1. Kgarira.com (Doodle Mouse): How do you describe the music you play?
Monkey Temple: The music we play is basically alternative to modern rock and we take music as an attitude towards each and every perspective of our life.

2. KG: What image do you think your music conveys?
MT: What we are trying to focus on is for people to listen to our music and actually relate to our music. It can be conveyed in different manners, it can be conveyed in terms to how people will take our music and interpret it.

3. KG: How has your music evolved since you started playing together?
MT: The thing is evolving is a process, whether it’s your music, your life, in terms of anything change is always there; even your personality will change. So, when monkey temple first started playing we had a different group of people (Sareen being the only original member) and we used to play more of an alternative rock form of music, almost in a 90’s/grunge category. A previous guitarist of monkey temple was influenced by neoclassic music so it was a mixture; it wasn’t a fixed form of music. But now since we reformed 3 months ago it has evolved into one genre, you could call a modern rock genre. The thing is, even though we all come from different backgrounds (metal/ neoclassical/modern alternative) we all are at the same stage in our music and we all have the same spark. One thing is that even though we’re carrying an old name, we have a fresh new sound. We have a different sound and that is what’s going to redefine Monkey Temple

4. KG: What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
MT: We actually have set time, when there used to be load shedding we used to practice according to the schedule. J But, we have a set time nowadays; sometimes we have to rearrange ourselves according to everyone’s schedule.

5. KG: What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge?
MT: We are just starting as a reformed band, so we are trying to get ready for all the challenges that may come (they all chuckle) .One of the challenges we did face was becoming comfortable with the band. For the first month we had to get very comfortable, in terms of playing, however it’s not only about playing a band is about becoming a band. That you could say was a challenge we faced but we are slowly getting over that faze.

6. KG: When you compose a song where do you get your ideas from and how does a song evolve? Who usually writes your songs?
MT: (Sareen) I usually write the lyrics but the band makes the sound. The thing is that right now the songs that are being recorded, the lyrics are written by me and I composed the basic structure and then the band adds color to the already composed structure. However, Girish also has a lot of compositions so after we are done compiling the songs I wrote, in full form, we will start working on Girish’s numbers. The ideas from the songs you could say are the experiences of life, some are fictional taken from my curiosity of life on earth and outer space, and another is on escaping of reality getting away from the rat race.

7. KG: What tracks does the band most enjoy performing live and why?
MT: Everyone has different preferences so from our own compositions you could say: Anumati, Prasna.
Since we only have one previous Monkey Temple album, we as a reformed band cannot perform all of the old line ups with new band members. We have four new tracks so we sometimes do covers to make an ambiance but we try to usually do our own originals because covers tend to get boring compared to playing our own.

8. KG: Do u guys get into a lot of arguments/disagreements about the band and music?
MT: Well we wouldn’t be a band if we didn’t have arguments/disagreements. It is normal for band members to have controversies, while performing, choosing/composing songs, the music choices for cover songs, interpretation of music and recording. Our most common argument usually is in sound checking while performing live but we fortunately don’t have that many arguments.

9. KG: What’s the most ‘rock star’ thing that you’ve ever done?
MT: We are not rock stars and we don’t want to be. We are local musicians who love music. We don’t call ourselves rock stars.

10. KG: Do you have any other projects you would like your fans to know about?
MT: We are currently coming out with four new originals and two videos and we plan to put on iTunes. Slowly we will then work on our new album, which we will take at least a year on, with approximately 10 to 12 songs. We want songs that we will have to compose all the way, where we put in the lyrics, different tunes, drums, bass everything. We are going to have to take more time on the 4 or 5 songs that we are currently doing. We are trying to let people know that the band is coming out with a new sound and new members. These new singles will help people focus on the new redefined Monkey Temple. After that we will take our time and come out with the full length album.
Our main projects as of right now are making two music videos: Swapanama, Anumati and the coming out of our 4 originals.