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January Birthdays
Mainstream
Joined: Nov 03, 2012 Posts: 36 Winnipeg, Canada 
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 04:58 PM
Alright I get asked this quite a bit and though I have answers for it I would like to ask if there is a best answer to this question. Name a mainstream band you sound like. I hesitate to say "dick dale" to someone unfamiliar with much beyond a top 40 sphere but who am I kidding? I chose to make music that can be a little off the radar I guess... When your band is approached and asked "what kind music you [sound] like?" (Yes the grammar is off to imply a foreign person sorry) What do you say? |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle 
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 05:17 PM
There is no answer to this. Just try not to get put in a situation like this. Answer that you are an guitar driven instrumental band. And if people dig deeper than that about what it sounds like I respond "Music, I guess". I do respond "Instrumental surf music" to older people though, they usually know the Ventures or Wipe Out. |
Joined: Oct 16, 2008 Posts: 550 Madison, WI 
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 05:25 PM
Is there any mainstream band (the definition here being that they are currently on the radio in the (or any, not just pop) top 40 or otherwise getting airplay, receiving awards from organizations that are not genre-specific, playing dates that are advertised where the average person might encounter the ad, such as newspaper, TV, or radio, and/or playing live on national TV and/or radio) who's doing anything even slightly surfy? About the only one I can think of might be Los Straitjackets, and only because they seend to have found a home playing live on national TV in a limited sort of way. And that's pushing the definition pretty far. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 05:53 PM
Top 40, not even remotely close. Los Straitjackets are a million miles away from having top 40 success. |
Joined: Nov 21, 2010 Posts: 118 surfin' Lake Ontario 
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 06:07 PM
I usually have to ask people if they've ever seen Pulp Fiction. They seem to get it then. If I just say we play surf music they think we're doing Beach Boys covers or something... —the Undead Bureaucrats The Rum Sweats |
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Joined: Oct 16, 2008 Posts: 550 Madison, WI
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Posted on Dec 10 2012 10:39 PM
Quite so Jake, but I meant it as either/or, not all of the above. The definition of mainstream was supposed to outline how the average person would have heard them, or heard of them. The top 40 thing was part of the definition of mainstream, not necessarily an attribute of Los Straitjackets. And Pulp Fiction is just too old to be mainstream any more. Made when today's college freshmen were born is too old to be mainstream. |
Joined: Nov 28, 2011 Posts: 795 Prescott Valley, AZ 
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Posted on Dec 11 2012 12:26 AM
Wow, I couldn't answer that question. I've spent as lifetime trying to sound like me, not others. |
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Joined: Nov 21, 2010 Posts: 118 surfin' Lake Ontario
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Posted on Dec 11 2012 05:35 AM
Raito - I don't disagree that Pulp Fiction as a movie is not considered mainstream; I was responding the the OP's question - "When your band is approached and asked "what kind music you [sound] like?" (Yes the grammar is off to imply a foreign person sorry) What do you say?" —the Undead Bureaucrats The Rum Sweats |
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Joined: Oct 16, 2008 Posts: 550 Madison, WI
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Posted on Dec 11 2012 08:30 AM
Admiral, I get it, and you correctly ask if they've seen Pulp Fiction (because if they haven't, there's no point in the comparison, is there?) But if I was trying to answer the question to a broader portion of the populace, it's not the way I'd go personally. Or maybe it is, seeing that there's nothing more recent to even point to. Defining 'mainstream' is not the easiest thing to do. Then again, neither is defining 'surf music'. At least the Klezmer guys can use the word Jewish and most people will know what they mean, even if they don't know what Yiddish means. I suppose that one could catalogue some of the TV ads with surf music in the background and use those as examples. That's at least more current. |
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Joined: Oct 28, 2008 Posts: 671 Winnipeg, Canada
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Posted on Dec 11 2012 12:24 PM
Seems like a bit of a trick question to me. I think the correct answer is, "We don't sound like any mainstream band. If you love electric guitars, high energy drumming, and upbeat tunes, come out and hear us for yourself and bring your friends". By the way, welcome GulfofBrass, nice to have another Winnipegger on here. That's at least two since summer that I know of. Practically surf hysteria up here! https://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=9353f9155b5ff32e14c998495fd00da4&#!/rich.derksen.7 |
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Joined: Dec 29, 2012 Posts: 32 Lansing, Michigan
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 10:34 AM
Black Eyed Peas! (ducks) |
Joined: May 25, 2006 Posts: 537
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 11:21 AM
I rarely get asked, but when I do, I say Black Sabbath meets Dick Dale on a Tarantino soundtrack. Any, or all, of those references usually ring a bell. BTW, Pulp Fiction was re-released one night only in theaters across the U.S. in December. I went to a well attended local showing and it was great fun. Lots of laughter and clapping throughout, especially for Sam Jackson. — |
Joined: Sep 16, 2007 Posts: 548 Utah |
Posted on Jan 28 2013 11:34 AM
Helen Reddy Either you surf, or you fight. |
Joined: Feb 14, 2010 Posts: 802 N.E. Ohio
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 11:39 AM
You know that music they play between stories on NPR Morning Edition and... wait you are CBC, do they segue between stories with instos there? — |
Joined: Dec 23, 2008 Posts: 3324 Pittsboro, NC
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 12:04 PM
I once explained it as speed metal without the distortion. — |
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Joined: Feb 14, 2010 Posts: 802 N.E. Ohio
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 12:20 PM
And then there is Beach Music. Until I moved to N.C. I had in my mind Beach Music was the Ventures,Beach Boys, Dick Dale... Boy was I wrong. — |
Joined: Mar 15, 2011 Posts: 8528 Back in Piitsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 12:24 PM
You mean surf music isn't mainstream? This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got. |
Joined: Sep 01, 2006 Posts: 2726 New Orleans, LA
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 12:29 PM
I've always found Wipe Out has the best name recognition. You might have to go "danana nanana nuhnuhnuh" but that usually works. —Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio Last edited: Jan 28, 2013 12:29:46 |
Joined: Mar 30, 2011 Posts: 388 Copenhagen 
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 04:35 PM
Admiral_Fishwich wrote:
I'm doing exactly the same. —https://zakandthekrakens.bandcamp.com/ |
Joined: Oct 05, 2012 Posts: 1725 Austin, Texas
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Posted on Jan 28 2013 06:10 PM
My main influences are the black keys, Slacktone, and AAL(teehee). I hesitate to say that my music will sound like any of these, mainly because I'm still recording my first tune. —IMO. Last edited: Jan 28, 2013 18:12:28 |
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