Find Forbidden Island

The CD is approaching completion.
Featuring 12 original ukulele-washed tracks by yours truly and Ken Kanaka.

Also featuring some great musicianship by islanders like Kanekila, Jeff "Tiny Bubbles" Berlin, Mr. Ho, Tommy Wannalikilei, Doc Tiki and others...

We went all out on this album and tried a few different styles. Much more polished than our initial offering of SIX freaking years ago. (man, that's hard to believe.)

Anyway - you can get updates and some eventual goodies by going to crazedmugs.com and signing up for junk and stuff. Or you can "like" us on Facebook - and we'll keep you up to date on the release, play dates, medical procedures and opinions on fabric.

It's been a gas to be a part (mostly avid reader) of this forum for 7 years or so now and I value all of your opinions. Even Lucas Vigor, who is going to hate the 2 reggae-ish cuts.
I appreciate the feedback on the different tunes I've posted up here as rough cuts and also the inspiration for some of the tunes. Tiki Central was pretty instrumental in most of the tunes we wrote and although we're looking for a much wider audience for this release - this is "home" to us.

I think a few of the tunes, in particular, will resonate pretty strongly with you here.

Mystery Girl is a very exotica feel, with vocals, piano, flute, vibes and the super cool Tahitian log drum I got off of Dick Sanft.

Marooned on the Mainland also has what we're calling "an exotica break" as the choruses. I think you'll get a kick out of the Eden Ahbez influence you'll hear in the background.

Ken Kanaka is a very hooky writer and we had to pare down the album because we both brought too many tunes to the table when we started working on the project in earnest.

Anyway - I'll post more about it later but I'm getting pretty geeked about it all.

Aloha

I loved your first CD, can't wait for the new one.

Can't wait to hear the completed disc Pablus.

Keep up the good work! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Can't wait!!!!!!!

WOW, 6 years?!?!? Really?!?!?!

I've been a fan for a long time now!

It was a treat to get some solo live previews last week!

It can't come soon enough!!

Please post when it is finished & available. I'd love to get a copy. TC needs a Music Marketplace so I don't have to search all over the place to find the great CDs by TC artists!

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2011-07-07 13:41 ]

" Lucas Vigor, who is going to hate the 2 reggae-ish cuts"

Lucas can deal with me over this matter... :)

Can't wait to hear this Pablus!!!

Any news?

Where was I during all of this? Amazing that I miss stuff like this in my own backyard! :wink:

[ Edited by: OnyaBirri 2011-09-24 05:03 ]

I got my copy in the mail a couple of days ago and I've been listening to it ever since. I really like it!

Received my copy a couple days back as well. Actually have it playing at this exact moment (it's been on repeat on my iPod all morning). I love this CD. Very smooth and eclectic. Though I gotta admit Marooned on the Mainland resonates a little too strongly for me. The whole "stuck in the traffic on a snowy morning" thing will soon be a reality. I might have to formulate my own straw hat plan.

Since you have too much material for just one CD, I vote that you QUICKLY produce a follow-up. 6 years wait for the next CD will crush me.

Mahaloz to everyone involved with this and keep the craziness going. We need more aloha!

~LS

Great listening to lighten the mood, since here in the Northwest we seem to have skipped right past the usual balmy "Indian summer" of September/October straight into crappy winter weather :(

This sounds cool. I would like to play as Raph, and my fan characters Grace and Scarlet.

I was going to play as Leo, but I decided on Raph instead because I can make him say angry, funny things in battle.

Mmmmmmm-kay...

On 2011-10-19 23:31, Melvin wrote:
This sounds cool. I would like to play as Raph, and my fan characters Grace and Scarlet.

I was going to play as Leo, but I decided on Raph instead because I can make him say angry, funny things in battle.

Melvin-

Track 3 of Finding Forbidden Island- the new Crazed Mugs cd ROCKS!!!

Check it out!!!

Thanks for the feedback.

The release party at the Mai Kai was awesome but basically a solo performance by me since Kanaka was sick and Koka is nursing a bruised hand, etc. etc. I had fun though and really, that's all that matters. First Mystery Girl Dance. Yep. Yep. Very enchanting.

The album is all over the digital downloads now - pretty much every outlet I can think of.
I suggest spending 99 cents and listening to Mystery Girl.

Of course, you can't leave out Bamboo Ben. Just for Jeff Berlin's bass work alone.

While you're there you might as well grab Smuggler's Cove and Find Forbidden Island and go SF to Alameda.

The Aloha Song is pure Hapa Haole with the resonator.

Heck at that point, just grab the whole thing. 10 bucks or less for 12 songs.

Merchandising OFF.

At our website, crazedmugs.com, there are some pretty long samples of the tunes if you want to catch a whiff of what we've cooked up.

As it stands now, musically, I've pretty much committed myself to continuing to play a lot more and work a lot less. No more 6 year waits. We've got almost enough material to do another one now plus I've really been working on some old Hawai'ian songs that we can do kanikapila style.

One thing - kanekila and Mr. Ho and Doc Tiki really made this project work. They're great musicians and it was a pleasure to work with them and all of the other folks who made this such a fun and satisfying project.

Hope the music makes the summer last for you.

Hardly work pablus; i had a blast hanging out and playing. I forgot about that pandeguiro part too - i gotta trademark that !

