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Hi, this is Ivan Pongracic, formerly of the Space Cossacks and
currently of the Troubadours.
I'm extremely happy to introduce my new surf band, the Madeira. The
Madeira has Dane Carter on drums, Scott Waddell on bass, Patrick
O'Connor on rhythm guitar, and myself on lead guitar (Scott and Dane
have been known to show up on SG101). Dane and Scott are also in the
Troubadours with me, and Patrick is also the lead guitar player in
Destination: Earth! from Indianapolis (D:E! is still together and
they'll continue to subjugate the Earthlings throughout the Midwest).
We spent a weekend in mid-April practicing for the first time, and
sparks were flying! I can honestly say that I have never played with
a finer group of musicians than this, and I'm just giddy with
excitement over the possibilities. I'm also really happy to be
getting back to surf music proper after playing only Shadows covers
for the last four years (the Troubadours, BTW, will also continue).
We fully intend to make this an original band and we're already
working on three new originals with more to come soon. But for now
it's mostly covers, though not your usual covers. We'll be doing
some Space Cossacks stuff, some New World Relampagos, some rarer
first wave things and even some third wave songs by the Treble
Spankers and the Surf Coasters. Oh, and then there's that Paco de
Lucia cover! We're aiming to develop the whole North African
(Morocco, etc.) and Southern Spain (Andalucia, flamenco stuff)
connection to the surf sound - that's the MO. Still keeping the feet
firmly planted in the trad sounds, but with the eyes aimed at the
horizons, trying to peer a bit beyond. It promises to be
interesting, if nothing else!
Brian Neal has kindly put up a temporary website for us as part of
the SG101 website (Thanks Brian you RULE!!). Go here:
It's very bare at this moment, but there are two mp3s available for
download. Both songs are covers: "Express to Bagdad" originally by
the Atlantics (from '64) and "Intruder" originally by the Surf
Coasters. The first seemed quite topical as well as effectively
showcasing the band chops, and the second is just a mind-blowing tune
that seemed like a really nice challenge - hopefully we lived up to
it! The recording is from our first practice session in a very hi-fi-
hostile environment. It was recorded in Dane's basement with bare
hard walls and the sound bouncing all over the place. In addition,
we could only record on two tracks so we had two mics for four
instruments. (Yes, that's what they call an ambient recording.) And
to top it off, we didn't really have the time to ensure the best mic
instrument balance, and as a result the rhythm guitar got buried
(fortunately Patrick set up the recording so he can't claim a
conspiracy to keep him quiet! :). But we're quite pleased by the
results, and it'll give you some idea of what this band is all
about. We hope to have a few more mp3s from the same practice
session to put up in the next few days
Finally, we would like to announce our first gig. It'll be on
Saturday, June 5th, at Zanies Too in Indianapolis, with the Volcanos
and the Troubadours (the same venue where the Troubadours played with
Destination: Earth! and the Nebulas last year). So, you'll get the
hard-driving exotic-tinged surf of the Madeira, groovy trad surf of
the near-legendary Volcanos AND the finest (well, the only) American
Shadows cover band! Consider this an invitation for people from all
over the country - we'll try to make it a memorable show and worth
your airfare or long hours on the road! I hope at least a few of you
can make it.
Thanks for reading and listening, and hope to see all of you over the
next few years.
Ivan
