Based in Virginia, Monkeyclaus is equal parts music studio, download store and magical boat ride for dreamers. Working to strengthen music culture, we practice DIY (Do It Yourself) + DIY + DIY = DIT (Do It Together). We built our recording studio from 25% post-consumer recycled waste and 1000s of hours of volunteer time from artists. Creat your account and join the monkeyclus family.

Tape Op Magazine has published a story about Monkeyclaus studio written by Vijith Assar in 2006. Though you can subscribe to Tape Op Magazine for free, you must back order issue#64 to get the Monkeyclaus article ($5- its worth it).

The article is great and gives an exciting look into the earlier days of Monkeyclaus and some ideas that inspired the building and fruition of our beloved studio and technology.

• Read TAPE OP HERE

Here is a snippet from the C’ville newspaper .

Zen and the art of Monkeyclaus maintenance

Or how to record music in the new century
Issue #19.21 :: 05/22/2007 – 05/28/2007

In 1995, on a couch in Boston, Peter Agelasto sat up suddenly and said, “Monkeyclaus! That’s what I’m going to do with the rest of my life!” He then went to India to try and figure out what that meant.
Going bananas: Matthew Clark (left) and Abel Okugawa (right) behind the boards for a recording session at Monkeyclaus. Bands occasionally let their inner animals out to participate in a live recording/interview/social event, dubbed a “Monkey Session” by founder Peter Agelasto.

“Monkey” refers to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, and “Claus” refers to Jolly ol’ Saint Nick. Peter tells me that his Greek surname means “One who doesn’t smile,” and this is the worst misnomer I can imagine. Right now Peter Agelasto, founder and CEO of Monkeyclaus, is doing nothing but smiling as he tries to explain to me just what it is he’s doing out here.

Let’s be more specific. By “now” I mean April 30, 2007, and by “here” I mean in Nelson County, past Nellysford, down the road from where Agelasto spent much of his childhood. Ten years ago, with the help of 100-plus volunteers, he built the small, wooden, barn-like structure that is Monkeyclaus Recording Studio. With at least one-quarter of it made from recycled material, it’s all golden wood and carved sculptural details. The area where the band plays has translucent plastic panels that let in sunlight and make you feel like you’re in the open air. The recording equipment is awesomely complicated; with high-tech mixing boards and brand new computers, all encased in unfinished wood and adorned with monkey statues.

Already a recording studio, Monkeyclaus will soon be a record label, too. It also calls itself a “music distributor and social movement.” Since its birth in 1998, hundreds of bands have been through to record, from Portland, Oregon’s Jackie-O Mother Fucker, to Charlottesville’s own Sarah White. There are plans for expansion; a covered loading dock, a concert stage and an outdoor movie screen. Not unexpectedly, Monkeyclaus want to develop wind and solar power and eventually get “off the grid.”

BY J. TOBIAS BEARD

Read more and Listen at Monkeyclaus studio

Abel Okugawa is an electronic musician whose sounds and beats echo the sublime eloquence of his person. Abel is the primary Recording Engineer for the
and had an integral role in building, wiring and refining the studio, which over the years metamorphesized from an old barn into a magical full-fidelity production facilty. Some of his past work building studios in New York city also received the attention of Source Magazine. Abel works prolifically as a solo musician and collaborates with many folks as producer, bandmate, beat generator, and guest musician. Okugawa states simply that his recording philosophy is rooted in ‘ease and inspiration’ .
His most recent CD-R release, ‘Magic Cuts’ is available in both mini and full size CD-R with handmade packaging as well as by digital download. These Magic Cuts are cinematic, sexy, and infused with infectious grooves. His vinyl, Monkeyclaus first record release, is an underground classic full of crucial beats and haunting samples. Both releases feature gorgeous vocals provided by Rahimah von Briesen, whose voice summons mental imagery of a silver-tongued vixen wandering the desert from oasis to oasis taming birds and making men faint. Live tabla beats from local prodigy Loren Oppenheimer also grace both recordings. Buy the Vinyl through AbelOkugawa.com, alternatively, download it here. Abel’s catalog additionally includes three releases from his old band Avon Force, and a high profile track on the Dosage Three Rock Climbing video from Big Up Productions.

Born in Los Angeles where he lived until age 14, Abel then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia. As a child Abel met King Crimson guitar guru Robert Fripp in a castle in England, where Abel’s unique spirit inspired Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists to write the song, “Are you Abel”. In his own words Okugawa recounts one poignant exchange between him and the prog-pioneer Fripp. ‘I was about eight years old and at a seminar my Mom was teaching for the League of Crafty Guitarists. I was there as a guest. We had to eat spaghetti with peanut butter most nights. And I finally asked Robert (Fripp) at the dinner table why he liked the peanut butter spaghetti so much. So he called me a name and I called him a ‘toad’. Though surrounded by much music growing up, Abel is mostly self taught and completely original.

Abels Projects At Monkeyclaus Studio -