Surfer Blood

Florida four-piece Surfer Blood had an incredibly busy summer last year doing the festival rounds in support of their album 'Pythons', but can we expect a similar year for 2014?

Well, maybe. We're incredibly excited about their forthcoming appearance at California's hottest music and arts festival Coachella, and we can only hope that the rest of the world will be treated to similar thrills. They will be performing on April 13th and April 20th alongside artists such as Blood Orange, Daughter, AlunaGeorge and Krewella, which will make for a fun time socially if not musically. 'As far as festivals go, I like the camaraderie between the bands', vocalist John revealed in a video interview. 'You're all in the backstage area together and it feels like you're all just at this summer camp for adults.'

Watch the video interview with Surfer Blood:

Indeed, the band - who are vocalist John Paul Pitts, guitarist Thomas Fekete, bassist Kevin Williams and drummer Tyler Schwarz - first joined together at Miami's Ultra Music Festival after party, cementing the already well-known fact that these events are great places to meet new people and bond over music. 'We have a very wide range of tastes and that's kind of what we bonded over', Kevin muses. They released their debut album 'Astro Coast' in 2010 through Kanine Records which drew them immediate attention, with positive reception from both listeners and critics, and a subsequent EP in 2011 entitled 'Tarot Classics' featuring live favourite 'Drinking Problem'.

Watch Surfer Blood perform 'Drinking Problem':

2013 saw them take on a particularly busy year with the release of second LP 'Pythons' and what seems like non-stop live performing in hindsight, supporting Foals and joining Gauntlet Hair on their US Autumn tour. The album was produced by Gil Norton of Pixies and Foo Fighters fame at EastWest Studios in LA, and while their newest work is a lot more refined than the raw charm that was 'Astro Coast', 'Pythons' is nonetheless an engaging listen featuring songs such as the expressive and atmospheric 'Demon Dance'.

Watch Surfer Blood perform 'Demon Dance':

Last year, as well as hitting up US festivals such as Texas' SXSW, Outside Lands in Calfornia, 1077 The End's Summer Camp in Washington and Riot Fest in Chicago, they also traversed around Europe for France's Rock en Seine, Belgium's Pukkelpop and the UK's Leeds and Reading Festival. 'Festivals give a chance to, for a lot of people, see a bunch of bands that they would like to see that might not otherwise come through their city', says Kevin. 'When I was in high school and middle school, a lot of the first bands I saw were in festival settings.' Thus, Surfer Blood will follow up Coachella with an appearance at Suburbia Festival in Schulenburg, Texas on May 3rd.

Surfer Blood By Frank Maddocks

The band have some other exciting gigs coming up too, including a show alongside Guided by Voices on May 22nd at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia, and they'll also be unveiling a limited edition vinyl pressing called 'Pythons Demos' for Record Store Day on April 19th. But hurry, as there will only be 1,000 copies available!

Read our review of debut album 'Astro Coast' here

Watch more Surfer Blood videos here