Helper Monkey formed back in 2003 after Thom Conaty and Brendan Roth met in college. They started talking, they started drinking, and soon they started writing songs. Within a few months they were ready to test them out in public, and played their first acoustic gig. It wasn’t so bad... They wrote more songs. The group’s early sound was described by some as ‘post-grunge neo-folk with a tinge of funk’, they liked this. A year later the songs were still coming, the set was bulging, but something was missing. Helper Monkey began to expand. Influenced largely by the need to be heard over the new drummer, Eoin McNamee, they turned electric.

For the last three years the band has been gigging around Dublin, frequenting the likes of the Voodoo lounge, Slattery’s, the Vaults and Eamon Dorans. Brief ventures outside the capital have included a near fatal New Years trip to Kerry and a quick international tour of Belfast. During this time Helper Monkey have played as a three, four, and five piece; but always with the ever present core of Thom, Brendan and Eoin. They are now joined on synth by long time friend Niall Cullinane.

The bands DIY ethos has proved to be a learning curve, with several recording projects scrapped throughout the years. Eventually in 2006 one song “Taste of November” recorded by Thom in his bedroom reached cyberspace. The response was surprising; it held the number 1 spot in the IAC Industrial Charts for weeks, but more impressively reached the top 30 in their overall charts overtaking a number of major label bands, eventually leading to a nomination at the IAC Music best of 2006 awards. Finally 2007 sees the release of their debut EP “Look Good Music”. The EP – recorded over a long weekend at Killenure Castle, Co. Tipperary – contains five tracks representing a sample of the set list built up over the years. Fresh from the factory, two tracks from EP have already been requested for use by film students from NYU, New York. The EP is now available free for download.


Helper Monkey: Helping You Help Yourself

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