Is it bad mostly remember the house
Party? :)

Mr. Ho

Downloaded. :)

Mahalo.

Here are some of the liner notes from the crazedmugs.com website, in case you don't feel like clicking over there. Just a little of the "back story" of one of my favorites on the album.

Everyone on Tiki Central will understand it, of course, since we've lived it all together. But it's still a decent read and a nice memory.

Back in 2004, I was fortunate enough to personally meet Martin and Rebecca, two tiki aficionados who lived in a small apartment near Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. What I saw there was a little disturbing really, if you think about it. Martin had taken the, I guess it was the second bedroom, and turned it into "The Foggy Grotto." This was a multi-layered tropical bar which had two or three stools, some bamboo, tiny lights, leopard pattern stuff and a rum collection that was pretty remarkable. We had a few cocktails together that he masterfully mixed up and we talked for a while about what we wanted to do when we grew up. His vision was to open a Tiki Bar.

Fast forward a few years and put a few bartending notches in Martin's belt, such as Trader Vic's San Francisco during its short lived resurrection, and I start hearing rumors of a new partnership going into Alameda with Conga Lounge owners, the Thanos Brothers. It was Martin's dream coming true. Forbidden Island was soon born (with the help of Bamboo Ben) and I was freaking out wanting to get there.

I was enthusiastically gushing to my wife about an upcoming business trip (yes, I have those) to San Francisco and "One of these days, I'm gonna find Forbidden Island," just sort of blurted out. I sort of liked it and just went with it. My personal favorite line "I’ve lowered my sails, 'cross the mast the wind is sighing. Only drifters are welcome on that shore," helped paint a picture of what the bar used to be before Team Martin/Thanos got in there and recreated it. It used to be kind of a "locals only"-sort of wonderfully dingy dive bar. I love those places personally. There's always a story to listen to - some a bit frightening - but always entertaining. Anyway, I wanted to pay a little homage to the old bar's clientele; being drifters resigned to their fate and how they now could find a home here on this beautiful island in a cosmopolitan area.

Oh yeah, we had an awesome time there. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new ones and get to play in the outside lounge area with my favorite uke player, Steven Strauss. I can’t wait to go back.

Best TIKI Album Ever! I'm still stuck,audio-transfixed listening to it over and over.... the haunting tone of "Smuggler's Cover" is something I can't get out of my head. Every track is like pure glittering gold pieces spilled from a sunken pirate treasure chest in a crystal clear tropical lagoon with Tiki idols looming in the jungle near by.... ya gotta get this and listen to it!

Big Mahalo for creating the sound track to the TIKI life style.

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

"Find Forbidden Island" CD cover

Wrap around cover

Inside...

Illustrated disk! (yippee!)

The Mysterious Tropical Drink...

Yes, it all looks swanky, but the tunes are the best part!!

Thanks again for letting me be a part of this wonderful project, I can't hardly think of a better use for my tiki art! This is what it's all about.
ALOHA!

[ Edited by: tiki shark art 2011-10-24 02:08 ]

Thanks for the back history of the "Find Forbidden Island" track pablus!! It is indeed my favorite track, and I tear up every time I hear it. Man, the music and lyrical content in this song is POWERFUL!!

Thanks for letting me be a part of one of the BEST albums of the year!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Just wanted to drop in and say I got my copy and finally got to really listen to it this weekend and I am really enjoying the album. SO thanks for the great music.

-Raymond

Shark, just what is in that tropical drink? It looks very refreshing.
Perhaps we'll need to have a contest to find what's in it.

Either way - I can smell the orange zest from it.

RUM!

"The bravest men all scream like babies
When they hear his haunted ukulele..."

"LEGEND OF THE LAKE SURFER" by "THE CRAZED MUGS"

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker

[email protected]
http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.wylandbigisland.com/
http://www.facebook.com/bradtikisharkparker
http://www.cocktailnation.net

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2011-10-24 22:46 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2011-10-24 22:47 ]

here is a clickable link for those who have been looking/wanting one

http://www.crazedmugs.com/

Great music to enjoy my Tiki bar with.
Gave it a breath of fresh air.
Thanks Pablus (and Crazed Mugs too)!

"This is where you'll find our bones
In the caves of Smuggler's Cove"

"Smuggler's Cove" by The Crazed Mugs

Now I need a rum drink.
Think I'll hit SideBerns tomorrow night after work.

Ahu Navy Grog - here I come.

Got mine in today and gave it a listen. I don't know enough about music to comment on the chord progression or the microtonal harmonics (OK, I made that up :D ), but I think it's a great CD - relaxing and very listenable, spanning several genres. Some of the songs are fun and whimsical, some are thought provoking. "Paradise for Two" is beautiful and "But Kilauea" is very powerful.

Great work, thanks guys

PS - and what a bargain at $12 delivered!

Be good to yourself and to the ones you love

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-11-03 16:39 ]

Haven't had time to comment, but I really am enjoying the album.

I was forced to go shopping at the mall this past weekend with the wife, normally I would rather slit my throat with a broken tiki mug, but I put in my headphones to drown out the Christmas muzak , put on the new album.

Very very enjoyable and I didn't even have to attempt death by Cinnabon either, which was probably my only other option.