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"Like a wave coming after
me, The Blue Hawaiians, the tribal kings of exotica noir, aren't riding the waves, they're making waves. "We're not some happy-go-lucky surf party band," says Mark Fontana, the group's singer, bassist and main songwriter. "There's a beauty to what we do but also a darkness. We're always mixing styles. When people try to describe us, they end up saying, 'The Blue Hawaiians are...kinda weird. We take that as a compliment." It's not surprising then that legend has it Quentin Tarantino used to hang out at the infamous L.A. tiki palace The Lava Lounge on Sunday nights when The Blue Hawaiians started playing there in 1994, influencing his choice of surf oddities for the soundtrack to his next film. "There was this small cool vibe," Fontana remembers. "At first there were 15 to 20 people, then every Sunday night the crowds got bigger and bigger. Seven months later, Pulp Fiction came out. Suddenly the place was packed and there was a two-hour wait to get in."
Instead of songs about the endless summer, their songs are about endless temptation. "We've all been there," says Fontana, "tempted by fame, fortune or sex. Temptation can be good or bad. It just depends on what you do with it." Instead of reprising old vinyl, The Blue Hawaiians take the familiar sounds of pop culture, from spaghetti western to spy, lounge to surf, and make them into something new to suit their own peculiar tastes. "We've never played straight rock 'n' roll or been mainstream," says Fontana, pointing to their indie albums Live At The Lava Lounge (1995), Christmas On Big Island (1995) and Sway (1998). "There have always been musical twists. We don't fit nicely into a niche. We plotted our course whether people went with us or not. We were never part of a scene. From the beginning, we were our own scene." Called by some critics "the best tiki/lounge band on earth," their music ventures beyond happy hour and into the moody and dramatic, with a touch of mysterioso. By combining two unlikely elements, a Hawaiian steel guitar and a Hammond B3 organ, otherwise cheery music becomes eerie, melancholy, and, okay...kinda weird. Their occasional renditions of surf classics in performance are spooky wipeouts rather than faithful sun-and-fun homages. Their scene was launched when The Blue Hawaiians formed in March
1994 after Michelle Marini, owner of the just-opened Lava Lounge,
asked Los Angeles-based Fontana to assemble a new band for her
club. So he called on Mark Sproull (a classically-trained guitarist
who's also a Laguna Beach lifeguard) and Tom Maxwell (a drummer
and artist from Hermosa Beach who combines both talents by composing
ambient music for Also recruited was steel guitarist Bron Tieman, with whom Maxwell and Fontana were in The Beautiful Losers. Tieman (who toured with Everlast) has since been replaced by Gary Brandin, a country music player from Pasadena, California, who is now pushing the boundaries of conventional steel guitar sounds. Completing the lineup, on the Hammond B3, was Michael Murphy and later replaced by their newest member, Colorado native Eric Godal.
