"Fueled by a high octane mixture of RockīnīRoll, Surf, Punk and liquid substances THE LOMBEGO SURFERS unleash a rocking show. Action packed intros reeking of Link Wrayish fuzz and garage punk tunes keep the crowd in gear." Those who have read some of my older fanzines will already know it: I consider the Lombego Surfers as one of the most underrated bands at least in Europe. I canīt really put in words what I like most about that band. Is it their stage quality? It is the sheer energy of their instrumentals? Is it the cool vocal garage-rockers? Go and find out for yourself! Get their excellent new album "Full Tank Of Tiki"!
Ok, how did the band start?
The band started in Basel.
Actually, it was started by me and Max, the other guitarist, who isnīt in the band anymore. We met by chance, and the
way we met was funny: we were at a party and somebody put on "Ramblinī Rose" by the MC5 and only two people got up to
dance. Everybody else was sitting there. And after that song I asked: "Do you play guitar?" and he said "Yeah." Well,
and that started the band. So, the MC5 started the band.
Well, Pascal (bass) is closest to me now, Max and I were more close. And our first bass player was also older, he would be 55 now, so it was closer at first. It is one of these things...Danny (drums), I have known him for a long time since he was twelve, when I gave him guitar lessons. It was not a sort of plan, it just happened.
Did you have any pre-Lombego Surfers bands?
Well, I am from the United States and of course at high school and later around the Boston area I played in a lot of Garage-Rock bands and high school bands. We werenīt well-known, but there was actually one 45 that I got them on but unfortunately I donīt have it anymore, I should try to get a hold on it, I am curious to see what it sounds like. One of the bands was called "Electrified Water Back Room", the one we had the most success with. And we played at a lot of typical stuff that went on back then, like "Battle Of The Band". I had a band with Pascal once in the 80īs. We did a lot of Clash, lots of English punkrock but had also an American touch as we did some Sonics songs as well. But that was just a sort of side project.
What about the name "Lombego Surfers"? Especially "Lombego", "Surfers" is more or less clear...
We had to play two nights in a row with the first night in Bern. We played with the Fuzztones. As we didnīt have a name, we called us the "Torpedos". And the next night, we had to play just instrumental music because we played with the other band of the Fuzztones guitarist. So we had to think about another name, "Lombego" is "Lumbego", which means "Hexenschuss". I spelled it wrong because...Led Zepplin spelled their name wrong, normally it would be "Lead Zepplin" (the metal). But they were afraid that the stupid Americans would say "Lead Zepplin" (to lead, the verb), so they spelled it only with an "e". And I knew if we would play in Germany and spelled it with a "u" they would say "Lumbego" instead of "Lombego" which is the proper pronounciation. And for some reason after that gig everybody started calling us. So the audience gave us the name. That was around 1989. We didnīt have a record out then.
When did the first record come out?
That was in 1991. There was one song before on a french compilation in 1989. We did an instrumental called "Jungle Walk". Unfortunately it is sold out, there were a lot of bands on it, like Yard Trauma, with Lee Joseph, they had two songs on it, then there were the Maniacs, the Cannibals and some more...actually a good compilation. And this record was the one that got us going. Because this guy who did it was really into Garage-Rock and he had really good connections and as a result of that record, we got a booker in Germany. We had one song out.
Was the musical style then different from now?
Not really. The instrumental side was the same, the only difference was that I was using a Fender guitar, but it was still a Marshall amp. The kind of song was pretty much the style of the "El Cheapo" 7inch. As a matter of fact, I think we are going to record "Jungle Walk" again.
I am asking because I received the "Mindquake" 12inch and I was kind of astonished because it sounded a bit different than everything else I know.
Itīs more heavy. But we were more like we are now. The funny thing with this "Mindquake" 12inch was because of the drummer and the bass drum. So it got that really deep sound and it was more metal.
Who is writing the songs?
Itīs usually me who has the ideas for the songs and the riffs and then we work it out.
