Insect Surfers at Mr. T's Bowl.
You hate to use the phrase surf music
when describing Insct Surfers because their instrumentals often display a
versatility and grandeur that transcend the perceived limitations of the
genre. Take Horizon Riders from the group's recent CD,
Mojave Reef (marlin) David Arnson's and Dano Sullivans riffs quite
properly evoke sunsets and big waves, but there are also several passages
that shimmer with an almost prog-rock expansiveness. Instead of coming off
as kitschy or retro, the quartet use the beach as a metaphor, as a jumping-off
point for deeper, moodier explorations-often psychedelic, but never succumbing
to mere noodling, as on the coiled lead-guitar tangles of Ocotilo and
Coolangatta. The group's roots stretch back to 1979 in Washington
D.C., where Arnson was influenced just as much by the Real Kids and the
Ramones as by the Ventures, and these Surfers have been an underrated local
institution since re-forming in L.A. in 1985.
Falling James, L.A.Weekly - November 14, 2003
Music For Nimrods BAND OF DISTINCTION Award!
INSECT SURFERS play surf
music...psychedelic, frantic, cutting edge surf music that only a kid from NYC
who moved to DC and used to buy ice cream from some Hagen Daas employee named
Henry Rollins could conceive. Lead insect guitarist Dave Arnson is that kid.
Plus he defies the laws of gravity while soloing!
The Insect Surfers are one of six winners of the very first
Music For Nimrods BAND OF DISTINCTION Award!
This award is presented to any band that upholds the fine traditions of rock
and roll, mainly those of purity, enthusiasm and starvation. The Insect
Surfers is excellent, and I want the world to know about them. So I'll spin
your records on the show, and post your faces on my website. Keep up the good
work.
Thanks for the great music!
REVEREND DAN - Music For Nimrods - July 27, 2001
INSECT SURFERS AT THE LOS ANGELES FORUM
we were hastily contacted by the l.a forum 2 days before playing,
womens basketball team the sparks were having a beach day,
passing out beach towels, etc., and needed a surf band to play at different
points at the game.
arriving at the forum, we took our equipment by elevator and
dolly up to a little 8 foot square platform with a rail around it, it was
all the way at the top of the the back wall's nosebleed section,
not too far from the giant american flag that everybody salutes while
the anthem is being sung. evidently the lakers have a band w/trumpets
and stuff that plays up there from time to time, our coordinator said
that they spill out on to the bleacher seats cause they are a big band,
man, cause we could just barely fit up there!
i was given a headset that the coordinator would cue me through,
telling me when we were about to play and when to cut off. this was a
bit of a challenge 'cause the headset was attached by a cable to my
belt, the little belt box had a little switch that i had to press
whenever i needed to talk.
a couple times the guy would tell me you're about to
stop, or cut it off, and i'd have to press the thing while playing,
to say o.k.!!
we were given time to play 3 of our tunes at the pregame
events (in between player interviews, a dj spinning hip-hop tunes, commercials,
game promos, little kid dance routines, etc.,) we played gary busey,
meteorite shower, and diamondback.
at halftime they wanted us to play something very recognizable,
so we played wipeout at three sequences of some game/contest they had
where parents and kids would come out and do stuff with hula hoops,
miniature basketballs, and an inflateable kiddie pool! more promos, dance
routines, etc followed and then we did a version of tequila! i was
so sure that a crowd of several thousand people listening to that song
would surely yell out the word tequila at the appropriate moments,
but if they did, we sure couldn't hear them! hmmm, so much for my planned
crowd manipulation!! also, fortunately, we were at the exact
end of a verse when we were told to cut off the music!
after that, we weren't scheduled to play 'til after the game. the
coordinator did say that there would be a brief contest sequence with
more kids bouncing basketballs that we could play through, that would
last about 20 seconds(!). and it did! 20 seconds! and we totally missed it,
that's ok, the dj was playing some hip hop through it and i don't know what
wouldn't sound kinda retarded for 20 seconds anyway...hey what are we,
shadowy men or something?!
our drummer jimbo was pretty funny thoughout, he would do a
roll and hit the cymbal when the teams would do the free throws, and
occasionally played along with the go team-type chants...
