Looking forward to 2015, reflections on 2014

Personally, the first half of 2014 was difficult for my family with the loss of my father.  I believe he would have been proud of my accomplishments within the past year.  My father was integral to my musical development starting a young age.  Recognizing my ear early on along with my elementary school music teacher, my parents were supportive of my joining the Atlanta Boys Choir even sending me abroad to perform, about which my dad bragged even into my adulthood.  When I was in college, I was having a tough time of it not knowing exactly what path I should take when he suggested music.  I went on to study classical guitar and was engaged and enthralled by the study of the guitar and music.  My dad was quite a musician himself with a beautiful voice and knowledge of the keyboard and music theory.  Singing of course with the family at Sandy Springs Baptist church where my grandfather was minister, he would later go on to study voice in college and sing barbershop, which he loved, with the Marietta Big Chicken Chorus.

At the beginning of 2014 I thought there to be no way it could exceed the previous year, but was happily mistaken.  Last year was the point in time where my heroes became my peers.  When I was in high school one of my best friends Morgan, drummer of the Squares, purchased Rhino's Cowabunga surf compilation box set and I remember hearing a certain tune in particular.  It started with ambient bells and was slow, moody, and thoughtful and has resonated with me ever since.  That piece was Insect Surfers' "Polaris" and last year I had the opportunity to play the song as a part of the band for Instro Summit.  Still reeling from the experience, shortly after I got home I received an email from Ivan Pongracic of the Madeira asking if I would be willing to fill in for their rhythm guitarist, Patrick, on a river cruise in Milwaukee which of course I couldn't refuse.  Ivan is one of my favorite guitarists of all time and Madeira is one of the top surf groups in the world.  Both were experiences I will cherish for the rest of my life and am grateful for the opportunities.  As if that weren't enough, MOONBASE were finally able to record and release our debut album "Creation Myths". 

2013 found me serving a different role for me as producer for the very first time.  2014 found me serving yet an even more different role as promoter.  What started as a simple question asking friends if they would be interested in attending or playing a monthly surf show here in Atlanta has grown into quite a success, pulling in what I believe to be an excellent number of patrons and some of the best bands not just that the South, but the entire country has to offer.  Out of the show, the Southern Surf Stomp, has also emanated a blog, twitter feed, Facebook page, and podcast.

Honestly I don't know what this year will hold but have high hopes and expectations.  I already have some excellent shows and plans for the Southern Surf Stomp.  MOONBASE wishes to perform more out of town shows.  Both The Mystery Men? and Jeffrey Bützer and the Bicycle Eaters expect to record.  Of course I'd love to produce and fill in for more groups but will have to see just where the year takes me.

Brand new podcast, Southern Surf Stompcast

Southern Surf Stompcast features the best surf, instro, and beyond the South has to offer.  Our debut episode features an interview from North Carolina's Arrows out as well as music from groups that have performed previously at the Southern Surf Stomp, a monthly show held here in Atlanta.  It can be found streaming below or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Tracklisting:
The Monterreys "Machete!"
The Surge! "Paddle or Die",
The Mutations "Surfer's Dream",
Daikaiju "Flight of Garuda",
Kill, Baby...Kill! "Trioxin Twist",
The Mystery Men? "The Devil You Know",
Arrows Out "Yes, Maybe",
Arrows Out "Tessellate",
MOONBASE "Smoke",
El Fossil "Hair Pin",
Gemini 13 "Chopped and Channeled",
The High Fidelics "Lil' Curfew Breaker",
The Zaratans "Wavos Maximos".

Intro and outro music, "Southern Surf Syndicate Theme", provided by The Penetrators.

Jacksonville SURF FEST II (7/19)

The Mystery Men? w/ The Madeira (CD release), The Volcanos @ The Melody Inn (Indianapolis) 6/14

Second annual Atlanta Food Truck Surf Fest (5/10)

Instro Summit 2014!

Instro Summit is THE largest surf/instrumental music festival in the world.  This year will be my third consecutive year performing with The Mystery Men? and first with MOONBASE.  The event has become somewhat of a family reunion of sorts and many of the groups performing I am honored to call friends.  Crispy Bess, promoter, has really outdone himself this year bringing in 28 astounding acts from across the US.  Held at Motorco Music Hall in Durham, NC May 16-18, check out this forum on Surf Guitar 101 for more details.

MOONBASE @ The Drunken Unicorn 11/3/12

This video was recently found from a surf vs. metal show at the Drunken Unicorn November 3, 2012 with The Mystery Men?, Death of Kings, and Zruda.  Tracks: Above Us Only Sky, Smoke, Caves of Steel, and Aces High (Iron Maiden cover).
 

Looking forward to 2014, reflections on 2013

2013 year has been one of the best years of my life both musically and personally.  Although J was born in 2012, I feel as if I got really got to 'know' him this year and he has really developed his own personality.  I traveled to the birth place of surf music and performed with some of it's progenitors alongside some of my heroes and influences.  Not only that, but The Mystery Men? had the opportunity to play throughout California meeting friends new and old, having many worthwhile experiences along the way.  The band also recorded and released it's debut full-length album, "Sonos Delirium".  I had not one, but two opportunities to serve as producer on projects for Kill, Baby...Kill! and Gemini 13.  One of my best friends flew me to Colorado to perform classical guitar at his mountainside wedding overlooking Crested Butte.  I had over 40 performances this year including festival dates with The Mystery Men? North Carolina and Florida,  successful Christmas shows in Tennessee with the Silent Knights, and I even served bass duties for a Beach Boys cover show in Southern Florida.

Although 2013 may be difficult to top, I believe a great many thing to come in the new year.  MOONBASE has studio time booked for our upcoming full-length.  I'd love to do even more producer work in 2014 and have already been tapped for several projects.  The Mystery Men? will be performing at the final Hukilau in Ft. Lauderdale.

