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Band Biography

Dane Carter - Drums

Dane Carter

Dane has been playing drums on and off for nearly 20 years. His influences growing up were Genesis, Rush, Van Halen, and Led Zeppelin. Past musical experiences leading up to The Madeira have been high school marching and pep band, a garage punk band called Group X, a quirky college band called Pete Bogg, a contemporary Christian rock band called NuDay, and The Troubadours. Dane's ability to match different styles of playing really developed from playing in several community theater productions from The Whiz to Brigadoon. His current favorites are Bare Naked Ladies, Dream Theater, and whatever Ivan Pongracic will hook him up with next.

According to Dane, the style he is trying to convey in The Madeira is one of raw powerful rhythms that are true to the surf drumming tradition, yet modern in a technicality and refinement. His objective in this band is to stitch the songs together with a tight weave of solid beats, tasteful fills and open spaces. Dane finds that it is a challenge and a joy to work on original material with such a talented band and amazing song writers.

Dane's setup consists of various configurations of a 6 piece Yamaha recording custom birch kit built around 1993. The snare drum is a Yamaha birch custom absolute model. Dane has also used a 1970's Ludwig acrotyte aluminum snare. He is playing various Sabian AA and AAX cymbals and a Wuhan chinese cymbal. Dane uses Vater fusion sticks with wood or nylon tips.

Ivan Pongracic - Lead Guitar

Ivan Pongracic

Ivan started playing the guitar at the age of 13, while still living in Yugoslavia (now Croatia), under the heavy influence of the Beatles and, more importantly, the Shadows. His father played in several Shadows cover bands in the Sixties, even making a living playing at a hotel on the Adriatic Sea the summer of '66, so Jr. grew up surrounded by the twangy sounds of Hank Marvin's Stratocaster. He discovered instrumental surf music his first year in college, in '86, when he came upon a compilation of the Challengers, who dressed just like the Shadows, played Fender guitars, and even covered a bunch of songs by the Shadows. Ivan's awareness of surf music steadily increased over the next eight years, while he played in many different bands, in many different styles: hard-rock/metal, classic rock, progressive, alternative, and noise-dream rock (a la My Bloody Valentine).

All along his love of instrumental and surf rock grew, until in '94 he became aware of an instro-rock revival already under way. The deal was sealed the second time he saw Laika & the Cosmonauts perform live in '95 - he was going to play surf music. Within a couple of months, in early '96, the Space Cossacks were born. The band lasted until 2000, and recorded two highly acclaimed CDs on MuSick Recordings, Interstellar Stomp (1998) and Tsar Wars (2000), and several singles plus many compilation tracks. The band toured the south and the west coast, played in NYC and Boston as well as San Diego and Orange County, and even had a song included on Electronic Arts' Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer video game. The Space Cossacks came to an end when it became to impractical to continue the band with Ivan first living in Indianapolis and then Michigan, while the rest of the band was still in Washington, DC.

This was a chance for Ivan and his father, Ivan Sr. to fulfill a long-held dream of forming a true Shadows tribute band. The Troubadours' first show was in 2000, and since then they have played two Shadowmania North America events in Toronto (2001 and 2003), as well as gigs in Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago and many spots between, preaching the gospel of Stratocaster Twang and converting many a soul along the way!

But Ivan missed playing hard-edged original surf/instro music, and what started as just a side-project between Dane Carter, the Troubadours' drummer and Ivan in 2000, became a full-blown surf band in the Spring of 2004 - the Madeira was born. Ivan looks forward to creating some great music over the next few years with some of the best musicians he's ever played with.

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Patrick J. O'Connor - Rhythm Guitar

Patrick J. O'Connor

Having shunned rock & roll from an early age, Patrick finally succumbed to its charms when he picked up an electric guitar at age 13. Heavily inspired by the Beatles and Queen, he spent a great deal of time practicing on his own and learning songs from his favorite records, as well as writing some of his own. Fueled by his love of alternative bands such as the Pixies, R.E.M. and They Might Be Giants in the late 80's and early 90's, he began playing at various venues in and around the Indianapolis area.

In the mid-1990's, he became interested in 60's instrumental rock and surf music, predominantly through The Ventures and Dick Dale. In 1999, he founded Destination: Earth!, a surf-influenced band of his own, which became popular in the regional music scene and proceeded to release four full-length discs independently over the course of the next four years.

Having posted an ad for surf musicians, Patrick received a call from Ivan Pongracic, whom he was already familiar with through Ivan's band, the Space Cossacks. Ivan educated Patrick on the history and development of surf music, as well as turning him on to many of the more traditional bands of the early 60's, as well as the present day.

Patrick co-owned and assisted in running two Indianapolis-based all-ages music venues in the late 90's and early 2000's, the Music Box Cafe and Volcano Room, respectively.

In addition to the Madeira, he continues to perform with several other bands, including Hipster Zero (an indie rock duo), In Stitches (an acoustic folk project with his wife), and Destination: Earth!

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Todd Fortier - Bass

Todd Fortier

Todd has been playing bass since his senior year in high school when a friend sold him a Fender Jazz Bass and taught him how to play a few songs. During his college years at Georgia Tech, he played in several bands in Atlanta, GA and Richmond, VA which ranged from rock cover bands (The Kopps) to a female-fronted Motown revival band (Venus Envy) to an all original female-fronted band with strong leanings to The Cure (Mona Bang Bang). Being so close to Athens, some of his favorite bands and early influences were Pylon, R.E.M., Flat Duo Jets and Love Tractor.

After college, the bass sat in its case for a few years as Todd started his career in engineering. Following one of his several moves between the San Francisco Bay Area and Indianapolis, he remembered the joys of playing and creating music. After a move back to Indiana in the fall of 2001, Todd joined the Christian rock band Lifeboat 14 which played around the state for about two years. After a short break from music following the addition to the family of his third child, Todd has joined the Madeira to become Ivan's most recent student in the quest for education and creation of authentic surf music.

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