kxlu surfwave dj jim dunfrund showed up to say hello and
that it sounded pretty good, it was nice to see a familiar face, and also to
meet dugger, the guy who'd booked us! also much thanks to bellrays
and black widows guitarist tony fate for filling in for our
guitarist danno who couldn't make it, tony has actually played with us many
times in the past.
at show's end, after some more big-screen promos and a player
interview, we got to play bouzouki, electric marlin,
polaris, flamin' eddie's dragstrip,and volcano juice as
the masses streamed out! i was reminded of the sequence in the movie
woodstock where hendrix is playing but the movie keeps showing you
scenes of people leaving and the final cleaning up!
all in all it was a very surreal and very fun experience, i have
to give the l.a. forum and the sparks organization a lot of credit for
exposing surf music to the public. it was also fun to have some experience
playing along to hair-trigger timed tv-soundbyte sequences,this was
a gig where you really had to be on your toes!
and finally, the fact that the sparks team won by 20 points was
something to be truly proud of!! those women rock!!
instrumentally yours,
insect surfer dave - July 5, 2000
AND FINALLY - ATTENTION ECLECTIC INSTRUMENTAL GUITAR MUSIC FANS:
The Insect Surfers have been putting out cool instrumental guitar
music for a number of years. Powered by guitarists Dave Arnson
and Dan Sullivan (who also plays saxophone), the Insect Surfers
blend eclectic rock and surf for a great sound. Dave, who has
been influenced by players like Davie Allan ("SPOTLIGHT"
December '98), John Cippolina, and Tom Verlaine, founded the original
Insect Surfers in 1979 in Washington, D.C. He moved to the West
Coast in '85 and reformed the band (with different players) in '86,
and they've been together ever since. Dave and Dan are both Gibson
guitar fans - Dave plays a '61 SC Special through a Fender SUPER
Reverb and Dan shoulders a late-'70s Flying V through a Fender Twin
Reverb. Presently, the band plays two to three gigs each month and
they're considering recording a new CD later this year.
Their two previous projects, Reverb Sun
(Marlin Records CD 001),
and Death Valley Coastline (Marlin Records CD002), were very catchy.
Reverb Sun was originally recorded in '89 and re-pressed on CD in '97.
The contrasting guitar styles keep things interesting on tracks like
"Meteorite Shower" (an attention-grabbing opening number), "Polaris"
(cool tones and sonic variety on this medium-tempo rocker), "Halleys
Beach" (very catchy, nice straight-ahead rockin' groove) and the
"Insect Stomp" (a Munsters-sounding keyboard with sax and loads of
great guitar tone). Death Valley Coastline was originally released
in '94 and was re-pressed in '96. Faves include "Tiger Shark"
(appropriately aggressive sound with plenty of cool chords),
"Re-Entry" (ominous-sounding in spots), "Volcano Juice"
("cycle-delic" guitar work courtesy of Davie AlIan - "SPOTLIGHT"
December '98) and "MIG Alley" (titled correctly, this one sounds
like gunfire). To get copies, write to Marlin Records.
P.O.Box 661441, Los Angeles, CA 90066. And check out the
Insect Surfers' web site at http://www.chromeoxide.com//insect/insect.htm.
Vintage Guitar - April 1999
"OK, I just gotta say that John Cippolina was a genius.
Listen to the two instrumentals on the first Quicksilver LP. Also, check out
Dave Arnson's playing with the Insect Surfers. He is the only other guitar
player I know of that plays with the same vibrato. Finally, I had a chance
to wander aimlessly through the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame last year. Lots of
semi cool stuff, but what blew me away was Cippolina's amp rig set up in
a huge glass box. If you have any idea what he played through you will
understand my awe. If you don't, forget it. I could never even begin to
explain..."
Mike Palm, Agent Orange, November 11, 1998 posted to COWABUNGA Surf Discussion List
"One of my favorite bands, the Insect Surfers, was playing."
