The Monks were five American musicians playing in a German environment. As Americans, working with Niemann and Remy, the German desire for order came out severely twisted. For the Germans who worked with us, our American penchant for nonsense was bewildering. It was the mixing of two perceptions and cultures onto one disc; at the time, a disaster because it managed to offend almost everyone. But looking back at it, it is precisely what we were trying to do. Like the purposeful pigeon, how many bronze heads of hero statues can you piss on before the day is done?

As individuals in the army, the monks’ musical backgrounds were not related. If any one monk is asked to describe his experience, the story he tells reflects his own circumstances and does not necessarily coincide with another monk’s views. Playing music in a group of players, who don’t musically relate to each other, puts all of them out of their element. It is an accidental condition that does not happen often. It was the best part of this group, and we were open to experimentation. Little did we know that some years later, our recording would be listed as one of the first proto-punk albums of all time. In fact many years later, a reporter for BBC claimed, “After the Beatles created the Hamburg legacy, the monks destroyed it.”

Other misconceptions about the monks? There are many. Charles Wilp was a photographer and a friend. The description of his role seems a bit strange in the context in which it was used – but no matter what the film conveys, I am grateful to Playloud Productions for their time and effort in putting together this film.

Walther Niemann and Wolfgang Gluzczewski (our tour manager) just died this last week and we will miss them. In looking searching for their names on the web, I found this article and felt I had to say something.

Eddie Shaw – bass player