The 12th Annual Surf Guitar 101 convention takes place in Torrance on Saturday — a veritable feast of surf rock talent on offer. L.A.’s Insect Surfers will perform as they celebrate their 40th anniversary, so we chatted…
L.A. WEEKLY: When and how did the band form, and what was the mission back then?
DAVID ARNSON: Insect Surfers formed in Washington DC, in the summer 1979. I wanted a band with guitars as cool as Quicksilver, Wire and Television that was as fun as The B52s and the Ramones — surf music was clearly the answer. Finding Davie Allan’s 1968 Cycle-Delic LP spurred me to start the band. Our first gig was with Bad Brains at the infamous Madam’s Organ space. We went from more of a new wave surf sound to a purely instrumental  sound in the move to L.A. We have slightly more of a psychedelic edge than most surf bands, but it’s all danceable. I never really thought I’d be doing the same band for 40 years, but I still really like it.
How has surf guitar changed and evolved in those four decades, as a style and scene?
There was not much of a surf guitar scene in the early ’80s, really. The Raybeats were playing NYC, we were in D.C., and we eventually heard of Jon And The Nightriders, Surf Raiders, and the Halibuts in L.A. Agent Orange and JFA brought awareness of surf music into the punk scene. People didn’t really know what to make of the sound on the East Coast, the sound had much more traction on the West Coast,where it originated. When I moved to L.A. to reboot the band in 1985, I realized that surf music got played on West Coast oldies stations, but not East Coast ones. We recorded our Reverb Sun record in 1989, but it took us two whole years to find a label who wanted to release it. The Pixies covered a surf instrumental in 1990. The sound didn’t get popular until the 1994 release of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which featured five surf instrumentals. That caused a real renaissance of surf bands — THANK YOU, Quentin Tarantino! Los Straitjackets and Man or Astro-man? have been probably the biggest bands on the scene since the mid-’90s. A lot of great instro bands can be found in Europe these days. There are surf bands to be found of all stripes these days — some are 1963-era revivalists, some are super garagey, and some are out to expand the sound using more modern influences.
What is the L.A. surf guitar scene like right now?
L.A. actually has a pretty good surf scene that involves free Huntington Beach Pier concerts in the summer, tiki bar venues, and a few score of bands. Most music clubs (save for Cafe NELA, Redwood and Maui Sugar Mill) don’t seem to give the style much of a priority, but audiences always  seem to like it once they actually hear it live. Hearing surf‘s reverbed guitars is really a unique sonic experience, kind of like Dick Dale (R.I.P.), Grateful Dead, Sonic Youth or Entrance Band, the sound really takes on a different dimension in a live setting.
What can we expect from this Surf Guitar 101 show? 
Surf Guitar 101 is the best surf festival in the U.S.A., due to a comfortable location and having some of the best bands playing  in the  current national and international scenes. Expect 12 hours of great music, a huge dance floor, legit food and drink, and lots of pop culture vendors.
What’s next for you? Aren’t you also playing Tiki Oasis 19?
Our 40th year has found us playing Europe and Italy’s Surfer Joe festival last month, the SG101 festival and the legendary Tiki Oasis fest this month, and we’ll ‘bee’ returning to the East Coast a few times this year. That involves playing Asbury Park’s High Tide Festival, returning to DC (where I’m doing a reunion with the original band!), and Atlanta’s ‘Southern Surf Stomp’ fest in September, and the SF Bay’s vibrant scene in October. We just released our Datura Moon LP on vinyl, and Living Fossils, a CD collection of all the compilations we’ve been featured on in the past 30 years. And we’re still writing new songs.
The Insect Surfers perform at Surf Guitar 101 with The Boss Martians, The Surfrajettes, Evan Foster plays the Instrumental album, The Pyronauts, Los Tiki Phantoms, Jason Lee And The R.I.P.Tides, Los Freneticos, The Delstroyers, The New Waves, Thee Swank Bastards, Trabants, and a Dick Dale Tribute, at noon on Saturday, August 3 at Alpine Village.

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