Sergio Gaetani’s
The West that Never Was
Seriogo Gaetani’s The West that Never Was album artwork
“This is an amazing record!”
The collaboration on this album keeps getting better and better
Sergio had a musical vision for his next album. What if the Flaming Lips created a spaghetti western? And what if the album told the story of love, loss, revenge, murder, and empathy of one’s life consumed by a single goal: to kill the bastard that murdered our hero’s one true love. The outcome is an psychedelic-country/indie-rock album that take the listener through a sonic journey, lovingly earning the nicknamed The Space Cowboy Album along the way.
The Runner
The Trail
The Album
What started out as a simple home studio project, quickly escalated into a full production album.
The vision was simple. Make a psychedelic-country/indie-rock album with a few friends, then play a couple shows, ideally a with video running behind the band telling the story of the West that Never Was. Word started to spread about the project and Sergio was able to recruit some of finest Detroit musicians to appear on the album. At the same time, the famed Rustbelt Studios located just outside Detroit (Greta VanFleet, kid Rock, The Henchmen, etc), hired a dream team of acoustic engineers to completed a major overall and redesign of their live and control rooms. Upon it’s completion, invited Sergio to record after hours in the new studio. Sergio jumped at the chance to record in such an legendary room and the home studio project turned into a full production. As tracking progressed, the musicians started to come together. Parts that were originally samples or virtual instruments were now real/live players including an amazing collection of analog synths, studio gear, vintage guitars & amps, live horns and even a bowed vibraphone (yes! you can bow a vibraphon. and it’s super cool).
Wonderfully tracked and mixed, Jacob Halkey was asked to “stretch out” and really experiment with with his mixes. The West That Never was truly is a showcase of some of Detroit’s finest musicians and music community.
Videos
The Runner
Planned as the fist single from Sergio Gaetani’s The West that Never Was, The Runner is actually the second video shot and directed by Kiran Koshy. The Runner tells the story of our hero who falls for a girl with shady past. Is her love for real or is she ready for a double cross? Louie Lee and Rocky Wallace lend their voices, bringing the vocals to life. Steve Nistor on drums & percussion , John Holk on Bass, Mark Harper on Piano, Mike List on percusion, and Sergio on vocals, guitars, and synth programming.
The Trail - (currently in post)
Playing on the space cowboy theme, Visionary director Kiran Koshy signed up to create & direct the album’s flagship video for the song The Trail. His idea; film in the Navajo Nation’s Monument Valley and create an alien planet feel. Full alien costumes and masks were custom made and the video was shot with a nod to the classic movie: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Kiran recruited L.A. based cinematographers Eric Zimmerman (Yellowstone season 2, Shrinking, etc.) and Josh Hess (walking dead etc) to shoot the epic and classic location of countless westerns. The result is a visual masterpiece.
Girl - (currently in pre-production)
The final Installment of the Kiran Koshy directed trilogy
The Crew
The Music:
Sergio Gaetani: Vocals, guitar, synths, keys, mellotron
Mark Harper: Synth, Piano
York Kerasiotis: Vocals, organ, mellotron
Lewis Helmsly: vocals
Rocky Wallace: vocals
Courtney Hurly: vocals
James Simonson: bass
Takashi Iio: Bass
Chuck Bartels: Bass
John Holke: Bass
Mike List: percussion & vibraphone
Rick Beamon: Drums
Steve Nistor: Drums
John Arnold: drum programming
Woodward Horns:
Trumpet: Jimmy Smith
Sax: Bobby Streng
Trombone: Matt Martinez
Horn arrangements: James Hughes
Mike Cianfarani: lyrics
Jacob H; Recording and mixing engineer (Rustbelt Studios)
Bill Skibbe: Mastering engineer (Thirdman Records Mastering studio)
Eric Malcolm: Album artwork/graphic design
The Videos
Kiran Koshy: Video Director- The Trail, The Runner, Girl
Joshua Hess: Director of photography -the runner
Peter- Fergus-Bentall - PA/2nd camera - The Runner
Clarisa - Actor- the runner
CREDITS Track Title - The Trail
Album - The West That Never Was
Artist - Sergio Gaetani
Director - Kiran Koshy
Cinematographers - Eric Zimmerman, Joshua Hess
Editor - Peter Tarter
Colorist & Particle FX - Charles Gerstner
VFX Composition - Tank3Asia
Mouth FX - Shanaka Bethmage
Beam FX - Brook Boley
VFX Consultant - David Hannah
The Alien - Sergio Gaetani
Alien Mask - Erick Rodriguez,
Imaginerick Studios
Simone The Frog - Ambika Koshy
ARRI Amiras courtesyJoe Lomba, Alternative Rentals
Filmed at Monument Valley, Arizona
Special thanks: Monument Valley Dinéh Trailrides - Jamieson and Lorraine Black, Rachel Watson, Kevin Harrison, the late Garron Hathale, Tristan Begay, and Charlie the horse
The Navajo Nation Park & Recreation Department and the Navajo Nation
Let's Talk
We want to hear from you. Sergio Gaetani’s The West that Never Was is complete and ready for release. Mixed by Rustbelt Studios, mastered by Jack White’s Thirdman Records Mastering studio, and packaged with complete artwork and a trilogy of stand-out videos to promote the album. Currently looking for partners to collaborate with and promote the album and videos. For Inquiries, booking and promotions kindly fill out the form below. Appreciate you..