Band of Frequencies - Men of Wood & Foam Tour & Release from March 7th
Sunshine Coast roots rockers Band of Frequencies recently laid down the soundtrack to a historical surf documentary called Men of Wood & Foam for the FOXTEL History channel. Since then the film has gained great interest, including a recent feature at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, California, USA to a standing ovation and rave reviews.
Their original soundtrack to Men of Wood & Foam was written and recorded in three days and reflects three decades of surf inspired sounds. With the story of the Australian surfboard pioneers known as The Brookvale Six being the focus of the documentary, they were given a framework to lay down their interpretations of surf music from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Featuring the title track as their lead single, "Men of Wood & Foam" is a collaboration, with Band of Frequencies providing the music and author, historian and the director of the doco Phil Jarratt contributing the lyrics. The rest of the soundtrack is instrumental and mostly improvised with only a select few tunes being deliberated over for longer than a few minutes.
B.o.F front man Shannon Sol Carroll explains "We used a method we called "Powerball", which is akin to a game for generating ideas and moving through concepts quickly. We basically counted in tempos and feels and then gave ourselves three minutes to find something we liked. If it didn"t gel then we"d move on. If it had potential, then we"d talk it over briefly and have another crack at it. Sometimes we"d just count in a groove and lay it down, having never spoken a word and ended up keeping the first and only take. The surf guitars tunes were recorded originally as "Powerball" jam ideas and then we wrote the melodies for them that we overdubbed later."
Sound engineer and co-producer Paulie B at Tanuki Lounge studio was instrumental in pulling the sounds indicative of the times. Using old ribbon microphones and keeping the setup minimal he helped maintain the authentic feel of the recordings.
The Men of Wood & Foam soundtrack is the next album release for Band of Frequencies and will see them touring across Australia including the album"s official launch at Noosa Festival of Surfing on March 7th, before taking it over to the West Coast of Australia to one of the bands favourite destinations, the Margaret River region.
Since their formation in 2005 Band of Frequencies have released their debut album Sol Train (2006), EP All I've Found and Single release "Free Again" (2011), were named QMA Blues & Roots winners for the song 'Golden' from the album Rise Like the Sun (2012) and recorded soundtracks or have been involved in films including Life Like Liquid (2006), Believe (2006), The Present (2009), Under the Sun (2008), Our Generation (2012) & The Transparentsea Voyage (2013).
One of the last recordings in the old Tanuki Lounge Studios in West End was Men of Wood & Foam and the film clip to the theme song was recorded live in the studio.
Pre-order Band of Frequencies' new album Men of Wood & Foam, released on limited edition 180 gram 12" blue vinyl with bonus digital download (out March 7th), or purchase the digital version now HERE
Sat 18th March - Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, WA
Sun 19th March - Clancy"s Fish Pub, Dunsborough, WA
Thu 23rd March - Prince Of Wales, Bunbury, WA
Fri 24th March - Mojo's Bar, Fremantle, WA
Sat 25th March - Indi Bar Scarborough WA
Sun 26th March - Margaret River Pro event at Cape Mentelle Winery, WA (Men of Wood and Foamdocumentary also screening)
Fri 21st April - Wide Open Road at The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
Thu 11th May - Hotel Steyne, Manly, NSW
Fri 12th May - Yacht Club, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Sun 21st May - Brunswick Hotel, Northern Rivers, NSW
Melbourne TBA shortly!
Featuring the title track as their lead single, "Men of Wood & Foam" is a collaboration, with Band of Frequencies providing the music and author, historian and the director of the doco Phil Jarratt contributing the lyrics. The rest of the soundtrack is instrumental and mostly improvised with only a select few tunes being deliberated over for longer than a few minutes.
B.o.F front man Shannon Sol Carroll explains "We used a method we called "Powerball", which is akin to a game for generating ideas and moving through concepts quickly. We basically counted in tempos and feels and then gave ourselves three minutes to find something we liked. If it didn"t gel then we"d move on. If it had potential, then we"d talk it over briefly and have another crack at it. Sometimes we"d just count in a groove and lay it down, having never spoken a word and ended up keeping the first and only take. The surf guitars tunes were recorded originally as "Powerball" jam ideas and then we wrote the melodies for them that we overdubbed later."
Sound engineer and co-producer Paulie B at Tanuki Lounge studio was instrumental in pulling the sounds indicative of the times. Using old ribbon microphones and keeping the setup minimal he helped maintain the authentic feel of the recordings.
The Men of Wood & Foam soundtrack is the next album release for Band of Frequencies and will see them touring across Australia including the album"s official launch at Noosa Festival of Surfing on March 7th, before taking it over to the West Coast of Australia to one of the bands favourite destinations, the Margaret River region.
Since their formation in 2005 Band of Frequencies have released their debut album Sol Train (2006), EP All I've Found and Single release "Free Again" (2011), were named QMA Blues & Roots winners for the song 'Golden' from the album Rise Like the Sun (2012) and recorded soundtracks or have been involved in films including Life Like Liquid (2006), Believe (2006), The Present (2009), Under the Sun (2008), Our Generation (2012) & The Transparentsea Voyage (2013).
One of the last recordings in the old Tanuki Lounge Studios in West End was Men of Wood & Foam and the film clip to the theme song was recorded live in the studio.
Pre-order Band of Frequencies' new album Men of Wood & Foam, released on limited edition 180 gram 12" blue vinyl with bonus digital download (out March 7th), or purchase the digital version now HERE
BAND OF FREQUENCIES TOUR DATES
Tue 7th March - Noosa Festival of Surfing, QLD (Men of Wood and Foam documentary screening & album launch)Sat 18th March - Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, WA
Sun 19th March - Clancy"s Fish Pub, Dunsborough, WA
Thu 23rd March - Prince Of Wales, Bunbury, WA
Fri 24th March - Mojo's Bar, Fremantle, WA
Sat 25th March - Indi Bar Scarborough WA
Sun 26th March - Margaret River Pro event at Cape Mentelle Winery, WA (Men of Wood and Foamdocumentary also screening)
Fri 21st April - Wide Open Road at The Triffid, Brisbane, QLD
Thu 11th May - Hotel Steyne, Manly, NSW
Fri 12th May - Yacht Club, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Sun 21st May - Brunswick Hotel, Northern Rivers, NSW
Melbourne TBA shortly!