An underground sensation, The Blue Hawaiians have played Hollywood's Palladium and The Derby, the Sunset Strip's House of Blues, Roxy, and The Viper Room, and Santa Barbara's notorious club The Wild Cat. The band has been heard on the TV series "Friends"; the compilations Pulp Surfin' and Shots In The Dark; the documentaries "History Of Rock & Roll" (BBC) and "In Search Of Da Cat" (PBS), based on the life of surf legend Mickey Dora, and several motion pictures, including Black Sheep (starring Chris Farley and David Spade) and There's No Fish Food In Heaven (starring Tea Leoni). They also scored a CLIO-winning GUESS? Jeans commercial featuring Juliette Lewis, Harry Dean Stanton, Peter Horton and Traci Lords. Most recently, they have provided music for the hit cartoon series "Sponge Bob Sqaurepants" on Nickelodeon. Their fans tend to be music lovers whose tastes are as eclectic as the band's. "But I think the reason people really like our music," Fontana suggests, "is because it's soulful. We're not poseurs; there's a musical depth without all the gimmicks--racks of gear and effects--just Fender guitars plugged into Fender amps." But that's not the weirdest thing about The Blue Hawaiians, Fontana whispers. "All of us actually do surf." [ TOP ]
MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES
MARK FONTANA (bass player and vocalist) hails from Southern California. A self taught musician, Fontana says he was influenced by such classic rock & rollers as Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin and Roy Orbison. According to Fontana, The Blue Hawaiians “sprung from the ashes” of several bands -- The El Caminos, Johnny Monster & The Nightmares, The Beautiful Losers, Drew Weaver’s Vibrabeams, and The Panamints. In 1994, he formed the group to play at friend Michelle Marini’s newly opened Lava Lounge. “The guys were chosen because of their innate understanding of the surf/exotica sound, and their decided lack of posing.” he says. MARK SPROULL (lead guitarist) performed with Fontana in the El Caminos and Johnny Monster & The Nightmares. Born in Santa Monica and raised in Laguna Beach, Sproull’s musical roots stem from listening to his father play classical piano and watching his brother play electric guitar. He has studied both classical piano and jazz guitar and currently likens his sound to “many different styles -- surf, jazz, rock.” He includes among his influences Beethovan, Chopin, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, and The Rolling Stones, to name a few. TOM MAXWELL (drums) born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California. Maxwell grew up in a surfing environment. His musical training came from the family record player (“the alter of our home.”) Though his roots are in American music, Maxwell says “trance rhythms have always intrigued me, the way they move my spirit.” An active member in the L.A. arts scene, Maxwell composes ambient music for contemporary galleries in addition to being a fine artist himself. GARY BRANDIN (Hawaiian steel guitar) Born in Pasadena, Brandin admits he always wanted to be a skin diver like Mike Nelson from “Seahunt;” however, his mother made him take accordion lessons, which he “hated.” Musicians like Buddy Emmons and Jerry Byrd ultimately inspired Brandin to pursue a career in music. After years of playing mostly country bars, “trying to make lousy music sound good,” Brandin hooked up with Fontana and joined the band, lending his unique style as an integral part of The Blue Hawaiian’s sound. MICHAEL MURPHY (keyboardist/Hammond B3) discovered his true passion for music when he performed “Jingle Bells” at a Kindergarten Christmas production. Born in Sterling, Illinois, Murphy studied classical piano for 13 years. He cites the classical masters, along with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, as his early inspiration. He went on to perform with such noteworthy groups as Chuck E. Weiss & The Goddamn Liars, and Billy Vera and the Beaters. ERIK GODAL began playing music at an early age with classical training at the Aspen School of Music in Colorado. While listening to his father, a jazz pianist, Erik was inspired to venture into other styles of music - which focused on over-driving Hammond B3 organs, synthesizers and any keyboard with high amounts of voltage. His experience in composing, writing, engineering and producing helped him launch a series of bands over the years, including BLIND FISH on Polygram Records and NOVACAINE on Mercury Records. Returning to his roots of classical and symphonic music, Erik has focused on scoring music for films and television. Recently he has partnered with Mark Fontana to score the feature film GACY and the upcoming TOPANGA. [ TOP ]
CREDITSRecorded 4/16/95 at Performed & Arranged by The Blue Hawaiians Mark Fontana - Bass & Vocals Produced by Engineered and Mixed by Michael Kramer [ TOP ]
CREDITSProduced by Michael Kramer and The Blue Hawaiians Recorded at 7th Level Studios, Glendale, California [ TOP ]
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At the start, The Blue Hawaiians gathered just enough material
for two short sets, and came up with a faux history. It was a year
before neo-hipsters realized that they were not Wayne Newton's
moonlighting Vegas backup band. Then attired in sharkskin suits
over Hawaiian shirts-the group canned the aloha shirts once they
came back in style--today their fashion ethic is to dress with
the "class" of the golden age of Las Vegas. 
PICTURED RIGHT: The Blue Hawaiians on the set of "Chairman of the Board) 1997
LIVE
AT THE LAVA LOUNGE
SWAY