Electronic Surf Music: discover the original sound of the Brazilian project Old Surfers

Limits exist to be broken and if, by chance, there are any in music, this limit was broken in a very creative way by the Brazilian project Old Surfers. Just imagine: producing Electronic Music with Surf Music as its main reference, adding to this mix a neo-jazzy sound and experimental touches of Trip Hop, House and Ambient Music. It looks like that culinary recipe that won’t work when you see the ingredients, but that surprises you in the final taste — and that’s exactly what it is!

It’s not for less… the guys behind this group are beyond bragging rights. Manoel Vanni was one of the pioneers in Brazilian electronic music, a producer with three decades of experience, with side projects such as Lunatics, Automan, Camp, MANNI and M4J, with whom he toured Europe and won the APCA Brazilian Music Award for the homonymous album.

Alec Haiat, musician, composer and music producer, was a member of Metrô, one of the main Brazilian rock bands of the 80’s. On guitars he accompanied his partner Kiko Zambianchi in concerts and is co-author of the artist’s first album, Céu. dedicates himself to the production and release of his various musical projects.

Closing the trio, Hans Zeh is a music producer, audio engineer and sound designer, who has dedicated practically his entire life to the service of music and production, with more than 30 years of experience in the market, successes with the public and critics that are present in the collective unconscious in themes of soap operas, animes and songs of the most varied artists.

Together they are making what they call “Electronic Surf Music”, a sound with an avant-garde proposal in an indie/experimental footprint, even receiving a slight psychedelic touch, using and abusing electronic bases superimposed by guitars, samples and synthesizers.

In the months of July and August, they returned to action with two new singles: “Ant Atol” and “Forever Surfers”, but ahead they promise another 10 tracks that should be released each month. We took advantage of this swell of good music to exchange ideas with the trio and learn more about this interesting initiative.

Hey guys! Thanks for this interview. Vanni, you’ve been part of the project since the beginning, in 2019, remaining after the lineup change. Could you tell us what motivated this idea back there? What was the snap to create Old Surfers?

(Vanni) The idea and the songs came about during my trips to Hawaii, where I had the opportunity and privilege to go and stay countless times, for wonderful and unforgettable seasons, a really inspiring place!!! 

The spark to create the project in this format and with this diverse, wide-ranging musical line, if you listen to the previous releases you’ll be able to see that it involves more than inspiration, creativity, it has a lot of my history and the desire to give the project all this side of my eclectic and barrier-free musical culture!!! 

But it all started when Luiz Bueno from Duofel told me about it and came up with the idea of producing something together… so I created all the content for him to record the string instruments he plays, so that I could finish editing the material we were composing together, as I’m doing with Alec Haiat at the moment.

You three are experienced musicians with a long career and each one is better at something, right? What are your main functions in the background?

(Alec) Since I was invited to join the project I understood that my role was to add new languages to the project.Bringing Riffs Solos textures or leads to bring a “guitar” accent from MPB rock, Black Music, SOUL to experimental music.

(Vanni) I compose all the bases, with all the instruments and I make a pre-mix and send it to Alec to record and compose his part on top of my arrangement. After recording his part, I analyze what was recorded and edit his entire recording to give it the final finish and send it to Hans to mix and master.

(Hans) I’ve just joined the group and I’ve been finalizing the songs, doing the mixing and mastering, as well as being an additional keyboard player at the gigs. The idea, after we release the songs we’re finishing at the moment, is to enter a new cycle, composing and recording together, in person…

Despite the project being very original, which other artists form the base of sound references of Old Surfers? Could you mention at least 3 names and highlight the reasons?

