Interview With The Ventures - July 12, 1999

 Interview With The Ventures

I had the distinct honor and opportunity to interview one of music's legends, The Ventures. This has been such a thrill for me. This group is phenomenal! They surely don't get the accolades and notoriety that they deserve, hint, Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame! The questions were answered by original group members Bob Bogle and Don Wilson. Bob was so gracious and responsive. He and the group are currently doing an exhausting tour of Japan. Regardless, he took the time to do this interview. He offered to call me from Japan and do it over the phone! Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck - Orignallay Posted August 1999

Note: Their Manager, Fiona Taylor (Mel's wife), sent some rare photos via snail mail back then, and I scanned them and saved them to add to the interview when I posted it. However, I was unable to recover them for this reposting.

MuzikMan: How does everyone feel in the group? Physically, emotionally and spiritually?

The Ventures: As far as we know, everyone is in good health and very much up to the task at hand.

MuzikMan: Has everyone adjusted well to the passing of Mel and the transition of his son Leon taking over? Leon is incredible; he must have learned well from his father.

The Ventures: We will probably never really adjust completely to losing Mel but we are so fortunate to have such a great drummer as Leon. He fills his dad's shoes and then some.

MuzikMan: How do you all feel about being passed over by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Are you pleased that there has been an aggressive campaign to attract you to the Sandcastle Website? (see my Cool Links page for the Banner and Link to the site)

The Ventures: We feel very disappointed at not being inducted into the Hall Of Fame and we can not understand why. We really appreciate all the support and help from our many wonderful fans.

MuzikMan: I currently have around 43 Ventures releases in my collection. From what I understand, you have 100s of releases out there and many tracks that have never seen the light of day. Have you given any thought to doing a self-produced career retrospective or Boxed Set?

The Ventures: Yes, we have seriously considered producing and packaging our own project and releasing it through an independent distributor.

MuzikMan: Are fans more enthusiastic in Japan than they are in the States? You have been touring in Japan for so long that your popularity has surpassed that of the Beatles there. How does everyone feel about that?

The Ventures: The crowd enthusiasm seems about the same in both the U.S. and Japan but of course we have done more business per capita in Japan and this gives us a great feeling of accomplishment.

MuzikMan: Fiona (Taylor) told me that the Ace release In The Vaults Volume 2 has some tracks that the group didn't want released. Have you been able to hold up any further distribution of that CD? There have been some problems with bootlegs, which are undesirable music being released. How is all of this dealt with?

The Ventures: We made a strong demand to both  Ace and EMI to not release these songs because the quality is below our standards. We explained that they  were never really considered by us to be suitable for release but of course they ignored us and released them any way. At this point we are not sure what can be done about it   We feel it could be damaging to our career. We understand and appreciate that our fans like this cd but our big fear is, potential future fans who are not that aware of The Ventures may hear the recording and assume that we are not very good. As far as the bootlegs, there is probably not much we can do about that.

MuzikMan: Your tour of the states went really well. Does the group plan to continue touring at a more intense level than in the past?

The Ventures: We are not sure about touring that much in the U.S. as there are no promoters there like there are in Japan who will put together an entire tour and provide for all the logistical problems. It is extremely difficult and time consuming for us to do everything ourselves. There are lots of booking

agents but all they do is book the concert and send a list of the venues to us and the rest is up to us.

MuzikMan: Have you or any of the other group members ever said, "Man, I'm so tired and I really need a change. I don't want to tour anymore or record"?

The Ventures: We have never thought of quitting or trying something else. We are very happy to continue on as long as we are able.

MuzikMan: Fiona is wonderful; she was extremely helpful and responsive when I first contacted her. The group must be happy that she decided to work with the group as the manager. What are your thoughts and feelings on this?

The Ventures:  We were very fortunate to have Fiona in the wings to take over for Mel. She was already quite involved and virtually needed no transition to management. She adds a tremendous amount of talent and energy to the team.

MuzikMan: What do you think about the groups that contributed to the Tribute CD? Is the future of Surf/Instro in good hands?

The Ventures: We were very honored and appreciative to learn of the tribute groups. We were so impressed that each and every one of them were so superb that we feel, yes, the future of surf/instro is in very good and capable hands.

