A Canadian were-ape in Berlin

>> Ex-pat Mocky on puppets, primates and piercing the veil

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

By now you know from Peaches and Chilly Gonzales, T.O kids done good in Berlin, hooked up with hot label Kitty-yo. Here's their longtime friend and co-conspirator Mocky, also on a fake-name freak-hop tip, somewhere between high art and low laffs. His business is monkey business, and business is good--for the soul.

Mirror: So how are the Germans reacting to these "Canadian jackass styles" of Peaches, Gonzales and yours?

Mocky: The Germans totally love the Canadians, man. They can't get enough. We're really taking over, in a way. Gonzales is lobbying right now to become president of the Berlin underground. That can give you hint.

M: What is it that clicked with them?

Mo: I think it's maybe the humour? Aside from the fact the all the music is totally the dopest shit in the world. If you need any other reason, it's the entertainment side, not taking it too seriously. Also, out of all of Europe--I've been all over the last two years--the people in Berlin are the most on point. The most conceptually advanced, if I can say that. For example, there's this guy here that we all play with named Paul P.M. He's a rapper on Digital Hardcore, and also a puppet maker. When he told me this, we came up with the idea for Puppet Mastas, these hip hop puppets. Until he met me and Gonzo, they weren't rapping puppets, just plain puppets. The combination of us with him made the puppets their own rappers.

M: Can you explain your theory of "apeing"?

Mo: That comes from the musical gaming style that I came up with with my roommate, a jazz drummer. Basically, it's the logical extension of free jazz. We'd put down our instruments and just go crazy. We found ourselves making animal noises and all this crazy shit. The object is to divide your brain in two. It's a bit like "monkey see, monkey do." One leads with, say, his mouth. The other follows mindlessly, while clapping or something. The first person mindlessly follows that. So you lose track of who's leading and who's following, and just do. This takes you into this trance-like state where you're really just degenerating into an ape, like we all are.

M: Tell me about your gig at the London Zoo.

Mo: That was my first gig in London. It came from the same obsession with apes, and the general dumbing down that seems to be happening with everyone. I decided to go play a gig at the zoo, with a few friends, a toy turntable and a ghetto blaster. We went down with In Sync magazine, who were doing a live Internet broadcast, paid to get in, set up by the ape enclosure and did an impromptu set.

M: I take it the zoo staff was not informed?

Mo: The zoo had nothing to do with it, and that was the whole point. We were just partying down, smoking weed, being loud, and nobody even blinked, because they were too busy staring at the monkeys. The most important part for me was, I was singing a sad ballad of mine directly to this monkey, and he was looking right into my eyes. I held out the turntable to him, and he reached through the bars, as if to scratch. I'm sure it was all in my head, but I was freaking out. :

With Corpusse, Taylor Savvy and the World Provider at Casa del Popolo on Thursday, Aug. 17, 10pm, $5