GREAT WHITE CAPS INTERVIEW AND POINT BREAK MOVIE CONCERT REVIEW by NOEL

I witnessed an extraordinary show recently. The Great White Caps performed a live surf music concert to the surf crime drama, Point Break. For those who don’t know, Point Break is something of a cult film. Starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey and Lori Petty, it’s about an FBI agent (Reeves) who infiltrates a group of thrill-seeking surfers (led by Swayze) who rob banks for the sheer excitement of it as much to finance their life-style. Needless to say there’s a lot of surfing, and bank-robbing, and car chasing, and sky diving, and surfing .... and thanks to The Great White Caps, all accompanied by an incredible surf music concert.

We interrupt the review of this performance to insert an interview with the members of The Great White Caps in which they talk about themselves, each other, The Ventures (Really!), Point Break and how they came to create such an extraordinary concert experience performing surf music to the movie.

Part 1: The Interview

Noel:
There's got to be a story about your stage names related to the movie, Point Break. So, how'd you choose your names, or maybe who got which name and why?

Sylvester Seaweed:
Well, I think the easiest answer starts with Johnny Utah. His name was the obvious choice considering he was born "Jon" and a lot of people know him as Johnny Pakalolo. Now Montag the Magnificent and Sylvester Seaweed are not related to Point Break in any way. We've had these names since we started back in 2009 (Montag is actually from a much lesser known movie). As for Warchild, well he was the most recent addition to the band, and I mean, look at him! He's a scary dude!

Noel:
Speaking of which, how'd you all meet, who started the band and how'd you pick your name?

Seaweed:
Part of our meeting and starting this band stems from a much deeper history of musicians and friends from our hometown of Bethlehem, PA. Some of us are actually brothers (ya know, with the same parents and last name). I cannot reveal who though, you'll just have to take a guess and keep it to yourself! Warchild and I also had been in bands together growing up.

Noel:
I've heard it said that The Ventures mean a lot to everyone in The Great White Caps. What role did they have in everyone's musical background?

Montag the Magnificent:
Well firstly, the Ventures were huge in creating my love for surf music. I grew up in a house largely filled with the sounds of jazz and the Ventures fit very comfortably into that soundscape.

Johnny Utah:
Similar to Montag's upbringing, my house as a child was always filled with music. I remember specifically hearing the sounds of the Ventures as youngster. They helped me to understand the beauty and difficulty in creating a memorable instrumental composition. It's not easy!! And they wrote a ton of them! A never ending quest.

Warchild:
The Ventures were definitely influential to us as a surf band. As well as personally, I believe, to all of us just as musicians in general. I remember my dad teaching me to play "Wipeout" on drums at a very early age. When he was a kid, if you were a drummer you HAD to be able to play it!

Noel:
And what part do The Ventures play in why you perform surf music?

Montag:
I was always inspired to attempt to make meaningful instrumental music, especially by my love for early pioneers like the Ventures and Link Wray.

Johnny:
In my opinion 99 % of musicians will tell you the Ventures are the first surf/instrumental band they were exposed to. From 16 – 21 (years-old) I worked at record store. Here was where I got exposed to the entire Ventures catalogue. From there and my love for them deepened. They helped me explore history of surf and instrumental music. I'd say that's a pretty big part of why I play it currently. And even though it doesn't fit in to any questions, Ventures "Live in Japan" 1965.

Warchild:
They played a huge part in this style of music even existing the way it does today. Without them, who knows what "surf music" would sound like.

Noel:
Can you say what it means to open for The Ventures?

Montag:
Having the opportunity to open for the Ventures was a huge milestone in my life, but more so was the experience of sitting and listening to Don Wilson and Nokie Edwards tell us dirty jokes in the green room! The fact that I got any sort of compliment from the Ventures about my playing and songwriting is something that means more to me than I can truly express.

Johnny:
Beyond an honor, I don't know if you notice, but they don't have a lot of opening acts. My father (63) saw both shows that we played with them. He was very emotional watching us open for a band he grew up listening to. To me, besides the honor of opening for The Ventures, I got to have that shared experience with my father. Pretty wild.

