Tiremos de archivo. Aquí os pongo la entrevista que hace unos años le hizo Fran Peppermint a un miembro de Nova Local para el fanzine virtual Smart&Juglar. Cojan el diccionario.
Corría 1964 y cuatro jovenzuelos de la Universidad de Carolina del Norte (Chapel Hill city) se montaban su banda de instrumentales para amenizar las fiestas de la Hermandad "Phi Mu Alpha" su nombre como no The Shadows germen de lo que luego serian Nova Local. En 1966 los instrumentales habían pasado de moda y lo que triunfaba era el garage que hacían grupos como los Warlocks, con un single para DECCA "I'll go crazy" bw "The temper tantrum" garage básico pero efectivo aun sin pulir con Joe Mendyk como guitarra solista, así que Los Shadows deciden cambiar de nombre, de repertorio, fichar a Joe y al bajista Jim Opton, y empezar a componer sus propios temas ahora que ya dominaban sus instrumentos. Con el nuevo nombre y aprovechando que ese año su hermandad monta la fiesta de recaudación de fondos para las becas de su universidad contratan a "Chad & Jeremy" y se ponen a ellos mismos como teloneros, al ver su concierto el agente de "Chad & Jeremy" les firma un contrato y les consigue otro para que graben en Decca un Lp y dos singles a lo largo de 1967, al final de ese mismo año Nova Local se disolvía, una efímera historia que deja sin embargo un puñado de increíbles canciones de garage-beat en sus singles y sus primeros coqueteos con la psicodelia en el Lp, con un sonido muy influenciado por los grupos ingleses contemporáneos, increíbles efectos vocales, un delicioso Hammond de fondo y un montón de adelantos técnicos en sus grabaciones como el primer bajo con feedback, pasar las voces por el Leslie... etc. Simplemente escucha "If You Only Had the Time", "Games" o la increíble versión del Morning dew.
Entrevista con Jim Opton bajista de los Nova Local para Smart (se ha respetado el idioma original)
*In 1966 in the North Carolina area was there a good groups scene? gigs, radio programs, clubs....? There were other bands, mostly NC Beach Music types, we were the first band of our type in Chapel Hill that i know of. We played frat parties almost exclusively, and one local bar where we appeared every Thursday night. We packed the place. It was strictly a beer joint, and I have no idea why so many people came. There was no dance floor.
*Why the name "Nova Local"? and why did you choose a hammond B3, not a Farfisa or Voxx?The name was given to us by the author William Burroughs. I do not know the derivation, but it sounded better than what we had at the time, which was "The Luved Ones". Our producer Elliot Mazer arranged it. That's all I know. And about the Hammond was simply for the sound of it. Also, our keyboard player owned one. It was a real pain to carry around, but worth it.
*How were the fraternity parties where you played, was there sex, drugs and R&R or is that just a cinema myth? The fraternity parties were more an excuse for people to drink. There was not a big drug scene at that time in the south. We never got involved with the people there (at least I didn't).
*What about the recording of your Lp with Fred Catero, was you satisfied with the sound?, did it give the album the sound that you wanted? Fred Catero was a great engineer, but didn't have a lot of influence on the "sound" of the group. We did our own arrangements, and were deeply involved in the final sound. He did what we asked him to do, with a lot of input from our producer. He did do a lot with technical things, like the voices through the Leslie speakers in Morning Dew. We did that long before Small Faces recorded Itchycoo Park. All arrangements were done by the group. We insisted, almost to a point of fanaticism that we be able to reproduce on stage what we did in the studio. The only execeptions were John Knight's Body and the string stuff, which we did for fun, but could come close to with the Hammond.
*What about the promotion of the record, Did you have the support of Decca? We got very little from Decca, and there was no promotional tour.
*And finally, Why did you disband so fast? The group's demise is unfortunately squarely in my lap for the most part. First, because of my addiction to speed, no one liked me very much, and I was pretty unreliable at times. Second, Randy and Bill were both married, and had kids. The group was not financially stable, and they had families to support. As far as I know, none of us really stayed in the music end of the business. Bill went into advertising, Randy into TV production, Cam into teaching overseas, I did a lot of stuff, mostly sales, and Joe now owns a small recording studio near New Haven, Ct. That is the long and short of it.
*Why the name "Nova Local"? and why did you choose a hammond B3, not a Farfisa or Voxx?The name was given to us by the author William Burroughs. I do not know the derivation, but it sounded better than what we had at the time, which was "The Luved Ones". Our producer Elliot Mazer arranged it. That's all I know. And about the Hammond was simply for the sound of it. Also, our keyboard player owned one. It was a real pain to carry around, but worth it.
*How were the fraternity parties where you played, was there sex, drugs and R&R or is that just a cinema myth? The fraternity parties were more an excuse for people to drink. There was not a big drug scene at that time in the south. We never got involved with the people there (at least I didn't).
*What about the recording of your Lp with Fred Catero, was you satisfied with the sound?, did it give the album the sound that you wanted? Fred Catero was a great engineer, but didn't have a lot of influence on the "sound" of the group. We did our own arrangements, and were deeply involved in the final sound. He did what we asked him to do, with a lot of input from our producer. He did do a lot with technical things, like the voices through the Leslie speakers in Morning Dew. We did that long before Small Faces recorded Itchycoo Park. All arrangements were done by the group. We insisted, almost to a point of fanaticism that we be able to reproduce on stage what we did in the studio. The only execeptions were John Knight's Body and the string stuff, which we did for fun, but could come close to with the Hammond.
*What about the promotion of the record, Did you have the support of Decca? We got very little from Decca, and there was no promotional tour.
*And finally, Why did you disband so fast? The group's demise is unfortunately squarely in my lap for the most part. First, because of my addiction to speed, no one liked me very much, and I was pretty unreliable at times. Second, Randy and Bill were both married, and had kids. The group was not financially stable, and they had families to support. As far as I know, none of us really stayed in the music end of the business. Bill went into advertising, Randy into TV production, Cam into teaching overseas, I did a lot of stuff, mostly sales, and Joe now owns a small recording studio near New Haven, Ct. That is the long and short of it.
Jim & Señor Peppermint
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