drjackstraw
Why do I like surf music?

Short answer: it makes me happy. But allow me to elaborate: I'd say it somehow resonates with my brain. I'm a latecomer: the first time I paid attention in surf music was during my masters in industrial robotics some ten years ago, and it started a reaction that made me finally buy a guitar last year and start to learn to play it -- in my late 30s, mind you. Not convinced that surf would be my thing I got a versatile guitar and tried different types of music, just to find that no other genre can deliver the same amount of satisfaction. Now I'm going for a dedicated surf guitar. The apparent simplicity of the surf lines, the catchy themes, scales and arrangements, evocative textures and timeless feeling really got me addicted. From Dale, Chantays, Ventures or Lively Ones classics, to Straitjackets and Eliminators (I really like Dawn Patrol) there's this fullfilment sensation every time I hear a great piece. I just felt it all over again with The Pashuns' "She's got a gun" which I found reading articles in this forum. Well, I can't really explain the exact mechanism why it happens, but, in short, it makes me happy

That's very interesting because it has a similar effect on me. I used to play a lot of Jazz where taking a single-line solo is the big deal and I always enjoyed that form of expression, the problem is that Jazz has a very limited audience. Surf gives me the same joy as Jazz and appeals to a much wider audience. It's a win-win situation.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

drjackstraw
I think this illustrates another very interesting point in surf: you can enjoy it right away or also being a experient, skilled musician. Obviously results will vary enormously and every extra skill can be put to good use, but surf and surf-like instrumental rock is not elitist. Let me clarify, I'm well aware some of the names I mentioned previously are not strictly Surf, but there's a good amount of influences and conceptual overlap to make them work for me as well -- even if I miss the reverb or hear too many hi-hats. The presence of a strong musical theme (such as in spy and western themes) and unusual scales (like in Goldfinger, Harlem Nocturne or the Munsters theme) seem to be part of the equation, and sound very natural to my ears if played in surf style.

Good point. Surf tunes were among the very first things I learned, probably the very first non-instructional songs I learned to play. 42+ years later I'll be playing some of those songs at today's rehearsal.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

This says it all... like a dream memory... it's Big Wensday of an Endless Summer...

shivers13

Me being a kid growing up during the late 60's my dad had a dislike for anything that had to do with hippys and he listened to the Surf Bands of the day.
Pop's was the one that bought me my first board in the summer of '69 and took me to the jetty at the Santa Ana River HBside a couple blocks from where we lived to teach me to surf.
I listen to and am learning to play Surf Music for all the reasons you guy's listed, plus it reminds me of my Dad.

"Maybe there aren't any surf bands; there's only surf music?" Tuck

dp
i like they way that surf music smells: warm vintage Fender...

Indeed...if I could bottle the smell of my '61 reverb unit I'd wear it as cologne.

As a listener, instrumental surf engages all my senses. The earth is mostly water, our bodies are mostly water, we spend our first nine months in water, so I feel like there is a "built-in" human response to heavily reverberated sounds - my son, in-utero at the time, was going nuts for The Madeira when they played in Champaign last year.

As a player, I've had more fun playing and recording surf than any other genre of music, so I keep doing it. There's a spirit about it that people of all ages seem to appreciate, even if they're not well versed in the genre.

-Nick

Gypsy Moonshine on Reverbnation
Gypsy Moonshine on Facebook

Really love the sound of a single coil, p90, deharmond, pick ups guitar (Fenders, Gretsch, Mosrite, etc) through an all tube circuit reverberated clean amps any time of the week.
Love those moody melodies based in exotic scales yet quite simple and most of the time only 2'15". It can sound happy, sad, exotic, dangerous or even sensual. I like the fact that has an openned mind when it comes to influences from mediterranic music to mexican music, from classical composers such as Korsakoff with his Flight of the Bumble Bee to modern OST composers such as Ennio Morricone, John Barry, Henri Mancini just to name a few.

It's hard to tell how and when did I became acquainted with surf music and the most honest answer will probably be that it was by steps and was always present. From the beach boys when I was 12 years old to the pixies and the cramps and later one Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction OST and Man or Astro-Man? were definatelly the most important points of that path. Personally, also very important. was to meet AJ and his band of the time Dr. Frankenstein. I've started as a fan of the band, then working as roaddie with them and eventually ended up playing guitar on their last album and touring with them. Although I've always messed up around with guitars, I've never had the opportunity to learn it formally and I only really learned how to play after playing with them which lead me to start my own band Thee Rumble Bees. I am now collecting singles, djing and working on around 15 classics and a couple of originals for my next project The Legendary Men from Lost Atlantis. At the moment my favourite Surf bands are the New Dimensions, Fender IV, Eddie & the Showmen and the Lively Ones.

I love the water, I have lived by water all my life. I Love Surfing in the ocean and on river rapids. Windsurfing is my favorite sport, it combines surfing & sailing, I do it as much as possible, I swim butterfly for a master's team in the winter. These water sports are my inspiration, and Surf music makes me feel like I'm in the water, having fun.

It is funny to listen to, and funnier to play. It is a flowing melody that suddently surprises you with a certain turn. And as it does not have lyrics it does not tell a story, but it creates some unbelievable atmospheres.

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yep

www.northofmalibu.com

I came up in 50's - 60's SoCal. Body surfed my brains out and dug the music. Had to play it then and I ain't over it yet. It makes me feel good.

narciso wrote:

It is funny to listen to, and funnier to play.

Heh, I like that a lot. Lovely description.