A broken-down, 100-year-old mansion that overlooks an acre of forest in Indiana and is brimming with vintage equipment may seem like an unlikely recording location.
For local surf band The D-Rays, though, it was the perfect setting.
“The whole session was very old school,” said Jason Davis, producer and owner of Off The Cuff Sound. “It wasn’t super slicked over or cut and paste. ... They sound like they play live.”
The D-Rays will play a free show Friday night at Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., to celebrate the release of their new EP, Safety 3rd.
The three-song EP is the band’s first recorded album and is available online or at Haffa’s Records, 15 W. Union St.
“We gave it this really spacious ’50s, ’60s sound,” Davis said. “(The vinyl) gives it an accessible sound. ... It’s perfect for surf music.”
The band plays a unique style of surf rock, which should not be confused with the surf pop most associated with The Beach Boys.
The band has no lead vocals, but the genre lends itself to a blasting, steady rhythm section with short song melodies over top.
“It’s your classic garage rock surf band with no vocals,” guitarist Erick Coleman said. “We enjoyed the tunes without vocals more and the two didn’t fit very well together, so we chose a path and stuck with it.”
The band will play its biggest gig ever later this spring at the 8th annual Nelsonville Music Festival. Tim Peacock, the executive director of the festival, offered the band a spot at the weekend-long event.
Coleman said he knows Peacock from playing together at various shows, including Friday’s D-Rays release show, where Peacock’s band Hexnet will also perform.
The D-Rays plan on releasing a follow-up EP during the summer and plan to tour the Midwest in order to promote the band. They’ve toured the Ohio and Midwest region before, but the Nelsonville Festival will be a highlight for the local band.
“We don’t even know what date we’re playing yet,” Coleman said. “We’re really excited to play; (Nelsonville) is our first big concert we’ve ever played.”
If You Go:
What: The D-Rays record release party
When: 10 p.m. Friday
Where: Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St.
Admission: free
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