Dunedin’s newest up and coming eclectic musical duo “Hazmat Monkey” have just released their self-titled double album. The album is the first to feature their all-original music, and is truly a force to be reckoned with.
Hazmat Monkey first emerged in 2020, when two jazz students from Victoria University came together and began making music. The duo says their style is best described as jazz meets dubstep, with half the album blasting “blistering synth” and the other half being “organic funky monkey hip hop with a mo-town twist”. Included throughout the album are references to monkeys and bananas alike.
The duo’s music acts as a social commentary. The album aims to address the dissonance between the manufactured (Hazmat) and the primal (Monkey). “It’s kinda like the yin and the yang really [sic],” explains trombonist Jurgen Sinclair, “where there is Hazmat there will always be monkeys.” “We're all hazmat monkeys at heart,” claimed drummer Boris Schmidt. “[Our] suppressed primal tendency to enjoy ecosystems in the natural world is counteracted by our conditioning: the ways we’ve been forced to live in domesticated life, taught to enjoy consumer products and lounge suites over beautiful valleys and rolling hills.”
“Hazmat Monkey reflects the notion that humans are primal beings conditioned to suit up and function in a slowly decaying world, but the duo still makes music you wanna shake your bum to,” said Jurgen Sinclair.
The Hazmat side of the album includes hit songs such as Bombshell - a dubstep banger about the horrors of war, and Facial Recognition - a desperately catchy but dense and hectic electronic jazz track. The Monkey side includes more organic sounding humorous funk tracks such as Don't Touch my Banana - a catchy innuendo-laden escapade, and Beautiful Wife for Monkey. The split album makes it clear what the two concepts are, and further emphasises their commentary.
The album focuses on the theme of surveillance, particularly relevant given the University’s policies to increase the number of CCTV cameras on campus. Indeed, the duo described themselves as “pioneers in the activist sphere” in which musical expression can be an act of “open rebellion”. “Increasing surveillance increases power of the elite and oppresses the poor. Real safety comes with a bunch of monkeys that know each other real well and can hang out and look after each other,” said Boris.
In response to being asked what the future of Hazmat is, the duo said that they wanted to “blow up and become extremely famous and have lots of wealth… but that's not what it's about [sic].” In reality, what it’s really about is “having enough money to put bananas on the table without being seen on CCTV cameras,” said Boris, before assuredly saying that they actually have a “really coherent marketing strategy”.
Hazmat Monkey can be found on all streaming platforms, and “anywhere you can find Macky Gee,” Jurgen hastily added. Follow them on their socials to become a part of the monkey magic, including chances to be featured in some truly bananas music videos.