Surfer Blood recovers from a gnarly year, comes West
After an awkward encounter with a dolphin and “a really, really big wave,” Surfer Blood frontman John Paul Pitts gave up shredding the gnar.
“The last time I went out surfing was in Orange County,” says Pitts. “I almost collided with a dolphin and haven’t been out since … I myself am terrible, but our new guitarist Mikey is really good, probably one of the best surfers I know.”
The addition of some extra cred to back up their badass name was a bright spot in a year that started out bleakly. Shortly after being dropped by their label, Warner Brothers, at the end of 2014, their guitarist was diagnosed with cancer and their original bassist abruptly retired.
The Florida natives were down but not out, coming together to write their latest record, 1,000 Palms.
“We had a New Year’s Eve show scheduled in Portland, and we decided we were just gonna stay there and write,” says Pitts. “We rented a house from our friends who live there, and we just basically got together in the basement every day, worked on new material and then went back to Florida and recorded it there.”
Surfer Blood, who plays the Catalyst atrium on Wednesday, Jan. 13, are known for postpunk beach-rock melodies and scuzzy guitar riffs, with influences ranging from Yo La Tengo to the Beach Boys to Fugazi to the Smiths. But 1,000 Palms diverges from their previous material in sound and scope. According to Pitts, this has everything to do with the circumstances surrounding the writing process.
“It was a big change from our last record because it was just the four of us working on all the songs and making our own decisions. We had just found out that we were dropped from Warner Brothers. [On] the last record there had been a lot of people involved in the process, a lot of personalities involved,” Pitts says. “It was refreshing after that experience to just have the four of us focusing on it.”
Given their name and sound, it’s no surprise that the members of Surfer Blood are right at home in California, and have played Santa Cruz twice before. This time their supporting act is Santa Monica’s Cayucas. Appropriately, their coastal tour will stop in Morro Bay, just a few miles from the ever-so-slightly differently spelled town of Cayucos.
“I always love touring in California. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful state,” says Pitts. “I think we’re gonna take the coastal highway from L.A. up through Big Sur, because our new bassist Lindsey hasn’t taken the scenic route before.”
Other Surfer Blood adventures have taken them to places like Barcelona, where they performed at the same festival as Pavement, one of Pitt’s favorite bands. They also befriended the Pixies during a four-hour layover at a tiny airport in New Zealand, which eventually led to a joint tour through the U.S.
Before playing alongside their favorite musicians, though, Surfer Blood paid their dues in the typical fashion, touring dingy bars and restaurants. One of Pitt’s least favorite moments unfolded at a pizzeria in St. Louis. “The restaurant wanted us to sound check while families were still eating dinner,” he says. “And we were loud back then, like really, really loud. People were covering their ears, covering their children’s ears, it was like we were hurting these people while we were sound checking … I don’t know why they couldn’t have waited and had us sound check later.”
Despite the ups and downs, Pitts says he wouldn’t give up the rockin’ lifestyle for anything.
“Life as a band is never easy—touring six months out of the year, trying to make rent and stuff like that. But at the end of the day it’s really fun,” he says. “Playing music for your fans every night is one of the greatest feelings there is. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”
Surfer Blood plays the Catalyst at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tickets are $15/adv, $18/door.
OUT FOR BLOOD Surfer Blood plays the Catalyst on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
