Meet: The North East’s Young Pretenders For Rocks Crown – Wingz Of The Monkey

Give us a potted history of the band

Wingz of the Monkey are:
Patrick Meehan Vocals 17 Years Old
Sonny Evans (JEEP) Guitars 15 Years Old
Edward Jackson Drums 18 Years Old
Logan Lewington Bass 17 Years Old

We are an Alt/Rock band from the North East of England. The band was formed in 2022 by school pals (Logan, Pat & Sonny) and we spent our days jamming and writing songs heavily influenced by the grunge, punk and rock scene and you will hear echoes of this in our Music.

We attended Redcar’s “Tuned in for Music” where we started to piece the band together and start our musical journey, playing live events such as the Christmas Light Parade and the Festival of Thrift. With the addition of Ed, on drums the band have developed throughout 2023 adding more original songs to our catalogue while playing shows across the North East and building up quite a following along the way.

Our first EP “Ape Allegations” was launched in August 2023 and we hosted a launch party at the Georgian Theatre which was a massive success. We have just completed a week long residency as part of the Green House Project that was supported by Tees Music Alliance and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Glass House in Gateshead.

We used this opportunity totighten up as a band, write new material and had some really useful insights to the music industry from guests throughout the week. We recorded a new song in the Green Dragon Studios and we can’t wait to plan a release.

The showcase gig at the end of the week was at the Georgian Theatre a venue we love playing, such a nice vibe. The band has so far enjoyed a packed year of fuel injected performances throughout the North East and have been working hard on writing new material to back up our EP with 3 new singles already in the bag ready for release at the beginning of 2024.

Who inspired you to start making music

Ed: Twenty-One Pilots – Tyler’s lyrics are amazing and they are very relatable, and Josh Duns drumming is actually really smart.
Logan: Guns n Roses
Pat: My friend had a rapping YouTube channel called British Breakfast
JEEP: Guns n Roses

And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically

Ed: Diary Sunny Day Real Estate & Disintegration The Cure – In Circles on the Albums drums are amazing and Disintegration is one of the main albums I grew up with. Plus, I saw the Cure live and the support act The Twilight Sad played a song called Girl in the Corner and this inspired the drums on a WOTM Song called “The Accuser”
Logan: Appetite for Destruction GnR & Funhouse The Stooges
Pat: Graduation Kanye West & Mmm Food MF DOOM
JEEP: Ten Pearl Jam – Eddie Vedder is such an amazing vocalist, his voice is spiritual and I love the contrast of Mike McCready and Stone Gossard’s guitars they just bounce off each other to create magic.

If you’re trying to explain who you sound like to someone who’s never heard you, what do you
say

We sound like Wingz of the Monkey “Light the blue touch paper and let us blow you away”. No Seriously you can hear echoes of the 90’s grunge scene with hints of Punk, Rock and Attitude.

Tell us about your new EP

The EP is called “Ape Allegations” we wanted to try to bring the essence of our live shows to the release and feel the 3 tracks credit this, we all agreed on the selections too so this was a good starting point.

Track 1 is “Fix” A crowd favourite, a funky riff and Pat has even created dance for this one. “It’s shit
though”

Track 2 is “Periodic Affection” This tune is pure driving rock and the lyrics are based around the periodic table, Pat needs to explain! We love Ed’s drumming in this one!

Track 3 is “Hey Mr President” A monster riff and the 2 guitars sound great in this one we love JEEP’s solo, the crescendo at the end is a great way to end the EP and our live shows.

The EP was recorded at the Studio in Hartlepool and produced by “The Wizzard” Mark Folland from Foll Recording & Production. We were in the studio all day and managed to get down the three tracks playing as we would live, although Ed was through the glass in the drum room.

A few overdubs for lead guitar and vocals and we wrapped up happy with the first mix downs of the tracks. Mark was awesome and sent over the final mix after a couple of days and we were blown away. We
made a few amends on the mixes with regards to certain levels with the lead guitar, and Ed came up with an idea to add a gunshot at the end of “Hey Mr President” which fits in with the song’s lyrics really well. We learned not to settle for the first or second take and that putting cheese puffs in the sub-woofer is a bad idea! 

Where can we get hold of it?

The EP is available on all major streaming platforms.

Tell us how you write

So usually during rehearsals or just jamming JEEP will lay down a riff, Ed will join in with the rhythm and Logan’s Bass line will fit around the hook and the drums. Pat likes to have the music there and he then comes up with the melodies and lyrics. Some tracks come together straight away like Fix, and Periodic Affection was pretty much written in one rehearsal. Some of our new songs like Sarcastic Sympathy, that we have been working on recently have taken a bit longer as the song has a lot more rise and fall throughout.

Tell us about your live show What would be your dream gig

Our live show is electrifying and very lively there will be a mosh and a stage dive at some point, Ed keeps everything together while the rest of us create a grungy blend of chaos, sweat and mischief. Pat will end the show with not much on apart from his famous orange shorts that have become sacred to the show, we will burn them one day. Most of the tunes we play are originals, however, we have dabbled with some covers by the likes of Type O Negative, GnR, Alice in Chains, The Bloodhound Gang and Operation Ivy.

Dream Gig: We would be headlining, then we would have to bring back some of the fallen heroes to help out, so Kurt, Chris, Layne and Scott to name a few and create the biggest Grungefest on the planet. We would also include some of the bands we have mentioned in this interview if they were up for it!! Oh and Primus for Logan. Not a bad gig eh!

What can we expect from you in the near future

So we have been in the Studio at Hartlepool with Mark Folland (Foll Recording & Production) and we have definitely got 2 tunes ready for release from this session that we are excited about. Also, we have got the recording from the Green Dragon Studios Stockton that was recorded and mixed by Kieron Davies as part of our residential. We are super stoked about this one and can’t wait to get it out there. We are in the process of planning release dates and we hope to put on another launch party in the New Year.

Tell us your favourite records that are rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo

Ed: Roses Outcast
Logan: Space Neighbourhood
Pat: Roses Outcast
JEEP: Afterthought Fugazi

Check out the bands live version of Mr President, below:

Find out more via the bands Facebook page

Read our review of the bands EP here