Meet David Lucas of Monkey Love Band in Fort Worth

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Lucas.

David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Monkey Love Band started in October 2010 as an acoustic duo. Within the first year, we grew into a full 5 piece band. Our premise was quite simple; there were a ton of bands playing southern rock and blues and more than enough bands playing Journey and Foreigner hits. We wanted to be the band that plays everything else. The music is just as popular but gives our audiences a real kick when they realize “Hey, I love that song, no one plays that”.

The early crew consisted of Jim Kingsley, Jacob Farley, Rick Thompson, Steve Byas and Dave Lucas. We played mostly small bars and restaurants around the Fort Worth area and started to build a bit of the following playing tune by America, John Mellencamp and The Eagles. As many know, bands don’t always stay together completely and we were no exception. Monkey Love entered a whole new world of music with the addition of Andy Pearce on bass.

Bringing in more harmony and a fresh take on more 70’s-80’s party rock, blossomed into a very clean full sounding group. The venues were getting bigger and our sound was becoming more polished every day. We made the decision to move Andy to guitar and brought in Greg Wofford as our new bass player and Andrew Marton on keys. Andy’s move to guitar was an incredible move as he has driven our sound to new heights. Part virtuoso/part madman, Andy is a force.

Greg brought in outstanding lead singing and even more harmony as we moved into territories like Huey Lewis and the News, The Cars, The Police among others. Sadly, Greg had some health issues that had to be addressed. The great news is, Greg is happily married and healthier than ever before. We love him and he still sits in with us and blesses us with immense talent.

Andrew Marton brought us the ability to expand our horizons with keyboard-based songs, horns, strings and you name it. A wonderful pianist, an amazing person, and the absolute life of the party, Andrew brings the crazy to Monkey Love. You can’t take your eyes off him, he’s so manic! Still a member today, Andrew brings a lot of heart to the music.

The entire shift to full on party and some dance came in the form of Mr. Gary S. Lopez. A bass player with one of the most soulful voices you’ve ever heard. We made the shift to Prince, Earth, Wind and Fire and more truly unique music. Gary was a long timer with the group and another performer you had to see to believe. Gary is still performing today and has written some very amazing music. Check him out.

The current crew has now been in place for close to two years and have played some pretty big places such as At&T Stadium, as well as, Rangers Stadium in Arlington. Forest Parker is our latest addition to bass. Forest has it all, great voice, unbelievable bass chops, and a very keen ear for harmony. Forest, with his razor sharp wit and incredibly dry humor, has fit in with us like a glove. He has helped drive the band back to our roots in classic 70’s rock and a bonus, country music.

We also need to add Mr. Jack Miller who has always been an official band member and plays with us when he can. The best harp player in DFW, sings, percussion, drums and loads of performance personality. Jack Miller is a DFW musical treasure and we are so blessed to have him perform with us.

It’s all Monkey Love – We love every minute of it and you can tell.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No real struggles.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Monkey Love Band – what should we know?
The music sets us apart. We like to stay away from overdone, every-band-plays-that material. We play great hits, just not tired ones.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Every member of the band former and current has helped me build and grow our brand, so to speak.

-Steve Byas, the drummer is a solid friend and I can always count on him to help take over show duties and suggest great tunes.
-Andy Pearce taught me how to rock. He has every influence under the sun and can do it all. Keeps me inspired.
-Andrew Marton, kinda like my kid brother. He discusses everything with me and his love for the band makes me love the band even more every day.
-Forest Parker, He has such a calming air about him. He just comes in and delivers. His dry humor puts me in stitches and so very well-timed. I look forward to seeing him every night we play, he’s just a kick.

-My wife Kat. She loves to watch me work with these guys and never grows tired of it. truly amazing how much she gives me by allowing me to perform like this. She’s not alone in this, every Monkey Love wife is a loving person that shows up and parties like they’ve never heard of us before.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reverbnation.com/monkeyloveband
• Email: lucas5568@yahoo.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/monkeyloveband
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/monkeyloveband
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/monkeyloveband

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