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There’s a haunting sound in a song written and recorded 46 years ago that a recent death placed in a new light. The band is called The Krayolas, and its front man is Hector Saldaña, and he said that like a lot of bands back then, they mixed a lot of pop songs in with their originals.
“The Krayolas are a rock and roll band. ... we used to play a lot of Beatles and Rolling Stones and The Who and Beach Boys,” Saldaña said. “I saw that notification that Brian Wilson had died. Like so many people around the world, [I] just feel heartbroken because he was an individual that brought so much joy to the world.”
But then Wilson’s death triggered a memory in Saldaña: He and his buddies in The Krayolas had written a song in honor of the Beach Boys all those years ago.
The song pulls you in from the very beginning. And when The Krayolas vocals kick in, it’s very reminiscent of the harmonies of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Saldaña recalled the recording session.
“I remembered that in 1979 there was a little studio out by the railroad tracks at Broadway and Wetmore,” he said. “So one of the songs that we did was a song called Surf’s Down. It has a very Beach Boys vibe, almost like an homage to the Beach Boys.”
The 4-part harmonies were accomplished by bandmates Hector and his brother David, Barry Smith and David Courtney all huddled around a single microphone in a little 8-track studio.
“I'm amazed when I listen to that little record, how tight those vocals are, and we were just literally a few feet from each other, very close. I can still remember huddling, and it wasn't around a very high-tech microphone,” Saldaña said.
That’s the same way the Beach Boys recorded most of their vocals as well.
“The vocals of The Beach Boys are more airy and dynamic because they're singing it in real time,” he said.
The Krayolas were still finding their own collective voice, and one way that’s done is by trying to mimic the voice of others. Saldaña said they were openly mimicking the Beach Boys.
“We were going for that Beach Boys vibe because I think when you're a young musician, sometimes you do what you know. And we knew The Who and The Beatles and Beach Boys,” he said. “It wasn't like a fun-in-the-sun kind of record, or about motor cars, like hot rods. It was just a little beautiful track, melodically.”
