We are a band that has been rehearsing and writing over the past few months, during which time I stalked and went in for the kill on the topic of being "a surf band." Now as it seems people on this forum know, that can mean a lot of different things. I'm not too concerned with fitting into a neat category, but I do know it helps to have a consistent product for your show.

Specifically, I'm wondering what you think of mixing instrumental and vocal surf and "surf sounding" rock with some vocals (reverb-drenched, catchy 60's rock influenced). My fear is that the people who like vocals will feel like many of our songs seem "unfinished" without them, and traditionalists might find the vocals to be an unwelcome addition to the other songs.

Does anyone else out there successfully mix both? What ratio of vox/instro do you use? Does it affect how you market yourself? When demonstrating for music for a person or venue would you give a vocal or demo song?

Thanks for your feedback!

Ghost Coast

I am in a group that plays original instro surf, covers of First Wave instro surf bands, pre-surf instro (Link Wray), and original and covers of 'vocal surf' and Hot Rod Rock 'n' Roll.
Some instrumental tunes do sound a bit sparse but this is where the lead guitar needs to be very expressive and treat those lead melodies like they are vocals...phrasing, nuances, little dips and wiggles of the vibrato arm, staccato, etc. and if something is repetitive, try to vary the inflections a bit. IMHO, if this is taken to heart and is part of the presentation, the audience will be more open to hearing instro songs.

Vocal songs will tend to connect with more people because they can sing along, etc.

I think that audiences can detect when the group is into the material, so let that be a guide.

Lorne
The Surf Shakers: https://www.facebook.com/TheSurfShakers
Vancouver BC Canada

When we started out we tried doing a few vocal tunes. Trouble is, none of us are particularly good singers. We could have got a singer, but then what does the singer do during the instrumental songs? The chances are you will change from a surf band that does a few vocals, to a band that does a few surf songs. That was my concern, so we made a decision after a few gigs to be a surf band and only play instrumentals.

This was a complete novelty and really made us distinctive. We had to deal with the question of 'why don't you get a singer?' but that seemed to disappear when we got a decent drummer. A friend once commented that with our first drummer we sounded like a band without a singer, when he was replaced we started to sound like an instrumental band. So I would say that every member has to contribute a lot more to make it sound like a band.
Being an instrumental band has positives and negatives. The positives are, you are distinctive and unique. This will bring your own distinctive and unique fans. You will be complimented on your musical ability and sound, which is unlikely to happen if you sing. You'll be judged on your singer. You have a lot more freedom and creativity. You can even still do vocal songs, just instrumental versions. The audience will respond if they recognise the song whether it has a singer or not. You dress, act and play as you want - you'll be different to everyone else, so there are no formulas to adhere to about how you have to act, look or sound.

The negatives are that you will get less gigs. There are gigs that will not be available to you as you do not sing, do not sing covers and venues want live jukebox bands. But you will be getting gigs in more interesting places. We've played burlesque nights, beach events, community festivals, even a surf shop opening. Don't forget, surf music is the ultimate in family friendly music - there's no offensive lyrics, the music is simple and lively - kids really respond to it. It's also real easy to set up and play, which we've used as a real selling point.

I'm lucky as my bass player is into it, and is as passionate about instrumental music as I am. The drummer? Well, they find it hard without vocal cues, but the smart ones will realise they can be more creative and will get noticed. So you have to have all member on board the surf music trip. If they're not, then maybe you want to consider a surf band as a side project and find musicians that appreciate what you're doing.

There are jukebox bar bands by the dozen, but a surf band is something unique and you should be proud to play your music, rather than apologetic that no one is singing. If the band we could hear singing last night at band practice are anything to go by, a lot more bands should be instrumental!

http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/

I don't see a problem mixing it up. That approach is not really what I am into but several years back I heard a great "California" beach band performing at a Huntington Beach Surfin' Sunday show and I enjoyed the crap out of it. Chad and his buds do a great job of that style of music as well.

For me it is instro but it's all good.

Best of luck.

eddie k

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

I like the mix with garage. Do what your band does!

http://www.satanspilgrims.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Satans-Pilgrims/8210228553
https://satanspilgrims.bandcamp.com/
http://www.surfyindustries.com

I currently play in a couple of bands - 1st is all instrumental but not all or even mostly surf. We're styled loosely after the Ventures and we cover mostly pop/rock songs of the 60's + the surf standards and a few originals. Although we don't play as much as we like we do play fairly regularly. 2nd band is led by our substitute drummer who is a better than average vocalist. Mostly 50's rockabilly with some pop thrown in. But, we also put in an instrumental every 4th song or so and the audience seems to like the instrumentals fine. It also gives the singer a break. So, in my experience you can definitely mix instrumentals with vocal.

Part of the whole vocal vs. instro thing is how this ties into the band's identity.
One thing that can be considered is how the band presents itself. Some surf bands go for a certain 'look' or at least a similarity in their appearances; really, there are no rules with this...some bands perform wearing suits and Mexican wrestling masks whereas some perform in very casual attire.

What I am driving at here is that if a band is not sure how to present itself or is unsure of how they will be perceived by an audience, I would suggest having a band discussion to see if having some degree of a uniform would be beneficial. If everyone wore aloha shirts, or bowling shirts, even going to the crazy degree of wearing masks and uniforms (oh my!!) it is all about how it serves the intent of the band. Some bands are very successful at what they do and they do not have a uniform per se, whereas others do. Something to throw out there...the concept of "identity" is in the eyes of the beholder.

Lorne
The Surf Shakers: https://www.facebook.com/TheSurfShakers
Vancouver BC Canada