Rippling, reverb-drenched, washed-out guitar tones; booming drum sounds; and grooving bass lines are the three traits that make The Surfrajettes a force of modern surf rock. The Surfrajettes have enchanted fans of surf music new and old, and even fans of other genres, as their top streaming songs are rumbling instrumental covers of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.” The band also composes their own rockin’ jams, adding elements of glam and new wave to their surfy sound. The Surfrajettes are set to perform at Agua Caliente Palm Springs on Thursday, Nov. 20. For tickets and more information, visit Events Palm Springs’ Eventbrite page.
What was the first concert you attended?
I think it was AC/DC when I was 11, the Stiff Upper Lip tour in 2000. It was either that or Natalie MacMaster, who is a Canadian fiddle player from Cape Breton Island.
What was the first album you owned?
It was the third grade. My parents got me a CD player/boombox for Christmas, and I remember they gave me the CD before the boombox, so I was really confused, because I had no way to play it. It was Billy Idol’s Vital Idol, which is a remix CD of his hits, but longer versions.
What bands are you listening to right now?
Bauhaus, which might be because it’s Halloween, which is kind of stereotypical, but I am who I am. Also, a band called The Cleaners From Venus, and Lesley Gore. I’m obsessed with Lesley Gore right now, and just vintage Halloween music in general.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
I’m going to say Drake. I’m Canadian, and I’ve actually really tried listening to him, and I’m really happy for people who enjoy Drake, but I just can’t hear it. Call me old fashioned; I’m really not a prude, but I also don’t love the trend of vulgarity in music. I’m of the school of innuendo and double entendres and clever lyrics. I don’t love music that I would be embarrassed for my grandparents to hear. It just leaves nothing to the imagination. I don’t love the idea of kids running around singing “WAP.”
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
Lesley Gore in her prime. I’m sure there are a million answers I could give for that. I think people hear “It’s My Party” or “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows,” and I don’t know if people realize the talent that woman has.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
I don’t really have any guilty pleasures. I can proudly sing many polka songs. I’m not easily embarrassed!
What’s your favorite music venue?
For nostalgia reasons, I’m going to say Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. When we first started as a band, we never thought that we would get to a level where we would be playing at the Horseshoe Tavern. That was such a big deal. Now we play at the Horseshoe Tavern. Growing up here, having our favorite bands playing there, it was definitely a personal goal, so it’ll always be special to me. Otherwise, I remember thinking the Asbury Park Convention Hall is really amazing. I don’t think I actually played in the convention hall; I played on the beach for our label’s summer holiday surf festival. It’s right on the ocean, so the waves crash into the side of it, and there’s so much patina on the building. There’s just something magical to me about Asbury Park. It’s got a boardwalk and the cheesy tourist side of it, but aside from that, it’s a really vintage, cool, nostalgic place. It’s a bit grimy, but amazing.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
It’s going to go back to Lesley Gore. It’s been a pivotal line in my life for the last year. “It’s My Party,” and it’s become meaningful in a different way. It’s the song that we close our show with every night, our walk-off music. It was my birthday actually, the show that we started that on, so it started as an inside joke, because it was my birthday and “I’ll cry if I want to.” That lyric just became meaningful to me, because it actually means more: It’s my life! Butt out—I can do whatever I want, like I can cry at my party if I feel like it.
What band or artist changed your life? How?
I always credit AC/DC as being the first band I ever really loved. I grew up really rural, in the country, and we had one channel, so there wasn’t a lot to pick from. I just listened to whatever I could get my hands on, which was tapes. My mom had tapes like Wynonna Judd and the soundtrack from this Barbra Streisand movie where she dresses up as a Jewish guy (Yentl). I was obsessed with music since I was very young, but then my dad put on an AC/DC tape, and that was the first thing that I really was obsessed with.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
I read in a magazine that Randy Rhoads asked Eddie Van Halen how he got his Floyd Rose to not go out of tune, because he would like to dive on his whammy bar, and he wouldn’t tell him. He was gatekeeping how he kept it in tune. I use a whammy bar all the time in surf music, so I would ask Eddie Van Halen, “How the hell did you keep your guitar in tune?”
What song would you like played at your funeral?
I’ve always loved the song “Under the Milky Way” by The Church, which might be a fun funeral song. It’s not sad; it’s melancholy, but I feel like that was a really important song in my musical development. I love new wave, but “Under the Milky Way” was the song that made me fall in love with new wave.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
Van Halen. I think that’s the best. It’s probably the album I’ve listened to in its entirety the most amount of times, because there is not one bad song on that record. All killer, no filler.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
“Only a Shadow” by The Cleaners From Venus, which is a super-niche song I heard in a restaurant and love.