Highway To Heaven by Deanne Stillman, Los Angeles Times Magazine, August 9, 1998
"... Bar Deluxe was soooo incredibly hot last Friday
(July 17, 1998) that there was no way to enjoy eating anything (you'd have
to smuggle in your own grub anyways). The uncomfortable swampland temperature
caused two of my rock'n'roll sidekicks to throw in the towel early, but not
before we enjoyed a set by the Insect Surfers, who managed to tear through
their reverb smothered anthems without sacrificing any of the usual
zeal-guitarist Dave Arnson obviously immune to the heat due to
spending his formative years in Washington D.C. ...
Night Fever by Jim Freek, BAM Magazine, July 31, 1998
The Insect Surfers caught the wave of creative energy which
infected the CD area in 1979 and were one of the first alternative bands to
incorporate an instrumental surf style in their music. In May of '80, they
made their first appearance at the 9:30, which drummer Buccino says, "was
easily the best club in town." Speaking not only of the band but also of the
scene, Buccino adds, "most of us back then...we might have been kids,
but we were really having fun, and we were really wanting to try to
share that with the audience." The Surfers' music clearly reflects
that attitude, but if you're expecting to hear Jan and Dean revisited,
prepare for a refreshing surprise. Their highly energetic and inventive
music has traces of Dick Dale, Link Wray, garage and sci-fi, but it's
thoroughly original and highly contagious. Founding member Dave Arnson
"started the Surfers to combine the energy of the Ramones and the B-52s
with the cerebral instruumental approach of Tom Verlane's Television and
Wire. We found our answer in surf music or a hybrid thereof."
The Surfers were one of the boldest (and hardiest) of the
bands associated closely with the 9:30 Club. They toured extensively, sought
and gained college radio airplay all over the country, and helped push
the edge of the fun and friendly CD alternative scene into new
territory-up and down the East Coast and on occasional forays to points
west. Arnson has kept the Surfer sound going, since moving to Los Angeles
and regrouping in 1985, but this holiday reunion in 1995 was special for
the original members. Buccino describes it as "overwhelming emotionally."
For Arnson, it evoked memories of "really exciting and colorful times"
when the scene was "like a big dance party. The late 70s and early 80s
were a Great time for music."
liner notes 9:30 Live (2 CD set) Adelphi Records 1997
Insect Surfers - Polaris
"Thank God everybody's nice and clean
together. You know, every band I've heard so far seems to be well disciplined
and well put together. Just because it's not blowing me off this Earth... That
guy in the movie, Crossroads, that guitarist, Stevie Vai. He blew me
off the Earth. Stevie Ray Vaughn. I played with him. He also played with
that type of intensity. [listens] I see a guy on the nose of a
longboard, sun goin' down, wind blowing through his hair, going across the
face of a wave, like in Endless Summer. This is real nice. It's music
I wouldn't blow up a building with, but it's music that I'd lay back, shut the
lights out, and listen to. It's well done.
The Next Wave: Dick Dale Scores The Surf Sounds Of The '90s, Dick Dale interviewed by Dave Arnson, BAM Magazine, September 9, 1994
Rock 'n'Rollo
How many Times have you found yourself literally slammed,
without pity, into oblivion at your favorite spot? It's the type of experience
that leaves a lasting impression - one that stories are based on, legends are
founded upon and yes, finally, even songs are written about. Zuma Slam,
the first song with actual bodyboarding lyrics, has hit the airwaves: "On a
life with fins, el rollos and a belly spin/you cut the glass/while in the tube
with your board./And future Frank/he says, 'I am doing the Zuma Slan.'"
The Insect Surfers were founded by Dave Arnson, 30, in the summer
of 1979 in Washington D.C. They quickly drew a strong following and were soon
opening for such bands as the B-52s, Joan Jett, and the Stranglers. The Insect
Surfers are now powering out their tunes in Southern California - a more
appropriate environment for their "insectoid" brand of music.
Besides Arnson, who sings, and plays guitar, other members of the
band are:
Dan "Danno" Sullivan, 26, who plays guitar, sax and keyboards, sings vocals
and writes lyrics; Mike O'Neil, 22, who plays bass; and John Covertino
(ageless) of the L.A.Band, The Fugitive Kind, who slam-dances and drums.
