While many consider Los Angeles the “entertainment capital of the world,” the city of angels is bursting at the seams with musicians just trying to make a name for themselves. Indie singer/songwriters can find difficulties in such a task, as more and more processed “musicians” are created by image consultants and businessmen. For those unwilling to compromise themselves, getting out of Los Angeles might just be the best solution. It most definitely was for Cynthia Catania and Annmarie Cullen, who make up, for the most part, the creative and fun-loving band Saucy Monky. The band will be playing tonight at Cozmic Pizza, located at 199 W. Eighth Ave. in downtown Eugene.
Saucy Monky initially formed in Los Angeles. But when Cullen went home to her native Ireland for a visit with an early release of their debut album “Celebrity Trash,” it wasn’t long before the DJs were spinning the record and Saucy Monky was becoming a household name.
“We started in Los Angeles, but the first success with radio and press happened for us in the major cities (in Ireland) like Dublin and Cork and West Cork, Galway and Limerick,” said Catania in a phone interview. “We had an early copy of the record and when Annmarie was home on holiday, she dropped a CD off to one of the premier DJs out there and he really responded to the music. So we started to get some love out in that part of the world and we played there half a dozen times over the next few years.”
Many Americans are just now getting their first taste of Saucy Monky after the release of the group’s second album “Turbulence,” which is now available in stores as well as on iTunes and their Web site, www.saucymonky.com. While these two rocking gals already have a great relationship with the Irish, they’re trying to develop the same kind of love back here in the United States, where record companies are trying to get the attention of Saucy Monky.
“I think it’s just basically that the fact that we were so well received in Ireland, it made companies out here more interested in what we were doing because we have a good Web presence and we have a lot of good press. We were sorta like ‘critics’ darlings’ out there (in Ireland),” Catania said.
But it isn’t as if finding success in the United States has come easy for this duo. In 1999, Catania created her own indie record label, oliveoiL records, to help independent artists keep their music alive. But oliveoiL records was also a way for Catania, who was a solo artist at the record company’s genesis, to get back to playing music instead of shopping around for a company to release her tunes.
“I released a solo record – and I was just very inspired by Ani DiFranco and Righteous Babe (Records), and I just thought it was time to get back to making music,” Catania said. “I just
decided that I didn’t want to worry about any kind of golden path; I just wanted to make my music and get out there on whatever level.” Even if it was only playing for ten or 25 people at a college or fifteen people in a bar, Catania said, she was going to take things into her own hands. She adopted the indie mentality and then a few years later met Annmarie, who at first wasn’t of that mindset, but later became inspired by its liberating properties.
“Even if it’s on a small level, you’re just doing your own thing,” Catania said. “You just make your music. You’re not waiting for a corporation to give you permission per se.”
Now that “Turbulence” has been released stateside by oliveoiL records and 429 Records, Saucy Monky is quickly developing fan bases all over the nation.
“What happens is you build a story in all of these different places and now we’re trying to build a story in America,” Catania said. “One of the parts of the country that we’re most interested in developing (in) is the Pacific Northwest.”
And the Pacific Northwest seems eager to welcome Saucy Monky. The women were invited earlier this month by Portland radio station KINK FM to release their single “Change Your Mind” on-air. Saucy Monky has already established a healthy-sized fan base in Portland, but they’re looking to spread their music across the state. Tonight’s concert will be the second time Saucy Monky has been to Eugene, and they’re eager to please.
“For our show, we try to make it interesting; we use loops and our guitars and our voices. We just try to pay justice to the songs, but yet we realize that when it comes down to it, our job is to entertain and hopefully take somebody on a little trip when they come and see us,”
Catania said. “I think people like to live vicariously through the person they’re watching perform, and we always try to serve.”
