Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Shock: the Monkey

Alt-rockers Sprung Monkey swing back into action.
Alt-rockers Sprung Monkey swing back into action.

Sprung Monkey has enough juice to fill an hour of Behind the Music.

The East County band, founded in 1991, had several national party-romp hits, including “Get ’Em Outta Here,” “What’s That You Say?” and “So Cal Loco (Party Like a Rockstar).” Their music appeared in movie soundtracks, such as Dude, Where’s My Car?, Van Wilder, and the first four Taylor Steele surf films, which led to major-venue surfer stomps on both U.S. coasts, Hawaii, and Australia, and then to bookings at ESPN’s X Games, Warped Tours, and MTV Spring Break parties. They toured with the Offspring, Korn, and the Deftones. “Kid Rock was on tour opening for us when his record broke,” says lead singer and lyricist Steve Summers.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“When we started, we played at Soma, the first Casbah, Winters, Bodie’s, and the World Beat Center. One guy who came to see us happened to be Taylor Steele, who put us in his surf videos. That gave us and bands like Pennywise and 7 Seconds huge exposure to the surf community. We were golden everywhere there was water.”

Roy Thomas Baker, who worked with Queen and the Cars, produced their sophomore album, Swirl.

“In 1998 we spent a month living and recording at his studio in Lake Havasu. There is an apartment next door. The thing I most remember about Roy was that he would drink Oranjeboom with Diet 7UP.”

After 9/11, Sprung Monkey’s popularity waned.

“On that day, it seemed like the whole music scene stopped and it never awoke. We had shows cancel on us. People just stopped touring. It was like the energy of everything just died. A lot of things we thought were going to happen just didn’t happen. Ernie [Longoria, drummer] started playing with [P.O.D. offshoot] Accident Experiment. We never broke up. We just kind of stepped away. Nobody had any energy anymore. People just kept coming up with excuses to not go to band practice and those excuses started to become pretty weak.” The band took a hiatus in 2002.

What Sprung Monkey lacked for a Behind the Music episode was the drama.

“In that way we are very un–rock and roll,” says Summers. “There were no ‘Fuck you!’s, no fist fights, none of that. When things slowed down, we just went on to live our lives.”

After regrouping five years ago, Sprung Monkey slowly started to get rolling again. While they all have day-jobs (Summers has been the tour manager for Suicidal Tendencies for six years). They started writing and recording their first new album in 12 years, Dead Is Dead. This year they started to tour again, opening for Unwritten Law and Strung Out.

Dead Is Dead, the fifth Sprung Monkey album to be released on the local Pacific Records label, will be available on iTunes November 26.

“This record is old-school Sprung Monkey,” says Summers. “It’s sweat-drenched, down-and-dirty rock and roll.”

Monkey trivia: Sprung Monkey was formed when members responded to an ad in the Reader; and they recorded their first demo tape at Nestor Studios in El Cajon, where they still practice.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Alt-rockers Sprung Monkey swing back into action.
Alt-rockers Sprung Monkey swing back into action.

Sprung Monkey has enough juice to fill an hour of Behind the Music.

The East County band, founded in 1991, had several national party-romp hits, including “Get ’Em Outta Here,” “What’s That You Say?” and “So Cal Loco (Party Like a Rockstar).” Their music appeared in movie soundtracks, such as Dude, Where’s My Car?, Van Wilder, and the first four Taylor Steele surf films, which led to major-venue surfer stomps on both U.S. coasts, Hawaii, and Australia, and then to bookings at ESPN’s X Games, Warped Tours, and MTV Spring Break parties. They toured with the Offspring, Korn, and the Deftones. “Kid Rock was on tour opening for us when his record broke,” says lead singer and lyricist Steve Summers.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“When we started, we played at Soma, the first Casbah, Winters, Bodie’s, and the World Beat Center. One guy who came to see us happened to be Taylor Steele, who put us in his surf videos. That gave us and bands like Pennywise and 7 Seconds huge exposure to the surf community. We were golden everywhere there was water.”

Roy Thomas Baker, who worked with Queen and the Cars, produced their sophomore album, Swirl.

“In 1998 we spent a month living and recording at his studio in Lake Havasu. There is an apartment next door. The thing I most remember about Roy was that he would drink Oranjeboom with Diet 7UP.”

After 9/11, Sprung Monkey’s popularity waned.

“On that day, it seemed like the whole music scene stopped and it never awoke. We had shows cancel on us. People just stopped touring. It was like the energy of everything just died. A lot of things we thought were going to happen just didn’t happen. Ernie [Longoria, drummer] started playing with [P.O.D. offshoot] Accident Experiment. We never broke up. We just kind of stepped away. Nobody had any energy anymore. People just kept coming up with excuses to not go to band practice and those excuses started to become pretty weak.” The band took a hiatus in 2002.

What Sprung Monkey lacked for a Behind the Music episode was the drama.

“In that way we are very un–rock and roll,” says Summers. “There were no ‘Fuck you!’s, no fist fights, none of that. When things slowed down, we just went on to live our lives.”

After regrouping five years ago, Sprung Monkey slowly started to get rolling again. While they all have day-jobs (Summers has been the tour manager for Suicidal Tendencies for six years). They started writing and recording their first new album in 12 years, Dead Is Dead. This year they started to tour again, opening for Unwritten Law and Strung Out.

Dead Is Dead, the fifth Sprung Monkey album to be released on the local Pacific Records label, will be available on iTunes November 26.

“This record is old-school Sprung Monkey,” says Summers. “It’s sweat-drenched, down-and-dirty rock and roll.”

Monkey trivia: Sprung Monkey was formed when members responded to an ad in the Reader; and they recorded their first demo tape at Nestor Studios in El Cajon, where they still practice.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
Next Article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.