Monkey Marc feat. Fyah Roiall - ‘Willy Lynch’
(Independent)

‘“Monkey Marc is a producer’s producer; staunchly independent and probably Australian electronic
music’s best-kept secret. His music channels the spirit of punk, original dubstep, Public Enemy, modern
beats and electronic culture, and the heaviest of Jamaican riddims all at once.” — VICE

Today we are pleased to present Willy Lynch, the latest single from Monkey Marc and collaboration with Jamaican grimehall & hip hop artist Fyah Roiall. The single marks the next taster from Monkey Marc’s upcoming album Vital Sound and is a celebratory collaboration between tour mates.

Last year Monkey Marc and Fyah Roiall toured through Australia through September until December, including trekking through our red centre for a central Australian desert tour. The tour included performances at Island Vibe Festival, Jamaican Food and Music Festival and headline shows in Melbourne (Max Watts), Canberra, and Sydney. Monkey Marc wrapped his last show of the 4 month tour for a solo headline performance in Thailand at the Goa Sunsplash Festival launch on Bangkok Island.

Written and recorded between Australia and Jamaica, the song was the first collaboration between Monkey Marc and Roiall and the start of an exciting partnership. Monkey Marc says, “Willy Lynch is a tough hip hop - reggae crossover, with an addictive bassline reminiscent of classic UK hip hop. As soon as I heard Roiall’s music for the first time, I knew this track would be perfect for him. Roiall is a unique Jamaican artist with potent lyrics and a fresh new take on hip hop from a Jamaican perspective.”
Taken from his upcoming album release Vital Sound due for release in 2020, Willy Lynch is a political hip hop track and a celebration of Jamaican youth rising above the colonial legacy. Monkey Marc says, ‘The track calls out Willy Lynch, an 18th century slave owner who purportedly gave an infamous speech about how to break the spirit of slaves. Roiall is calling for the youth of today to be smarter than Willy Lynch – to educate themselves, be proud of who they are, and not succumb to social and mental oppression”.

Winner of the The Age Music Victoria Awards for Best Reggae and Dancehall Act in 2018, Monkey has received critical acclaim and worldwide recognition with his releases. Videos for No Surrender and Yaad N Abraad feat Dre Island went viral across Youtube, Facebook and Spotify with over 17 million streams collectively.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, Monkey Marc’s passion for music and social change has sparked a lifetime of musical adventure. Originally working as a geologist in outback Australian gold mines, Monkey got his name from his mining job that required climbing high up into dangerous areas of the mineshafts.

Monkey Marc is a musician on a mission, having stayed focused on political activism throughout his 15+ year music career and community youth work with indigenous Australian youth. Working out of his solar-powered recording studio in Melbourne, Australia, Monkey weaves together influences plucked from hip hop, bass music, and a broad spectrum of Jamaican music, including reggae, dancehall, and dub. His lengthy catalogue includes collaborations with UK artist, Soom T, and releases on the avant-garde German dub label, Jahtari.

After several near-death accidents, he switched to a lifetime of music and activism. Monkey spent years roaming the Australian desert as a pioneering political activist and running a solar-powered sound system at the frontline of blockades and protests around Australia, including Reclaim The Streets, protests at Roxby Downs (the biggest uranium mine in the world), World Economic Forum S11 and G8 protests, forest blockades, actions against refugee detention centres and demonstrations for indigenous land rights. He has worked in indigenous communities with young people and indigenous elders across Australia for over 15 years. His punk activist background drives him to make music with a message. Monkey says, “I believe in the power of music to educate, inspire and change people’s perspectives”.

Monkey Marc has performed at festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Fusion Festival, Boomtown Fair, Rototom Sunsplash, Boom Festival, Symbiosis Gathering and many more around the world, including Rainbow Serpent, Wide Open Space, Earth Frequency, Subsonic and Let Them Eat Cake in Australia.

With millions of streams on Youtube and strong national and international radio support, releases from the project have premiered on BBC (David Rodigan), Red Bull Radio (Federation Sound), Japanese radio with Mighty Crown and triple j (Australia). The Vital Sound project has had support from global tastemakers and influencers at Glastonbury Festival, Uncommon Records, Jahtari, Reggaeville, Boomtown Fair and IRIE magazine, with grassroots support from DJs and sound systems around the world.

Years in the making and now with only months to go, the count until Monkey Marc’s Vital Sound album release begins.
PRAISE FOR MONKEY MARC

‘Monkey Marc is a one-of-a-kind producer. Working out of a solar-powered studio built into a shipping container, he’s quietly been writing Australian music history for more than 20 years’ - Happy Magazine
‘Monkey Marc is an anomaly - a mash up of Mad Max and Lee Perry with a creative, DIY-fueled mastery of several genres of music, as well as the machines that power and support his productions.’ – Reggaeville

‘The melodies almost flicker out with a flavour and mood much more upbeat than the title might suggest. It’s a nice piece of work, cooked up in Marc’s Melbourne dub kitchen’ – FREQ

‘a deadly cut’ – The Quietus