(Alec) Daft Punk for bringing the European accent to the dancefloors without losing the power of black music, ZERO 7 for creating songs of unparalleled beauty, Massive Attack for the genius with which Tricky conducts his compositions, arrangements and productions.Bringing intimacy and introversion

(Vanni) My field of references is very broad! It ranges from the 70s, 80s, 90s, a lot of funk, fusion jazz, all the electronic music artists of that era influenced me, like Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder, Alan Parsons, George Clinton, Chic, Zapp, Stanley Clark, George Duke, Weather Report, Steve Muller Band, Jean Michel Jarre, Depeche Mode, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Brian Eno, The Cars, Tom Tom Club, you name it… that era was the best!!! Real music was made!A:(Hans) Dude, Manoel answered for me…

At the moment, do you always get together in the studio to create songs or do you adopt a more hybrid way using digital as well?

(Alec) we work remotely a lot.A: (Vanni) because we live in different cities I send the base to Alec to record, edit the material he’s recorded and send it to Hans to finalize…

(Hans) I usually work in my studio, at home, in the interior of São Paulo, but whenever possible I go to Manoel’s studio so we can “close the lid” together.

What can’t be missing from the studio? Is any specific equipment the ‘darling’ of Old Surfers songs and is it always present in the compositions?

(Alec) My effects are from the Line 6 brand where I’ve had my programs for over 25 years. All my team presets are practically there. I have the POD XT The second after the original POD. I also use the AMPLI FX100 which has been around for over 10 years. I’ve also been using Guitar Rig

(Vanni) I use a very wide range of hardware and software instruments and I really like being able to explore the sounds and create with freedom. I use the Roland MC 707 a lot, but in my gear there are several vintage synths that I can’t give up and that I’m comfortable creating with.

(Hans) Well, I’m a collector of drum machines and analog synths and other junk, and I’ve been using a lot of old synths in my productions, as well as virtual ones, which, depending on the purpose, I use just fine.

And how does a song start to take shape? Is there a way that works best for you during the creative process?

(Alec) Manoel usually starts to lay the foundations and sends them out. We discuss when there’s no consensus, but when the base is already rounded, I start creating. I usually send him more than six tracks so he can edit them later.

(Vanni) This project and the previous ones came out in this format, I compose the bases completely and send them to the guitarist, in this case Alec, then after recording I edit everything, giving it a contemporary electronic music sound and design and once it’s ready it goes to Hans to finish, he starts the mix and master work at his house and we finish at my Studio in São Paulo.

Currently producing music has become much easier with the various facilities, either through the digital environment (as we mentioned before), through plugins, DAWs, etc. 

In your view, did this democratization make electronic music lose its essence/quality?

(Alec) For me it just increases the chances of people creating things, so it increases the chance of hearing good music.

(Vanni) I love the freedom and ease of creating!!! I think it’s really improved the way we compose and the sound is fantastic!!!

(Hans) On the contrary, the thing is that there’s a lot of good stuff and a lot of bad stuff out there too, right?

Now let’s talk about the new singles: ‘Ant Atol’ has a more melodic and chill vibe, including sax parts, while ‘Forever Surfers’ is more energetic… what were the inspirations behind each of them? Ant Atoll is an island, right?

(Alec) Ant Atoll has a very clear reference to the music of the 70s, Disco and Soul Music, it’s very organic. The second is heavier and the guitar makes a counterpoint, bringing in a bit of ZZ TOP and YES.

(Vanni) Ant Atol has a Funk Jazz feel with a very pronounced sax that reminds me a bit of the Fuzion Jazz band Spyro Gyra, while Forever Surfers has an electro rock feel, something along the lines of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, very 80s.

Is it true that you already have another 10 finished singles? In how many months were they produced and what were the main challenges throughout the process?

(Alec) we’ve been working on them for quite a while now

(Vanni) We’re in the process of producing and recording Alec’s guitars, but it will be finished very soon.

(Hans) Almost everything is ready, there are still some guitars to record, some mixes, but we’re in the final stages.

Finally, we note that the country that listens to Old Surfers the most on Spotify is precisely Australia — a perfect match! Is there any idea of touring Brazil or even other countries? Thanks!

(Vanni) Yes, we’re getting ready to start rehearsing as soon as the other six songs are ready.

(Hans) We’ve already been talking about a live setup that works for all the songs and we should even start rehearsing the show soon. Our idea is to play a lot live!