CrazyAces wrote:

surferjoemusic wrote:

To be honest, as much as I am very happy of all the originals we have done... I am more glad of the covers first time I say this, but I am particularly proud of those covers.

Oh I get that.
This is quite an undertaking, covering one of the most beloved bands music and sound and if it's as good as I suspect it's going to be amazing.

Cheers,
Jeff

well I am just very happy of the results of this try. And I really enjoyed doing it... I hope you will like it as I do.

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)

To be honest I'm skeptical about this, but at the same time I'm really super excited about it. I know Ralf and Lorenzo are always looking to set the standard and we all know what they are capable of, so if they are putting out this "Saint Grail" album is because they are confident this is good stuff and beyond ...
Congratulations! ... can't wait

When you have to shoot ... shoot! Don't talk.

"Los Grainders" > https://losgrainders.bandcamp.com
"The Strings Aflame" > https://thestringsaflame.bandcamp.com
"Planeta Reverb" > www.instagram.com/planetareverb

Emilien03 wrote:

To be honest I'm skeptical about this, but at the same time I'm really super excited about it. I know Ralf and Lorenzo are always looking to set the standard and we all know what they are capable of, so if they are putting out this "Saint Grail" album is because they are confident this is good stuff and beyond ...
Congratulations! ... can't wait

Being skeptical is a good sign and a very good setting.

So did we.

Yes, if that sound can be re-discovered, Ralf & Lorenzo are the guys to find it. They are HUGE surf fans, GREAT surf musicians, and they consume more surf guitar schnitzel than the rest of the world combined!

Have faith! All that surf guitar schnitzel will work miracles on their reverb drip!

Last edited: May 24, 2016 19:37:24

The Astronauts sound is up there with Coca-Cola and the Colonel's chicken as one of the great unsolvable secret recipes. I'm sure you guys have approached this with all the scholarship of musical anthropologists. I love the artwork, and can't wait to hear the result.

Lorenzo, I feel like the drums are the backbone of that forward propulsion, and you seem to have gotten that.

This will be an interesting release. I must admit that I am not as crazy about the Astronauts as most people here, but I am still looking forward to hear how this experiment turned out, especially since there will be an approach on the band from two different sides. I wonder if there will be any clear differences in the sound of the Kilaueas and Surfer Joe: Who will get closer to the original? There probably really is some potential for discussion here.
And then there is of course also the question, how well the new songs will fit in with the classics.

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

josheboy wrote:

Yes, if that sound can be re-discovered, Ralf & Lorenzo are the guys to find it. They are HUGE surf fans, GREAT surf musicians, and they consume more surf guitar schnitzel than the rest of the world combined!

Have faith! All that surf guitar schnitzel will work miracles on their reverb drip!

yes, greasing the strings with schnitzel is important to extend the strings' life too...

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)

IvanP wrote:

I LOVE that cover! Brilliant AND hilarious! (Lorenzo, your part of cover reminds me of something, but I can't quite place it - were you emulating something more famous in your stance?)

surferjoemusic wrote:

for the guitars, yes the drip is very much dripping, but there are aspects not so visible... it is not all dripping guitar, there is much more after it. and make 3 guitars working well in a recording is not easy. if the mixed frequencies do not fit with each other you just have a big mess in the end.

Very true. I believe in particular the most difficult part of replicating the Astronauts sound in whole is getting that third "Booch" guitar (the heavily reverbed one that usually just plays 8th root notes) to sound just right. I've never heard anybody capture that sound just right - it's completely unique. I think the sound of the lead guitar is not too difficult to replicate, but that distinctive 'booch' guitar has so far been impossible to replicate, and given how key it is in the Astronauts sound, this is the main reason why nobody's really been able to sound like the Astronauts. Let's see how well you boys do!

remember the sound of the astronauts might seem dirty sometimes, but they were good musicians and they were recording in top studios of RCA, so I assume the technicians knew what they were doing

I must disagree here, Lorenzo. Only some of their tracks were recorded at the RCA studios, and all of those sound extremely clean. The dirty sounding tracks were not even recorded in a proper studio - they were recorded at Club Baja in Boulder, in the afternoon before they played a show there. Those tracks sound pretty dirty, and probably didn't use very good technology nor engineers that were all that great.

There is a whole thread on which Astronauts tracks were recorded in which place here: https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/8745/

Here's a quick summary:

"Though many of the Astronauts' recordings were indeed done in the amazing RCA studios and sound immaculate, some of their most renowned songs were actually recorded under pretty lo-fi conditions: on September 19th and 20th, 1963, in Club Baja in Denver, CO, the Astronauts recorded "Surf Party," "The Pier", "Surfs You Right", "Firewater," "Surf Softly and Carry a Big Board," "Let's Surf Again," "Surfer Girl," and "My Little Beach Bunny". I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was done off-hours, while the club was empty, and there was a simple portable recording machine used to capture these tracks. And when you take a closer listen to them, they certainly don't sound nearly as clean and big as "Baja" or "Hot Doggin'" or any of the tracks on "Surfin' With the Astronauts". (Incidentally, Club Baja is also where the live "Everything is A-OK" was recorded, this time with the full crowd in tow!)"

See the original thread for more info!

True Ivan, only some were done at RCA, but the concept of the good mixing does not change. When I will tell how I have recorded it will be pretty clear that the lead guitar not only is easy, but also not very "surfy". The difficulty is to make the drippy rhythm guitar not too messy. Also here I will tell what my idea is and why sometimes the sound becomes messy in the mix. It is not the Fender stuff to make the difference here... but only the understanding of the single parts.
I don't think they did it on purpose i think it just came out that way...

Also in songs like "Surf Party" the way it is played, the anticipated notes sometimes, make the sound THAT way. Playing them slightly different just change the whole sound of the song.
But again the game would not work if drums are not done right. You would have only part of the music done, but would be missing all the "sparkle".

Anyway you will see when the record will be available ;)

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)

Uh, super nice band picture of the Kilaueas on the back you should have made it the front cover

The Hicadoolas

Wow, this is awesome!
I have a newly started band where i play lead-guitar and we play 4 of these songs by The Astronauts, i know well how challenging it is to get it right.
I agree on the drums being very important, must be a lot 'jazzy' or the songs sound too much 'rocking' losing that weird mellowness.

Now, i'm not an expert in copyright law and I wonder what's the deal with releasing a (mostly) cover album nowdays?
Does one need to pay for copyright of these songs?

Last edited: Jun 04, 2016 02:49:01