Name: Big Wipeouts

Genre: Instrumental Surf Rock

Geographical Area: Boston MA

Interview with: Sean O'Connor on 7/25/10 by email

1. What is the current line-up of your band?
 

Brian "fingers" McKenna (aka Deadeye, Rocko, Indy, Yogi, Byron, Pinball, Abraham, Schlong, The Brain, Kermit, and you better not call me Opie!) - Guitar

Christian "Clubber" Orcutt - Drums

Sean "The Jaker" O'Connor - Bass


2. How and when did you get started with your band?

First the earth cooled. And, then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died, and they turned into oil. And, then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benzes. And, Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di's clothes. I couldn't believe it, he took her best summer dress out of the closet, and put it on, and went to town. Then I threw a dead crawdad into a volcano and sacrificed my soul to the Tiki Gods, and Brian and Chris magically appeared and we've been playing together ever since.

3. What bands or music have influenced you most?
 

The Big Wipeouts are influenced by peer pressure, childhood experiences, and a need to be loved. We also acknowledge our enjoyment of the whole surf genre with a nod to our individual musical roots in rock (Zepp, AC/DC, etc), punk (Misfits, The Clash, Replacements, etc), and Reggae (Bob Marley, Toots, etc).
 

4. What is the breakdown of cover vs. original material in your live shows and/or recordings?
 

We do mostly original covers with a few covers of originals thrown in. We've also covered some covers of covers but didn't originally do any original originals. We also do Pipeline.
 

5. What recording have you done?
 

We have a demo of some pretty mainstream surf tunes (Miserlou, Pipeline, Calhoun Surf) that is primarily for landing gigs, which is our focus right now. It is only on 8-track tapes so we are looking to upgrade at some point. Eventually, we will get back in the studio over the winter, or the spring, or maybe next summer - which ever comes first. Also, we've videotaped every performance we've ever done. Look for some of them on Youtube, MySpace or Facebook. We also like adding our music as soundtracks to old monster movies and surf videos.
 

6. What kind of gear do you use?
 

Sean – 6'4" Channel Islands shaped by Al Merrick when the surf is good; 6'8", 7'3", and 7'7" Bushman guns shaped by Jeff Bushman for when the waves get big; 9'3" Liquid Dreams longboard for those small days; 95 Fender 50th Anniversary American P-Bass; Ampeg SVT4 Pro through Bergantino HT322 or Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 through Epifani UL210

Brian - Okay guys, I know that is a bone of contention among surf purists, but I play a Mesa boogie DC-5 amp and a Paul Reed Smith guitar, and I'm proud of it. That's right. You read correctly. And why, you ask? Because Mesa Boogie is the best. And Paul Reed Smith is the best. Not because that's the amp that I already had when we started a surf band. Many times I've plugged into a Fender amp, and many times I've immediately unplugged from the Fender and plugged back into the Mesa. I know, I know. A bounty has just been placed on my head. I also have a Fender Stratocaster but I don't use it. Isn't rock 'n roll supposed to be about rebelliousness, and breaking the rules, not about conformity and doing it the same as everybody else? Well, okay I'm breaking a couple of rules. But for me it's about the tone, the smoothness, the sustain, the clear articulation. I turn the reverb up to 10 on the Mesa. I use a Line 6 Pod xt which digitally replicates the sound of a Fender reverb tank and turn that up to 7 or 8 with decay at 55%. I turn the reverb down on the Pod only when there is so much reverb that I can't hear what notes I'm playing. I use a digital delay, set to 285 milliseconds, feedback at 83% and mix at 37%. If they had digital delay in 1963, I'm sure Dick Dale would have used it. People come up to me and ask me how do I get my guitar to sound like that. Now you know.

Actually, I have also been considering buying a Fender Jaguar and maybe a Fender Twin Reverb. If I do, I'll be sure to contact Sandy and have her delete the previous paragraph. (Do it. Quickly. - ed.)

Chris – bangs on anything within his reach including his 77 Slingerland chrome 4-piece
 

7. What is your band’s favorite food/beverage?

Sean – the rutabaga, chocolate, pistachios, Crown Royal on the rocks

Brian - lobster; favorite beverage is Margarita or Mojito

Chris – beer and cigarettes
 

We wait around the back stage door of clubs and when the band that is scheduled to play shows up, we tie them up and then play in their place. We find that there are lots of people who love surf music and just don't know it yet.
 

9. What are the difficulties you find playing your kind of music in your area?
 

If we play too loud, my Mom yells at us to turn it down. 

Note from Brian: I find it difficult when somebody asks what kind of music do you play, and I say, surf rock, and they say, Oh, like the Beach Boys? and I say, well, kind of like the Beach Boys but with no singer and with fast guitar solos, and they say, Oh, you mean like Joe Satriani? and I say well sort of but with less emphasis on lydian and mixolydian scales and more emphasis on on major, minor, and pentatonic scales, with an occasional phrygian and byzantine scale thrown in, and they say oh you mean like Frank Zappa on "Shut Up and Play Your Guitar"? and I say, well sort of but with less wah wah pedal and more reverb, and the songs are mostly short and never go over 8 minutes and more emphasis on tremolo picking and no dive bombing on the whammy bar, and they say, oh you mean like Dick Dale, and I say, YES, EXACTLY!

    
10. What positive attributes does your band have that sets you apart from other bands (of any genre)?

We try and put the Potsie Webber chord in all of our tunes. At our shows we sometimes project video clips of old horror movies, surf clips, and random images on the stage for visual interest. We also occasionally perform with Go-Go dancers which can get the crowd in a dancing mood.

11. What have you found to be the single most effective promotional tool you’ve used to further your band’s musical path?
 

The interweb, and writing "for a good time, call the big wipeouts" on bathroom walls.

12. What’s the most interesting performance experience you’ve had?
 

We played a gig with "the human floor", a guy who lays on a bed of nails while girls jump up and down on him and staple dollar bills to his face (for real!). He also had a girl smash his face into broken glass on the floor. Look for it on MySpace.
 

13. What do you hope to get out of being a NESMA member?

Being a NESMA member is reward enough in itself. That and a years supply of Turtle Wax.
 

14. Anything else?

Have you ever noticed that if you stare at a cow long enough, it looks like your cousin you met many years ago back at the family reunion? Or maybe it's just me. Friend us on Facebook. "big wipeouts" Add us on Myspace.com/bigwipeouts. Search for our videos on YouTube. Come to our gigs. Say Hi. Thanks NESMA for keeping surf music alive on the East Coast!