When asked why the bodyboarding lyrics, Arnson replied:
"No one had done it before, and I am a bodyboarding junkie, so why not be the
first? I want to do for bodyboarding music what Dick Dale did for surf music.
"Zuma Slam" starts with a crash of a chord that imitates the sound of a Zuma
slam; I wan that to be our trademark sound."
With plans around the corner to unveil their second album, it
won't be long before other bands follow suit and coin their own bodyboarding
song(s).
Rumors have it that there are already some hot bobyboarders puttin in the
time on strings, drums and other instruments. Will we soon see a "Yo,
Bodyboarding Music Video Hour" on MTV?
Boarder Line by Mike Balzer, Body Boarding Magazine, April 1989
The Surfaris, Paul Johnson and the Packers, Insect Surfers - Gazzaris,
Hollywood, October 8, 1987
O.K., banish me from credibility for reviewing a show I
had a hand in booking,
but, hey, almost no one else showed up, so I'l like to take this opportunity to
give credit to where it's due and deserved, to the Surfaris of today. I burned
them in a review in D.A.G. # 1, as their set at the Forum left a lot to be
desired, and I must continue to belch about a creeping sense of horrid
"nostalgia" in a portion of their act. There's no need for it, when you have a
band who is above and beyond all nostalgia cliches to begin with. As proven by
the opening set by the Insect Surfers', surf music is far from a thing of the
past. Dave Arnson's introduction to "Zuma Slam" accentuated this, and perhaps
the best aspect of the evening was to hear a group like this through Gazzari's
monumnetal sound system, usually wasted on the drudgery of heavy metal bozos.
When applied to a real rock'n'roll band (as opposed to loud and
pretentious primp-posers), it's enough to make a performer's eyeballs wide
with amazement!...and it's here also that I will commend the Insect Surfers for
their sound. What makes them so special is not their linkage with authenticity
(which makes them great to hear in the first place), nor their variety-oriented
approach (which is brilliant enough to include both instrumentals and
vocals---Arnson tells me one of his biggest influences is the SURFIN' U.S.A.
album!). It ain't even their unique approach of
trade-off lead guitar-extended surf jamming (which only leads to excitement and
never falls into that dangerous territory of ponderousness which ties a
group to the despicable term "Progressive"). Nope, it's none of these, and to
break the rule of three, it's not even the absolutely bitchen way that Arnson
leaps, squirms, and wriggles around the stage while playing guitar for added
punctuation. You wanna know what makes the Insect Surfers so fabulous?...!...?
It's the way they take all of those things, melt them in to one bottle of goop,
fill them into a mold, and cook up some incredible edibles that would satisfy
the thirstiest hunger for SURF! The ambidextrous Danny Sullivan not only plays
lead and rhythm guitar, but also sax and keyboards, while occasionally glancing
behind himself to get an extra charge from the surfing movies usually being
screened behind his band somewhere. Not only that, these guys both come up
with some brilliant originals to boot (that doesn't mean someone should
illegitimately press 'em up!) The bass player and drummer both look like
refugees from the last trip to Mexico, and they are living with the same
attitude they had down there!...and you know what? Somehow, Dave Arnson
looks like he stepped right out of a"Murph The Surf" cartoon by Rick Griffin,
directly into REAL LIFE...heck, dem are the kind of people ya gotta have
around!
Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! by Domenic Priore, Dumb Angel Gazette
Insect Surfers - 1988 Demo Tape
Perhaps todays best original surf group is The Insect
Surfers. Original,
meaning that rather than concentrating on covers, these guys spend most of
their time writing new surf instrumentals, and thank goodness for that,
because they've come up with plenty of whoppers! This is the first cassette
by the new band, featuring Danny Sullivan. Dave Arnson has put out on LP
(in 1980) and also a 45 and an EP. The new version of the group has become
quite a popular attraction not only at Toe's Tavern, but also plays the
Hollywood circuit quite a bit. Hence, the neccesity for a tape, I mean I
always see people asking for their music, so Here Tis! The opening "Insect
Stomp" is a ska tune, much in the style of The Halibuts. This here is a
little twisted, however, featuring an organ part right out of "The Munsters".
