The Power of East Coast Surf

 

 

Name: Monterreys

Genre: Spaghetti-Surf/TV/Movie/Lounge

Geographical Area: Charlotte, NC (touring The Carolinas & Georgia)

Interview with: Jason Dickey by email on 10/31/11

1. What is the current line-up of your band?

 

2. How and when did you get started with your band?

 

 

3. What bands or music have influenced you most?

We take our influence from a variety of influences from Duane Eddy and Richie Allen to Martin Denny and Henry Mancini. We perform multiple styles of instrumental music from straight up Surf, Spaghetti Western and Lounge tinged tracks along with some TV/Movie themes. Johnny is a trained Flamenco guitarist so our signature sound is more of the Latin flavored Spaghetti style. We want the music to be wide ranging and diverse. The cool thing about guitar/intro surf is we can include all the musical elements I enjoy.

 

4. What is the break down of cover vs. original material in your live shows and/or recordings?

Most of what we perform is cover material but much of it quite obscure or done with our own twist. We have incorporated original material into our set and plan to spend more time coming up with new songs in 2012. But we like to think everything we play is "original" even if we didn't write it ourselves.

 

 

5. What recording have you done?

We started recording our first release this summer with Rick Miller of "Southern Culture On The Skids" at his studio in Mebane, NC. Rick did the last Aqualads record "Treasures" which sounds amazing so we all felt he was the best choice to get the sound we wanted. We are still in the recording process as SCOTS are on the road quite a bit so getting studio time has been difficult but we hope to complete the record and have it ready for release by Spring 2012. 

 

 

6. What kind of gear do you use?

I don't know much about the gear outside of my own. But I know Shannon plays through an early 70's Fender Twin Reverb amp and Johnny also uses a Fender amp. Guitars are Fender Strat copies of some variety. We do not use any reverb tanks at this time. Leon has recently upgraded his rig to (2) 2X10 GK cabinets and uses Waterstone basses. I play a Gretsch jazz kit with Paiste Twenty Series cymbals, DW Hardware and use Vic Firth sticks.

7. What is your band’s favorite food/beverage?

I'd say The Monterreys are un-officially sponsored by Yuengling beer. :-)

 

 

8. How do you get gigs?

I do 90% of the bookings for the band. I used to be a booking agent for a large club in SC but times have changed and the old way of doing things is much different. It used to be about promo packs and building relationships but now it is all about your Reverbnation or Facebook/MySpace pages. Luckily, our genre of music is fairly unique in these parts so clubs will book us based on that alone the first time. After that we have to show them we are a talented group of musicians that can put on a show for their patrons like any other band. We are slowly building a fan-base thanks to regular gigs in the Carolinas and through social media like Facebook and YouTube.

 

9. What are the difficulties you find playing your kind of music in your area?

Many of the clubs in the Carolinas don't understand "instro music" and can't quite get there heads around how to promote it. Punk bands can play about anywhere around here but some clubs just don't know what to do with us. But we are gigging almost every weekend so it hasn't been too difficult. We've had the pleasure to play several shows with The Aqualads who have been very welcoming to us. They had been the only instro band in Charlotte for a long time so we didn't know how they would feel about us but they have been fantastic and we just love to share the stage with them.

 

 

10. What positive attributes does your band have that sets you apart from other bands (of any genre)?

The key ingredient that sets us apart is the talent of Shannon Mims and his ability to play many different instruments, often at once. From playing the trumpet, French Horn, Keyboards, Guitar and the occasionally perfectly timed Vibra-Slap he really makes us stand out from other bands. Also, the Flamenco influenced playing of Johnny Stewart brings another dimension to the role of "surf guitarist". Leon brings so much fun energy to the stage he gets the crowd going. And I just try and hold it all together behind the drums.

11. What have you found to be the single most effective promotional tool you’ve used to further your band’s musical path?

Facebook has been our best tool to build a fan base and promote our shows, videos, etc. Revebnation has been the tool we've used for booking/promotion of the band to clubs and it seems to work very well.

 

 

12. What’s the most interesting performance experience you’ve had? 

13. What do you hope to get out of being a NESMA member?

Our only goal as a NESMA member is to be a part of a community of like-minded bands/musicians. Getting to know and becoming friends with member of other Instro bands really makes us feel like we are part of something special. From Instro Summit to the Clarkston Surf Fest we have been welcomed as an equal member of the "instro community". No egos, no competition, just good people who all appreciate the music!

 

 

14. Anything else?