EARLY BEGINNINGS...

According to Mom Heinzerling, from the time he was a small boy, Ken Heinzerling was always "monkeying around", which eventually evolved to "monkey business" in his teen years.

"Monkey Business" was always on young Ken's mind throughout his early twenties as he searched for a way to goof off and get paid for it. Ken spent a lot of time hanging out with musicians throughout this incubation period. In his subconscious mind, he was still working out the details of his his master plan.

One day it occurred to Ken to become a musician. Of course... he had heard Dire Straits' song "Money for Nothing" so many times over the years, but now it made more sense than ever! He had sat in on drums during band rehearsals of some of the guys he was hanging out with before, so he knew he could do it. Plus, he had voice training and experience singing from his school years. It all seemed to make sense that he take a crack at it now.

Ken's first band, "Blind Lab Rats" lasted for about 3 years before certain events found the members going their separate ways. That was when "Monkey Business" was born.

MONKEY BUSINESS v1.0

Ken and fellow "Blind Lab Rat" guitarist Byron Wooten found a third member, Mario Salazar, to form the first lineup, which didn't last long enough to reallly get out gigging, as Byron made a decision to "go into retirement" from the band scene due to his newborn child and his need to bond with his own family more.

MONKEY BUSINESS v2.0

The next incarnation of the band included two ex-members of the band "Results May Vary". Drummer Ben Davis and Bassist Scott Bekebrede joined Mario and Ken and now Ken was trying his hand at the role of "Lead Singer/Front Man". They tried out other lead guitarists to fill the "Byron" void, and found Kevin Simnacher, ex-Lead Guitarist of "Tan Yer Hide"/"Fighter"/"Ratler"/"Big Spender" bands. This particular grouping left Ken missing drumming and then after 3 months Kevin jumped ship to join progressive rock cover band (the short-lived "Idol Threat") Ken decided to bow out at this time as well.

MONKEY BUSINESS v3.0

After a week or two of leaving the 5-peice grouping, Ken realized he had committed "Monkey Business" to playing a benefit gig, but he no longer had a band. He contacted Scott Bekebrede and his old friend Byron Wooten to join him in putting together an hour worth of entertainment for the benefit gig, which they did.

It was a great chemistry between the three, and they performed brilliantly as they played their first and only performance together. When asked if he was going to "come out of retirement" and start gigging again, Byron was unable to commit.

Fortunately, Kevin Simnacher had recently become available again, as he found himself "band-less" at about this time. So together, these three musicians banded together on a quest for grand scale assault on the Cedar Rapids area bar scene. The world may never again be the same.

Check out Ken's page >> ..... Check out Scotts' page >> ..... Check out Kevin's page >>