MuzikMan: Does the tag "Surf Group' always appear when you read reviews or articles in magazines?

The Ventures: Yes surf pops up all the time and even though we do not consider ourselves a surf group per-se, we do play a lot of surf music and the inference is O.K. with us.

MuzikMan: Are all the group members married with children? If so, do any of the family members travel with the group? If not, how is that addressed, given the extended absence?

The Ventures: Yes we all have families and usually if we are out on an extended tour our close family members will join us from time to time as often as possible.

MuzikMan: Does the group feel like old-timers now, or is it true what they say —you're as young as you feel?

The Ventures: We think you are as young as you feel and we believe music helps to keep us feeling young. We never tire of people telling us it looks like we are having fun on stage and we really do have a lot of good times both on and off the stage.

MuzikMan: What are your feelings on the Internet and the new MP3 format for music? Do you feel the artists are losing out on sales? Something has to give with all the free downloading of CDs and the illegal distribution of tracks being made available to the world.

The Ventures:  The ability to download music is great for the fans short term but we are not sure how music will be affected long term. Making records is a very expensive proposition, and if it ceases to be profitable, we believe it could eventually affect the availability of good quality music in the future, especially for up and coming young

musicians who have very small budgets to work with.

MuzikMan: Do you feel Zine like mine are really helping the Music Community with exposure? Especially the Independent Music Community, where there is so much undiscovered talent and many unsigned bands. From my experience, I have heard some incredible music and feel it's a shame that the music industry has to be so political and mainstream. What are your feelings?

The Ventures: There is no doubt about it, zines such as yours very definitely help the entire music industry and from an artist's point of view we believe all members of the industry should be appreciative and supportive of your great contributions and efforts that you and people like you make to the music scene.

MuzikMan: Have all the years recording and on the road been worth it, financially and emotionally? In retrospect, if you had a chance to do things over again, what would you do differently?

The Ventures: Of course if we knew in the beginning what we know now we would do a few things differently but generally in our case the rewards have been worth the effort and we would not change a thing.

MuzikMan: What are some of your favorite groups? Who would you consider a major influence when you decided to start playing a musical instrument?

The Ventures: When Don and I began learning to play the guitar together we were mainly influenced by what we call the big 3, Duane Eddy, Les Paul, and Chet Atkins. Since then it's so hard to pick a favorite as so many phenomenal groups have emerged such as The Eagles, The Beatles, Chicago,  War, etc. etc. to name a few.

MuzikMan: Your music has gradually increased in availability over the last few years. Have you seen a big jump in sales and demand for the group's live performances worldwide?

The Ventures: Yes, much to our surprise we seem to be more and more in demand each year. To be able to sustain after 40 years seems too good to be true.

MuzikMan: Do you guys ever take a break or go on an extended vacation? Or have any plans in the future to do so?

The Ventures: We almost never take a vacation in the standard way but in a lot of ways it seems like we are on vacation much of the time, even to the point where coming home for some much needed R and R is like a vacation just being home.

MuzikMan: Have you really checked out all the sites dedicated to the group on the Internet? What are your thoughts and feelings on all the work that has gone into these cyber shrines to the group?

The Ventures: Yes we check the sites often and we are quite overwhelmed by the support and admiration from our many fans. We feel that The Ventures Fans are the most special people in the world.

MuzikMan: After the Japan tour is over, what does the group plan on doing? Recording another studio album?

The Ventures: We do have tentative plans to record possibly 2 more CDs for M. & I Records next winter for the year 2,000 Japan tour..

MuzikMan: In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for this opportunity.

It has been a thrill for me to do this. I have never had so many questions for one interview before! Do you have any closing comments that you would like to make?

The Ventures: Thank you for the interview. It's people like you who help keep the name, The Ventures, alive.

MuzikMan: Thank you gentleman! It has been an honor and a privilege to conduct this interview.

 

© 1999 MuzikMan Productions, All rights reserved. Interview conducted and reproduced with permission of the artist. The Ventures were interviewed on July 12, 1999, while touring in Japan.

Surf Instrumental, Rock, Garage Rock Review: Jesus Christ Surferstar - Various Artists

This is not just a track-by-track duplicate of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic Jesus Christ Superstar. The title of each song may be the same, but the interpretation is refreshingly unique. The first thing that grabs you about this 2-disc set is the eye-popping cover; the second is the title Jesus Christ Surferstar. 

