CPI - The Archive: Fight Like Apes

CPI Archive 2008: Anointed since conception, karate rockers Fight Like Apes are about to fulfill their musical destiny. Ahead of the launch of their debut album next week, Andrew Hamilton chews the fat with head monkey, Maykay.

FIGHT Like Apes are a band of contradiction. Too filthy for pop, too sugary for punk and too technologically inept to be takes seriously in the world of electronica. Devoid of a category they invented their own, and are now the undisputed kings of the world of karate rock. Yet the contradictions don’t stop there. Whether through their live set (all head-butts and handstands), general image or lyrical references to cutting people with glass, the Apes have garnered a reputation, in some quarters at least, for being that bit aggressive. That image is something they were keen to ad- dress when putting together their debut album. “People will hear a different side to us in this album. I think that songs like ‘Tie Me Up In Jackets’ and ‘Knuckle Head’ are a bit of a new side to us, something that people maybe haven’t seen yet. I mean, those songs were written a long time, back at the same time as ‘Jake Summers’ or ‘Digifucker’, but they are different,” says Maykay.

CPI Archive 2008c · The MayKay Podcast

HOW to make a cracking new band. Take four musicians, each of them plodding along, playing music they’d rather not be playing, in other bands. Lock them in a room for three months with a bunch of old films and video from the 80’s, stir gently and allow to settle.

After washing them thoroughly, reposition them in a recording studio and let them play. Record a four-track EP, allowing them to choose which songs they want to be on the record. This part is critical: any interference here could leave the band bitter and unfit for human consumption.

Finally, release the EP, even though the lead song contains enough swear words and sexual innuendo to ensure no radio station in the country would be able to play it, even if they wanted to.

It’s a risky recipe, too risky for most record labels, but one that can sometimes give you something that the organised, sales-driven labels could never give. Something truly original.

“We were all pretty fed up with what we were doing so the four of us decided to go into a rehearsal studio to see if it worked. We went in with no real idea of what we wanted to sound like but, after two or three rehearsals, it felt like things were starting to work out. So we left the bands that we had been in and just went for it,” said Pockets.

CPI-ARCHIVE · CPI chats to Pockets from Fight Like Apes (2007)

Clare People Interactive

Clare People Interactive (CPI) was founded in the late month of 2006 by West of Ireland journalist Andrew Hamilton. The project was a step into the unknown, an attempt to bridge the gap between the old world of print media and the emerging new media technologies.
At the core of the CPI was a long running series of interviews with Irish and international artists, mostly musicians. These interviews, which appeared first in print and then as free audio podcasts, attempted to provide a richer experience of the subject than had previously been possible in print media. The focus was always on the artist and the work, with journalistic intrusions rare and usually (mercifully) brief.
Between 2006 and 2010, Clare People Interactive grew to just shy of 150 audio podcasts. There were also a dozen video podcasts - the Gonzo Nation series - as well as hundreds of album and gig reviews - which have all, sadly, been lost to the internet.
This archive contains the original 146 audio podcasts in their original format. As the series grew, the audio quality and (hopefully) the standard of journalism grew with it.
Clare People Interactive is the work of Andrew Hamilton. Eternal thanks to John O'Rourke for his technical support, Noel Barrett for designing the many logos and to Gerry Collison for his optimism and support.
This, is Clare People Interactive.

The May Kay Podcast

The Fight Like Apes Podcast (2007)