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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Permalink Why do you play Surf Music?

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it reminds me of where i grew up, hollywood beach florida

Äddi Patrick !
pm sent

www.facebook.com/hello.tiki.1
www.facebook.com/SonicNightmare

Living in a landlocked area of Maryland in the 60's, where travel to the beach was not so easy as it is today-I lived at the beach in my mind listening to surf.

Then when I first started body boarding in Nags Head during the 70's, "Miserlou", "Pipeline" and "The Lonely Surfer" went through my head as I was on the water.

My first real guitar was a Les Paul Custom Black 76 or 78, don't remember which. I had the guy rewire a set of Dimarzio pickups to create a "Strat" like tone. Then I cranked whatever amp I had to full bass, scooped middle, and high treble with as much reverb as available.

Finally, seeing Annette Funicello by the beach... well that clinched it; I was a surf guitarist for life. Cool

Surf.The most dangerous of genres...

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
THE JOURNEY HOME - Free download (2025) - Agent Octopus (Single)

BANDCAMP - Agent Octopus
YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf
BANDCAMP - Reverb Galaxy

ArtS wrote:

Finally, seeing Annette Funicello by the beach... well that clinched it; I was a surf guitarist for life. Cool

In person? Yeah, that would do it!

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

Because....

  • I can't surf!
  • Reverb is more fun then a ton of distortion (fuzz is good though)...
  • It pisses off the metal kids off when you crank up the volume and reverb on a Fender Twin and play riffs faster then most of the death metal bands. Razz

.....Oh, and the chicks too. Laughing

It never fails to cheer me up, no matter what kind of shit is coming down. And it works pretty well when you're in a good mood, too. Reverb, the ultimate mood enhancer. Is this what they mean by a reverb junky?

(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

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

I became interested in instrumental guitar rock back in '88 when I bought Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien.

After leaving that behind and playing typical covers in cover bands over the years, one gig our lead singer had to bail when his father passed away at the other side of the country. The rest of us struggled through but we did it - not great but passable. Other events have conspired against our lead singer performing since then and we started writing and covering surf and other instro tunes because the remaining 4 of us do not have the range, ability, charisma, or the stamina for fronting a band and singing 3 hours of various cover tunes.

Then an opening came up in the Hang-Ten Hangmen and it has only served to deepen my love and knowledge of surf music as well as the spirit of it all. I am thankful for this experience.

Even when I am trying my best to capture the spirit of Dick Dale - for example - I know and the audience knows that it is not a showboating for attention...it is all about the tune. Not many other instances when a guitarist can be front and centre, covering an amazing piece of music history and not be called out for being on an ego trip.

In my other regular cover band, we have one or two points in the night where we play surf/instro to give our lead singer a break. This past weekend, I introduced Misirlou and gave a 15 second history on Dick Dale before playing it. A chap in his 60s gave me a huge grin and huge thumbs up afterwards. It actually got half the bar on its feet. Thanks, Dick Dale...just tryin' to spread the "gospel".

Seeing happy people loving these tunes is a reward for me. People don't even know what to call it or how to define it but if the performer lets the music shine through, people love it.
A justification for hours spent practicing it and lumpin' all that gear around : )

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

Well, Most of the above applies!

As a surfer, I was in surf music denial for some considerable time. (I used to avoid all surfer stereotypes). But once a seed is planted, it only takes the right environment for it to flourish.

I started to play surf music when I was finally a good enough guitarist to attempt it. It's a constant learning curve which keeps my interest.

Plus, it's a whole lot of fun, and very different from most bands round here. The good stuff conjures up emotions and feelings that lyrics would dispel, and the energetic stuff is just 100% fun.

http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/

I moved from Flamenco music to Surf.

Although the two have many things in similar, I find Surf to be more simple music form , turning it accessible to many people from different backgrounds and cultures.

In addition, I like the high dynamic of Surf songs. You start with some level and keep "surfing" it till the end of the song.

And last, I like the clean Surf sound, or at least slightly dirty. Never liked distortion. Surf melodies always seemed to be positive to me.

To sum it up:
Simple! Fast! Fun!

Cheers,
Mark.

Last edited: May 27, 2015 13:40:34

Reasons I play surf:
1) As I age, my voice has become suspect.
2) Other than the Beatles and the Cars, no other music jacks me up like a reverb soaked guitar and that surf beat!
3) When I'm at the beach, classic rock, dance mixes and the Eagles won't cut it. Need my Dale, Surfaris, Cossacks and Diamondheads.
4) I don't think my guitar knows how to play any other type of music!

Surf.The most dangerous of genres...

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
THE JOURNEY HOME - Free download (2025) - Agent Octopus (Single)

BANDCAMP - Agent Octopus
YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf
BANDCAMP - Reverb Galaxy

I play surf music because of the girls.

Lorenzo "Surfer Joe" Valdambrini
(www.surfmusic.net)

surferjoemusic wrote:

I play surf music because of the girls.

And the money.

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

masochism naturally!
SG101!

Jeremy

Because I 'needed' a Jazzmaster, several Jaguars, a Gretsch (!?), a new amp a year, hundreds of reverbpedals and other excuses to convince my wife Big Grin

And because of the girls... and the money...

But most of all to meet all of YOU!!!!

www.alohasluts.com
Aloha Sluts on BandCamp
www.arnyzona.com (my photography)
Aloha Fest on facebook

revhank wrote:

surferjoemusic wrote:

I play surf music because of the girls.

And the money.

Rev

And.....The Fame!

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

It was the only way to get a "preferred seat" at the Grammys...

Surf.The most dangerous of genres...

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
THE JOURNEY HOME - Free download (2025) - Agent Octopus (Single)

BANDCAMP - Agent Octopus
YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf
BANDCAMP - Reverb Galaxy

To grow the economy by hiring a full time chauffeur to park my caddie that I will purchase with all the filthy lucre that my adoring public will shower upon me like rose petals at a ticker tape parade.

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/

Syndicateofsurf wrote:

To grow the economy by hiring a full time chauffeur to park my caddie that I will purchase with all the filthy lucre that my adoring public will shower upon me like rose petals at a ticker tape parade.

Snicker, Snicker Laughing

Surf.The most dangerous of genres...

Surfcat

MARCH OF THE DEAD SURFERS! (2024) - Agent Octopus
THE JOURNEY HOME - Free download (2025) - Agent Octopus (Single)

BANDCAMP - Agent Octopus
YOUTUBE - Agent Octopus Surf
BANDCAMP - Reverb Galaxy

"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."

Wow Badger, that totally captures my feelings about surf--great that it came from a fairly neutral listener. Surf music gives the listener (or player) a sort of setting or prompt, then the mind does the rest.

I've never surfed (though I have spent a lot of time IN the surf), but I imagine the feeling of surfing is similar--driving, pure, with excitement and movement. Lots of atmosphere (you can't surf inside, you're going to see a pretty beautiful landscape wherever you surf) and few complications. Surf music provides lots of atmosphere, whether it's a fun sunny day at the beach or facing daunting waves as a storm moves in. Where surfing is just about the surfer, a board, and the sea, surf music is a guitar, some rhythm backing, and reverb!

Ghost Coast

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