Only a quarter century after its initial creation MuSick Recordings has unleashed Lux Interior's younger brother's "Surftrack" single on transparent red vinyl with the cover designed by Lux himself. Michael is no stranger to musical endeavours himself, starting at an early age and highly influenced by his brother's love and knowledge of music. 3-D’s “Surftrack” should find your way into your collection whether you are a The Action fan, Cramps fan or love instrumental tunes, surf or British background music from ‘60s/’70s movies and television.
I had the opportunity to converse with Michael about this recent release and his personal history.
As a special "Trick or Treat" Michael has provided lyrics written by himself and his brother (Lux) in 1967!, aptly entitled “Trick or Treat, Mother and Me.” Halloween only comes once a year!
Scene Point Blank: How extensive was your brother's album collection in the early days (pre-Cramps)? How influential was he in helping you form your identity musically?
Michael Purkhiser: He had quite a large collection pre-Cramps. He was always buying albums in the ‘60s. Back then he was buying lots of British Invasion groups in the mid-‘60s. He turned me on to The Who Happy Jack album when that was released. He was always big into The Stones and had all the early albums. I remember when The Yardbirds’ Little Games album came out in ‘67. He was raving about that. As you can see, he was very influential in educating me about rock ‘n’ roll. The two main bands he turned me onto that really stuck with me were The Who and The Jeff Beck Group. I loved the heavy sound of those bands.
Scene Point Blank: Did you ever collaborate on any musical projects with Erick (Lux) and, if so, were they ever recorded or will they ever see the light of day?
Michael Purkhiser: After having been playing guitar for a couple of years, by 1967 I decided to try and write a song. I came up with a few chords I liked, but had no idea how to write lyrics. I told my brother Rick (Lux Interior) about it and he agreed to work together on the song and that he would write the lyrics. I told him that I didn't realize he could write lyrics and he said "well I will now!" A few days later he returned with these lyrics to our new song, "Trick or Treat, Mother and Me.” Unfortunately, we didn’t record the song. This was the first time he had written song lyrics. It's pretty easy to see that his lyric skills were formulating and in place for what was to come 9 years later when The Cramps came on the scene with their music. This was kind of a precursor, with all the drug references, to "Let's Get F**ked Up" which came about decades later. See attached lyric sheet.
Scene Point Blank” Do you have many memories of recording The Cramps’ Ohio Demos in your parent's basement?
Michael Purkhiser: It was really fun and I was quite honoured that they wanted me to record them. I think we spent around 2 days recording the songs on a 4-track recorder in a makeshift studio set up in our parent's basement. Our parents really enjoyed having everyone there. Our Mom and Dad were both supportive of our music.
Scene Point Blank:I understand that this EP was recorded in 1997. How did this project come to fruition, being released now? Were there more songs from this session and will they ever be released in their entirety?
Michael Purkhiser: I moved to LA in 2014. That’s when Art Bourasseau and I became friends. I didn’t speak much about my music, but a few years later a mutual friend of ours, Evan Foster, heard the 3-D recordings and flipped. Art really liked the songs and decided to release them on his label MuSick Recordings. There were more songs, but mostly with vocals. I hope some of those songs will see the light of day someday. An interesting side note -- the label name MuSick Recordings was inspired by The Cramps. Specifically the Stay Sick album.
Scene Point Blank: Were your brother's drawings and photographs always intended to be attached to this release or was it stuff in his archives?
Michael Purkhiser: I approached Lux about coming up with the artwork back in 1997 when a Cleveland record label approached me about releasing a 3-D album. The album never happened and his artwork and the masters were shelved until now.
Scene Point Blank: How did Erick (Lux) develop a love for 3-D photography?
Michael Purkhiser: Lux was an artist before he became a performer. He painted and drew. I’m sure that photography was in his blood at that point. He loved watching the cheesy 3D movies from the ‘50s and ‘60s. I’m sure that’s when the seed was planted. I’m not sure exactly when he started working with 3D photography.
Scene Point Blank: How did you become inspired by British TV and movie background music? Were you aware early on that Jimmy Page had done some of this work? Describe the term that you call “Surf track music.”
Michael Purkhiser: I became interested in the genre of music back in the ‘90s. I was turned on to an album called The Easy Project - 20 Loungecore Favorites released on the Sequel Records label. From there I got into KPM Musichouse recordings and such. Yeah, I did realize Jimmy Page played guitar on some of this music. I really dig some of the crazy sounds and guitar parts he came up with.
I came up with the term Surftrack music because the 3-D music is a blend of Surf and Soundtrack music. It’s not really surf music and not really soundtrack music. It’s Surftrack music.
After having been playing guitar for a couple of years, by 1967 I decided to try and write a song. I came up with a few chords I liked, but had no idea how to write lyrics. I told my brother Rick (Lux Interior) about it and he agreed to work together on the song and that he would write the lyrics. I told him that I didn't realize he could write lyrics and he said "well I will now!" A few days later he returned with these lyrics to our new song, "Trick or Treat, Mother and Me.”
Scene Point Blank: Are there plans to rerelease The Action (the singles, live cassette, and any other recordings not yet released)?
Michael Purkhiser: I am currently in the early stages of putting an Action album project together. The Action still has cult power pop fans across the world. There was even a Japanese Action tribute band a few years back and other Japanese musicians have released our music. I’m quite honoured.
