“Take one Italian guitarist active in the Downtown Improvisation and New Music scene – combine with youthful influences of movie music and Spaghetti Westerns – mix well with a love of ’60s Surf Sound (think The Ventures, Beach Boys, etc.) bathed in reverb – anchor with a solid rhythm section of bass and drums.. and you get the Italian Surf Academy! Certainly the baddest bad Morricone you’ve ever heard – as well as themes from other ’60s Italian soundtrack stalwarts such as Piero Umiliani, Riz Ortolani, Carlo Rustichelli, Armando Trovajoli, and Luis Enriquez Bacalov!….” Bruce Lee Gallanter – DMG, New York.
ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY – originally composed by Marco Cappelli (guitar), Luca Lo Bianco (bass) and Francesco Cusa (drums) – was formed by Marco Cappelli after long conversations with Marc Ribot about the roots of electric guitar sound. In its fresh and unpredictable music, a warm ironic approach to memories coexists with a very specific artistic statement:
“Back then in the ‘50s – ‘70s, the U.S. was more than a geographic place, it was a concept which we dreamed of belonging to: the prairies, a cowboy on his horse riding into the sunset encompassed by that warm guitar sound with a lot of reverb. This image was made up by the American movie industry and copied in many movies with a “made in Italy” label, shouted in Italy or abroad by Italian directors. That’s why we decided to work on our “Italian Surf Sound” version.”
Intensively active since 2010 in Europe (Italy, France, Scandinavia) USA (New York, California) and Asia (China, Japan), ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY “payed its dues” by touring in rock and jazz clubs as well on big theater stages all around the world:
After their debut album, titled The American Dream (Mode Records, 2012) and very well welcome by the press – see WSJ, Jazz Times … and more below – ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY included as band member the visual artist VJ Lapsus (Andrea Pennisi), who added an essential “twist” to the band’s live performances and to their devotion to vintage cult movies.
Their collaboration had as result Barbarella & Friends, the ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY upcoming monographic recording project dedicated to the renowned sci-fiction 60ies cult movie with Jane Fonda. Masterfully produced by JD Foster – who curated the whole process of rendering a remarkable 60ies sound – Barbarella & Friends is gonna be a luxury sound object.
download ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY_project description
download BARBARELLAFRIENDS_english
In 2015 Marco Cappelli decided to reformulate ITALIAN SURF ACADEMY in a “twin New York based band” with bassist Damon Banks and drummer Dave Miller . The “twin band” debuted at The Stone during Marco Cappelli September 2015 residency at The Stone, NYC and is going to coexists with the still active original Italian line up.
