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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Permalink Why do you play Surf Music?

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grayn wrote:

ncgalt1984 wrote:

So I can wear funny costumes in public.

How do those guys wear full face masks, on stage?
I get hot with just jeans and a t-shirt.

I only wore the mask once. After that, I just went to the helmet. Once was all it took to realize it was a bad idea. It was an outdoor show. And it was hot.

Kevin
The Out of Limits
www.facebook.com/theoutoflimitsband
https://theoutoflimits.bandcamp.com/

Badger wrote:

(Just knew there had to be a thread on this somewhere.)

Wanted to relate a little note that greeted me this morning. Daughter has been in the Army for 18yrs now, 10 of which were in a unit that spent 5 yrs in A'stan & the other 5 recovering from or getting ready to go again. She finally got posted as an instructor down south and treated herself to a convertible that she could just take relaxing cruises in, trips to places like Old Savannah, etc. So I (hesitatingly) sent her a CD of some covers I'd done for private consumption. Some of the usual suspects (i.e., easy) and some other somewhat-raucous stuff.

Well, the other day she told her Mom that she loved it and found it "relaxing." Huh? Confused So I sent her a note & asked what she found that she liked about "surf" music. Here's her reply:

"From the listeners point of view, yes it is better without lyrics I think because then I can feel and relax and not have to listen to someone else tell me a story. Also so much music now seems like jingles turned in to pop music, it has no real story, and you get a crap jingle tune stuck in your head that sucks. This just relaxes your mind and the drama of being a person goes away. I like the surf sounds too it adds story, but the story you want, not what someone else puts there. My idea in my head might be much different from someone else."

Works for me.
Cool

That's a wonderful analysis. Listening to surf in a convertible has to be the optimal experience!

Well done.

Cause that's what Dick Dale plays!

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

cambeezy wrote:

image

Well said guys......kinda my thoughts exactly.

Last edited: Aug 20, 2015 11:45:35

shivers13 wrote:

I ask myself this all the time! What the hell am I doing??? I blame an unnatural obsession with the 60's, and a desire to escape to a place that's not like today in anyway, and the delusional thought that others like it too for the same reason. Basically stubbornness! Is there a pill I can take to knock this shit off?

+100. Surf, especially the classics from the past are an escape from the horrors of the present and trepidations of the future. Almost a safe place to go to away from it all! And the way those songs in the 60s were recorded, and just sound, just have a special element to them that can't be fully replicated. A time capsule. Same reason why I like history books and old clothes. They bring me to a place away from reality.

Last edited: Aug 20, 2015 11:55:43

Because a friend asked me to.
Because I didn't (don't) have a garagey band going.
Because I actually had to learn some technically correct things and I like a challenge.

As a casual player, it all started with "Walk, Don't Run"..."hey, I can do this!"

Then I moved onto "Perfidia/Lullaby of the Leaves"..."hey, I have the Medley down"...soon it was Mr. Moto. Also Dick Dale's tough because you need to get the fast picking down. "Take It Off" and a half ***ed "Surf Beat" is all I can really do at this point. Oh and I'm trying to do "Rik a Tik", but even that one requires some pretty frantic picking. 2/3 through "Slaughter On Tenth Ave"...I'm promising myself a beer if I can get that one down.

Last edited: Aug 24, 2015 08:20:19

-

Last edited: Aug 24, 2015 08:19:56

Because 60's surf rock gives me goosebumps. I love the sound, the feel, everything about it gives me goosebumps. It's a music genre like no other, that's why I love/play surf music.

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New videos uploaded

ncgalt1984 wrote:

grayn wrote:

ncgalt1984 wrote:

So I can wear funny costumes in public.

How do those guys wear full face masks, on stage?
I get hot with just jeans and a t-shirt.

I only wore the mask once. After that, I just went to the helmet. Once was all it took to realize it was a bad idea. It was an outdoor show. And it was hot.

No doubt on the wearing of masks. My respect goes out to those that can do it. With that in mind, we recently switched to uniforms. They were carefully planned out. But they are still posing quite the adjustment period, as they are hot as hell. Now I have an inkling of an idea what it is like for Gary and the rest of the Intoxicators when they play live.

THE KBK ... This is the last known signal. We offer Sanctuary.

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Yes, surf music offers an artificial paradise that is at once homely and exotic, perilous and comforting.
What gets me is how nobody, but nobody knows what the hell I'm talking about when I mention it. It's becoming embarrassing. At best they think Beach Boys.
On a tangent, and maybe there's another thread for the topic, what the hell do young musicians mean by "surf" when they mention Best Coast in their ads?

nick123 wrote:

shivers13 wrote:

I ask myself this all the time! What the hell am I doing??? I blame an unnatural obsession with the 60's, and a desire to escape to a place that's not like today in anyway, and the delusional thought that others like it too for the same reason. Basically stubbornness! Is there a pill I can take to knock this shit off?

