Audio By Carbonatix
Even without the best waves in the world, South
Florida has a thriving surf culture, with enthusiasts ranging from
“super kook” to “full on ripper.” That’s one reason world-famous pro
surfer and musician Donavon
Frankenreiter is kicking off his summer tour with a two-night stand
at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. If there are waves — join us as
we pray — he’ll take in a couple of days of SoFla surfing. When New
Times caught up with Frankenreiter, he was getting ready for the
tour by “getting my guitar restrung and my surfboard waxed up.” Right
on.
Although Frankenreiter first cultivated a serious following shredding
waves across the globe, music is nothing new for him. At 16, he picked
up the guitar and around the same time began a surf career that
introduced him to world-famous musician/surfer/filmmaker Jack
Johnson. “[Johnson and I] were obsessed and addicted to surfing,”
Frankenreiter says. “[Music] was something we did when we weren’t
surfing. He’d show me chords; I’d show him chords.”
For a while, his relationship with music remained casual. He would
jam with fellow surfers such as Johnson, Kelly
Slater, Rob
Machado, and Tom Curran
but played live shows only occasionally, including one at an elementary
school. “Nobody really knew that we were ever going to pursue music as
something that we could actually do on a completely different level.”
That attitude changed around the turn of the millennium.
Late in the 1990s, Frankenreiter played in a band called Sunchild.
Though he doesn’t remember it, that band played in Fort Lauderdale back
in 1999 at what was then called the Chili Pepper (now Revolution) at a
premiere event for a surf film. Sunchild, which he now describes as a
“glorified cover band,” broke up in 2001. Around that same time, at age
30, he began writing songs and singing, and his longtime friend Jack
Johnson became an international star and started Brushfire
Records. These combined factors allowed Frankenreiter to take his
music to the next level, and his Jack
Johnsonesque self-titled solo debut was released on Brushfire in
2004.
The advent of his musical career was not indicative of a shift away
from surfing, however. He still does both as much as he always has.
“If I’m not on a music tour, I’m on a surf tour,” he says. “It all is
one for me. They balance each other out.” What has changed is that he
is now not only a man with two passions but two careers. “It’s kind of a
trippy thing for me, ’cause it’s two things not that I just love doing
but also they’re my job,” he says. “I try to make a living and support
my wife and my two kids [Ozzy and Hendrix] and my life.”
Surfing and music have always gone hand in hand — not just for
Frankenreiter but for wave-inspired people throughout history. Starting
with Hawaiian folk music, the connection can be felt in reverb-drenched
pop harmonies accompanying the American surf craze of the ’50s and ’60s,
punk rock scores from surf films of the ’80s and ’90s, and for the past
decade, the mellow tones of Johnson and pals gently flowing from iPods
and sandy acoustic guitars.
Frankenreiter’s music is part of the most recent movement, but it
wouldn’t be fair to completely lump him in with Johnson. After a debut
album composed of mellow, poppy, acoustic tunes, much like Johnson’s,
Frankenreiter’s second album, 2006’s Move by Yourself, employs Curtis
Mayfield-style soul and funk grooves backing his salty delivery.
The follow-up to that, 2008’s Pass It Around, brought together
elements of the first two efforts and carved Frankenreiter’s name into
the same palm tree containing the unmistakable JJ a bit farther
down the trunk. Call it two performers and friends doing different
maneuvers on the same wave.
Linking the latest wave of popular surf music with its origins,
Frankenreiter’s just-released Revisited reinterprets his first
album Hawaiian style. The concept began as something he and buddy Kirk Smart
set out to do just for fun. After Frankenreiter lived in Hawaii
for a few years, he had “[fallen] in love with the sounds” and wanted
to make some music with the instruments of the region. Smart had a
studio, the instruments, and the know-how to bring them to life. It took
just three days in the studio to record the tracks, which feature
Frankenreiter on guitar and vocals and Smart on everything else,
including such classic instruments traditionally used in Hawaiian music
as the ukulele, lap steel guitar, and slack-key guitar. The result is
unmistakably surf-influenced and Hawaiian.
Fans of the Hawaiian sounds will have the chance to soak them up in
person on this summer’s tour. In the middle of a standard show,
attendees can expect a 20- to 30-minute Hawaiian set, performed with
accompaniment from Smart and the rest of the band. “I want to bring that
to the people,” Frankenreiter says. “So they can get a taste of what Revisited
is all about. “
Eventually Frankenreiter plans to rework all of his albums in the
same way. Fans will have to be patient, though. The releases will be
spread out for “years to come.” In the meantime, Frankenreiter plans to
release a new studio album in October titled Glow and has more
installments of his Recycled Recipes EP series, featuring cover
songs recorded on the road, in store.
When asked if he can describe how surfing influences his music,
Frankenreiter responds clearly and without hesitation. “Just being in
the water, the rhythm of the ocean, the rhythm of the world, and
everything twists and turns around,” he says. “Traveling on planes,
being part of different cultures and countries. Surfing has definitely
made me the man and musician that I am today.” And is he planning to hit
the waves, or lack thereof, when in Lauderdale? “Yeah, dude, come on.
You got a board for me I could borrow? Take me out to some secret spots [laughs].”
Locals, keep your eyes and ears peeled. A full-on ripper is heading to a
break — and venue — near you.
Donavon Frankenreiter, with Mishka. 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, and
Thursday, July 1, at the Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort
Lauderdale. Tickets cost $19.99, or $35 for a two-day ticket. Call
954-564-1074, or click
here.
