Moms I'd Like To Surf: Keeping Surf Music Alive And Well In France

"Moms I'd Like To Surf" is a surf rock instrumental group out of France. They play a very unique brand of surf with chops to burn and a very funny sense of humor. They have recorded two EPs and last year released their first full length album, "Beach Control To Major Knob". Frankie Goodlord, the band's bassist, was kind enough to take some time and answer my questions about the band, their influences and the state of surf music in France.

ROCK N ROLL CASEY: Who are the members of the band and what do they play?

FRANKIE GOODLORD:  All members of Moms are multi-instrumentalists.  John John de Vito, our lead guitarist, is actually a sax player.  Kristina Fabula, our baritonista, is a violinist.  Bobby Ballard, our drummer, is a guitar and bass player. I have always played bass although I play guitar for composing. Our second album will be an occasion for adding additional instruments.

CASEY: Why Surf Music?

FRANKIE: We say it's because there is no singer, despite the fact there are three singers in the band.  We wish to play without the constraint of vocals and what it imposes on the way of composing.  We used to play within the standards of pop music composition and now we have the freedom to play only our own instruments and visit another way to create music. Moreover, surf music is a joy to play.  It's fast sometimes brutal or intense.  You are allowed to play on one string. It's an easy way to feel

something without putting notes all around.  In music history, surf music has defined a lot of guitar techniques and influenced some of the genres which came after; psyche rock, hard rock or punk rock.  There's another aspect we can mention; the sound of surf music.  Of course, the first thing which comes to mind is reverb and the tremolo effect with a good Fender amp and a Jaguar Fender guitar. This is another standard in surf music.  We are not totally into this vintage fetishism but we like the way we can produce dynamics and intensity without tons of pedals.  It's definitely a live music genre which doesn't need a big musical production. It's all in the way you play.

CASEY:  What bands or artists had an influence on you?

FRANKIE:  For the classic era of surf music, we have to mention The Ventures, The Fender IV or The Atlantics. But we also like the orchestral surf tunes like Jack Nitzsche did. His version of "Man With The Golden Arm" is awesome. French movie music composer Raymond Lefevre, we covered "Jo" on our first album, or Claude Bolling, although they aren't part of the surf music universe. Some of us discovered surf music from Mike Patton of  Mr. Bungle and the specific use of guitar techniques done by Trey Spruance on their third album, "California". Also, Frank Zappa. "Lemme Take You To The Beach" and "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance" are awesome surf tunes.  For the contemporary era, we appreciate Man Or Astro-Man, The Merman, Phantom Four and our favorite, Daikaiju. We played with them on their last European tour, it was terrific.  More recently, we have been kicked off by the work of a band from Toronto, the New Shaker Sex Addicts. They have an eighties sound that sounds so fresh.

CASEY:  Who is the main songwriter in the band?

FRANKIE: There's no main songwriter in Moms.  Everyone brings demos made at home and the collective work focuses on arrangements and making better sounds together during rehearsals.  The fact is, there are three professional musicians in Moms that play in several other bands, sometimes together.  We must be organized as hell to find time to play together.  That's why we don't lose time by composing together. For us, surf music is an occasion to mix different types of music together.  We like to sound like a combination of classic surf, exotica, space age music and early garage rock.

CASEY:  What is the music scene like in France?

FRANKIE:  The French scene follows several waves of surf music like it seems to be in other countries, divided between traditionalist, punk or metal oriented. You can find followers of the classic era like the excellent Agamennonz and The Wave Chargers.  One of our favorites is Arno de Cea and the Clockwork Wizards from Bordeaux, a kind of post-surf-punk trio with powerful energy and madness on stage.  We also like Chemist and the Acevities and the Beach Moonsters both from Dijon.

CASEY:  So many bands and musicians take themselves way too seriously, you include a lot of humor in your music, why?

FRANKIE:  We are trying to answer Frank Zappa's question, 'Does humor belong in music?'. Since surf music is instrumental, the only way to make sense of it and tell a story is through song titles.  This is where it comes into play, where you can create meaning and a new way of projecting yourself into an imagery of surf music like American mythology.  Also, there is a desire for us to bring this surf culture to the second degree, even to the third, because in France it first evokes "Pulp Fiction" and not much else. It doesn't matter if we take ourselves too seriously, people always think we're a Shadows cover band for the older or a "Pulp Fiction" tribute for the younger.  As we are in a niche market and we are not in it for the money, we may as well laugh at ourselves. It is even a little absurd today to believe that music can be something other than entertainment. When you are aware of this, you can feel free to create what you want and as we are still DIY, we can shout our loud, "Who cares?"

CASEY:  Why do you think American roots music, surf, garage rock and blues, has become so popular in France and other parts of Europe? It is probably more popular overseas than in the States.

FRANKIE:  I'm not sure surf music and garage rock are more popular in France than in the United States, even if we hope it is.  I think the situation is different in Italy and Spain but I will know more after we have played there.  On the other hand, I know that when we question our baby boomers and the older musicians we know, surf music has often been considered in France as funny or silly music. Imagine that; all of these riffs played in the treble. It seems less powerful and tough than the big riffs played in the bass as we find in rock or heavy metal.  It also must be said that the mainstream European musical culture was less marked by jazz and exotica music and everything related to American instrumental music.  The technicality of European musicians, as well as their harmonic mastery at the time, was not easy, especially for drummers.  There was very little European surf

music in the sixties. The French "Yeye", the popular genre at the time, was more marked by rock n roll and variety singers.  There is a whole mythology of American rock and English pop music in France which has marked many generations and which still remains significant today.  But nowadays, something is happening with the vintage or nostalgia phenomena that you can find in all mass culture like in cinema, design, TV and, of course, music.  The iconography and aesthetics of the fifties and sixties refer to something more authentic and less marked by technology and digitalization.  The renewed interest in surf music comes from there, in my opinion. For our generation and for the general public, it was the Tarantino soundtracks which re-popularized  the genre.  For current musicians, I think it was mainly the punk bands from 1990-2000, or what we call the third wave of surf music, who helped bring surf music back.  In France, groups like the Hawaii Samurai, The Irradiates and Demon Vendetta have rekindled the flame with a very wild sound and influences quite different from those of the sixties.  This is why surf music in France also brings together many Hard Tech fans, punks, vintage hipsters, as well as, techno festival goers or boomers, who only know The Shadows and don't even know about Dick Dale. It is quite heterogeneous and is quite pleasant to watch from the stage.

CASEY:  What projects does the band have coming up?

FRANKIE:  We are deep in the DIY process.  We make our own videos and we plan on making more videos for songs from "Beach Control To Major Knob".  We are also composing our second album. It will have a more orchestral touch and we will continue to mix more of the music genres we love.

Written by Casey Redmond
February 6, 2020

Moms I'd Like To Surf Website

Moms I'd Like To Surf Facebook

Casey's Website