When you start writing a song, do you know whether it is going to be an instrumental or a vocal song?
I think there is a certain kind of style of instrumentals where itīs clear. For us it would be something like "El Cheapo" or "Tiki Zone" from the new album. But there is also stuff that could go both ways. "Destination Blue" was written for a situation that happened with someone who means a lot to me. She is a pretty cool fan of us. I wrote the words in the bus as we were driving and then, at a soundcheck, we did the song.
What about the lyrics? What do you normally sing about?
A lot about the lyrics are about things that happened, about things that are happening but also, it could be a situation where you might want to explore a feeling, maybe like a fairy-tale as you said. "Destination Blue" and "Donīt Drift Away" are real situations.
What is "Short Changed" about? I donīt get it...
To put that song into a nutshell...you know the feeling you get when you get tricked. In the states you would say "short changed". I donīt want to be tricked again, I donīt want to be the loser.
What are your main influences? Except Link Wray...
Well, Link Wray is pretty obvious. The MC5, the kind of stuff I got into when I was starting, Garage-Rock and so on. Curiously enough, I think a big difference now to the 1960īs and 70īs was that more often you got more influenced by local bands, like Berry & the Remains from Boston and later, DMZ...the Stooges, early Stones and the Real Kids. All these Boston bands that you would see. There was also lots of bands that never, ever made it, that were really cool. These were the bands that would play live all the time. Also the Paint, Sonics, Wailers. Bands from now, I am a big Dead Moon fan, they are one of the coolest live bands, then the Ramones of course...the usual stuff. Oh, I almost forgot the Animals.
What cover songs do you have?
Right now, we got "Pipeline", "California Sun", "Problem Child" from AC/DC, "Baby I Donīt Care" by Elvis, itīs a song from a movie. We played some Stones songs, occasionaly we did "Play With Fire" and sometimes "Jumping Jack Flash" or "Last Time". We also did "Donīt Let Me Be Misunderstood" by the Animals.
What songs do you personally like playing? Do you like playing instrumentals or the vocal stuff?
I like the mixture. I like playing both, which is really important for the Lombego Surfers and I think itīs also a
thing that seperates us from a lot of other bands that do instrumental stuff. Sometimes people will have problems with
that. I donīt mean this in a nasty way, but I think Germans are sometimes dogmatic. They like things to be in a certain
way and it has got to be that way. Surf bands have got to sound like this and have got to use Fender guitars and Fender
reverb. And when someone comes and plays a Gibson over a Marshall amp it canīt be surf.
But it really is a mixture. You know it changes every time we play. On this tour, the block "Tiki Zone", "Roadside" and
"Wing It", thatīs been the best one.
Is it easier to get a reaction from the audience with instrumentals or with vocal songs?
Thatīs what I meant before. On this tour, itīs so hard to say, but right now I would say itīs the instrumentals. But it depends where you are. For example when we played in Spain a couple of years ago, there, the instrumentals werenīt this good, there it was more the rockīnīroll stuff, I mean the AC/DC kind of stuff. But itīs difficult to say. It depends completely on the audience. In Berlin, we could have done anything, it didnīt matter, everything was fine. But in another place, maybe Leipzig, it was more the instrumentals.
How many shows do you play per year?
I would say itīs about 80 to 100 shows. Usually, we would have about two or three tours in Germany. Then we have got shows we organize in Switzerland. I know it seems like a lot but now we played 11 in a row. By the end of May, we will already have played about 35 shows this year. We will do another german tour, then it will be 50, and then there are swiss gigs, we are playing all the time there and we will go to Spain again this year. But we play in Germany the most. Some of the shows in Switzerland came on spontaneously, like playing with the Godfathers or like this anniversary in Zurich. I donīt know if you are familiar with that, 20 years ago, on the 30th of May, street riots started. So itīs going to be a big celebration, all the old punk bands are going to play again...and we played with Dee Dee Ramone in Luzern. We are playing support of nearly all bigger bands in Switzerland. But we limit ourselves to playing in Basel only two times a year, so that people donīt get sick of us. In October, we organized a show in Basel and the Monsters were headlining and we will be headliners around Bern next time, we have a little stuff going on with those guys.
