Caruso - In Durham!

Recordings and Remixes from Beech Lake (Durham), and some from Minchia Headquarters (Chapel Hill). Recorded 2008 - 2009. Features the return of the 4-track cassette recorder!

Cover artwork: "Creciendo" by ludoalex.   "Mountain High" was written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector and inspired by The Easybeats, "I Know You Will" borrows from Nazz, and "Save The Birds" was written by His Name Is Alive.

Minchia - Minchrospective

A collection of live, rehearsal, and demo tracks, plus photos from 2006-2009.

released September 10, 2009

Alex - Bass/Vocals; guitar on 8

Dan - Drums on 10

Daniel - Drums on 8

Josiah - Drums on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

Julie - Keyboard/Vocals on 5

Noah - Guitar on 1, 3, 5, 7

Matt Bee - Guitar/Vocals on 4, 6, 10

Matt Dee - Guitar/Vocals; bass on 8

Fri Sep 25 2009

Night Light (as Caruso)

Chapel Hill, NC

With Hands and Knees and Angela Diveglia

Thu Jul 17 2008

Reservoir

Chapel Hill, NC

With Sic Alps and Jokes & Jokes & Jokes

Thu Nov 15 2007

Duke Coffeehouse

Durham, NC

With David Kilgour and Euros Childs

Thu Oct 18 2007

Night Light

Chapel Hill, NC

With Soft Company and Coffinberry

Wed Aug 29 2007

The Cave

Chapel Hill, NC

With Whistle Jacket

Thu Aug 9 2007

Night Light

Chapel Hill, NC

With The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Americans in France, and ZNTH

  

Sun Jul 8 2007

The Cave

Chapel Hill, NC

With Impossible Hair and Hands And Knees

Sat Jun 30 2007

Bull City Headquarters

Durham, NC

With Le Weekend and Mahasamatman

Caruso - A Day In The Life Of Caruso

Bright and poppy tunes showcasing the oft-neglected "3 H's" of Rock-n-Roll: harmony, hiss, and harpsichord! Inspired by all things beachy.  "Always & Forever" originally by Heatwave.

Caruso - Hidden Tracks!

A collection of "hidden tracks" intended to be tacked on at the end of the Boy Noises LP. A concept about a concept. Recorded mostly by The Matts at Beech Lake in Durham NC, January and February 2009. "Flourescent Hearts" borrows from We The People.  Artwork above by Matt B. 

Videos recorded by Matt and Matt in Feb or Mar or 2009 (includes some music from 'Boy Noises'):

(Alternate artwork, below)

Minchia - Boy Noises

Synopsis:

punk roots

electric rock instrumentation

a subtle use of vocal harmony

twangy guitars

an emotional male lead vocal performance

prominent drums

romantic lyrics

electric guitar wall-o-sound

Music mixed and recorded in August-December 2008 by Wesley Wolfe, in Carrboro NC.  This was originally conceived under the name 'Minchia',  then to 'Caruso', and switched back to the name 'Minchia'.

Available to hold as a cassette (white print on red cassette) and to hear at https://minchia.bandcamp.com

OG artwork from 2008:

Videos recorded Feb or Mar 2009 by Matt and Matt (includes some music from 'Hidden Tracks'):

Interview with David Marks (The Moon - Without Earth)

A sort of sister album to the Colours record out the same year, The Moon's 1968 LP 'Without Earth' is the first studio project release of Matthew Moore (who also does most of the songwriting), David Marks (ex Beach Boys), Larry Brown, and Drew Bennett aka The Moon. Matthew sings most of the songs (except for the two Colours covers, which David handles), and the music is highly inspired by the Beatles and a lot of other Beatles-influenced Psych Pop from 1967-68. I tried to get into this a couple years ago when I was knee deep in my Beach Boys Smile phase, but it didn't do anything for me. I re-listened to it recently after I heard about the Colours connection (David Marks also plays on the second Colours album 'Atmpsophere' from 1969), and completely fell in love. Personal faves include "Faces", "Got To Be On My Way", and more recently "Pleasure".

