The local family band honors memories through music, infusing raw emotion into every powerful ballad they craft
By Leah Berry | Photography by John Michael Simpson
In the tight-knit Hart household, the lines between family time and playtime blur in the most electrifying way – through the power of rock music. The rhythmic clash of drums, hum of guitars and harmonized vocals fill the air. Every note, every beat, is not just sound; it’s a shared experience that binds them together.
This family band, under the creative moniker Secret Monkey Weekend, is a moving testament to the transformative power of grief, turning heartache into something deeply beautiful and soul-stirring.
Lila Brown Hart, 17, commands the drums and co-leads vocals while her sister, 22-year-old Ella Brown Hart, a senior at North Carolina Central University, holds down bass and backup vocals. Their stepfather, Jefferson Hart, takes charge on guitar and lends his voice as one of the band’s primary singers. “And I’m just Mom,” Laura Hart says with a smile. “I just try to support the band and support my partner.”
Jefferson, an accomplished musician and member of several local bands, first connected with the family through Ella and Lila’s late father, Matt Brown, a drummer in one of Jefferson’s bands. “Matt and I had been friends for several years,” Jefferson says, “and the kids started coming to the shows.”
Matt tragically passed away in 2012 from a sudden heart attack, leaving his family, friends and the local music community heartbroken.
About six months after Matt’s passing, Jefferson began teaching Ella guitar after her school’s club dissolved. “Ella was actually starting to write songs then,” Jefferson says. “At 9 years old … writing little political songs and little sci-fi songs on guitar.”
Laura and Jefferson started spending more time together, just the two of them, and their relationship blossomed into romance. “All this time I spent with the family … a lot of these things felt like family gatherings, family outings,” Jefferson says. “These kids and I, we just had a bond right away. I had seen them before their father had passed away, and I just loved being around them. I loved being around Laura, and to this day, they’re my favorite people.”
Jefferson and Laura married in 2015. “Before you knew it, we were just making music for fun in the music room, which used to be the den,” Jefferson says. “It was very natural. [Ella and Lila] both expressed a want and a need to play specific instruments, which was bass for Ella and drums for Lila, and I was a guitar player.”
Jefferson assumed the girls would team up with peers their age to form a band, but Laura proposed the idea of a family band. “I asked, ‘Do you want your old man in your band?’” Jefferson recalls with a laugh. “And they said, ‘Yes,’ so I said, ‘OK, let’s see what we can do.’”
The band’s journey kicked off with two intimate shows in late 2016: a backyard Labor Day gathering and a 50th birthday party, marking the group’s unofficial debut. “We hadn’t even chosen a name yet,” Jefferson recalls. “But we had this Tiger Beat [magazine] from 1967 that someone gave to us. On the cover, it said ‘Secret Monkee Weekend,’ and the entire issue was devoted to the band The Monkees. ‘Secret Monkee’ spelled th[at] way seemed like a neat idea, but we wanted to change it to monkey, like the animal. Just like that, we had our band name.”
By 2017, Secret Monkey Weekend had moved from small gatherings to larger stages, performing at clubs, festivals and parties. “We really started playing all over,” Jefferson says.
In spring 2022, the band released their first album, which was produced by Don Dixon, a renowned producer, songwriter and musician best known for his work with rock bands R.E.M. and The Smithereens.
“It was just something that we knew,” Jefferson says of the band’s desire to work with Don. “We would love to have some of that magic fairy dust on our recordings. … Don just took it and ran with it. He knew exactly what to do.”
“They put in a lot of work on their songs,” Don says of the trio. “All of them make contributions as writers. On my end, I just try to highlight their strengths and help them bring the songs to life in the studio while keeping the heart and soul of the group intact.”
Their songs are drawn from personal experiences, lighthearted anecdotes and everything in between. “We are a rock band, but we don’t really write about the lascivious side of that,” Ella says. “We write what we do know. … We have songs about our cats and dogs, we write about chilling out, candy, etc.”
“We had a sort of clean sound, which was very pop-oriented, and then in the past couple of years, we’ve gotten a little grittier and a little rockier,” Jefferson adds. “We’re starting to develop our own sound. … I don’t think anybody has this kind of sound now.”
Jefferson plays a key role in mentoring the girls, but he insists their talent speaks for itself. “They’re as good as any adult band I’ve played with,” Jefferson says. “I mean, the kids play like seasoned drummers and bass players. They’re just so good. I consider [Lila and Ella] the future of rock.”
Still, Ella and Lila remain grateful to have an experienced bandmate guiding their progress. “I think, most of all, Jefferson has taught us how to be a team player,” Ella says. “Being able to play something [on your own] versus being able to play it with other people and improvising and adapting to the environment you’re in … are two totally different things.”
Lila particularly enjoys performing at local spots like Motorco Music Hall – where the band had its first headlining appearance on July 26, 2024 – and The Pinhook, relishing the opportunity to connect with the musical community that has surrounded her throughout her life. “I get to have all these experiences a lot of people my age don’t get to have,” she says. “I get to meet seasoned rock musicians, and it’s really cool.”
Although their father is no longer with them, Ella and Lila find solace and joy in following a passion that was so dear to him, keeping his memory alive through their music. “My dad died when I was 4 years old,” Lila says. “… There’s still so much I don’t know about him. I feel like, playing his instrument, it’s such a surreal way to connect to my dad.”
In 2023, the family’s remarkable story of resilience and strength caught the attention of PBS North Carolina, which documented their path from heartbreak to healing in a film featuring intimate interviews and storytelling led by PBS documentarian Morgan Potts. The doc earned an Emmy, a moment Jefferson calls surreal. “It took a while to sink in that something we were a part of had that type of peer recognition,” he says.
Now the band is gearing up to release a highly anticipated second album this spring or early summer and are returning to the stage, with upcoming shows at The Pinhook on March 20, Gas Hill Drinking Room in Winston-Salem on April 17, and Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh on April 19.
The band isn’t chasing megastardom; instead, their focus remains on the music and the bonds their building along the way. “People ask, ‘What is your ultimate goal for Secret Monkey Weekend?'” Ella says. “‘How famous, frankly, would you like to be?’ And I always say, ‘The most I want is to fill up a modestly sized club with no issue.'”
Ella’s goal seems to be well within reach, given the momentum behind the band – especially with the unwavering support of their biggest fan: Mom. “I feel very privileged to be in a house with these talented musicians,” Laura says. “Music has always been in my life, and I always wanted it to be in my life. To have my two children and my partner playing music together is just mind-bogglingly wonderful.”
Read more uplifting local stories in our current edition of Durham Magazine.
