Channeling the energy of Dick Dale, The Ventures and The Shadows, the all-Kaua‘i band The TakeOffs keeps traditional surf music alive and well on the Garden Isle. Their freshman effort “Blue Avalanche” sounds effortlessly vintage-cool — a time capsule of
Channeling the energy of Dick Dale, The Ventures and The Shadows, the all-Kaua‘i band The TakeOffs keeps traditional surf music alive and well on the Garden Isle.
Their freshman effort “Blue Avalanche” sounds effortlessly vintage-cool — a time capsule of 1960s surf music.
The band is comprised of guitarists Ron Rhoades and Bill Mello, Bassist John Hunt and drummer Conrad Matthews.
“We all come from a surfing background and we’re old enough to remember that music from our youth,” said Rhoades. “As musicians, it was very challenging to learn all that material, but very rewarding from a discipline standpoint.”
The band formed in June 2005 when the Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort asked Rhoades to put together a weekly show at The Point Lounge. Rhoades contacted Hunt, Matthews and Mello, and soon rehearsal was underway.
“Of course, we didn’t have enough material that first week due to the fact that most surf tunes are a little over a minute or two, so we had to repeat a few choice selections,” guitarist Rhoades said. “We kept on rehearsing new songs weekly and had plenty of material before long.”
The band uses vintage equipment to faithfully recreate the sound of the era, and their name came from an old surf movie Rhoades watched.
“A surfer being interviewed was asked about getting in the right position to catch a big one. (The surfer said) ‘You can’t catch a wave until you turn around take off on it.’ Thank you very much!”
Their album was recorded over a span of two days from their Lawa‘i “studio,” but took more than a year to mix and master.
“Everyone was asking, ‘When is the record coming out?,’” Rhoades said. “And the answer to that was quite a challenge, but made it even that much more rewarding when it was finally completed.”
The 14-track album contains nine original songs and five covers, including the “Hawai‘i Five-O” theme song. Drenched with reverb, traditional guitar melodies and high energy, the album is sure to delight longtime fans and make new ones.
The cover of “Blue Avalanche” depicts a big wave surfer riding a wall of water. While many may think the photo is of a Hawaiian surfer, Rhoades said the image was from Hurricane Katrina taken off South Padre Island in Texas.
The TakeOffs’ next performance is Dec. 17 at Black Pot Beach in Hanalei as a benefit for KORE, an organization dedicated to helping those who are physically challenged to get into the ocean with the assistance of professionals.
Visit www.doublecrownrecords.com and www.deepeddy.net to buy the album.