Can you afford partying while being on tour and still be able to maintain your quality on stage?
I think this is really important. You have to watch it. Like on this tour, Leipzig and Dresden and Berlin were special. That was pretty close to three days in a row. If you have the chance to meet all those guys it just stretches out. But you have to watch. If I just stick to beer, then itīs okay. When we played with the Godfathers, I talked to the singer who is about my age and he is pretty calm as well. But the other younger guys, they were really bad. A lot of times when we are playing with support bands, those guys hang out before the gig and watch us guys thinking "Oh those old guys." We are calm saving the energy so that we can give it to the audience. Even if there are not many people in the audience, it normally isnīt their fault, if somebody paid to see the show, you have to play for them. Itīs much harder to play for a few people.
What can you tell me about your new record?
We recorded it as a live mix in only five days. We wanted to go back to the way we were. Also the idea of one side of vocals and one side of instrumentals, which was also that way on the very first record ("Gates Of Graceland").
What about all your designs, covers, t-shirts, posters? Who does that?
Itīs a guy named Dirk Holzmann, he is a dutch guy who lives around Bern. From the very very beginning, he always did our stuff. Actually, for that concert where we got our name, he had done the poster. He could be one of the most famous artists. He has done stuff for Yard Trauma, Thee Forgiven, The Miracle Workers, The Chesterfield Kings, basically garage stuff.
How long do you think a band can continue playing live? I am especially thinking about the Stones who still play and the Ramones who quit. Do you think there is something like an "age border"?
I would say itīs less of an age border, but more of a "venue border" and the way concerts are. I think when the Stones
would say: "We donīt want to do this huge stadium gigs anymore, we want to go back where it started", played places
like here, then it would be cool, they had to use another name, though. That would also be cool with the Ramones, if
they would come back and play club gigs. But I think it was a good idea to stop. Take Link Wray, for example, he could
play because he never had that stadium gigs. So, age is not that important, itīs more the situation the band maybe was
in, or is in.
Take Aerosmith, for example, when they would play a gig in Ohio or somewhere and they would arrive a day early, they
would go down to the pub and ask whether they would be allowed to play. You have to give that guys some credit even
they are commercially successful, they are still rockīnīroll.
How was this tour?
Some have been good and some have been not so good. You canīt expect too much from a Monday or a Tuesday. You canīt generalize everything, but we normally have the better concerts in the eastern part of Germany. The people there have more knowledge, "this song sounded like....and that song sounded like...", they know all that stuff.
Do you remember the first gig you ever played?
It was in 1967. We had a band and I remember that we only knew three songs. We did "Gloria", a ten minute version, "Louie Louie" and one original "Making A Run".
Do you still get nervous on stage?
Itīs much less. Only when stuff doesnīt work, you have a bad sound system or no monitors or a bass not working...stuff like that.
Are there any other bands from Switzerland that one should know?
Well, the Monsters and Lightning-Beat Man for sure, then the Man From S.P.E.C.T.R.E. from Zurich. Those are the bands I can think of. Itīs a small scene.
Thanks a lot for the interview!
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1991 "Gates Of Graceland" 2xLP (Disctrade)
1992 "Blow Your Lunch" CD (Disctrade)
1993 "Mindquake" 12" (Flight 13)
1996 "Way Gone" LP (Flight 13)
1996 "Split-7"" b/w NoNotNow (Flight 13)
1996 "Split-7"" b/w Feebles (Sheep Rec.)
1997 "Friendly Fire" 10" (Flight 13)
1998 "Friendly Fire" CD (+Bonustracks) (Flight 13)
1999 "El Cheapo" 7" (Flight 13)
2000 "Let It Rip" LP (Flight 13)
2001 "Third Stage" 7" (Sheep Rec.)
2001 "Tank Full Of Tiki" LP (Flight 13)