"Being a long time follower of modernist fashion, my influences can be traced back to The Jam, Small Faces, The Kinks or Northern Soul, but punk bands from '77 belong to my youth as well".
And Monkeeman songwriter Ralfe Luebke sees no problem with a German band singing in English - "Lots of music biz people said to me that it is too difficult for a German band using English lyrics... what a typical German way of thinking - you only look as far as the money goes".
Luebke is also straight about what he thinks "My music will be released on small labels, there are friends and people who care about what they do and who I trust. While the industry is going down the drain and the internet is gaining more importance we have to rethink as artists. Take things in our own hands and work with small budgets. Put your music on Myspace, collect the feedback from all around the world - now THAT is what I call exciting".
Ralfe Luebke was raised in the working class town of Wilhelmshaven. His first band "The Colour Red" made regular appearances on German music TV and also released two albums, but without much success. Now with Monkeeman Luebke is accompanied by Achim Faerber (drums), Zoran Grujovski (keyboards and guitars) and Thomy Jordi (bass). "We do not talk much about music in the band - we just play. It's a case of perfect interacting, what a band should be like".
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