Warchild:
Hard to describe. Never would've thought that would ever happen. And it did. Twice! It took quite a while for it to sink in. I think we were all kind of shocked we got that opportunity. And as Montag said, I think the best part of that whole experience was just hanging out and laughing with Don and Nokie in the green room.

Noel:
One of the most noticeable aspects of your shows is the stage craft; the choreography, the synchronized playing. Who thought up the idea and how do you decide what to do?

Montag:
I think that our stage show and synchronized dance and playing was something that happened naturally and we have developed the moves both in rehearsal and live. I must say that Johnny Utah has been a big catalyst for the development of the moves.

Johnny:
I don't know what Montag is talking about. I know nothing about choreography. I just like to see a good tango every now and then.

Warchild:
I would say Utah is mainly responsible for that aspect of the show. A lot of the choreography comes from the music. Most of them a movements that the music makes you want to do. I also feel that since instrumental music isn't something everyone is into, it makes the show more entertaining for people who don't usually enjoy music without vocals

Noel:
Turning to the performance of a surf concert to Point Break, How many times have you performed it?

Montag:
We have done this 4 times.

Noel:
Who first thought up the idea?

Montag:
I have had a dream of doing this since I first witnessed the splendor of Point Break as a young man. With my fellow White Caps I saw the opportunity to make this dream a reality, and we have.

Johnny:
Montag came up with the Idea. Don't let him tell you otherwise. We were approached by Artsquest when they were still building that facility, about new ideas concepts that could be done there by the local music community. We mentioned Montag's idea and they liked it so much, they decided to co-opt it an call it the "soundtrack comes alive". A few other bands from Bethlehem that have done this successfully there as well. XVSK, The Almighty Terribles, Trouble City Allstars etc.

Warchild:
This one was definitely all Montag. Like Utah said, Artsquest approached us with a similar idea. (They were thinking more along the lines of a band playing a set in front of a movie.) Montag's vision took it to a whole other level with the band interacting with, working around the movie. We were the first band to do this with Artsquest, and it kind of set the stage for the whole series. A couple of bands have done it since!

Noel:
How long did it take to get ready for the first show?

Montag: Well, I started to write the script about 6 months before the show and we started physically rehearsing about 3 months out.

Johnny:
Too long. Lots of rehearsing in my basement in front 19" of tv/vcr/dvd combo. It was hot.
We can all recite the entire movie verbatim, that's our next project.The 4 of us standing on stage reciting Point Break.

Warchild:
Wow. It turned out to take a lot more time than we initially thought it would! Definitely a few months of rehearsals. Then a rehearsal or two with light/sound crew. But all the work made it come out better than we had hoped and people seem to really enjoy it!

Noel:
Where was it?

Montag:
We did the first performance in the cinema at Steel Stacks, to an enthusiastic sold out crowd!

Noel:
How did you select the tunes for the performance?

Montag:
Honestly, I started by watching the shit out of my copy of Point Break with the sound down and started imagining what I would like to hear. Then I started to try out certain tunes and I found the right ones. Over time we have all added nuances to the performance and the script has evolved twice so far.

Noel:
Were any tunes written specifically to accompany Point Break? Which ones?

Montag:
There are certain songs we edited to fit into scenes and some we play almost exclusively for the film, but none written solely for it.

Johnny:
No songs written specifically for Point Break, though 2 of our songs are heavily inspired by it. The 50 Year Storm and The Ballad of Roach.

Warchild:
No songs were written specifically for that show. But 50 Year Storm was inspired by the movie, and was written long before this type of show was ever discussed.

Noel:
Are you willing to tell the most embarrassing thing that ever happened during the show?

Montag:
I realized that I truly have some love for Patrick Swayze, but until now I haven't admitted it aloud.

Johnny:
I've definitely farted at a very audible level in one of the quiet tender moments of the movie while we were performing it.

Warchild:
None that i recall, thankfully.

Noel:
How has the performance changed over time?

Montag:
We have adjusted certain songs, and switched around some moods. Mostly we added in more of the amazing dialogue from the movie.