Scene Point Blank: Power pop was huge at the time (The Knack, etc.) in 1978. Record companies were gobbling up bands and scrubbing them clean of any edge. Why do you think that The Action missed the elusive major label recording contract?
Michael Purkhiser:The Action was a heavy band live, along the lines of The Who, but our studio recordings lacked that power. The recording production is wimpy in comparison to our live sound. When we were shopping ourselves to labels, unless they came out to see us they had no idea of what the band was really capable of. We played NYC often, but couldn’t catch a break. Some of the recordings that hopefully make it on the new album are from a live radio broadcast we performed back in 1982. That captured the real sound of the band. I think people will be surprised!
Scene Point Blank: What is your preferred setup in terms of guitar and amplifier, gear, etc.?
Michael Purkhiser: I play either a custom-built Telecaster or a 1955 Duo Jet usually thru one of my amps. Most of my amps are Class A biased vacuum tube designs modelled after the Vox AC 30. Most of what you hear on the 3-D record is one of my amps with my custom telecaster. This was the amp I used in the studio. I designed and built it in the early ‘90s. I called it the "Red Rocket."
Scene Point Blank: How did you also become an electronics design engineer: designing and building custom guitar amplifiers, tube mic preamps, and studio-grade vacuum tube compressors? I started working on tube guitar amps back in the late ‘60s.
Michael Purkhiser: I received my degree in electronics in the mid-‘70s. I didn’t really do any building until I joined the Beatles tribute “1964 The Tribute” as a front-of-house sound engineer back in 1990. They knew I worked on amps and asked if I could design them an amp that looked and sounded like a Vox AC30, but that would be much lighter due to the impending airline weight restrictions. I came up with a design and built them a couple of amps that they used. From there I was asked if I could build a vacuum tube audio compressor. I designed and built one of those along with some vacuum tube mic preamps. I became known for my designs and started building one-off custom designs for people. One of my clients was Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys. I built, repaired and modded a number of his amps.
Scene Point Blank: You are deemed an expert in replicating the Beatles’ setup and sound. How did you get this title?
Michael Purkhiser: Essentially in a condensed version: how did they get their well-known sound? When I started working for "1964 The Tribute" I got a wealth of knowledge from them about the gear The Beatles used and the techniques that were used in the studio when they were recording. “1964 The Tribute" were, and still are, very strict with their recreation of the look and sound. I applied the knowledge I got with them with my knowledge of live sound. I worked with them for 20 years and ran sound for them a number of times at Carnegie Hall. Over the years I’ve worked with a number of Beatles tribute bands. The last group I was involved in running sound for was the Broadway production Rain. They were a bit tough, since they played The Beatles catalogue from beginning to end.
Scene Point Blank: How important were The Raspberries to you in forming your musical identity? I understand that you are working with Scott McCarl (Raspberries). In what capacity are you collaborating with him?
Michael Purkhiser: The Raspberries made a huge impression on me from the first time I saw them in a little club in Kent, Ohio. They were powerful and had great material. Wally Bryson is in my top 10 of favourite guitarists. They had an incredible sound live. I wanted The Action to be The Raspberries. One of their best shows I saw was in 1974 with Scott McCarl on bass guitar.
I connected with Scott in the late ‘90s when he was working on his solo album called Play On. I engineered most of it and played guitar on a number of the tracks. Scott and I didn’t see much of each other after that until 2014 when I moved to LA. He’s in LA so I decided to look him up and reconnect. Oddly enough, Play On was being rereleased and he was adding a few bonus tracks to the project. I have a small home studio so he asked me if I’d help him record the two bonus tracks. I engineered and played guitar on the songs. The album was recently rereleased on the Liberation Hall record label. We’ve continued to work together and are now working on a new arrangement of The Action song I wrote called “Radio Music.” It was the 2nd single we released in 1979.
Scene Point Blank: Was Rocket From The Tombs ever on your radar? Have you ever heard of a band called Blue Ash? (Both Ohio bands, as I am sure you are aware.)
Michael Purkhiser: I suspect that you do know the latter, as John Koury plays drums with 3-D. (He is now in a band with Frank Secich [of] Blue Ash called Deadbeat Poets.) I saw Rocket From The Tombs in Cleveland on a bill with Television, probably around 1975. Coincidently, Lux and Ivy were with me at that show. I knew of Blue Ash back then but never had the chance to see them. I became friends with Frank Secich during his Stiv Bator period. Great guy and a great musician.
Scene Point Blank: What are you currently working on and do you have your hands in any future projects?
Michael Purkhiser: The new Action album is currently underway. I’m also writing and recording new music at my home. I’m not sure where that’s headed yet. Maybe a release sometime in the future, maybe not. I haven’t written in a number of years but picked it up again about two years ago. I’m in love with the new technology and the quality of recording you can get in your home studio these days. It definitely has gotten me fired up and writing again! I’m hopeful that at some point these recordings will see the light of day and not take another 25 years to release! Lol.
Scene Point Blank: How would you like to be remembered?
Michael Purkhiser: As a musician and songwriter, a good sound engineer, an amp technician and amp builder who has helped out many musicians over the years and lastly a good father to my 3 kids.
Scene Point Blank: Parting thoughts?
Michael Purkhiser: I am really excited for the 3-D recordings to finally be seeing the light of day. I’m also very excited that Lux could be involved with his artwork. I’m looking forward to seeing what people think of the record. I’m also excited about the thought of The Action album project and also the new material and recordings I’m currently working on. Thank you for your interest in all of this!
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