David Marks was kind enough to answer some questions about his time in The Moon (and of course, several about Colours too):



TRAIL OFF: How did you meet Matthew Moore and form The Moon?

DAVID MARKS: I was friends with Terry Hand, who was signed to White Whale as part of The Everpresent Fullness and Matt was signed to White Whale as a writer. One day Terry brought me over to Matt’s house and the 3 of us started a band. Terry was on the first song that we recorded, "Never Mind" and he immediately left and our producer, Larry Brown, became the drummer.


TO: Did The Moon tour at all or play any live shows? Or was it primarily conceived as a studio-only collaboration?

DM: The Moon never did a public performance – not until 2007. But the Colours did a few live shows.


TO: What kind of music were you listening to at the time that was influencing you?

DM: I was listening to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Bach, Cream, Albert King, Gershwin, Brahms and big band jazz.


TO: Was The Moon taking up most of your time in 1967-1969 or were you recording with other groups? Were you doing music full time or were you working a full time job as well?

DM: Personally - at the same time as the Moon, I was busy recording a blues album with Glenn Crocker, doing session work for Danny Moore, recording with the Colours, studying classical guitar with Mori Mizrahi, I was playing with Warren Zevon and taking a correspondence music course from the Berklee School of Music – where I later went. I didn’t have a job other than music because I had my Beach Boys royalties. None of the other guys had jobs either – The Moon was full-time for Matt and Larry was already on his way to becoming a successful engineer / producer and had been working with Davie Allen and the Arrows and Mike Curb.


TO: What was the process like recording Without Earth? Did it take a while? Were a lot of the songs written in the studio? Any memories of the recording session that stand out?

DM: Matt wrote the songs on the piano – alone, either in the studio or at home and he wrote out charts for all of us, so the basics tracks didn’t take that long to record. What took a long time were the over-dubs, like percussion, or backing vocals. The strings and horns were added last and that went pretty fast. We virtually lived in the studio while we were recording and sometimes didn’t know if it was day or night or what day of the week it was…we were very serious but we also had fun joking around. It was a great, carefree time…we were only in our late teens and to have freedom to express ourselves creatively was something special.


TO: I saw on YouTube that there was recently a Moon reunion. Any future live shows planned?

DM: We’ve talked about getting together and recording another album or playing some live dates, but we don’t have anything planned. You never know, I wouldn’t rule anything out.


TO: I love the two Dalton/Montgomery songs on Without Earth. Is that you singing them? Were you a fan? I assume the Colours record came out before Without Earth?

DM: I did sing lead vocals on the Moon’s versions of "She’s on My Mind" and "Brother Lou". I’m not sure what versions came out first. I didn’t even know the Colours did those 2 songs. Robbie Edwards played guitar on the first Colours album.


TO: You played on the second Colours album Atmosphere. How did you become familiar with Colours? Any memories recording "Atmosphere" that you can share?


DM: The connection with the Colours and the Moon was Matt’s brother Danny Moore. He produced the Colours and introduced us to Gary and Jack. My memory of the Atmosphere sessions was basically jamming over Gary and Jack’s songs and that they were both so funny that we were cracking up all the time. One day Jack dressed up like John Wayne, with the hat – he walked like him, talked like him and was looking to kick some ass. It was really funny.


TO: Ok, last question about Colours, just out of curiosity's sake: Who sings lead on "Angie", Dalton or Montgomery? (I love his voice!)

DM: Montgomery. They did the Beatles thing where they shared writer’s credits but sang leads on the songs they wrote.


TO: I'm trying to get a good sense of what it was like in the 60's in California. What was the L.A. music scene like? Was there really a supportive "scene"? Any local bands that you remember being into that were big influences?

DM: The late 60’s was approaching the end of an era where bands were still supported by labels while they were recording and getting their act together like Warren Zevon, Jackson Brown, Matthew Moore, The Turtles, etc and we all influenced each other.