Johnny:
We've taken notes over the few performances, of ways to better suit the movie and the mood, adjusted accordingly. Since we're not doing this to a click track, or with sequencing, the tempo of the song is very important in how it matches up with the specific scene. So we've adjusted tempos and stop and start points quite a bit since the first time. It drives our sound guy (Collin Reynolds) nuts. but he's awesome at catching the subtle changes

Warchild:
We've adjusted it to make it a little more entertaining, removed some songs to make room for more dialog, shortened songs. all pretty minimal stuff. I think we've gotten better at it too.

Noel:
Did you use computers from the start? (This question was prompted because the were large notebook computers in front of each of the GWC and Montag occasionally seemed to interact with his.)

Montag:
I was born inside a computer.

Johnny:
There are no computers involved in this, really. The first performance was in a theatre so the move was projected off of the Blu Ray Disc that Sylvester Seaweed bought at EZ Money, the pawn shop down the street. The last time we performed it they need to use a laptop to project it. But all the computer screens you see are just for monitoring the
video or projecting it. No sequencing or editing has been done with computers. It's a completely live, manual operation going on.

Warchild:
The initial rehearsals were the 4 of us, in a basement, with a dvd and a tv. Its not much different live, except its on a bigger screen!

Noel:
Have you seen the priceline Bill Shatner Point Break commercial?

Montag:
I have not, but have been told about it from my friend Bob Gnarly.

Johnny:
I've heard rumblings, but i refuse to watch it because I think they cast the Johnny Utah character incorrectly. It should have been Montag.

Warchild:
Yes! Someone sent me the link.

Noel:
What did you think the first time you saw it?

Warchild:
Happy to see people haven’t forgotten about Point Break!

Noel:
How long do you think you'll perform Point Break shows?

Montag:
I hope forever, this movie is an amazing reflection of a specific time in history and I think that it stands the test of time. It may seem dated as far as what is popular these days, but hey people still watch Gone With the Wind right!

Johnny:
As long as people want to watch us do it. We'd love to take it on the road and see it become a sort of Rocky Horror thing where people yell out "Utah, gimme two" and things like that.

Warchild:
As long as people still want to see it!

Noel:
Is there another movie you might do this to?

Montag:
I have thought of many, and been suggested many more. One of my favorite ideas was Teen Wolf starring Michael J Fox, if for nothing else the scene where he "surfs" the top of his friends van! But honestly, this was really a labor of love and the work that went into it was so intense, I doubt we will do it for another movie, but you never know.

Johnny:
Anything with Jennifer Anniston or Brad Pitt in it. Preferably together.

Warchild:
There has been talk of other movies, mostly "Teen Wolf." I don’t think we'd start working on another one until people don’t wanna see Point Break anymore, and really, how could you not wanna see that? At the moment we have no plans to do any in the near future

Noel:
What's in the future for The Great White Caps?

Montag:
The future holds many things. We embark on a national tour in support of our new album in October. We plan on playing lots of shows and recording new music, and I think I want to do a special 2013 calender full of pics of us in various ridiculous situations!

Johnny:
Well we have a new album coming out in Oct. Screech Beach. And a subsequent tour of the US (lots of California) so....... lots of time in a white 15 passenger van. Lots of miles. Tons of music, rocking, good times, dancing, laughter, surfing and fun.

Warchild:
Our new record, "Screech Beach" is being pressed (on vinyl) as i type this. Very excited about this album! Also a national tour in October and after that: more tours and records!

Part 2, The Review will follow shortly, or as soon as I write it.

I want to extend my sincere thanks to Montag the Magnificent, Silvester Seaweed, Johnny Utah and Warchild for their cooperation and participation in this endeavor. The interview wouldn’t have been possible without their answers to my questions, And they graciously agreed to be my first interview subjects. Wait. Did I tell them that? I might have left that part out. Worse, er … more important, they were willing to trust my writing skills to do justice to their amazing piece of performance surf music art, the Point Break Surf Concert.

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This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Sep 20, 2012 15:05:22