MC Banks: Middlesbrough Roots and North East Makina

MC Banks brings a Middlesbrough perspective to North East makina. His story connects local word-of-mouth, the ambition of reaching the New Monkey microphone and collaborations that continue to appear on today’s listening platforms.

MIDDLESBROUGH ROOTS

In an April 2014 interview with Teesside Tunes, Banks described building his reputation by handing out CDs and tapes and letting listeners spread the word. He credited his local surroundings with helping him become known, while stressing the work he had to put in himself.

He also recalled playing the New Monkey during its final period in 2006, explaining how important that opportunity had been to an aspiring MC. Looking back at the wider scene, he named G-Force among its early voices and described microphone styles developing over time.

For Banks, the relationship with listeners mattered more than mainstream fame. His interview presents an underground culture built through participation and mutual respect—not simply chart positions.

Read Banks’s account in the original interview:
https://teessidetunes.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/mc-banks-and-everything-you-needed-to-know-about-rave/

SHARING THE MICROPHONE

A 2024 Makina Addicts UK upload credits MC Banks, MC Simpson and MC Crazy-T in a three-way microphone session with Steeshy and Intro. The platform dates the upload to 7 March 2024 and lists a running time of just over an hour.

That makes it a useful starting point for exploring Banks alongside other MCs. Rather than treating a short excerpt as the whole picture, try the longer session and listen for how the performers share space, switch between voices and work with the DJs’ selection.

Listen to the 2024 three-way session:
https://m.soundcloud.com/user-618175147/mc-banks-mc-simpson-mc-crazy-t-3-way-mic-2024-steeshy-intro-makina-addicts-uk

BANKS AND MC WIZARD: A 2026 LISTEN

The same channel published a recording on 5 March 2026 credited to MC Wizard and MC Banks, with Steeshy and Intro. Its listing is tagged makina and gives WGR listeners a newer point of comparison with the 2024 collaboration.

The upload date establishes when the recording appeared on SoundCloud; it should not automatically be treated as the date of the performance. Both sessions are linked here as listening suggestions, with the performer credits supplied by Makina Addicts UK.

Open the MC Wizard and MC Banks recording:
https://soundcloud.com/user-618175147/mc-wizard-mc-banks-2026

WHERE TO START

For a first listen, choose the Wizard and Banks session, then explore the three-way recording with Simpson and Crazy-T. The different line-ups offer two ways into Banks’s work without needing to know every name in the North East scene beforehand.

If the interview’s mention of an earlier generation catches your interest, continue with WGR’s MC G-Force feature:
https://weedygarageradio.xyz/blog/mc-g-force-north-east-rave

The biographical account above is drawn from Banks’s 2014 interview and is presented in its historical context. Listening credits follow the linked uploads. Audio remains on the external platforms; WGR does not host or claim ownership of these recordings.