Repeater on rewind

Jet-setting half way across the globe (then again most places are a continent away from Africa) to the USA, through comfort of WIFI airwaves, I got a chance to catch up with the guys from Catalina Shortwave and chat about the launch of their debut album REPEATER

If you missed the expose (and by that I mean the previous review) here’s the 101.

• They have that Johnny Cash, U2, Tom Jones, REM thing going on.
• You’ll swear you’ve heard of them before … it’s all very deja vu!
• They’re all rock with a twang of country soul.
• They’re not the new kinds on the block – despite the word debut being tossed about.
• … and they’re clearly in it for the music.

But I won’t spoil the full review. You can read all about it here.

Or instead of listening to that replay, you can press pause, then rewind and get the scoop on how this came about.

But before we go there. Here’s a musical treat.It’s said to be one of the favs (and that’s not an easy picking)

“When Dave started singing that one too me and the music just came right out, it was like it was already there. It’s about the frustration of wanting to repair a love but not knowing how and being a helpless spectator as it disintegrates. ” says Brent. ( He’s the mix between the Cowboy and the Rockstar in case you’re wondering, keeping both parties in check!)

So let’s get back to basics.

Catalina Shortwave sounds like it’s got a story behind it, I though. So I did my homework and came across this answer:

Kind of my idea, but I think the guys embraced it.  It’s not a thing, a Catalina Shortwave, but it’s meant to evoke a certain set of images and feelings.  A  radio tower in the desert pumping out music to the lost, the lustful, and the strange.  The Catalina Mountains.  The radio can be a person’s lifeline, they can hear pieces of their lives in the music.  The insert to the physical CD has some lines that expand on these images – See more at: http://catalinashortwave.com/press/#sthash.JIuwViqj.dpuf

Kind of my idea, but I think the guys embraced it.  It’s not a thing, a Catalina Shortwave, but it’s meant to evoke a certain set of images and feelings.  A  radio tower in the desert pumping out music to the lost, the lustful, and the strange.  The Catalina Mountains.  The radio can be a person’s lifeline, they can hear pieces of their lives in the music.  The insert to the physical CD has some lines that expand on these images – See more at: http://catalinashortwave.com/press/#sthash.JIuwViqj.dpuf

Kind of my idea, but I think the guys embraced it.  It’s not a thing, a Catalina Shortwave, but it’s meant to evoke a certain set of images and feelings.  A  radio tower in the desert pumping out music to the lost, the lustful, and the strange.  The Catalina Mountains.  The radio can be a person’s lifeline, they can hear pieces of their lives in the music. 

Apart from the deepness of that message, the tower is also a beckon of transference, connection, and communication. Without it the transfer of music would have been just a tad more tricky. And that one thing I learnt about these guys …. fast… It’s all about the music!

Brent goes on to say “This band is about rock and roll. Straight up and simple. And in terms of vision, I think we all just want to rock, straight up play music.” NOTED, never get between a them and their music. After all it’s been such a huge part of their life story. “I have always been drawn to music and art. I can remember hearing “Bridge over Troubled Water” as a little kid and feeling like I had heard it somewhere before.” he adds.

“Dave and I met a couple of years ago. Dave had a ton of lyrics already written and he would sing them to me and I would try to find melodies that matched up. After we had a couple of demos done we called in Marty, who we knew from his band Tombstone Almanac to lay down some guitars and from there it just took off. ”

Then along came a splash of female vocals on tracks such as Don’t never take your love away (amongst overs). “Her name is Tara Mazur.  She’s just fabulous.  She’s got a smooth and gentle voice that we knew would contrast with Dave’s in a complementary way.  It worked out great and we were lucky to have her on the record.  I think she’s going to be studying musical theater – she’s got a great career ahead of her.” reflects Brent.

“One of the reasons we all clicked together was that the creative process was so smooth, it’s hard to find that, we all enjoy working together very much!” he adds. And that’s a huge feat in itself in the music industry. I may not be band material, but I’ve worked with my fair share to know that. Anyways, back to this tale.  “From start to finish, (the album took) about a year but there were some peaks and valleys in there.” he adds … politely.  I let that one slide.

Brent  then explains what makes them stand out from the rest of the game “There are of course a lot of great bands out there but I feel like what we are doing is special because we do it just because we love it and we’re very Zen about it. We don’t have a strategy or a five-year plan. Our strategy is to love what we’re doing. If you get that right, the rest follows. It’s easier said than done.” sums it up pretty well. Don’t you think?

It’s really all about the music! Front up and center!

And Turkey. It looking like they’ll be heading there next. Or at least they’re hopeful on that one.

And with that, I let them return into their musical worlds. But, for you reading this … I just can’t resist sharing this:

So if you haven’t got the memo yet. The debut album is on sale via CD Baby. (with more teasers if you’re not convinced)