TO: Was there an "underground" L.A. music scene? I know The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas and Papas, The Association, etc. were recording in the area at the time and were popular. There were also some great studio albums being made by Gary Usher, Curt Boetcher, etc, which might not have been as well known nationally. Were any of those"studio only" albums like the Sagittarius records influences at the time for you or The Moon?

DM: No. The last I heard from Gary Usher was "409" (Beach Boys song). I’ve never been into pop music - my influences came more from classical, jazz and blues.


TO: Are there any other records from the late 60's that you recommend I check out? Do you ever listen to a lot of older records nowadays or is it mostly contemporary stuff?

DM: There was an album by Jack Bruce – the solo album by the bass player from Cream. I wasn’t really influenced by it, but I listened to that album more than any other record. I would also recommend Anna Montgomery’s Triple Seven CD – Anna is Gary’s daughter and this album is a memorial CD for him. It features some of his best work and songs she wrote about him. You can get it on CD Baby. I don’t really listen to music much anymore – my ears are usually tired after I finish recording and working on songs for shows. If I do listen, it’s usually old or something new by one of my friends.


TO: And did you ever get to go to Brother Lou's Love Colony?

DM: I have no idea where Gary came up with that one!

(More info on David, his time in the Moon, The Beach Boys, and his other projects, go to https://www.facebook.com/DavidLeeMarks)

Minchia - 2OO8

Recorded by Minchia on a bunch of different days in February of 2008. All songs by Minchia, except "Bad Dream" by Dick Domane. Recorded at Kempwood in Cary NC.  Cover borrowed from the Open Up Your Heart LP (Various Artists).

Alex Chassanoff- Bass, guitar, vocals

Matt DeBellis - Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboard

Original artwork:

Caruso - V Daze

Sounds inspired by cherubs. Recorded at Kempwood in Cary NC.

Caruso - Dirty Years

New sounds for 2007.  Includes some remixes, new tunes, several mish-mashes, samples of Alex, samples of everything else, more delay done digitally, and a song written for Oliver, for his birthday. Recorded mostly from January - December 2007 at Kempwood in Cary NC. Matt Burchett plays guitar on "Matthew & Thomas", and Alex Chassanoff guests on "Gaze".  Recorded on computer and also using the Samsung YP-T9J MP3 Player at Beech Lake in Durham NC.

"Lily" samples Billy Vera & Judy Clay's "When Do We Go"

"Salvatore" samples John Lee Hooker
"Dee Dee Sixx" samples "Why Must They Pretend" by Lewis and Clark Expedition

"I Love You" samples "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers

Poodle Patrol - X10Shun

4 more by Poodle Patrol. Featuring:

Wes (drums/guitar/drum machine)

Alex (guitar/bass/drums)

Matt (guitar/bass/drums)

Photo used without permission. Author unknown.

Caruso - Fanno Schifo Tutti

A compilation that was supposed to be released in 2007, but was unreleased until 2021. Mastered by Rob Girardi.

Original 2007 artwork, photo by Beth Varden.

Poodle Patrol - Footage

Week one of noisy garage rock by Poodle Patrol. Recommended by 2 out of 3 Poodle Patrol members! Mostly featuring Alexandra Chassanoff on guitar, Wesley Wolfe on drums and Matt DeBellis playing bass. Cover artist unknown.

Minchia - Love 1010

This is how Minchia sort of sounded circa fall 2007

All songs by Minchia 2007

Alexandra Chassanoff - Bass, guitar, vocals

Matt DeBellis - Guitar, bass, vocals, drums

Wesley Wolfe - Drums, guitar

Matthew Burchett - Guitar

Recorded July - November 2007 at Minchia Headquarters in Chapel Hill NC.

Greenades - No.2

Wesley Wolfe - Vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboard

Matthew DeBellis - Bass, drum machine, keyboard, guitar, backing vocals

Greenades - No.1

Wes Wolfe - Vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboard

Matt DeBellis - Bass, drum machine, keyboard, vocals

Minchia - A Day In The Life Of Minchia

This is how Minchia sounded circa summer 2007.

