Meet The Band

Damian is from Idle and discovered his love for music at a young age listening to Queen. His older brother then introduced him to Led Zeppelin and the rest is history. His other musical influences are Rush, Kate Bush and Abba. Damian says choosing a favourite song is really difficult so he's gone for the whole of the Rush ablum Hold Your Fire as he says every song is a 10! Damian has been a mainstay of the Bradford music scene since he was 19 as lead singer for bands such as The Fear,  Meanstreak, Bedlam, Roger The Cat before taking a long stint in the working men's club scene with Dave and Lisa in Stone Cold Crazy, then going on to form Rush tribute band 2112, and has recently joined Led Zeppelin tribute band Led Into Zeppelin. He's been with Thunder Monkeys for 10 years and says it's great fun, which is testament to its success and longevity, and long may it continue!

Lisa lives in Bingley and has been best friends with Damian since they were at school together. She loves disco, motown, 70s pop and folk rock with her influences being Carole King, Burt Bacharach, Diana Ross, Hall & Oates, The Beatles, Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac. Her favourite song changes every 10 minutes but at the time of writing this it was either Centrefold by The J. Geils Band, Crazy Nights by Kiss, Love Shack by The B-52's or Disco Inferno by The Trammps... Lisa has been singing since she was a young girl and has been in a few club acts including Stone Cold Crazy with Damian and Dave, but Thunder Monkeys is the only "proper" band she has ever been in.

Dave is from Bradford and is into classic rock. Influenced by bands like Pink Floyd, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Rush, UFO and Rainbow, although his favourite song is Faster by Within Temptation. Dave has been playing guitar for 43 years and has been in a variety of bands such as Diamond Light, The Fear, Wicked Rich, and with Damian in Roger The Cat and Stone Cold Crazy.

Pete is from Bradford and loves NWOBHM, Punk and American Rock. His influences are bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head, Stiff Little Finger, Sex Pistols, Kiss, Van Halen and Motley Crue, but when pushed his favourite song is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Pete has been playing guitar for over 40 years and has been in band original and cover bands Strange World, Muscavado, Jaded Hearts, Pink Mink, Midnight, Mr Meana, The Dead Celebs, Fugoo, Full Metal Raket and Highway Star.

Rich lives in Leeds and is nephew to Damian, who he gets his love of performance from. He loves prog rock, heavy metal and rock, with his influences being Rush, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Genesis, Ghost, Evanescence, Nickelback and Toto. His favourite song is Tom Sawyer by Rush. At 38, Rich is the youngest in the band and has been a musician for over 25 years, but has spent most of his career in front of the stage as a sound engineer (including Thunder Monkeys before joining the band). He has previously been a solo artist and was guitarist in Black Falcon. Thunder Monkeys is the first band where bass has been Rich's primary instrument.

Paul has recently rejoined Thunder Monkeys. Younger brother to Pete, Paul has been drumming for over 40 years and he is influenced by bands he refers to as "cock rock" - Motley Crue, Kiss, Van Halen, Bad News, Guns N Roses and Spinal Tap, with his favourite song being Right Now by Van Halen. A familiar face on the music scene having been in bands with his brother Pink Mink, Mr Meana, Midnight, Stapleface, and The Dead Celebs, he's also been in bands Sawdust, Triggers Broom and currently is drummer for Ozzy Osbourne tribute band Ozzbest.