We Are the Monkeys Too October 2006

by M. St. John
Photos by R. Byrne

The Cocktail Monkeys is a local band that has begun enlivening parties, dances, and other public events around our area. Mark St. John brings a wealth of experience to the tasks of making good music.

I started playing guitar when I was 14 years old, taking lessons in school on an acoustic instrument that had been bought at Payless for $15. I was already a musician, having taken flute lessons and performing as a member of the symphonic band in my grade school from fourth to sixth grade and then graduating to the orchestra in seventh grade.

Back in those days schools would actually teach students to play real instruments and perform difficult pieces. I always loved all kinds of instruments and enjoyed listening to many kinds of music. Back in the 1970s, however, when rock was king, I was taking my flute lessons but was really grooving on Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Cream. Like millions of other Americans my age, I remember when the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. That performance changed my life! I knew that I wanted to do that.

Learning to Get Down
A year after starting to play acoustic guitar I got the chance to play on an electric guitar that my teacher had borrowed from the Stevens Music store in San Jose. The electric guitar seemed like such a powerful tool in my hands! I could crank that thing up and it didn’t matter if I was playing off tune or hitting the wrong notes. I was holding power! I was instantly and completely hooked!

My flute playing quickly went downhill and I began hanging around the Stevens Satellite Store trying to schmooze with the musicians and to burrow my way into that scene until the owner finally began paying me a dollar an hour to sweep the floors. “You’re here all the time anyway,” he said. “I might as well put you to work.”

I was also impressed by the manner and lifestyle of John Walter Miller, the store manager. John taught me the basics of rock and blues guitar playing. The guy drove a hot convertible with a hot blond beside him and played a hot guitar. He was what I aspired to become.

I started my first band when I was a junior in high school. We called the band Extended Visit and our first gig was a Sadie Hawkins dance. A cute chick asked me to go to the dance with her. “I have to play,” I said. I thought it was a cool excuse but she acted like it was impolite of me not to drop out of the band in order to escort her to the dance.

A Musical Pathway
After graduation one of the band members and I switched instruments so I could begin playing lead guitar. The two of us started a band called Hit ’n Run. We eventually hooked up with an agent and began to get three gigs almost every week. Every Thursday we would be playing at some San Jose State frat party, followed by a high school dance on Friday, and concluded by a Berkeley or Stanford frat party on Saturday. Those bizarre Berkeley fraternity dances were especially off the meter. I remember they decorated one with a volcano.

We followed that routine for a couple of years until our lead singer quit and we replaced him with another singer who brought with him a lot of high quality original material. That enabled us to move up the food chain, and we spent the next two years playing clubs.

In 1979 we did a road trip and lived out of a 17-foot bobtail truck that carried our equipment. We converted the front part of the truck to a sleeper complete with folding bunks and wood paneling. We would park the truck at night behind some cheap hotel. Two of us would check into the hotel, and then we would run an extension cord through the window of the room and into the truck. The seven of us would spend from noon until gig-time using the shower. After the show we would crash, five in the truck and two in the room.

I shared the stage with such greats as Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Dave Mason, and the blues legend, Johnny Winter. Johnny Winter was my first rock concert ever at the old Winterland in San Francisco. Who knew, as I watched him, five years later,we would be playing on the same bill.

In the 1980s I hooked up with an original act called Whistling Bullets, which featured two girl singers. We once opened for Lyle Lovett in San Jose. Some reps from a record label finally offered our lead singer a recording contract. “We can replace the others,” he told her. That was the end of the Whistling Bullets. I played in a number of bands over the next 15 years.

I moved to Las Vegas and began doing a solo act as a one-man band complete with a horn, keyboard, bass, and a guitar to accompany me on whatever song I was singing.

I performed at local video poker places and all-night diners, so I played every Friday and Saturday night to audiences who, for the most part, kept their backs turned towards me as they bent over their screens. The only applause I usually heard was when the players cheered one of their number who was dealt a Royal Flush, or some such thing. I was getting some good practice.

I moved back to Discovery Bay in 2003 and played an every-Friday-night gig for a summer at the Rusty Porthole under the name “Mark St. John Classic Rock.”

I finally grew tired of hearing my own voice so I posted an entry on craigslist advertising for a female vocalist so I could have another voice singing with me. I wrote in the ad, “If you got the pipes I’ll write the song.” A woman named Renée wrote back the next day. She sent me a .wav recording that she had made on a PC using a cheap microphone. I couldn’t believe what a great voice she had! Renée is absolutely the best vocalist I ever played with – and I’ve played with a lot!

Renée and I became Double Vision and before a month had passed we were singing and playing at the Discovery Bay Yacht Club. I was still doing the one-man-band thing as backup to Renée. We also performed at the Relay for Life benefit, Sweeney’s, and the Danville Fine Arts Festival.

Birth of the Cocktail Monkeys
I ran into an old friend, Bobby, who had played bass with me in one of the 1980s bands. He had a gig going with a band at a backyard party. I brought Renée and we joined together with them in a jam that became the first Cocktail Monkeys performance.

We competed in a KFOX 98.5 Last Man Standing competition with only two weeks lead time. We ultimately took second place, which was a pretty good accomplishment for a band that had never performed in public.

Since then we have never had a free weekend. For example, we played at the Cornfest in July, at the Tapestry of Arts in San Jose on Labor Day weekend, and at the Cupertino Jubilee in September.

We’re already booked solid through December and well into next year. For example, we’re playing at the Alameda Troop Fest with a band called Midlife Vices, and we’ll be performing on the deck of the USS Hornet for a group that is gathering supplies for troops fighting in the Middle East.

Things are going well for us. We are learning how to make great sounds!

The Boys (and the Girl) in the Band
I play guitar, do vocals, and produce our music. During the course of a career spanning more than three decades, I have performed at most of the night club venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, including The Filmore, Slims, DNA Lounge, The Catalyst, The Berkeley Square, Berkeley Community Theater, San Jose Center of Performing Arts, and The San Jose Civic Auditorium.

Renée is our lead vocalist and sometime percussionist. She has been singing since she can remember and began touring the East Coast as a performer with a gospel group when she was five years old.

Bobby A.C. plays bass guitar and sings. He has played with many bands performing both cover and original music. Through his travels he has become part of the music scene with bands up and down the West Coast. He’s opened for rock greats such as David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Blondie, Ringo Starr, Joan Jett, and the Ramones. A.C.’s wit and wisdom are part of the Cocktail Monkeys success.

Will Diamond plays drums, percussion, and vocals. He began his musical training on a piano at age nine, switched to drums at 18 and began playing professionally at 19. He participated in the Neil Peart/Modern Drummer drum solo competition and placed in the top 15 out of over 1,700 participants.

We also have the goal of moving beyond clubs and schools. We want to get into classier venues like hotels, casinos, and resorts. We’re going to release a CD around Christmas Time.

We have an eclectic style and do everything from classic rock, disco, 80s, and R & B. We can play anything from Pat Benetar to Gloria Gaynor. We also perform contemporary music covering bands like No Doubt, Sheryl Crow, and Kelly Clarkson.

Our slogan is, “We’re not just the band; we’re the party.” We’re collecting a following of fans. They have fun! We have fun! It’s a great life!