All songs by Minchia 2007:

Matthew Burchett - Guitar, vocals

Alex Chassanoff- Bass, guitar, vocals

Matt DeBellis - Guitar, vocals, bass, drums

Dan Holmes - Drums

Recorded on the Samsung YP-T9J MP3 Player on May 26, 2007 at Track and Field Studios in Carrboro, NC.  Remixed, cut up, sampled, and looped on May 27, 2007.

Caruso - Snowy Fleet

Six quickies, featuring digital delayedelaydelaydelay.
Some songs sample The Easybeats.

Caruso - Dee Dee Sixx

A quick romp through some far out sounds inspired/created with the new

digital delay pedal. Recorded At Kempwood in Cary NC. Cover star: Sal Mineo

Alternate artwork:

Caruso - Boys

An odds and ends collection for the year of our Lord, 2006. Remixed Colours and Feels, mostly radio noises, drum samples, and the emergence of the digital delay pedal! Recorded at Kempwood in Cary NC. Also available on pink cassette, limited to 50 copies (cassette artwork below):

Some Notes:

"Lucia" samples Scrapbook: The Voices of Walter Schumann, and sounds from the movie Sailor In The Wild.

"Stay With Me For A While" samples the song "Gidget Goes Hawaiian", performed by James Darren

Cove star: Sal Mineo.

Several different versions of this exist.  Original CDR track list below:

1. Antoinette (2:09)*

2. Arctic Drifter (2:00)

3. Big Johnny (1:12)** 

4. Blue Honduras (4:39)*** 

5. Boys (2:01)

6. Chartreuse (1:07)

7. Clementine (2:20)

8. Decapoda (2:24)

9. Every Time I See You I Go Blind (aka Naples Yellow Deep) (1:27)

10. Feels Like A Cage (aka Canary) (1:00)

11. Feels Like Love (aka Christi) (2:06)

12. Gleam (2:30)

13. God Won't Bless You If He Can't Change You (aka Watercourse) (1:51)

14. Hailed (2:41)

15. He's A Halo (aka Varidian Light) (1:58)

16. I Had The Craziest Dream (1:10)***

17. The Boyettes - I Hear A New World (joe meek cover, version B) (1:25)

18. I Miss Your Love (aka Cadmium Red Light) (1:28)

19. I'm Not LikeThat (aka Greenish Umber)  (1:54)****

20. In My Dreams You're Everything (aka Tia Maria) (1:39)

21. Jeremy Crisp (1:49)

22. Leaf (2:24)

23. Lemon (1:07)

24. Lesson In Thievery Number 9 (4:14)****** 

25. Long & Red (0:38)******* 

26. Love Is A Cage (aka Mariner) (1:54)

27. Lucia (1:54)***** 

28. Manz (2:06)******** 

29. Mia (1:04)

30. Nite Creature (1:21)*** 

31. One Oh Two (1:02)

32. Purple (1:59)

33. Seagull (2:21)

34. Stay With Me For A While (aka Cabaret) (1:30)********* 

35. Studio (2:08)

36. There Is Plenty Of Time To Change Your Mind (aka Tulip Tree) (2:19)

37. Thinking About Your Love (aka Danube) (2:59)

38. When I First Saw Your Face I Knew It Was Over (aka Hummingbird) (1:49)

39. Whyte Notation (3:24)

40. Windsor (1:37)

41. The Boyettes - I Hear A New World (joe meek cover, Version A) (1:45)

42. The Boyettes - It Seems To Me (the gestures cover) (1:12

* samples a cadinot film, i beans, and enrico simonetti's "drug's theme"

** samples big john hamilton’s “big bad john” , courtesy dj kenny dope

*** samples the four freshmen

**** samples moondog

***** samples scrapbook: the voices of walter schumann and sounds from the movie "sailor in the wild"

****** samples wilson pickett’s “engine #9”, courtesy of dj kenny dope

******* samples mountain's "long red", courtesy dj kenny dope

******** samples sounds from the movie "falconhead two: the maneaters"

********* samples "gidget goes hawaiian", originally recorded by james darren