Martin Cilia - Revenge of the Surf Guitar (2007)

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Martin Cilia - Revenge of the Surf Guitar (2007)

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1963 was a big year for instrumental guitar music, particularly surf music. "Pipeline" by The Chantays, "Wipeout" by The Surfaris, "Bombora " by The Atlantics , "Dance On" and "Foot Tapper" by The Shadows all topped the charts.

Inspired by "that sound", Martin Cilia, guitarist with legendary Australian surf band, The Atlantics, has taken a step into the solo spotlight with the release of "Revenge Of The Surf Guitar". This 16 track CD is his tribute to early sixties surf guitar music.

A true labour of love, Martin wrote all tracks, played the majority of instruments and produced the project.

An avid collector of classic electric guitars and amps and always a perfectionist, Martin's unique playing ability is complimented by the sounds of some exceptional instruments: a 1963 candy apple red Fender Stratocaster, a 63 black Fender Jaguar, a 63 Fender Vibroverb, a 63 Fender Outboard Reverb Tank and a 63 Fender Jazz Bass.

"All of these instruments just happen to be from 1963. This was not planned. It just worked out that way because they all had a unique sound that attracted me. I played the Jaguar on 95% of this CD. This is the first time I have used a Jaguar and discovered an amazing sound".

Highly regarded surf music critic, Phil Dirt of ReverbCentral in Santa Cruz, California has rated it 5 stars. "This album is solid top to bottom…very fresh and powerful … Martin Cilia has produced a wonderful CD with 16 wonderful tracks … this album is very, VERY well done. Highly recommended".

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Martin Cilia - Revenge of the Surf Guitar (2007)

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About Martin:

Martin was born in Rochford, Essex, England in December 1958. He moved to Perth, Western Australia with his family in January 1968. Martin played his first ‘gig’ in a school hall (Morley High) in 1972 with fellow students. He can remember playing Apache & Peace Pipe by the Shadows, I’m a Believer – The Monkees, Beatles & Cat Stevens’s songs and a few others.

By age 14 he was doing professional gigs playing songs by The Beatles, Stones & hits of the time. Around age 15 or 16 Martin was playing professional gigs with some older guys (they were around 20 or so) often playing 5 gigs a week. He recorded some demos and played in various bands (Band Listing) until 1979 when he went to London for a year. He joined original pop/rock band Urban Clearway with whom he recorded a couple of demo tapes that were shopped around the record companies. The band had some interest from Island records in London. He then returned to Australia & played in various line ups (Band Listing)

In 1982 Martin joined Perth band ‘Invasion Force’ later to be called ‘Force’ where he met Alf Demasi & Lloyd Allanson with whom he formed the legendary Perth band “The Flying Fonzarellis”. The Flying Fonzarellis released several recordings & toured Sydney in 1984. The band had some chart success holding the number one spot in Perth for a few weeks.

After the Fonzarellis he went on to play in Dave Warner's "Sensational Sixties" & then with Midget & the Farrellys who were popular in Fremantle throughout the Americas Cup yacht race. He went on to tour & record with Dave Warner's band.

Martin moved to Sydney late in 1989. He played & recorded with The Brookes (see discography). He thinks they were a good band, but probably not right for that time. He toured Western Australia in 1993 with the “Big Land Big Heart” tour. That band contained Dobe Newton (Bushwackers), Ernie Dingo, Dave Warner, Greg Macainish (Skyhooks) Paul Hitchins (Sports) Dave Clarke & Martin. They toured Vietnam with a similar concept in January 1994 .

While in Sydney Martin performed with Slide McBride playing anything from jazz to rap and everything in between. The band literally had hundreds of songs in its reptoire.

In 1998 he started recording some instrumental guitar songs. Bosco Bosanac, the bass player with legendary Australia group “The Atlantics” heard one of his demo tapes. One Friday afternoon Bosco called Martin. He said "you sound all right on the recordings but can you play live?" His band's guitarist had just called in sick. Martin did the gig and must have done ok because Bosco told the other guys from The Atlantics about him - the rest is history.

Since then the Atlantics have gone onto record many of Martin's songs, which have appeared in feature film soundtracks, surf movies, playstation games, the list goes on.

In 2007 Martin released his solo album "Revenge of the Surf Guitar" to universally positive reviews.

Martin Cilia Homepage

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Martin Cilia - Revenge of the Surf Guitar (2007)

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Martin Cilia - Revenge of the Surf Guitar (2007)

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