The Peppermint Apes are a band with a far-out name and serious talent. Based in Basildon, London these four young men bring together a blended sound influenced by everything from country to the rock reverberations of such artists as The Beatles, Tom Petty, George Harrison, to The Kooks and The Feeling. “We were born to rock!” says lead vocalist and songwriter Ryan Stanton.

Ryan, who first picked up a guitar at nine years old, says he learned from his father, Colin Stanton. “I suppose, watching my dad play made the music appear in my veins. I used to watch his rehearsals. After plenty of Air Guitar moments, I finally learned the trade!”

“My dad has always been in different genres of bands, but in early years of my life he was in a Country band playing around Europe. His last band was a top T. Rex tribute, called Too Rex.”

Just prior to Colin Stanton’s last gig with Too REX, Ryan joined up with bass and lead guitarists Darren Own and drummer Zak Ballinger. “We had known each other by appearing in different bands together,” says Ryan. “We got together to support my dad’s last gig at a big local theatre.” Their acoustic set of original songs received storming feedback. “Since then,” Ryan says, “My dad has put his thirty years of musical experience into our band by becoming our manager. We have had great results so far. This is the first band we have all been in that our parents tell us to play louder, they love it!”

“Like all bands do, we struggled to think of a name. Then one day, my dad combined some wacky random names on our white board in the studio, and we all noticed The Peppermint Apes. We laughed and thought, ‘That’s the name!’”

“Zak and I were in a band with Darren called CoValent, which was lead by a female singer and had a good local fan base. The Peppermint Apes had already formed with ‘Miracle to Me’ released online, but our original guitarist had to leave due to personal reasons. Lewis passed the audition to replace him,” explains Ryan.

Of their personalities Ryan says, “Going by our managers’ opinion, who knows us inside out, I’m the wacky one, Darren is the thinker, Zak the chilled guy, and Lewis is your every day dude (with sideburns.)”

Sideburns or no, Lewis rounds out the band as not only the newest but also the youngest member at 17 years old. “He brings his guitar and candy to every rehearsal,” Ryan laughs.

“Darren and Zak dance like ducks without any legs. Lewis can’t dance and I’m just a legend in an un-arrogant way.” Ryan continues, living up to his wacky depiction. “Darren and I both like football. Shame we have rival teams. Zak can challenge Tony Hawk on the skateboard, and Lewis likes eating Haribo.”

“It would be obvious, like all bands say in business, that music is our life, but it really is important to us. We have great state-of-the-art rehearsal facilities, with our own 24 track-recording desk for our demos, plus we have a professional editing suite to produce our own music videos. We have a US tour manager hoping to take us on the Route 66 circuit in October. We are always rehearsing and currently recording new songs, and getting prepared for two new music videos. In this privileged position to have these in our in our favor, why wouldn’t we like it?”

In closing, Ryan jokes, “The mystery behind Lewis’ sideburns is selatape…and we like peppermints.”