In Conversation: Secret Monkey Weekend
The band's sophomore album is out Friday; Jefferson Hart stops by to tell us all about it.
Good morning!
We’re in for a treat today; Jefferson Hart of Secret Monkey Weekend stops by to talk about the band’s new record.
Here's the pitch: A family band like no other, Secret Monkey Weekend returns with sparkling sophomore album Lemon Drop Hammer on June 6. Comprising seasoned guitarist/vocalist Jefferson Hart and his stepdaughters Ella (bass/vocals) and Lila Brown-Hart (drums/vocals), the North Carolina trio's harmony-heavy Beatles/Squeeze songwriting, charming lyricism, and familial chemistry is channeled into 10 tracks helmed by revered REM/Smithereens producer Don Dixon.
That's the short version. The much more compelling backstory is this: Ella and Lila's dad passed away suddenly when they were young. In fairly short order, one of his former bandmates, Jefferson Hart, found himself teaching Ella guitar. At the same time, romance with their mom was slowly building. Eventually, Ella would move to bass, Lila would join them on drums, and Secret Monkey Weekend was born.
Initially, a project meant to serve solely as a vehicle for family therapy, they found themselves playing local shows and growing a fan base that led to larger venues and a record: 2022's All the Time in the World, with none other than Don Dixon behind the boards.
Follow-up Lemon Drop Hammer is very much a pop record. Fans of groups like the Kinks and Yardbirds will find lots to love here. There's also a cover of a (relatively) obscure track (Squalls' "Na, Na, Na, Na") that is a delight.
Listening to the record, I was struck by how solid it is. I kept having to remind myself that 2/3 of the band are kids. Well, a teenager and now in their early 20s, but still...
The tracks are compact and well-composed, with fantastic arrangements and vocals. Summer's coming, and this is the perfect record for those sunny days that are just on the horizon.
I recently had a chance to speak with Jefferson Hart via email. In our wide-ranging chat, we cover the band's origin story, what influenced the record's sound, and what's next for the band. The discussion has only been lightly edited for grammar and flow.
KA—
For those that might not know, can you quickly walk us through the backstory of how the band came together?
I knew of Ella and Lila when their father Matt Brown drummed with me in a couple of projects in the early 2000s. They would both be with their mom Laura at some of the outdoor shows. Lila was a toddler. Matt died of a sudden heart attack in ‘12. The kids were 4 and 9. The music community rallied around the family and gave them lots of support.
About six months after his passing, Laura sought guitar lessons for Ella as she wanted them to continue with music as a therapy to get past their grief and loss. That’s where I came into the picture a little more. I got to know all of them a lot better, and after lessons, sometimes we’d all go nearby for pizza or ice cream. I fell in love with the girls and they bonded with me pretty fast.
Over time, by early the next year, Laura and I went to some baseball games and concerts on our own and a romance developed. Two years go by and we marry. Ella wanted to learn bass next, so we started that process. In the meantime, Lila felt as if drums were her calling (as much as a 6 year old feels such things), and it was a way to get closer to her father’s memory as he was a fine drummer (near the end of his life with Grant Hart from Husker Du). That pretty much lined everything up for the conditions to be right for these little jams to evolve into a family rock trio.
Congrats on the new record! You again had Don Dixon behind the boards when you went into the studio. Was the approach similar to the last record (2022's All The Time In The World), or did you set out to make something wholly different?
Thank you! Our live sound had gotten a little grittier as we no longer had a regular keyboard side person in those shows. In my mind, I kept thinking we were drifting in a Kinks and Smithereens sound guitar-wise. As a side note, I have led 3 Kinks cover bands in the last 30 years, the most recent (on but in hiatus) was The Well Respected Men with dB’s co-founder Peter Holsapple sharing lead vocals and on the keyboards. So overall there’s a little more overdrive in the guitars, and the songs are a little hard charging. We like to rock hard in our shows and this reflected our attitude going in this time.
What's the songwriting process look like? What generally comes first, the music or the lyrics?
It’s probably about equal. And sometimes a chorus or a verse will just emerge with words and a melody out of thin air and I’ll sit down and finish it. I can usually finish a song in two sittings, though sometimes I’ll make some fine tuning on the lyrics as the time goes,
Ella and Lila and I have all co-written with one another. Lila had two or three on the first album and Ella and I have three on this one, plus one that will come out as a stand alone single. It’s about Grant Hart and her friendship with him when she was 7 to 9 years old. We pretty much hammered that one out from scratch. Other times, and very recently, she’s come to me with words only and I’d put music to it and maybe help polish the lyrics.
Lila’s approach has been from just things that have stood out in conversation. The title song of the first album, All The Time In The World, was about a carpool chat she and I had about a year before we recorded it. Honey Num, first album’s opener, was a childhood hum-along she sang from the time I knew her. I asked her to sit with me and put more music and words to it. Same process was in play for We Can Be Friends on the new album.
One track that jumped out at me right away was the cover of Squalls' "Na Na Na Na." First, that's a fantastic choice! Second- and maybe more importantly– what made you choose that one for the record? Just a song you liked, or is there another tie-in there?
The song wasn’t a message song for us, just one I had long admired by Squalls from the time I saw them in the Athens, GA Inside Out film. That song always stood out as the most tuneful and catchy one from the movie, even though Flat Duo Jets (also from our close vicinity just miles up the road in Chapel Hill) stole the show. We also were fortunate enough to meet the guy who wrote it and sang it, Bob Hay, when we played some shows in Athens with his wife Vanessa Briscoe Hay (also in the film with Pylon). Her resurrection of the Pylon approach called Pylon Reenactment Society is a favorite of ours and we have played with them in NC, too, and hope to again.
To piggyback on that, what are some of the bands that influence your sound?
Ella, Lila, and I all agree that The Kinks, The Beatles, Squeeze, and The Band (in the collaborative writing, not the sound per se) are big influences. Beatles, Neil Young, the early Who, Stones, and Dylan were mine as far as big acts. But NC bands like The Fabulous Knobs, Arrogance, Don Dixon, and The dB’s were big in my world. Later on, I got into the Replacements. Ella and Lila love The Clash and Grant Hart’s solo material.
What's next for Secret Monkey Weekend? Any shows? Touring? What's the back half of 2025 look like?
We’re definitely gonna play live, and will gradually pick up steam in shows from June onward. August gets really busy and we have a tour that goes from Chapel Hill to the NYC area and every big music town in between.
Last one, just for fun; I bump into you as you're walking out of the record store. What records are you carrying?
Very likely some kind of box set. I picked up all of the big Beatles and some of the solo boxes that came out in recent years. Otherwise, I try to support local acts and buy their stuff at the stores or when I see them live. Lila is big into Lana Del Rey, Arctic Monkeys, and Last Shadow Puppets, Ella is probably gonna head in the direction of anything McCartney related (her favorite Beatle) or perhaps old stuff by The Band she doesn’t have. Lila, by the way, considers Levon Helm her most admired musician. As a fellow singing drummer, it makes a lot of sense.
Click the picture for to listen via Bandcamp
Lemon Drop Hammer will be available everywhere starting Friday (June 6th)!
Hit Bandcamp to grab your copy of the record, or connect with them via Instagram.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Is this a new band to you? Are Squalls the most underrated band to come out of Athens? Sound off in the comments or send me an email- I read every one of ‘em.
Thank you to Jefferson Hart for his time, and thank you for being here.
Kevin—
Great story! I dig the first couple of songs. Looking forward to listening more when I have time.
What an interesting family story! Fascinating how a band can come together on the back of grief, need to heal, paasion and love.