Why The Groove Factor Is Essential In Instrumental Rock Music

Instrumental surf rock has a long history. It's never become a largely popular style of music, instead remaining confined to pockets of ardent believers the world over, but its groove and feel bring with it a passion and call to mind a place and time, perhaps more so than other forms of rock'n'roll. Since the days of Dick Dale, Link Wray, The Ventures and a host of others, surf rock has spread and today is practiced in countries all over the globe.

Los Coronas, out of Spain, are one of the genre's giants. Formed in 1991, this quintet has taken the style and made it their own, drawing not only from the pioneers of the genre, but infusing elements of their own musical heritage as well. As guitarist David Krahe says, "Sometimes we say we play flamenco-surf. Even though we are not skilled enough to play flamenco music, our touching on that style is the main hook to play out of Spain."

"Our secret weapon is the triple F: Fiery Fiesta Factor... the message would be something like 'Twist and Sweat!"

Further influences include the compositions of Ennio Morricone and Dimitri Tiomkin (the links between the 'Western' themes and surf rock are more than obvious, and classic films like Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad And The Ugly were actually filmed in the south of Spain), but it's the rock'n'roll and how it translates that truly makes it real for Los Coronas.

"The groove factor is essential in instrumental rock'n'roll music," Krahe enthuses, "The rhythm section has to make people dance, the trumpet contributes with the emotional factor and the guitars are taking the responsibility to protect the bandmates. They create a wall of melodies, riffs, chaos, whatever, they are representing the epic factor in the band, like electric warriors playing rugby."

You get an idea, listening to Krahe talk, of what the band would be like in the live setting, for as an instrumental band, this is where they shine. "Our secret weapon is the triple F: Fiery Fiesta Factor... the message would be something like 'Twist and Sweat!'. We try to imagine there's a fight between the ocean and the shore — we represent the ocean and the public's the shore. We create a kind of tidal wave with our rhythm section and the only way people can save themselves, they must take a longboard and enjoy the experience."

Los Coronas are appearing at the Brisbane Festival on their third trip Down Under, their first only three years ago. However, as you'd expect in a country with a long surf tradition, the band have been welcomed here, and as Krahe recounts, have given back on an emotional level.

"[We played two shows at Sydney Festival] and had a cover [of Billy Thorpe's version of] Poison Ivy up our sleeve — we dedicated it to Billy's memory. Only one week before, we had been playing in San Remo, next to Phillip Island, at the same stage where Billy did his last gig and suffered the heart attack. So when we finished the gig, many people came to us and told me they appreciated our words. We were able to feel how special Billy Thorpe was for Australia's rock'n'roll scene. It was a very emotional moment."