2016 Southern Surf StompFest!

Presented by The City of Avondale Estates and THE SURF KING Surfwear, Southern Surf StompFest! is an annual festival featuring the best surf, instro, and beyond that the South has to offer. This free, all ages event takes place September 17th at Little Tree Art Studios in Avondale Estates, GA and will also host an artists market and food trucks.

flyer courtesy of James Honeycutt

 Line up:
9pm Daikaiju (AL)
8pm Insect Surfers (CA)
7pm The Mystery Men? (GA)
6pm The Intoxicators! (FL)
5pm The Surge (GA)
4pm Phatlynx (NC)
3pm Caroline & the Ramblers (GA)
2pm The Monterreys (NC)
1pm SEAWHORSE (VA)
12pm The Penetrators (GA/AL)

with special guest emcee: Jet Powers

None of this would be possible without our wonderful sponsors:
The City of Avondale Estates
THE SURF KING Surfwear
The Longboards Show on WREK.org
Sound Space
Green Flash Brewing Co.
My Parents' Basement

A kickoff party will be held the night before on September 16th at Trader Vics Atlanta with entertainment from Kinky Waikiki (GA) and The Dangling Tassels (AR).

The Monterreys s/t ep review

Review by Noel Squitieri, taken from surfguitar101.com

I met The Monterreys at the 2012 Instro Summit in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. More accurately, they saw me wandering around the motel grounds looking for someone to talk to, and called me over to talk to me.

The Monterreys are Johnny Stewart on guitar, Leon Daniel on bass and Jason Dickey on drums. They’re terrific musicians. The set they played at the Summit was loud, raucous, vibrant, reverb-filled and hard-driving. So is this EP.

There are five tunes on the record, and only the first, Malaguena, is a cover. It’s a great choice to open with. If any tune is going to show a guitarist’s strengths or weaknesses, or a band’s for that matter, it’s this one. They rip through their driving version of Malaguena with confidence, verve and precision; this is fine ensemble playing, balanced and tight. The guitar playing might lead the listener to think Johnny plays flamenco guitar. He does. Builds to a terrific climax too.

Machete! Is a real cool tune that conjures images of a dangerous Mexican back-alley and someone running away at the end. I have a vivid imagination that I let music play with; what can I say? Again the performance is perfectly matched to the music.

Rampage is very Dick Dale-like, in a good way. Powerful double-picking and roaring glissandos combine with tight bass playing and frenetic drums to sound like something Dick could have written if he’d thought of it. Very catchy and lots of fun to listen to.

Waves of Kauai is a complete change of pace. Its’ melody is as exotic as anything and the performance suits the music nicely. I listen to this with my eyes closed and think about Hawaiian beaches at sunset, with waves gently lapping the shore, and I’m swaying to the music while holding my girl close. It’s just fast enough to dance to and just slow enough that I might not want to. Not yet anyway. Maybe later.

The first time I heard Zeta Reticculi I thought I was listening to a different band. Maybe something by the men of tomorrow? Nope, but sort of. Something ghostly or ghastly? Nope. Something with coffins or daggers? Again, no. It’s at once very familiar and unfamiliar. I like it! It’s a lot of fun and would play great at a Monster Mash.

The Monterreys are very versatile musicians who are able to blend different voices into their music that results in something at once both familiar and unfamiliar. This is a very good EP and I have only one quibble with it; it’s far too short. May I have some more, please?

Johnny Stewart is on SG101 as bangbang
http://surfguitar101.com/profile/view/bangbang/

The Monterreys are on YouTube here
http://www.youtube.com/user/THEMONTERREYS?feature=mhum

The Monterreys are on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/themonterreys

Monterreys is released on KBK Records and is available at
CD Baby
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/monterreys

Deep Eddy Records
http://www.deepeddy.net/merch.html

Video for The Monterreys

Southern Surf Stompcast, episode 12

Episode 12 features an interview with Jason Dickey of The Monterreys.

Track list:
Steelism - "The Serge"
Revenge Beach - "Reef Rash"
Buddy & the Squids - "Back Bay"
Ronny & The Daytonas - "California Bound"
Hillbilly Frankenstein - "Fleshhammer"
The Flying Faders - "Worse Is Better"
Los Straitjackets - "Close To Champaign"
The Hodaddys - "Vaporizer"
The Del-Vipers - "Creepy T"
The Monterreys - "Laguna Escondida"
The Monterreys - "Shish Kebab"
Bruce Joyner & The Unknowns - "She Never Says No"
The Unnaturals - "Rumblebee"
Death Valley - "The Morricone Express"
Death Valley - "A Trail Of Dust In The Sunset"
Machete Western - "Rodeo Muerte"
Austin Transit Authority - "Bock's Car"
Necronomikids - "Apsunami"
The Gremmies - "Sunset Beach"
Buddy Emmons - "Wild Mountain Thyme"

Incidental:
The Monterreys - "Laurie Anna"
The Monterreys - "Andaluz"
The Monterreys - "Vidorra"
The Monterreys - "Waves Of Kauai"
The Monterreys - "Diego"
The Monterreys - "(hidden track)"

Intro and outro music, "Southern Surf Syndicate Theme", provided by The Penetrators.

