With their unique, powerful and hugely entertaining combination of rock, funk and blues music Desert Monkey have developed from occasional covers band to formidable song writers-with a great following of loyal fans. But it hasn't always been that way…

Desert Monkey formed in the summer of 1999 when Cal Smith, Jamie Harrison and Sam Curtis decided to form a band. After jamming in an old barn they recruited Lewis Spurgin as a keyboard player.

After experimenting with line ups they chose Lewis as singer and performed their first support gig at Colchester Blues and Rock in the Garden Festival, playing a mixture of their own fledgling material, Hendrix and Pink Floyd covers. However, after the early gigs things began to change….

….and the Desert Monkey we know today was born-Lewis moved away from the keyboard player to full-time lead vocals and recruited friend Stephan Pugh as drummer. The line up was complete: with Cal on rhythm guitar, Sam on bass, Jamie on lead guitar, Lewis-the singer and Stephan on drums.

They spent over a year jamming, writing and practising-working on developing songs laden with rhythm, groove and beats to dance to, yet retained their raw, honest approach and disregard for following the latest trends...and were rewarded with a place as a headline act at Blues and Rock in the Garden Festival...leading to gigs at...

The Army and Navy in Chelmsford and of course regular appearances at the Twist in Colchester. Desert Monkey are currently lined up to play Colchester's new music venue The Soundhouse and the Colchester Arts Centre along with summer festival dates in Essex and the Midlands. With a desire to constantly develop their varied and exciting sound, Desert Monkey are hoping to make their mark on new 'uncharted' territory…