Hey! - Check out this nice write-up in today's Post Gazette about the Turbo-Dudes...
Some guys start bands to attract girls or fulfill starry visions of fame. But drummer Timmy Klatte is too mature for that -- he founded surf-rock trio The Turbosonics due to an epiphany. "After 20 years of classic rock in clubs, I wanted to try something different," he recalls.
Then he saw Dick Dale at the Rex Theater in 2005. "I had two of his CDs, and as a kid I liked secret agent music and twangy Western guitars, but I didn't appreciate him until he played at full volume. He's credited with inventing surf guitar, but nobody around here was doing this stuff."
Info box 9/7/2012
The Turbosonics/Jason Martinko Revue
With: The Semi-Supervillains.
Where: 31st Street Pub, 3101 Penn Ave., Strip District.
When: 10 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets: $5;
412-391-8334
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So Mr. Klatte mined his friends for the ingredients of a surf trio -- no dice. Next step: Craigslist. He found bassist and ex-Maine resident Keith Caldwell, and completed the trifecta with guitarist Jason Truckenbrod, who moved to Pittsburgh in 1995.
"In Buffalo, my skate-punk band played Husker Dü and Iggy Pop covers," remembers Mr. Truckenbrod, "and D. Boon [of The Minutemen] was my guitar hero along with Billy Gibbons, who's my mother's cousin. So I was used to power trios."
In 2008, the Turbosonics initially sprang to life as the Surf Zombies, playing faithful versions of Dale, Ventures, Surfaris and Link Wray. But original instrumentals leapt from Mr. Truckenbrod's fertile mind, and four years on, they've assembled eight tracks for their self-titled debut. "The Dick Dale influence makes it more aggressive, and my roots in blues and punk [mean] there's that flavor in there, too."
The album was recorded at the McMurray studio of singer-songwriter Tom Breiding, who'd heard the Turbosonics' full force at Moondog's. Hammered out in one day with only two words for lyrics ("Tom and his son Jack helped us yell 'Lights Out!,' " adds Mr. Caldwell), the collection boasts a universal flair. "Surf music is so accessible, you can pair it with punk, garage, rockabilly or blues," explains Mr. Truckenbrod. "We've got three generations -- Keith's in his 30s, I'm in my 40s, Tim's in his 50s -- so it's music that doesn't lose appeal, and we're trying to bring it to today's crowd to keep it relevant."
The band hopes to beguile thousands of World of Wheels attendees at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, on Saturday afternoon before their 31st Street Pub gig.