Some folks in a Christian mindset may not take this too kindly, just as I am sure many did when the original soundtrack was released in 1971. Take heart, my friends; it is all for the good of your spirit.

This collection showcases a myriad of artists and musical styles, from veteran surf-instro artists like Susan and the Surftones, Hypnotic V, and Three Piece Suit to names you may not notice so readily, such as the Atomic Mosquitos and the Lava Rats. This diverse lineup offers a good opportunity for these bands and enriches the listening experience with various sounds and styles.

 

The very first song is by a band called Daikaiju, and they fittingly begin the set with passion and verve, taking on “Overture” as if it was their mission in life to do so. It kicks things off in a way I did not expect. I find it difficult to put into words what I heard. Surf-rock with a futuristic twist is the best way to describe it; it was unlike anything I have ever heard from the surf-instro realm. It is very cool and quite different. I was very pleased with the progressive take on the style, and I hope the genre will be heading in that direction more. If the song indicated growth or the birth of a sub-genre, we have reason to be excited. After that song, you get what you would expect… surf-rock-instro and some vocal tracks with a garage sound to back it all up. Various tracks keep your interest, which can be challenging when assembling many tracks.

 

Although this music is excellent, some areas could improve with this package. OmOm needs some organization and structure in its presentations. The artwork on their covers is always good, but the layouts on the inner sleeves need a lot of work. It is all far too busy and confusing to the human eye. The fact that the tracks are not numbered makes it challenging to distinguish between each disc, adding to the disarray. It would have been more palatable if all that information was in a booklet and the inner sleeve was dedicated to artwork and production credits.

 

This essential attention to detail should come as second nature when preparing such a comprehensive music collection. The next step should be the critical details of all the players and talent available. If these aspects can change, the label will fare much better from a marketing standpoint. Other than that, this is an excellent collection of tunes that I plan to have playing in the backyard this summer while barbequing and swimming with the kids!

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

April 4, 2003

Surf Instro Review: The Surfaris-Basic Tracks

I was intrigued when I received a professional letter from Paul Johnson's management about the recent The Surfaris release. PJ, a surf-instrumental guitar legend, and this band, one of the originals from the first wave of surf-instrumental, coming together to remake the essential tracks that helped to spawn an entire genre is a significant event. Their influence on the surf-instrumental genre is undeniable, and their music should be appreciated and respected.

Basic Tracks is a title that means more than it implies. These songs set the standard and paved the way for an entire genus of music. They are classics that will never age as long as someone is willing to play them, re-record them, and engage new listeners.

The Surfaris have reformed and updated each song with the crackling sparkle of a cold wave crashing to the shoreline, that shoreline being your ears, mind, and senses. How many versions of "Wipe Out" and "Misirlou" have you heard? I reckon quite a few, but if you are a true instro fan, you never tire of hearing those songs. Look at the mileage groups like The Ventures and artists like Merrell Fankhauser (the original creator of "Wipe Out," in case you did not know) have gotten from their catalogs of extensive material over the years.

There is an apparent reason for this: their music has qualities that people can relate to; it enables listeners to find validation in a particular time or place. This collection is no different, and the effect is the same; the songs sound new and refreshing again.

Songs constructed like this are different; there are no words, just music. That gives each track an edge and flexibility, allowing many types of musical styles to be used and reshaped time after time.

Although this is not common practice, as these songs usually remain intact within the framework of this particular musical style, they can come back again like unlimited refills at a soda fountain, with a little more juice and a twist of lime for flavor.

As the back of this CD says, legends live forever. Yes, they do, and so does their music. 

"Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

February 18, 2003

Tracks:

1. The Wedge

2. Penetration

3. Apache

4. Point Panic

5. Hawaii 5-0

6. Misirlou

7. Wipe Out

8. Similau

9. Link Wray Medley 

Credits:

Robert Watson-Keyboards

David Raven-Drums

Brian Condren Hampton-Percussion

Jim Fuller-Acoustic Guitars

Jay Truax-Bass

Greg Simp-Band Tech

Paul Johnson-Guitar

Jim Pash-Guitar/Saxophone