Bill Swan and Jeff Priskorn met in high school way back in 1985. Jeff grew up on hair metal, while Bill’s musical tastes, though similar, were a bit more refined. It wasn’t until after graduation that they started jamming and writing songs in Jeff’s garage and Bill’s basement.
Over the course of about 3 years Jeff & Bill wrote and recorded more than 50 original songs, mostly with just an electric guitar and vocals sung through a guitar amp and recorded on the most excellent recording equipment of the era, cassette tapes and a boom box.
Our heroes reconnected in 2011 and commenced writing a batch of new songs. As happens, once again there was a lull until early 2022 when they reunited with a vengeance. Armed with a passion to really do it right this time, they wrote another set of new songs and commenced recording in a true multi-track environment.
The result of over 30 years of collaboration, companionship, and life experiences, the debut album by Sometimes the Monkey, Paradise?, contains 12 original songs spanning genres from midwest Americana and alt-country, to pop, acoustic & electric rock, to even garage, all with a sense of humor and nostalgia. It was produced and recorded by Priskorn and Swan at Brompton Booth Studios in Troy, MI, and Marty Peters at Ozone Music and Sound in Southfield, MI.