The story behind the creation of The Naked Tangerines
and information about the band.
The Naked Tangerines formed as a joke in January, 1998.
Erik Gladwin and Eric Arena gathered a few times a Derek
Wood's house to "jam" and basically fool around. This led
into a desire to actually start a band. Derek and Eric both
were in a jazz combo with bassist Bobby Flahive. Bobby
had been in a small band with Eric a few months back and
they had written a song that had no name. One night at a
jazz practice, Bobby and Eric got bored and began to play
the song, and Derek picked up the drumsticks and played
along. When the extended jam was over, the song was
estimated to be 17 minutes long, and therefore got it's
name: The 17 Minute Song. Bobby soon joined the band.
Derek wanted to play the guitar for the band though, so
the band looked around for a drummer.
The band asked Kevin Mcandrew to join and he agreed to
be the drummer.When he didn't show up for two practices
in a row, they decided it was time to move on. Eric then
asked drummer Chris Grenier to join the band and he
quickly agreed. By now, the summer of 1998, the band
was finally beginning to come together. Derek arranged for
them to play at his parents 25th annyversary. The Naked
tangerines then quickly learned about 25 or 30 songs in a 3
week period. On September 5th, 1998, they played in the
Wood's back yard, pounding out 60's and 70's rock tunes.
The Naked Tangerines began working hard on cover songs
and a handful of their own material. Finally in November,
they were asked to play at he Open Gym at the High
School. Siezing the opportunity, they practiced like crazy
and planned a date to go into Zing Recording Studios to
make a demo tape. November 20th found them at Open
Gym with a decent crowd watching. With confidence built
up, they practiced harder and harder the next week,
preparing for December 4th: The recording studio date.
As Friday December 4th rolled around, the excitement
grew and the faces on all the littl naked kids were bright
and full of joy. Arriving at Zing Studios at 3:00 in the
afternoon, they were greeted by Adam and soon Jim
Fogarty. Jim and Adam quickly got to work setting up the
headphones, drum mics and singing mics. Kim and Diane
Berthuaime came along to keep us company and take
pictures. After about an hour and a half of setting up and
sound checks on the drums, they began to do sound
checks on guitars and vocals. Around 5:30, they were
ready to go. Erik Gladwin unexpectedly had to run at 6:00,
so they cut his song first: Giving It Up. The song was
recorded in one take, seeing as there was no time for a
second with Erik. There were a few vocal error's and he
fixed one before he left, but another was still to be fixed.
Derek, Eric and Bobby thedn said goodbye as Chris took
Erik home and got us some pizza. While Chris was away,
Derek Eric and Bobby listened to the recording and
decided to record a song where Derek played the drums.
The recorded Gone. Take one found a problem with Eric's
guitar that had also occured in Giving It Up. He switched
guitars and they had a second shot at it, this time with the
tempo sped up alot. The song came out better than
expected. Chris soon came back, they ate, and odve right
into recording. The second take of Funky Pineapple
turned out to be a keeper until there was a tape error. So
shitfing through tapes, the band finally recorded Funky
Pineapple. Soon after, they recorded That's Not The Way,
Killing The Girl, She's A Boy, and The 17 Minute Song.
Bobby then did some overdubs and the night soon rolled
around to 1:00AM. They decided to give up for the night
and return the following Thursday, December 10th.
December 10th found Erik Gladwin back fixing his
mistakes and singing a bit more. The band did gang vocals
for Funky Pineapple. A ton of overdubs were don on the
songs. The only one not present was Chris. December
17th, the last day of the Naked tape recording, saw a few
overdubs and mastering being done. Everyone was there
including Diane Berthuaime and Erin Mosman. The night
turned out to be a bit longer than expected, but the
mastering went well. Erik Gladwin went home early for an
appointment. As the songs was being recorded to DAT,
Derek, feeling sick, was comforted by Erin as they layed
on the couch. Diane slept on a couch just outside the
controll room. Bobby listened to a tape in the kitchen
room, and Chris and Eric listened to their songs with Jim
as he put them to DAT. They left that night with copies of
their first tape.
