The Stoned Ape theory is a modern vintage stoner rock band - or at least that's the best genre I could come up with to describe it. The goal was to create a fusion of classic sounds and modern dynamics - something we love about the fuzzy guitars of the 70's and something that excites us about contemporary metal's primal rhythms. After producing pilot versions of the first six songs, I set out to form the perfect lineup, which turned out to be people I overheard singing at work as well as people I randomly met at a local billiards pub (yes, seriously!). Fate does work in mysterious ways, especially in the world of rock and roll!
The logo is inspired by Art Nouveau and the works of Alphonse Mucha, the Czech pioneer of the Modern Style, in an attempt to tie the band to the rich history of local culture. The font is custom made for this project, utilising a variety of geometric motifs.
Our simple website and the design of materials such as our tech rider are excellent examples of merging a modern, clean style with grungy inspirations.
The band consists of four musicians and one videographer, who makes sure we always have fabulous footage to use in our social media feeds. Maintaining high quality in a fast-paced, often improvised setting is no easy task, but the results are always worth the effort.
While still working on our first full length release, a demo EP called "Marmosetta Stone" is available on all major streaming platforms, serving as a loud and raw preview of our ultimate sound. Since we're afficionados of unconventional solutions, the songs were ran through an actual spool tape recorder from the era in the final stages of production to give our tunes a classic punch.
After many adventures and lineup changes, we finally managed to complete 'Homie Erectus', our first full-length album. It was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by me - a journey that included not only tracking classic rock instruments, but also working with voice message audio and field recordings from Thailand.
The art for the album, continuing with the the main theme of the band, features a digital painting made by me. The acoompanying visuals carried the motif of a black and white scene with golden glitter highlights. Apart from the obvious metaphor, the whole concept pays homeage to a couple big musical classics as well, but it wouldn't be a proper easter egg if I told everyone, would it?