Peruvian singer Edgar Zamudio was very impressed with the songs and took the master to his contacts at Orfeón in Mexico. How did you got in contact with the label? Bodo was a German artist, musician and songwriter working for Orfeón at the time. The cover artwork was commissioned to Bodo Molitor by our producer in Mexico and we were all delighted with the design. Would you like to share a few words about the cover artwork? Rafi Cruz used a Ludwig set with an oversized bass drum painted with a kaleidoscopic image and a small Buddha. Julio Arturo had a gigantic Hammond B3 with two Leslies. Orly and Pedrín had Les Pauls and Stratocasters with Fender Twin Reverb amps. Edgar was very impressed with the songs and took the master to his contacts at Orfeón in Mexico.ĭuring the recording I used a Hofner “Beatle” Bass with two Fender Bassman amps. Present at the recording were Adib Casta of the Venezuelan band Ladies WC and Peruvian singer Edgar Zamudio. (By that time Orly had left The Masters to join Kaleidoscope). The hard, steady, drum beats by Rafi Cruz, along with Pedrín García’s fuzz-toned guitar and the punchy Hammond Organ by Julio Arturo Fernández, mixed perfectly well with the bass lines and vocals from Orly and I. Heavily influenced by the music of Iron Butterfly, Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix, our unpolished tracks became full of raw teen-aged garage psychedelia, and we loved it! Because their producers had absolutely no idea of what psychedelic music was, we got total control of the content with no “adult” supervision. This led to the opportunity to record an album at Fabiola, the largest recording company in the country. What are some of your strongest memories from recording your album?Įarly in 1968, Kaleidoscope won first place in the “modern music” category of a Dominican Music festival. Yes, we released a single (45 RPM) in 1968 for the Dominican Republic market with “Colours” on side A and “I’m Crazy” on side B. Our first sessions were filled with psychedelic magic! We decided to live together and we all moved to this big house in the outskirts of Santo Domingo where we could practice all day and spend our free evenings in profound pseudo-philosophical conversations with many friends and local “freaks”. How do you remember some of the early sessions? “Our first sessions were filled with psychedelic magic!” Soon after I joined, the X-6 band changed its name to Kaleidoscope because, by that time, we had painted our instruments in vivid psychedelic colors and designs. Orly and I loved the scene and decided to join respective Dominican bands: I joined Los X-6 and Orly joined The Masters. Intrigued by the conversation I got together with guitarist Orly Vázquez and a drummer, and set out to play a two-week engagement at the “Aries” club in Santo Domingo. In the summer of 1967 I was playing bass at a new psychedelic discotheque in Old San Juan, when a group of rock musicians visiting from the Dominican Republic told me about the emerging rock scene in their neighboring country. I joined a blues band called “The Sun Stones” which played in the underground bars for sailors and beatniks.Ĭan you elaborate the formation of Kaleidoscope? Soon after that Pol left this band to join the most popular band in the San Juan area which was called “The Challengers”. Yes, my brother Pol and I started a surfing music band called “The Islanders” when we were still in high school. Were you in any bands before forming Kaleidoscope? “My father introduced me to new musical group from which he had received a news kit: The Beatles.” I began playing guitar after my father introduced me to new musical group from which he had received a news kit: The Beatles. The teenage “Mod” scene of the early sixties in San Juan was great! There were many “go-go discotheques” and surfing music. When I became a teenager my father changed careers and moved to Puerto Rico to direct a Sunday magazine for a local newspaper. I was born in Washington DC, however, my childhood was spent between Latin America (my mother was Colombian) and New York where my father’s office was located. Where and when did you grow up? Who were your major influences?įrancisco Tirado: My father was a diplomat and, me and my two brothers and one sister, were born in different parts of the world. Kaleidoscope interview with Francisco Tirado Kaleidoscope recorded their sole self-titled album in 1967 at Fabiola Studios in the Dominican Republic, which wasn’t released until two years later by the Mexican label Orfeón.
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