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Hi All,
I've been thinking a lot lately about how can surf music get a higher
profile in the current state of popular music. The talent is out there
- with out naming names - there are some really talented, inspiring
bands that deserve to at least make a living with their music. The only
surf style band that I can recall to really generate a buzz and have
moderate success post 1st generation surf was Man or Astro-man?. A band
I greatly enjoyed, but know little about. So my question is how did
they do it? Some variables I can speculate on include: getting some TV
exposure, the structure of the music industry then versus today, the
absence of Rap as the dominant youth music. If anyone can provide other
examples of moderately successful ( e.g. playing larger venues) and
insights into the how and why, please post them.
Danny Snyder
I think Man or Astroman's success had mostly to do with two things: 1.) They
always put on a flat-out amazing live show, and 2.) in addition to surf, there
were several other major influences on their sound through which they were able
reach audiences that most trad surf never will. (i.e. college radio)
Plus, look at what record labels most of their releases are on--Estrus, which is
known mostly for trashy garage rock, and Touch & Go, which is known for
experimental indie rock. Just based on that their records were getting different
exposure and distribution. Unlike a lot of third-wave surf bands, you can find
most of their stuff at Tower Records or Virgin.
Not to mention, they had a great publicity hook--aliens from outer space playing
surf music while looking for the missing pieces of their spaceship? Even if I'd
never heard of the band, I'd read an article about that in a music magazine for
sure.
I'm not seeing much of a connection, though, with "the absence of rap as the
dominant youth music." MoAM's non-surf fanbase was on the indie side of things,
not the MTV/KROQ side.
-Warren wrote:
Hi All,
I've been thinking a lot lately about how can surf music get a higher
profile in the current state of popular music. The talent is out there
- with out naming names - there are some really talented, inspiring
bands that deserve to at least make a living with their music. The only
surf style band that I can recall to really generate a buzz and have
moderate success post 1st generation surf was Man or Astro-man?. A band
I greatly enjoyed, but know little about. So my question is how did
they do it? Some variables I can speculate on include: getting some TV
exposure, the structure of the music industry then versus today, the
absence of Rap as the dominant youth music. If anyone can provide other
examples of moderately successful ( e.g. playing larger venues) and
insights into the how and why, please post them.
Danny Snyder
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I can back Warren up a little on this one. In the
hopeless hipster indie math prog doofus rock town of
Athens, GA, MoAM is the only band that gets play on
the college radio station. They got bigger as they
went along partly because they incorporated more and
became less derivative of the stuff that we all know
and love. I hear MoAM vocal numbers and some of the
wierder techno stuff on the college radio station, but
never the earlier, surfier stuff. That and, as Warren
said, their live show that tended to plant people
right on their ass. Some of my friends still talk
about their shows. By the time I got here they were
only touring other parts of the world and after that
they broke up.
If this made little sense, you can thank Latrobe
Brewery...from the glass-lined tanks of Old Latrobe we
tender this premier beer for your enjoyment...
BLARPH!
Richard
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I think MoAM? got so popular because of their incredible work ethic;
they toured endlessly all the time, and because of their live shows.
If you read some of Birdstuff's tour diaries, they were doing insane
stuff, and driving all over the place. It must have been very hard to
be in that band....All the props and crap they brought with them
(walls of TV's) along with their stage show really got a buzz going
about them I think. They had some kind of band slogan: 200% of the
work with only 1/2 the payoff...or something like that.
I think you are forgetting about Los Straitjackets...not truly a surf
band, but they are making a living at instro-rock ala The Ventures. A
couple of years ago I saw LJ in Iowa City, Iowa. The next night they
had a gig in Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska. And the night after that they
had a gig in Indianapolis, IN. Just look on a map. That's insane for 4
guys and a van to do.
Hard to believe Birdstuff is in Polyphonic Spree now...
BN
I talked to Pete Curry about the Straitjackets busy scedule and I told him it
sounded like nice work if you can get it. He said, "nope!" and he was serious. I
guess it's gotta be pretty rough spending so many days a living out of a van
like that. When the Ventures did it in the '80's they had a good size motor home
but at one point that thing caught on fire. Don was injured.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Neal
To:
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 5:15 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: How Man or Astro-man? got so popular
...
I think you are forgetting about Los Straitjackets...not truly a surf
band, but they are making a living at instro-rock ala The Ventures. A
couple of years ago I saw LJ in Iowa City, Iowa. The next night they
had a gig in Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska. And the night after that they
had a gig in Indianapolis, IN. Just look on a map. That's insane for 4
guys and a van to do.
Hard to believe Birdstuff is in Polyphonic Spree now...
BN
.
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
As far as I know, at least one member still has a day job to pay the rent
and bills. I'm not sure about the entire group...
Stretch
At 12:15 AM 7/3/05 -0000, you wrote:
>I think you are forgetting about Los Straitjackets...not truly a surf
>band, but they are making a living at instro-rock ala The Ventures. A
>couple of years ago I saw LJ in Iowa City, Iowa. The next night they
>had a gig in Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska. And the night after that they
>had a gig in Indianapolis, IN. Just look on a map. That's insane for 4
>guys and a van to do.
>
>Hard to believe Birdstuff is in Polyphonic Spree now...
>
>BN
i think their biggest acheivment as a 'surf' band was
realizing that instrumental music becomes boring after
a few songs, if your not a hardcore fan. sampling was
a huge part to the success of that band.
--- Brian Neal <> wrote:
> I think MoAM? got so popular because of their
> incredible work ethic;
> they toured endlessly all the time, and because of
> their live shows.
> If you read some of Birdstuff's tour diaries, they
> were doing insane
> stuff, and driving all over the place. It must have
> been very hard to
> be in that band....All the props and crap they
> brought with them
> (walls of TV's) along with their stage show really
> got a buzz going
> about them I think. They had some kind of band
> slogan: 200% of the
> work with only 1/2 the payoff...or something like
> that.
>
> I think you are forgetting about Los
> Straitjackets...not truly a surf
> band, but they are making a living at instro-rock
> ala The Ventures. A
> couple of years ago I saw LJ in Iowa City, Iowa. The
> next night they
> had a gig in Lincoln or Omaha, Nebraska. And the
> night after that they
> had a gig in Indianapolis, IN. Just look on a map.
> That's insane for 4
> guys and a van to do.
>
> Hard to believe Birdstuff is in Polyphonic Spree
> now...
>
> BN
>
>
>
