Sundad
make music to calm the heart and soul. If that sounds like a bunch
of New Age dross to you, check out the 2009 Sundad CD The Journey
Continues. Contrary to popular opinion, New Age didn’t start
with Windham Hill or Miramar Records back in the ‘80s. Astute
musicologists may point to the early ECM releases and around that
same time, from artists like Steve Tibbetts or even earlier with groups
like Oregon or the Paul Winter Consort. Suffice to say, if you were
fortunate to hear guys like Tibbetts and Paul Winter and groups like
Oregon early on, you’ll love Sundad. Interestingly enough, the
group is actually comprised of guitarist John Eurell and his son John
Eurell Jr. So, hence the Son / Dad connection. Also lending support
on percussion is Chet Soares. Instrumental acoustic guitar music at
its finest, Sundad's The Journey Continues brings New Age into
the future with a hypnotic and supremely relaxing album of meditative
guitar magic. www.sundad.com
MUSIC
WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents Guitars Center Stage
with John Eurell Sr. and John Eurell Jr. of SUNDAD
Guitarists making waves in the music world, their new recordings and
gear!
Musical Background
John
jr: Well, I was subjected to quite a bit of music growing up. My dad
was in and out of bands playing all kinds of music, and I was brought
along to many, many gigs. I started playing guitar when I was about
14 or so, when guitar-heavy rock was the rage. As I got older I experimented
with funk, and jazz to a small degree.
John Sr: I have been playing the guitar for over 40 years. My musical
experience includes rock and roll, hard rock, blues, funk, disco,
and jazz and I have played with a number of well-known local bands
in the Westchester, NY area including Electric Abraham and Satsang.
I studied guitar with Sonny Sharrock, Alan Hanlon, Bucky Pizzarelli
and George Barnes.
New
CD
John
Sr: Our latest CD is titled The Journey Continues. It was recorded
in 2007/2008 at Couch Creative Services in Brewster NY (run by Buck
Brundage the co-producer) and mixed/mastered by 3 time Grammy winner
Phil Magnotti at Silvermine Studio. 99% of the guitar work was recorded
acoustically. The engineer simply mic’ed the guitars – using
his extensive knowledge of recording acoustic instruments. I layed
down the rhythm track(s), then we would add the melody tracks, leads,
bass tracks, and percussion tracks all in different sessions. The
CD has done very well, ranking #13 on the NAR radio play charts for
2008. It also received a nomination for “2008 Best Instrumental
Acoustic Album” in the New Age Reporter Lifestyle Music Awards
and has been in the Top 100 Most played albums for 8 of the last nine
months as tracked by New Age Reporter (June 08 through Feb 09). As
you can tell by listening, the compositions on the album have influences
from many different styles of music. When I compose my goal is to
make the listener feel good and “at peace” you could say.
My son and I feel we have accomplished that with this release.
Favorite
Guitars
John
jr: Heh, where to begin? I love anything with strings on it. My current
guitar is a hand built from Canadian builder Trevor Kronbauer, just
a fantastic guitar. Beautiful flamed myrtle wood back and sides, wenge
purfling. Maple bound ebony fretboard. The pickup I use is a K&K
Western mini. On the electric side of things, I’ve always had
a soft spot for Les Pauls, though now I typically use hollow bodies
and telecasters. Effects? I was big into distortion, chorus and delay
as a youngster, but the older I got the more the effects went out
the window for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to sit for
a few hours in front of an amp tweaking knobs on my Line 6 Echo Park(among
others), but for live playing? Just give me a guitar and an amp, or
in Sundad’s case, an acoustic guitar and a PA system!
John Sr: I use a Guild DCE-3 acoustic guitar for live performances
and recording. That is the guitar I used on both of our CDs. I love
the tonal quality of the guitar both unplugged and amplified through
our PA system. The action is wonderful on the guitar. It feels like
a well setup Les Paul.
Musical
Influences
John
jr: And again, where to begin? There are just So many fantastic players
and musicians who’ve made lasting impressions on my style. Initially
it was players like Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Tom Scholz, and Eddie Van
Halen. Then I found the acoustic John McLaughlin, who opened all kinds
of new ideas and sound preferences. Bireli Lagrene is another monster.
I always have to point to Bill Connors as probably my most profound
influence, he was with Chick Corea and RTF on the album Hymn of
the 7th Galaxy. That album just turned my world upside down. To
this day I can’t get enough of that album…
John
Sr: As I mentioned earlier I have been influenced by many styles of
music and guitar. I have played in so many different styles of bands
it has definitely affected the way I compose music now. I started
out listening to Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, BB King, The
Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, etc. As time went on I started listening to
different Jazz guitarists such as Wes Montgomery, Larry Coryell, John
McLaughlin, Gabor Szabo, John Abercrombie, George Benson, Pat Metheny,
Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Bill Connors,
and more. I was also listening to other instruments – not just
guitar – Jimmy Smith, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis,
Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson, Paul Winter, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane,
Eric Dolphy, Wayne Shorter, and on and on. These guys were all great
players. I think the albums that had the most influence on me were
Spellbinder by Gabor Szabo, Bitches Brew by Miles Davis,
I Sing The Body Electric by Weather Report and Light As
A Feather and Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy by Chick Corea
and friends. I mean I could go on forever with this stuff. There is
just so much great music out there. I know I left a lot out.
Web
Site
John
Sr: Sure. Our web site is Sundad.com
and you can contact us at info@sundad.com