The real meat and potatoes rolls into high gear with Arnson's "Zuma Slam", a
bodysurfing song supreme. It's about time that bodysurfers had an anthem!
Some lyrics: "On a life with fins, el rollo and a belly spin"...Honolulu
Lulu would be proud. The chords kinda come down with that WHOMP you get
a Zuma...ouch! "Halley's Beach" is a melodic gutar tune, featuring sweet
harmonics and an undercurrent rhythm, good listening, but next is "Polaris",
which has become a surf mood classic...at least for those who get to hear it!
This type of melody and feel is unique and powerful...kinda sticks in your head
like surf wax on a board. Sullivan's dramatic "Outsider" rambles along in high
gear, featuring stops and starts that highlight a perfect guitar sound...this
one is really hot! Drummer John Convertino should be commended for his fine
work here. Closing the all-too-short set is the miracalous "Sunbeam", no doubt
a tune Mark R. Daver has been goin' nuts over. Opening with a superb dual lead
guitar melody, just good and long enough to make you feel as if this is gonna
be a hot instrumental...then....HARK! It's a vocal!...and a damn good one,
too. This verse has a majestic, building quality to it, like an aspiration
being fulfilled, then back to that hot chorus...then, the mid-break, which is
the clincher of 'em all. Sounding as if you'd just stepped into a ritual
flower-power dance at Swami's (famous surf spot over here near Carlsbad),
complete with a fife-type solo right out of "California Dreaming"...then you
hear some stock Hot Rod sound effects (sounds like a serious hemi to me)
rumbling through the break, leading into Dave Arnson's over-the-clouds
Flying V surf guitar solo...then back to that hot instrumental chorus...WOW!
This is like the great lost surf group...if say the Crossfires or someone had
the guts follow some missing link-progressive impluse all the way through to
1967, it still wouldn't have sounded quite like this. And I know this group
has a lot more fantastic originals stocked up in their backlog, because I go
to about half of their gigs, just to hear this stuff! Hopefully, someone with
money and artistic intelligence (not to mention rock and roll spirit, a tought
threesome to come by these days) will get it together and help get some of this
brilliance out....till then, this cassettte does quite fine.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! by Domenic Priore, Dumb Angel Gazette
".....David Arnson and sons provide an amazing late 70's
platformed desert wave vision of space and sea. Very good writing and playing
L.A. band with a solid following....... Wonderful interplay between the lead
and the rhythm, very melodic and plenty of live energy".
Phil Dirt
"....they recreate a beach-blanket, frat-rock ambience that'll
cheer any purist within earshot"
Fred Mills
"One of L.A.'s hottest unsigned bands"
Music Connection
"....A great set of jams.."
Flipside
"It's tough to review music with no vocals, but this one has a
guitar that just about speaks. This is guitar-intensive surf that's different
from the pop surf of today...more rock and punk added to this mix..."
Giant Robot
Dave Arnson's Insect Surfers, which somehow manages to be
faithful to the old instro ways yet still sounds thoroughly modern and
even a bit surreal, has been kicking major ass these days."
BAM Magazine
"Swirling, swooping,hang-ten-in-the-ectoplasm instrumentals..."
L.A. Weekly
The Insect Surfers' initial major radio impact came with the
release of the "Wavelength" EP/LP in 1981. The record, with no professional
push generated airplay nationwide in the alternative radio network, hitting
charts in "Rockpool" (without even using their distribution). "Progressive
Media" and "D.I.Y.". The release of two singles has kept the radio marketplace
aware of the band's presence.
?
Quite possibly the Washington Area's most popular rock band.
One of the few local bands of this era potentially on the verge of national
recognition. There are two ways to reach "star" statys: one is to get
extremely lucky; the other is to work hard and tour often.
Washington's City Paper
Manage to infuse '60s rock with an '80s sensibility. Delightfully
cacaphonous, complete with clashing guitar and stomping bass lines...
imaginative electronic extrapolations. The band continuse to grow by absorbing
other novel elements and influences.
Washington Post
Not hard to imagine that this band would have been high
in the top 40 in a better world.
Goldmine