Kids, parents go bananas for Monkey Bunch

Kids, parents go bananas for Monkey Bunch The members of the Monkey Bunch never expected to be performing rock concerts for toddlers. Grownups will be rude and yell stuff at a comedy club but kids will just fall asleep or they'll say 'Why are you doing that?' " she said. "You may have told me I'd be doing this 10 years ago and I'd be like 'no way. "They've played with all of the really big musicians in Canada so they bring a musicality to what we do that I think is really unique to children's music," said Sperling. The five-foot woman, who has studied clown and theatre, brings something very different to the group. The group decided to record a CD, thinking they'd sell a few and then forget about it. Even though she never pictured herself performing regularly for children, Sperling said the experience is amazing. The band hopes to empower children with messages about confidence and environmentalism, but there are plenty of purely silly tunes, too. It's not often you will find a kids' group with such serious chops as the Monkey Bunch. "There are some people who will say you shouldn't talk about poop, but I say why has it taken so long to talk about it," said Sperling. Sperling describes the band's live show as a rock concert with lots of audience participation. While the guys played music, she acted and performed comedy. One song in particular, Poopie Diaper, gets a big response from kids. "Because I did comedy for a great many years it's very different. The two musicians and Sperling eventually moved to Toronto to pursue different things. Drummer Lyle Molzan completed the group when they decided to pursue children's entertainment. Children probably won't be impressed by the guest appearances, but the Monkey Bunch is all about getting the parents in on the fun, too. "We give it to kids and let them decide if it's kids' music, and it is. We can give kids real music and real comedy and not talk down to them. To date, the band has two full-length albums. "We want to ensure that what we're doing isn't saccharine sweet or annoying. "One year we didn't have a Christmas gift for them and we recorded a quick little thing of three songs and sent it off," said the group's frontwoman Shoshana Sperling. . Kids, parents go bananas for Monkey Bunch Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 05/06/2012