Formed in 1997 when megalomaniacal control freak Pete left his first band Girl Friday to make fun, catchy indie pop, Moneypenny came together surprisigly quickly. Pete had met singer Renee months earlier in the hipster-infested Minneapolis anglophile scene. Minutes after her successful audition, Pete's roommate and former Girl friday bass player Matt offered his services. Within weeks, Matt brought in friend and funk drummer Rico, who blew everybody away. Suddenly, Moneypenny (the name inspired by a lengthy, drunken N64 "Goldeneye" session) was a reality. Before more than a just a handful of songs were ready, Red Sea sound man and Girl Friday fan Rob Curtis offered the band a gig. After a January 13th, 1998 debut, the band embarked on a ridiculously heavy schedule of local gigs, saturating the town with their obnoxious presence, but oddly never venturing outside the Twin Cities area. Touring would have been very wise, but the band aparently wanted to keep their crap jobs. Go figure. Four-song EP "Apply the Labels" was recorded by Dave Pinsky at Gark studio in August of '98, followed in 1999 by the full-length "She's All the Rage", recored at the Terrarium by Bryan Hanna and Jason Orris. By the time the second CD was recorded, Rico was gone. After "creative differences" (regarding being able to show up for practices and gigs) forced him to be sacked, he was replaced by the far more dynamic Karl, formerly of the Harlows. Gaining regular airplay on KVSC, KSMM (both largely thanks to former Rev 105 dj Brad Savage), and occational, grudging play on local college station Radio K, Moneypenny attracted intermittent tepid half-interest from several local and regional indie labels, but nothing ever quite materialized. Seemingly millions of gigs were played, including the huge but bizarre Cities 97 Basilica block Party and and an ill- fated "world tour" of Milwaukee. There were also radio and print interviews, and even an awkward cable access concert. Moneypenny were also featured on several compilations, including one in Japan and one in Sweden. After beating their heads against the indie music wall for three years, Moneypenny finally packed it in with a farewell show at the 400 Bar in April of 2001. Karl got married and played for a time with Invisible Pedestrian before getting a job designing laser rifles that can shoot around corners. Renee got married and gained an alarmingly fanatical following of confused geeks when she recored a song for the trailer of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Matt got married and picked up a pair of drumsticks for the much more hardcore New Holland (debut CD now available, kids!). Pete went on a lengthy sabbatical and spent years contemplating his own navel, but also got married in September 2006 to former Girl Friday vocalist Jennifer Weglarz and will hopefully have a new band of shiny indie pop soon. Thanks for the memories, kids.
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