The original soundtrack to ‘Men of Wood and Foam’ was written and recorded in three days and reflects three decades of surf inspired sounds. With the story of the Australian surfboard shapers known as ‘The Brookvale Six’ being the focus of the documentary it gave us a framework to lay down our interpretations of surf music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Music has always been an intrinsic element within subcultures and it was fun exploring some of the sounds intertwined with the movements taking place during those eras. This album features a selection of the 19 tunes chosen for the documentary soundtrack plus a couple of bonus tunes from the recording session. There will be limited edition vinyl coming soon so stay tuned for pre-orders. (ORDER HERE) There were also many more tunes recorded so we will be releasing a Volume 2 down the track. The theme song for ‘Men of Wood & Foam’ is a collaboration featuring ‘Band of Frequencies’ with film director and surf historian Phil Jarratt contributing the lyrics. When Phil approached us he already had a tune in mind and suggested that something reminiscent of one of Neil Young’s songs would suit. With that as a guide OJ and I threw some ideas around beforehand and then hammered them into shape in the very little downtime we had in the studio. Once everyone chimed in and contributed ideas to the tune and arrangement it came together quickly. 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. 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 3 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 (mostly OJ) 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 set up minimal helped maintain the authentic feel of the recordings. His contributions to the recording session flow and also second guitar also greatly assisted the creative process. Band of Frequencies line up on this album features the return of Terepai Richmond to the drum set. We have collaborated previously with the ‘Paiman’ on two film soundtrack albums, ‘Life Like Liquid’ by Dave Rastovich (Low Pressure Productions) and ‘Under the Sun’ by Californian filmmaker Cyrus Sutton (Ubiquity Records). Within all of these recordings Terepai’s playing and musicality brings out the best in everyone and he is incredibly adept at casually weaving all the elements together. On organ and keys Andrew ‘Mouse’ Szumowski blew our minds with the classic 60’s lines and growling tones he threw into the mix. Brother OJ ‘The Juice’ Newcomb is on bass frequencies laying down the foundations. He also returns to playing upright bass on this record and that’s always a pleasure to hear. All in all I cannot express how grateful I am to make music with these legends. We hope you enjoy listening to these tunes as much as we enjoyed making them. Stoked, Shannon Sol Carroll Band of Frequencies MEN OF WOOD & FOAM A Low Pressure Production Produced by Paulie B, Owen J Newcomb & Shannon Sol Carroll Engineered & Mixed by Paulie B (thetanukilounge.com) Mastered by Paul Blakey (Cutting Masters) All Songs written by Oj Newcomb, Shannon Sol Carroll, Terepai Richmond, Andrew Szumowski & Paulie Bromley Lyrics by Phil Jarrett THE BAND: Sunshine Coast psychedelic surf roots & progressive rockers Band of Frequencies have played all over the world with the likes of Donovan Frankenreiter, John Butler Trio, Angus Stone, Bernard Fanning and Ash Grunwald; as well as some of the world’s most amazing festivals and events, among them the Billabong 'Banzai' Pipe Masters, Hawaii; North Shore Film Festival, Hawaii; Surf & Sound Tour, Tokyo, Japan; Cosmic Creek Festival, California, USA. Not to mention some of Australia’s premier festivals: Splendour in the Grass, A Day on the Green, Mullum Music Festival, Nannup Music Festival and Woodford Folk Festival. True believers in sounds beyond boundaries, Band of Frequencies draw their influences from a vast spectrum of blues, roots, rock, funk and psychedelic styles. Their signature blend comes from years of live experimentation, constantly pushing their influences into the creative fires to see what melts, what explodes and what merges. They have now successfully forged a bond of sonic elements that represents their coastal roots and strikes a chord in the hearts of passionate music lovers around the globe. It's this quality that has lead to invitations to grace the stages of diverse festivals, at home and abroad, and to record soundtracks to several internationally released surf films. The name Band of Frequencies refers to the concept that each person vibrates at a certain frequency. Like radio and TV stations, we also broadcast our particular band of frequencies at any given moment. “We are just a Band of Freq's doing our thing to raise the collective frequency through sound.” QUOTES & REVIEWS: 'Rise like the Sun' Album Reviews Oct 2012 Timeoff Magazine – 4 stars / Scope Magazine – 41/2 Stars / RIP IT UP Magazine 4 1/2 Stars " Bonafide beach chillers Band of Frequencies are back with a new album, tour and a slew of accolades tucked neatly under their suntanned arms. True to their coastal heritage, their latest album Rise Like The Sun, released October 8th this year, is a like a stoned rollercoaster of music; rolling up and down, drifting through blues, rock, roots and psychedelic vibes." - VULTURE Magazine (Melb.) "The Band Of Frequencies electrified the audience well into the night with their own very distinctive surf-folk-funk-soul blend of highly entertaining, exceedingly popular sounds." - Pacific Longboarder (Byron Bay Surf Festival) "Band of Frequencies got us on our feet and funked us all out! It was a vital end to a big day- just a bummer it came to an end! The funk and whawha, and what about the u bass ... Lots of wow and grooves! Loved BOF and will be heading to a gig next time they hit the west coast !" - Phaedra Watts (Organiser of the NANNUP Music Festival - WA) Band of Freqs make great music with an authentic social conscience, and put their minds, hearts and music where their mouths are. Everything they do is quality – quality people with integrity and genuine ethics delivering a message inside some really fantastic music. When they incite you to rise up, speak out, it’s because they want you to rise up and speak out with them, they’re not just mouthing platitudes. When they ask you to appreciate the beauty of the world they’re asking you to look through the same lense they’re using as they travel the world creating their laidback activist empire. If you look into the background of what Band of Frequencies are doing, you can see where these choruses come from, you can tell that they mean what they say. That’s kinda rare, totally refreshing, and it sounds bloody fantastic." - Chloe Goodyear (Woodford Folk Festival) “ The Band of Frequencies newly released album Rise Like The Sun is in my mind the most defining moment in this psychedelic surfy roots and blues rockers career to date & one of the best albums produced in 2012. Rise like the Sun will be listened to by many generations to come." - Bobby’s Beat Review (SCOPE Magazine) "Prepare to have your musical thirst quenched. Byron Bay's Band of Frequencies dabbles in the whole pallet of musical genres; Bluesy rock drips away into skull-melting lullabies that pitter-patter like rain into jazz-fusion grooves that inevitably wander off somewhere else altogether." - Travis Ferre (US SURFING Magazine) There are plenty of accomplished musicians out there. But only a few manage to attain a state where they become a finely tuned antennae to swirling cosmic forces, channelling unseen spiritual energies and transforming a live music performance into a transcendental experience. I know, I’m gushing, but I just happen to believe Band of Frequencies and their other-worldly frontman are that good. Catch them if you can.” - Tim Baker (Surfing World Magazine)