How often in Antigua do you see a live rock reggae band fronted by a half-naked mohican?”  Monky T-Li - yes, you heard right - is the autograph belonging to this rock band that delights in the unexpected. From a set jammed with everything from the Police to Beatles classics to Journey and beyond, its recent jam at Putters in Runaway Bay was well received by the appreciative crowd.

First, the name. The drummer and his brother thought it up while tooling around the US Naval Base. Both are full on Floridian-American dudes who got a kick out of the Antiguan dialect and thought hey, what a great name for a band.
Then came the band.

Together for over one year, they played their first gig on July 4th, 2008. On lead guitar and vocals is Garrick Gill, who was born in West Africa and has lived in Antigua for almost 20 years. Keeping the rhythms soulful and dutifully heavy is bassist Erwin Guevara of Sun Splash Signs in Crosbies. Rhythm guitarist Richard George John is more colourfully known as “The Wood”.  Percussion support is from drummer of lore, Kenny “Lil’ Hero” Duncan, while vocalist Annalisa D’ornellas aka “the tambourine chick”, is the newest member of the band. The original idea was just to have fun. If they couldn’t cover a song they would just “tee-lee it up”, “throw the tee-lee on it”, or reggae-ise it. So far, they’ve had a few shows under their belt and are looking to perform a lot more.

So what’s in store for Monky T-Li? What does every serious band want, but a large venue and a big crowd. They also want Antiguans to do something never before seen in history: get out early. They want the public to see a good show, fully appreciate and enjoy the music and try to leave the drinking for clubbing later. Gill implores music fans to party it up while the music playing, “Step up to the stage, get up and dance.” The band has no current plans to issue a CD but one goal is to start writing original material; songs that involve harmonies, good leads and good vibes, like songs from the Police. Hmm, if you squint and think of Synchronicity, there is a slight resemblance to a certain Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner. The band also plans to cover some Thin Lizzie and Guns and Roses tunes, and Led Zeppelin favourites beyond the heavy metal classic Immigrant Song that closed off their set and drew the largest applause of the evening.  Also afoot are plans to perform more up-to-date songs from groups like the Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters.

The lead singer is pretty laid back, but if he’s got a pet peeve, it’s that he can’t stand hearing Antiguans are only into calypso and soca and that rock music won’t catch on. While soca and calypso most definitely have their place in the musical history books of the Caribbean, Gill fervently believes there’s room for more diversity. “There is no good live reggae music in Antigua.  You have to go to Germany to get [it] now. Something needs to change and hopefully we will do that.” The radical singer then reverts to mellow rock persona when I ask him about the benefits of playing at Putters. “It’s great, plus it’s five minutes from my house”.

Be sure to visit the photo gallery of the performance with celebrating patrons and fans.

For bookings, call Dara Foss 724.6086.

Visit Monky T-Li's facebook page for more info.