Monkeys in a Zoo
Acoustic Duo

Meet The Monkeys

Matthew Lipschultz is a "rising star", grinding-out passionate vocals for a variety of Twin Cities bands including The Soul Shack, The SoulSide All-Stars, and Hot Brockoli. He's also worked with The No Limits/B-Side Band, Twin Cities SouthSide Band, The Locals, FlipSide, & Two-Legged Zoo. However, his favorite project is MIAZ.  Matthew always offers soulful renditions of your favorite tunes from the 60's, 70's, 80's and more.​

He LOVES to interact with the crowd, making each night a unique experience that's truly "in-the-moment"!  Monkeys In A Zoo (MIAZ) is a passion project borne out of fate.
Matthew Lipschultz (lead vocals) and Phil Lawrence (guitar) played together in Matthew's former band, The Twin Cities SouthSide Band, on a night when Phil sat-in with the band on electric guitar at a wild beach party on The St. Croix.

Fast-forward a year later, and the same party-goers brought Matthew and Phil together, asking them to play as an acoustic duo on "A Dock", for a Friday night social.
Things clicked immediately between these two musicians, but it wasn't until the following February of 2017 when Matthew and Phil looked to really deepen their collaboration and friendship.

After a few months of YouTube sessions, broadcast out on social media, #MonkeysInAZoo debuted at the Hard Rock Cafe; a premier gig that earned them a contract to play at Hard Rock, throughout the remainder of 2017, totalling more than 25 combined gigs, which included a headlining gig at The Dancing Dragonfly Winery's Food and Wine Festival.

MIAZ has developed a book of over eighty (80) songs that span genres from Classic Rock to Pop, from Soul Music to Blues, and from mellow acoustic sound, to the rhythmic sounds of Funk.

Matthew Lipschultz

Phil Lawrence

Matthew always offers soulful renditions of your favorite tunes from the 60's, 70's, 80's and more...
Phil Lawrence has been playing music in some form since he was in diapers.  What started with banging on pots and pans in his mom's kitchen eventually lead to a life of music and creative expression.  Phil's first love were the drums.  But of course, the deal was, piano lessons first...  it didn't take long to realize that reading music was not something that clicked for Phil.  Luckily his mom didn't push the formal lessons but instead nurtured her sons love for music by supporting his "rockstar" aspirations.

In 7th grade, Phil joined forces with some very talented neighbors and they formed a band called "Sunburst."  After playing their first gig at the neighborhood block party - the rush of playing live was forever etched in Phil's brain.  Sometime around 9th grade, Phil got his first guitar - and he literally did not stop playing it until his fingers were raw.  A new passion had emerged.

Phil continued to play guitar and was a part of some "legendary" bands in high school and college.  Phil will never forget the great times he had playing with his friends in bands like “The Moosemen” and “Biff and the Magictones.”

After years of being a family man and running a twin cities-based film and video production company called The Creative Edge, Phil stumbled into a low-key cover band called the River Rats.  Luckily, this return to making music resulted in his meeting and eventual collaboration with Matthew.  From their first impromptu show together, you could tell there was a connection between Matthew and Phil.  Whether it's their taste in music or just the joy that you can feel when you see them play - there's something special about MIAZ - and somehow it was always meant to be.
    
Phil got his first guitar - and he literally did not stop playing it until his fingers were raw.  A new passion had emerged.