Southern Surf Stomp! presents The Monterreys, Bruce Joyner and Atomic Clock, The SideBurners

August marks the triumphant return of Charlotte, North Carolina's The Monterreys.  Not only were they the first group to headline the inaugural Southern Surf Stomp! but will be the first to do so for a second time.  The trio plays a powerful brand of surf with a world music influence, guitarist Johnny Stewart also a flamenco guitarist.  After losing their previous bass player Leon Daniel, which is now working on his solo project The Wrecks House amongst other things, they were fortunate enough to be joined by Aqualads' (and now Southern Surf Stomp contributor) Jeremy DeHart.  Reinvigorated by the change, the band will be bringing fresh songs, their fabulous new record "The Pharaoh", and even a different look with them to Kavarna.

Bruce Joyner is a legend in the underground garage rock scene with his seminal work with The Unknowns and will also be returning to the Stomp for a second time with his band Bruce Joyner and Atomic Clock.  The front man has a larger than life presence and having seen he and guitarist Tom Byars perform in different configurations with various groups over the past decade or so, I can honestly say this iteration is by far the best I've ever seen.  They nearly blew the roof off the place last time and people were practically begging me to have them back.

The Wrecks House "Run Like Hell"

Our friends The Wrecks House (Leon Daniel, former bass player for The Monterreys) have a great new digital release at CD Baby.  You can preview and puchase here.

Southern Surf Stompcast

Our debut episode features an interview from North Carolina's Arrows out as well as music from groups that have performed previously at the Southern Surf Stomp.  It can be found streaming below or you can subscribe on iTunes.


Tracklisting:
The Monterreys "Machete!"
The Surge! "Paddle or Die",
The Mutations "Surfer's Dream",
Daikaiju "Flight of Garuda",
Kill, Baby...Kill! "Trioxin Twist",
The Mystery Men? "The Devil You Know",
Arrows Out "Yes, Maybe",
Arrows Out "Tessellate",
MOONBASE "Smoke",
El Fossil "Hair Pin",
Gemini 13 "Chopped and Channeled",
The High Fidelics "Lil' Curfew Breaker",
The Zaratans "Wavos Maximos".

Intro and outro music, "Southern Surf Syndicate Theme", provided by The Penetrators.

Second annual Surfin' Saturday at Atlanta Food Truck Park

This excellent event, organized by Jamie Galatas of the Mystery Men? and sponsored by our very good friend The Surf King Surfwear, takes place before the next Stomp and features seven of the best surf groups the Southeast has to offer.  All ages are welcome at this free event, where you can sample eats from the finest food trucks in the city while sipping on your favorite beverage you brought from home.

Photos from the first Southern Surf Stomp! on April 12, 2014

 The Monterreys before the Stomp, at Yaarab Shrine for Atlanta Rollergirls half time.

 Monterreys rhythm section with Leon Daniel on bass and Jason Dickey on Drums.

 Monterreys guitarist Johnny Stewart...like a boss!

 The Surge!

 Atomic Boogie

The Monterreys

Instro Summit 2014!

Instro Summit is THE largest surf/instrumental music festival in the world.  This year will be my third consecutive year attending/performing.  The event has become somewhat of a family reunion of sorts and many of the groups performing I am honored to call friends.  Crispy Bess, promoter, has really outdone himself this year bringing in 28 astounding acts from across the US.  Held at Motorco Music Hall in Durham, NC May 16-18, check out this forum on Surf Guitar 101 for more details.

Videos for the Monterreys

First show featuring The Monterreys (NC), The Surge!, and Atomic Boogie

When you first see the Monterreys hit the stage you expect some sort of heavy, Southern rock but are instead knocked on your ass by energetic surf with a hint of flamenco.  These guys are a staple at Southern surf festivals with good reason as their live shows are excellent.

I have known members from Atlanta's The Surge! for a LONG time.  Eddie Katcher is a force with which to be reckoned.  Not only is Ed an astounding player, but a veritable encyclopedia of surf music history and gear, with a penchant for blondes (amps).  The Surge! plays the style as it was intended - loud and dripping with reverb.

Variety is the spice of life they say and for the first stomp, Atomic Boogie will offer it up in spades.  These guys play all things 'billy and blues: jump blues, rockabilly, psychobilly, country, Sun Records era rock 'n roll, you name it they probably play it.