It's tempting to say that Surf music is making a comeback, but in fact it's never really gone away and now more than ever. When I played drums for Dave Myers and the Surf-tones in 1963, it seemed like every town in SoCal had at least one surf band; but the explosion of modern instro bands world-wide dwarfs the scope of the original first wave. The innovative songs, recordings and performances of the new surf musicians have expanded upon that spirit of 1961-'63 and moved the music forward with a new relevance for today.

While attending the Rendezvous Reunion concert in 2000, it occurred to me that there has never been a clinic or video dedicated to playing drums in a surf-instrumental band. A chance conversation with fellow first-waver Tracy Longstreth (of Rhythm Rockers fame) Kick-started the idea for The Art of Surf Drumming™. Sessions were booked, lessons planned, players were recruited, and live concerts and interviews were rerecorded. After viewing hours of great footage, it was obvious that we had so much more than a simple drum instruction project. It was Matt Quilter and Paul Johnson who recognized the historical significance of the involvement of so many surf music pioneers such as Bob Spickard and Bob Welch of the Chantays, Richard Delvy of the Challengers, the late Jim Pash of the Surfaris. This gave rise to the companion documentary project, A Drummers Guide to Surf Music, which explores the roots and branches of the surf scene from '61 to the present day and beyond.

Put these together and you have Pounding Surf!™ -- 75 minutes of tips and lessons in The Art of Surf Drumming™ from four great drummers, plus the full-length documentary film A Drummers Guide to Surf Drumming. The project is dedicated to the new torchbearers that are out there every night pushing the boundaries of instrumental surf music  and features talents of some of my favorite Musicians: Tracy and I are joined by drummers Lee Kixx (from the cutting-edge Reventlos) and the incomparable Dusty Watson (of Dick Dale and Slacktone). The all-star live band features classic performances from Paul Johnson, Dave Wronski of Slacktone and Dick Dale bassist Ron Eglit.

I hope you have as much fun watching Pounding Surf!™ as we had making it.

Surf is WAY up,

Bob Colwel, Summer 2008