Producer for Gemini 13's upcoming EP

Later this month, I will be returning to the role of producer for Gemini 13 on their debut EP!  They are hoping to record three songs with the Mystery Men?'s own Jay Wallace.  Gemini 13 is an up-and-coming trad surf combo from Atlanta.  Stay tuned for more updates on the project and in the meantime, Gemini 13 can be found on both ReverbNation and facebook.

Mention on Luxuria Music's Fiberglass Jungle podcast

Fiberglass Jungle's Jonpaul Balak presents the very best in recordings that fall under the wide instrumental Surf Music umbrella. This base encompasses the “pre-surf” instrumental Rock n’ Roll tunes of the late 50s, the classic “First Wave” originators of the early 60s, the “Second Wave” bands of the late 70s and early 80s, the crossover, genre-blending “Third Wave” bands of the 90s, the cutting-edge, description-defiant melting pot of current-day innovators, as well as a healthy dose of Spaghetti Western, international styles such as Japanese Eleki and Finnish Rautalanka, Surf-Guitar-based Exotica, Easy Listening, and Crime Jazz.

This podcast has been quite supportive lately, playing tracks from both the Squares and the Mystery Men?  The most recent episode from 10/12/13 played a track from the album I produced earlier this year, Kill, Baby...Kill!'s "Corridor X", followed by a mention of my name!  

Please be sure to check out Fiberglass Jungle.

The Mystery Men? @ the Knockout (San Francisco) 8/7

w/ Rocketship Rocketship and Buzzy Frets.

The Mystery Men? @ the Earl 7/24

w/ Laramie Dean and Hardship Anchors.

Atlanta Music Guide's interview with The Mystery Men?

Interview: The Mystery Men? Playing @ Mashable Social Media Day Atlanta – June 27th

June 17, 2013 | Katie Caccavale+

Formed from different corners of the Atlanta music scene, the shadowy figures of The Mystery Men? play their own brand of reverby instro surf music. Always with a mind toward the creative, The Mystery Men? are continuously looking to hypnotize new and old fans alike! Attendees of Mashable Social Media Day, will get the chance to not only chat with peers about the perks of new social media tactics, but they will also get the chance to see and hear The Mystery Men? perform!
Atlanta Music Guide caught up with Mr. JaGa of the band to ask him how The Mystery Men? utilize social media. Check out what he had to say!

What has been your most memorable gig as the Mystery Men?
There have been so many to be honest, but if I had to pick one, I think it would be Instro Summit 2012 in early May at The Cave in Chapel Hill when we unveiled our 3-guitar lineup. I think we felt like a different beast, and played to a very receptive (and packed) house. There was magic in the room that night.

I noticed you all have unique names (Mr. JaGa, Mr. RiHa, Mr. EvJa, Mr. JaWa, Mr. TeBa) I’m assuming those aren’t you’re real names. Is that part of the mystery behind the Mystery Men?
That is correct. Those are not our real names. Further information on this topic is highly classified by our organization (and further backed by affiliate organization The Southern Surf Syndicate).

What was the first social media outlet you used to get your music out to the public?
As, I suspect, with many bands… MySpace, though we found ReverbNation VERY early… probably around the same time (and greatly prefer it!!).

What kind of impact has social media had on your band?
TREMENDOUS impact. Without social media we wouldn’t have a reasonable way to get word out about our shows and records. This is true with our local crowd through your basics like Facebook, ReverbNation and Twitter, but also globally with more focused outlets (particularly with such a specific genre of music) as the forums over at surfguitar101.com.

Would you say that using social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) is the quickest, easiest way to reach a large amount of fans? Give us an example of how you’ve used social media to reach out to your fans.
I would absolutely say that this is true. All of our shows are promoted through Facebook, Twitter and ReverbNation. These tools are VITAL in creating awareness about when and where we play. We link up all of our social media accounts so they relay the same info and provide links to all of them via our webpage (www.themysterymenofsurf.com). This way we feel like we hit all of the people at each different outlet with either event invitations or simply announcements as well as those not connected on social networks through our website. As people who have played live music since the early 90′s, we fully embrace social media as a VERY efficient way to market ourselves. I honestly don’t know how we did it all back in the day.

This Mashable Social Media Day event is a unique gig to play. What can attendees expect from your live performance?
Attendees can expect an aggressive and melodic dance of reverb and rhythm with a dynamic performance. Our masked players like to engage with the audience so it’s not just “watching a band”. We want people to have fun and get swept away… we provide the soundtrack. What we want to do is create an experience.

What are the plans for the Mystery Men? for the remainder of 2013?
The Mystery Men? actually have some pretty exciting plans this year! We are very close to releasing a new full length CD in late July titled “Sonos Delirium”. On top of that we are very excited to have been invited to play the annual Surfguitar101 Convention in Southern California on August 10th. This is by far the biggest and furthest reaching event of the year for surf music not to mention all located right where this genre of music was born. We are honored to play, and are very excited about playing a handful of shows on the other side of the country!

The Mystery Men? @ Surf Guitar 101 convention 2013

More details can be found at Surf Guitar 101.

The Mystery Men? @ The Tin Can (San Diego) 8/9

with The Secret Samurai (CA) and The Aqualads (NC).

The Mystery Men? @ Bubbapalooza 2013!

The Mystery Men? @ Instro Summit 2013!

MOONBASE / The Mystery Men? @ the Drunken Unicorn 11/3

With Death Of Kings and Zruda.

MOONBASE / The Mystery Men? @ the Star Bar 10/3

With Hip To Death and Hello Cobra.

After four fantastic shows in three weeks I feel it appropriate to announce that I am now the newest member of The Mystery Men?