The Surf Coasters

Miserlou Live (courtesy of Brian Neal)
Liner Notes for The Surf Coasters "Samurai Struck"
The Surf Coasters story starts in America long before any of the band members were born... If you bought this CD you probably already know about the surf sound, that indigenous music of Southern California beaches in the early 60s. Well, like a barnacle on the bottom of ship, surf music snuck into Japan in 1964, with the song “Movin’” by The Astronauts, and The Ventures and many more would follow soon. With no language barrier, instrumental surf was quickly embraced by Japanese fans, bands (like Terry Terauchi and the Blue Jeans) and teen heart-throbs (like Yuzo Kayama). It still enjoys a consistent popularity there that has long outlasted its run in America. (The Ventures and Terry and the Blue Jeans still tour regularly in Japan, with very active fan clubs).
Shigeo Naka, a gifted guitar player with too many influences to even name a favorite, formed the Surf Coasters with some surf music loving friends in early 1994. They were rehearsing and playing a few shows, and looking for a break. They auditioned for a TV show called Ebisu-Onsen, which has a format very much like Star Search here in the U.S., as amateur performers compete for a recording contract. Most of the acts were bland pop singers, and the Surf Coasters’ hip shaking rock made them crowd favorites and they returned week after week, making it to the finals.
Yuzo Sasaki is the editor of New Eleki Dynamica, a Japanese magazine dedicated to surf and instrumental music. He recalls being happily surprised to see The Surf Coasters shredding through “Miserlou” on Ebisu-Onsen; a surf band finally back in the spotlight in Japan. He remembers Shigeo’s big smile and the girls screaming like it was the second coming of the Beatles.
Meanwhile, back in America, Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” was released with Dick Dale’s “Miserlou” serving as it’s theme song. The movie inspired the formation of hundreds of new surf bands in the U.S. and gave momentum to what’s now know as the third wave of surf music. Well, it should be no surprise to you that Pulp Fiction was a huge hit in Japan as well and similarly inspired an interest in surf music. As Japanese fans of the movie soundtrack heard “Miserlou,” the Surf Coasters were appearing on Ebisu-Onsen, and many people thought they had written the song! Unbelievably, they finished second, but this still led to a record contract and their first album, Surf Panic ‘95, and then five more albums for the Victor label, and then 14 more albums after that.
1995 also had another great moment for Naka... the legendary Dick Dale, riding the crest of his own career revival, made his first and only trip to Japan in 1995, The Surf Coasters got to open for the man known as “The King of the Surf Guitar”. Soon after hearing Shigeo play, Dale proclaimed him the “Prince of the Surf Guitar.”
The combination of appearing on a national TV show, a surf music revival and the blessing of Mr. Dale set the Surf Coasters off on a great start to their career. Instantly their small club gigs turned into big clubs, country wide tours were arranged and they received many requests to record for movie and video game soundtracks.
"Shark Man" Live courtesy of Brian Neal
Surf Panic ‘95’s raw sound set the model for the Surf Coasters live show, and even with 20 CDs to their name, they still perform many of that album’s songs. On following albums, Naka’s compositions would start to branch out, and the production of his songs would range from blues rockers to techno, dreamy acoustic atmospherics to heavy metal and, of course, he pushed the defintion of what surf music is. Though it frustrates him that it is impossible to perform many of his more experimental works live, he is satisfied with the sonic assault his trio provides, and has learned to keep in mind gigging when he is recording so most of the recent album’s songs can be performed live.
Asked about the breakneck pace of recording two CDs every year for 10 years, Naka responds, “In Japan, a band like us (meaning an instrumental band) has to release albums often. We don’t have many chances to be appear on TV or RADIO. So we must release & tour– gigs are the only way to promote ourselves. So every time a producer, manager, or record company gave me a deadline. They said don..t be late!”
Nobuhiro Kurita’s story is familiar to anybody who has ever been around young musicians. A guitar playing friend in Jr. High School needed a bass player, and encouraged “Kuri” to pick up the instrument and join his band. Kuri didn’t know anything about surf music, his own tastes lying with funk bands like the Brand New Heavies. But apparently he picked up the groove well enough to impress Naka, who happened to be sitting in the audience one night. After that show in 1997, Shigeo asked the 19 year old Kuri to join the Surf Coasters. For Kuri’s blissful smile and cartoonish stage presence, the nickname “Zen Punk” was bestowed on him during the Surf Coaster first US tour.
Naotaka Seki started out jamming with his guitar playing brother. He choose the drums because he was a fan of a Japanese metal band called Loudness, and he thought the drummer, Munetaka Higuchi, looked cool. Nao was playing with space-rocker Ryouchi “ends” Endo’s touring band when Shigeo met him and brought him on board in 2001. Seki had never really heard surf music before, but after he joined he studied the beat fanatically.
With the addition of Kuri and Nao, the core of the Surf Coasters was so strong that, though they had always been a quartet with a keyboard or second guitar, they now became a power trio. And, following the typical Nippon industrial design cycle of: 1) Imitate, 2) Improve, 3) Innovate, the Surf Coasters have created a new and original take on an old idea. Though the fundamentals are in place– the beat, the melody, the reverb and the twang– the precise execution is delivered on a level attained by few groups on this planet.
KFJC DJ and ReverbCentral.com scribe Phil Dirt can be credited with introducing the Surf Coasters to many Americans. Since 1996 he has consistently played their music and given great reviews to the recorded works of the band, and has enjoyed watching the band evolve. “I think they straddled the line between the second wave revival and third wave evolution. Traditional values in writing, but the delivery is much more aggressive and the tone more punk influenced. They have made some changes over the 10 years I’ve been following them... I love "Easter," the "Intruder EP," "L’esprit," "Surf Attack," "Surfadelic," and "Surf Is Dead.” After hosting them at KFJC in 2004 he said, “Their level of musicianship was more than I dreamt; really top notch! I can’t wait for their return this year.”
Naka, Kurita and Seki all agree that the best times for the band still lays ahead of them, and that touring America is not just a career highlight, but the fulfillment of dream. Like prodigal sons, they bring the music back to it’s birthplace, for your approval, for your pleasure and with thanks to you, the listener, for having accepted them and their contributions.
–Ferenc Dobronyi, San Francisco, January 2005
Video Diary from the 2005 USA Tour:
"Bumble Bee" at Streetlight Records, San Jose courtesy of Big Wave Dave