of the band members sharing vocal duties. In 1990, the band released their EP "Beats Can Change" on Campary Records, recorded in the Merz Studios in Dusseldorf. In 1992, the debut album "Sure" was released on GUN Records based in Bochum. The second mini-album "Our Secret" (limited to 5000 copies) followed shortly after in 1992, and the last and final album "Therein Lies The Compromise" followed in 1993, also on GUN Records. It was recorded and mixed by Mr. Bert (Herbert Hettig) in the Alwin Studios in Bochum Wattenscheid. Band gained some popularity with a small hit (especially in certain local clubs) "Ratatata" - a very funky song with rap-style vocals, and maybe being their only song that had a style very similar to other crossover/funk metal bands during the peak of this musical development in the early 90's. They discontinued Monkeys With Tools, but were still active under the name Affen Mit Waffen (translated: "Monkeys With Weapons") at least in their hometown Düsseldorf. Present status is unknown, and there are no albums available from Affen Mit Waffen. Grischa Bender was active in the band Blik from 2004 to 2012 with Marc Muntenbruch, Happi Mueller, Matej Havranek and Frank Schwiklewski. Matti Rouse supported the Düsseldorf band Heavy Gummi in the Center for Action, Culture and Communication at their celebration of "25 years of Heavy Gummi", on August 29, 2014.