Chris Russell and Mat White are the duo that make up The Beat Monkeys. First joining forces in 2001, The Beat Monkeys were quickly snapped up as residents at Liverpool's Chibuku Shake Shake (Mixmag Club of the year 2004). From the outset, the ethic of 'whatever it takes to make them dance' has pushed The Beat Monkeys to the forefront of the underground club scene. Injecting Hip hop, funk, house, electro, breaks, drum and bass and whatever else they can lay their hands on across 4 decks and 2 scratch mixers.
Having played alongside Dj's including: Dexter (Avalanches), The Scratch Perverts, Jazzy Jeff, Cash Money, Jeru da damaja, Yoda, Dizzy Rascal, Adam Freeland, Evil Nine, Stanton Warriors, Plump DJ's, Krafty Kuts, Andy Cato (Groove Armada) and the late John Peel to name but a few, the Beat Monkeys have earned the respect of clubbers and festival goers the world around.
The pair have now secured an array of respected residencies including Chibuku (Liverpool and London's Fabric), Planet of the Breaks (Shrewsbury), Trashed (Newtown), Manipulate (Bangor), Giant Robot, (Bristol), Shivoo (Leicester) and Funktion (Aberystwyth).
In between gigs, Mat and Chris have been working hard to create their own style in the studio, which has developed into a monster sound crossing hip hop, breaks and rock with party rave hooks and storming beats. Following their debut release on MBN records with "Ronald is a c*unt" The pair got straight back to work honing the now definate and recongnisable sound that is The Beat Monkeys. "Beaver" and "Lords of Eldorand" were released in October 2006 on Brighton Breaks and hit the top of the sales charts in records stores the world over. Following the success working with Brighton Breaks, releases are planned throughout 2007.
The media haven't been turning a blind eye on the scratching duo, with Mixmag giving the pair continued support as part of the future heroes features. MTV have also interviewed the pair and shown part of their Creamfields performance on MTV Dance and the Guardian are keeping a curious eye on their comings and goings the world over.
Bookings for this year so far include Judgement Sundays funky room (Ibiza), Trashed Tour 2007, Lake of Stars Festival and obviously the residencies mentioned above, so keep an eye out here for listings and news