+100. Surf, especially the classics from the past are an escape from the horrors of the present and trepidations of the future. Almost a safe place to go to away from it all! And the way those songs in the 60s were recorded, and just sound, just have a special element to them that can't be fully replicated. A time capsule. Same reason why I like history books and old clothes. They bring me to a place away from reality.

Squink Out!

Oh, I forgot they think jimmy buffet is surf

Squink Out!

JObeast wrote:

On a tangent, and maybe there's another thread for the topic, what the hell do young musicians mean by "surf" when they mention Best Coast in their ads?

The guitars have reverb, the vocals are soaked in reverb and sound like it could have been recorded in a 60s vocal booth with an old microphone, and the drums have a similar sound to 60s drums. There are also double picked instrumental sections/interludes.

It is also a cultural thing, there is a real West Coast sensibility of young people who like to hang out, listen to music, and just chill. LA being a focal point, the beach is a classic place to hang out. Surf really referring this this type of lifestyle.

Best Coast isn't really my thing, but worthy of respect. Best Coast and other bands of the ilk, the zeitgeist has spoken and it is surf music.

And it certainly isn't Best Coast and other bands fault. We think of Surf Music as instrumental surf and some of us include the Beach Boys and some of us include Jan and Dean(whom I feel were an artless corporate construct who pleasantly and competently sang songs adapting to the zeitgeist). Look at all of the Surf Bands who transitioned out of instro surf and all of the albums they left behind with vocals. Astronauts are a surf band right? So somebody hears that and goes to pick up a record of theirs and it is full of vocals. That is still surf to that person because they are told it was.

JakeDobner wrote:

We think of Surf Music as instrumental surf and some of us include the Beach Boys and some of us include Jan and Dean(whom I feel were an artless corporate construct who pleasantly and competently sang songs adapting to the zeitgeist).

First of all, Jan and Dean rule! Second, If you say they are a "corporate construct" you know nothing about Jan and Dean. They were a pop vocal group before the surf wave hit, and when it rolled in they sang about surfing, hot rods and girls because that's what "pop" stars do, they sing about what's "popular" in the era they are in. Its no different for the instrumental bands. Many popular groups that played surf in the 60's were not from SoCal, and many of the ones that were from Socal were not surfers. They played it because it was popular with their peers, plain and simple. Today, most who play surf are not surfers. Its played because of the cool sound and perhaps the romantic imagery it creates or whatever reason someone may have. I'm endlessly amused with all the fuss about it. It's just music. You don't have to be a surfer to play it no more than you have to be a cowboy to play a western song.

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I guess the reverby mix has some relation to 60s pop sounds but so did Shimmy Disc records out of Kramer's Noise New York studios. I never heard Bongwater called surf.
To me surf has to do with a kind of punky energy coupled with technical flair that laid back lifestylers like Best Coast (singer from my neighborhood of Eagle Rock) just do not even gesture towards. They are maybe beach music.

Squink Out!

And that really goes back to when Jack Johnson and his ilk were considered Surf Music about a decade ago.

wow, somehow i missed this thread.
'Cause it's what's in my soul and it's what comes out when i play guitar!
Marc Ribot had a quote in Guitar Player magazine a few years ago (can't find it), but it was to the effect of " that the very shape and structure of an electric guitar is naturally built to play surf on"...!

Dave,
That is such a cool statement coming from a hip player! I'm still appalled how few musicians show much affection for the sounds of surf. Ribot and Frisell are some of the only 'jazz' guitarists who make sounds from more than the neck pickup with treble rolled off. Whenever I see a jazz band whose guitarist does this (always on a 2pup guitar) I get so mad I can barely stand the guitar solo. I imagine that if one of these jazzbos made twangy sounds all the cool guys in the rhythm section would laugh him to scorn. Jazz gets more conservative every year.

Squink Out!

We (3rd Wave) usually plays several outdoor family friendly venues each year. Often there will be someone with a child or two around 4-5 years old, and the kids will just spontaneously start dancing to something we're playing, usually an older tune like "Pipeline" or "Secret Agent". I doubt that they have heard it before, there is something in the simplicity and appeal of the music that is universal.

For me it started with the melodies. These tunes have actual tunes for the guitar, much more than the usual rock songs with the typical minor pentatonic solos. And they can go from very simple to as challenging as you want. Although I greatly respect Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc., I wanted something cleaner for electric guitar that had not been done to death. These tunes have inspired me to practice the electric more than anything else, for I come from a classic (mostly '60's & '70's) rock & pop vocal/acoustic background. Plus, it's amazing to have contact with such a generous, supportive group of players. Now, I'm hooked. Big Grin

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