Hi all!

Ivan Pongracic (of the Madeira and the Space Cossacks) here, haven't been on SG101 much in quite a while, sorry about that. But I had posted in the past couple of years about the new band I'm part of, Lords of Atlantis, along with Jeremy DeHart (of the Manakooras, Aqualads, and the A-Men) on rhythm and lead guitar and bass, Dane Carter (of the Madeira and the Troubadours) on drums, and Jonpaul Balak (of Insect Surfers, the Tikiyaki Orchestra, the Scimitars, and a ton of others!) on bass. We started working on our debut album three years ago, and it was finally released two months ago on a new label, Tabu Recordings, part of the House of Tabu/Exotica Moderne tiki empire! So far only available on CD, but the LP (on green vinyl!) coming in the fall! Until then, you can get the CD here should you want one (only 250 in print in total), if you wish. Here's the front cover:

Anyway, I wanted to share the videos of our debut show at the Surfer Joe Summer Festival in Livorno, Italy, two months ago almost to the day, on June 25th. We were incredibly fortunate to perform with a spectacular sunset right behind us, making for some dramatic and gorgeous video footage! The videos were shot by the members of Romanian surf band the Undercurrents from the front row, and look amazing. Below is the playlist of the eight (of 11 total) tracks that we performed that evening (including one by the Madeira), I thought maybe some of you might enjoy seeing this. I hope you do! (Our second show will be in three weeks at the Makahiki Festival in Indy, which sold out in a couple of days.) Hope to share some more Lords of Atlantis stuff with you in the next few months!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Last edited: Aug 24, 2023 15:44:21

Thank you Ivan, a wonderful set! Great to have you back on SG101, you've been missed!

Patrick

What a great set it was! For me it was a real culmination of the Fest)

Would be great to see you more here, your input is always interesting and useful.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Amazingly good. How can you keep raising the bar, that's already set so high, by you?!

Awesome video, and killer tone! Glad to see you back at it, Ivan!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New Single “Finish Line” on Bandcamp and website.

That’s where I was standing! Or more like dancing) Thanks for these great memories!

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Samurai wrote:

That’s where I was standing! Or more like dancing) Thanks for these great memories!

Awesome, thank YOU, Vitaly, so glad to hear it brought back good memories! It was a truly special weekend, unforgettable for me for many different reasons.

SixStringSurfer wrote:

Does anyone know what gauge strings Ivan uses on his Strat(s)?

I do, I do! On this guitar (a 2012 American Standard Strat that's almost completely stock except I replaced the trem with a Wudtone vintage-style 6-screw one; the pickups are the stock Fat '50s), I use D'Addario EXL115W nickel roundwound 11-49 with a wound G string. This is actually completely new to me, the first time I ever gigged with these strings was this show, as I had been using Rotosound Purples nickel roundwounds 12-52 for over 20 years exclusively. Unfortunately, I started developing some left hand problems in the past few years that got kinda bad late last year, and after talking with Jim Skiathitis of the Atlantics and finding out he suffered a similar problem years ago, he told me he switched to those D'Addario 11s and that he has been able to retain his signature sound due to that wound G. 11-gauge sets almost always come with a plain G, which is not as conducive to the surf sound as a wound G. And sure enough, once I tried it, I feel in love with these strings. I believe I'm done with Roto Purples forever, bring on the D'Addario EXL 115Ws!

There you go! Sorry for such a wordy answer, but it's my personal affliction.

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

Samurai wrote:

Btw I’ve decided to give them a try. I also stopped using 12s on long scale guitars and this one seems to be a nice alternative.

That's really nice to hear, Vitaly! I hope you're liking the strings. And man oh man, what an amazingly gorgeous Strat that is!!! Hope it plays as well as it looks - if it does, I'd never put it down!!!

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

IvanP wrote:

Samurai wrote:

That’s where I was standing! Or more like dancing) Thanks for these great memories!

Awesome, thank YOU, Vitaly, so glad to hear it brought back good memories! It was a truly special weekend, unforgettable for me for many different reasons.

SixStringSurfer wrote:

Does anyone know what gauge strings Ivan uses on his Strat(s)?

I do, I do! On this guitar (a 2012 American Standard Strat that's almost completely stock except I replaced the trem with a Wudtone vintage-style 6-screw one; the pickups are the stock Fat '50s), I use D'Addario EXL115W nickel roundwound 11-49 with a wound G string. This is actually completely new to me, the first time I ever gigged with these strings was this show, as I had been using Rotosound Purples nickel roundwounds 12-52 for over 20 years exclusively. Unfortunately, I started developing some left hand problems in the past few years that got kinda bad late last year, and after talking with Jim Skiathitis of the Atlantics and finding out he suffered a similar problem years ago, he told me he switched to those D'Addario 11s and that he has been able to retain his signature sound due to that wound G. 11-gauge sets almost always come with a plain G, which is not as conducive to the surf sound as a wound G. And sure enough, once I tried it, I feel in love with these strings. I believe I'm done with Roto Purples forever, bring on the D'Addario EXL 115Ws!

There you go! Sorry for such a wordy answer, but it's my personal affliction.

Thank you for the detailed explanation, I really appreciate it! I am concerned about getting hand pain myself, as I play .16-.60 gauge strings on my Strat (standard tuning). Keep up the great playing!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New Single “Finish Line” on Bandcamp and website.

Long time brewing but big congratulations on the band launch. (Dane, you're still my favorite drummer. Yes, really.) But seeeing the vids and the pic in your Hillsdale newsletter I have to ask:

Ahem, Ivan, what is that thing hanging off the nose of your Strat?

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.