Captain Squeegee, a seven-piece local act oozing with sudsy sounds and eccentric energy, will be playing at the Crescent Ballroom Thursday night to celebrate the release of their new album, To The Bardos!
After a more than five-year lull, as well as a few member changes, Captain Squeegee signed with downtown-based label 80/20 Records earlier this year. Their return effort, To The Bardos! was funded entirely through a crowdsourcing campaign on Rockethub.
The band raised more than $10,000 in a month to produce the album, said vocalist and trumpet player Danny Torgersen.
“We didn’t even really know how we would do it, because we’re all broke,” Torgersen said. “We ended up signing with 80/20 Records and they wanted us to go to one of the best studios we could, so the crowdfunding campaign was the only way we could do it. That was the last great mountain to climb.”
“To The Bardos!” was released digitally on Nov. 12. Physical copies will be available at the release show. Captain Squeegee will be playing the album from front to back and the show will also include live art and video projections.
“We’re going to make the live performance sound like it does on the record,” Torgersen said. “We’re going to project some wicked psychedelic graphics. We’re known for doing that at shows, but we’ve always found a way to increase the maximum psychedelia.”
To The Bardos! is packed with sporadic styles, conspiracy-inspired lyrics and meticulous execution.
A lot can change for a band in five years, and Captain Squeegee is no exception. None of the current members are original members. Torgersen said this album is a sort of “third reincarnation” as a band.
“Everybody has some amount of formal music training now,” said Austen Mack, who plays keys and guitar and does vocals for the band. “We strayed away from the approach on the last album where most of the parts were composed, and there were small improvised sections. With this one, everybody got to work their own parts out and each person was able to contribute more musically, and it was a lot more collaborative.”
With new musicians inevitably come new sounds, styles and overall functionality. “To The Bardos!” is a different sound for Captain Squeegee, but it is one that the members hope is more accessible to all listeners.
“In a lot of ways, it’s poppier and catchier and easier to follow than some of our older music,” Torgersen said. “But we still hung on to the batshit crazy part, which we’ll never let go of fully.”
Mack explained that the first thing Captain Squeegee did to create the album was write more music, learn it, and teach it to all of the members. Many of their songs are complex and include tricky parts, so this task is quite an undertaking, Mack said.
“The last album is pretty densely written, for this one we were able to give it more space and let it breathe, so you can really hear everything that is happening more clearly,” Mack said. “It’s just like writing English: The hardest part is taking out as much stuff as you can to get the core of what you’re really trying to say.”
The album was produced by Bob Hoag at Flying Blanket Studios in Mesa. Hoag’s work with other bands, especially the production of horn sections, is what prompted 80/20 Records to suggest the producer for Captain Squeegee’s album.
“It’s not just about finding the right studio for the sound of the album, but it’s also about finding the right chemistry between the musicians and the producer,” said Michael Zimmerlich, president of 80/20 Records. “Bob and Danny sat down, and essentially it was a match made in heaven. Bob was able to capture the sound of Captain Squeegee, which is almost an impossible feat. There are so many instruments, the music is so unusual, and they pulled it off brilliantly.”
Zimmerlich said it took them the majority of the year to get the album to where it is now. He also said that he has heard many people say that they know of Captain Squeegee but have never listened to their music. This was one of the biggest obstacles as well as a goal to tackle in producing the album, according to Zimmerlich.
“We needed to get that that flagship album that truly represents this band and how much they’ve grown in the past five years,” Zimmerlich said. “That’s what To The Bardos! is all about.”
In addition to the hard copies of To The Bardos! fans can also purchase a custom key-shaped USB complete with the album, all previous Captain Squeegee releases, the band’s complete Web saga series, and even a few “confidential” government documents and UFO videos.
“I’m pretty inspired by the cacophony of conspiracies and new-age spiritualism on the internet,” Torgersen said. “A lot of the record is about that, so I put in a bunch of stuff that made me feel that way.”
To The Bardos! is Captain Squeegee’s attempt to impact their listeners on multiple levels.
“I hope that listeners feel both satisfied and really confused,” Torgersen said. “I think everyone will need to listen a few times to really take it all in. I just hope that people feel like we sandblasted their soul with music, and that it felt awesome.”
Captain Squeegee hopes that fans will hear their message on the album, and feel their message at the release show.
“I hope that it inspires people to rethink some of they key aspects of their world views, not necessarily with the goal of changing them, but more just opening up the realm of questioning in people’s minds,” Mack said. “I think it’s really healthy when you’re confronting the world to have a little bit of doubt in what you think, and not assume that you’re right about pretty much anything.”
Torgersen said that he is already bubbling with new tunes, and that it will definitely not be another five years before Captain Squeegee’s next record. The band will be releasing a new music video in the next month or two, according to Zimmerlich.
“I think we’ve got some wild horses, and we reigned ‘em in, and now we’re traveling well,” Torgersen said. “I think people will enjoy it. Anyone who likes compelling, interesting, out-there music will really like it.”
Supporting acts at Thursday night’s show include Twin Ponies and Instructions. The show is for ages 16 and up, and the doors will open at 8 p.m. Tickets are 8 dollars before the show, and 10 dollars at the door.
Contact the reporter at lindsay.robinson@asu.edu
