LOST CAUSE RETURNS!

Posted on October 3, 2019 by nealdude85

Rafferty in fine form

Throughout the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, Santa Cruz was a breeding ground for pissed off punk rock acts. The raw aggression inherent in the sound was greatly reflected in the generations of high-flying skaters and no holds barred surfers; fueled by aggressive lyrics, heavy riffs, thumping bass, and warp speed drumming. This was especially the case during the ‘90’s, where an explosion of diverse acts saturated the local music scene. While this over-saturation nailed a coffin in the lively scene, there are some legendary acts who remain favorites to this day. One such band was Lost Cause.

In 1993, young punk rock enthusiast and surfer Shane Rafferty knew he wanted to sing in his own band. He’d written some lyrics but didn’t have the crew to help him put them to music. One fateful day he got a chance to listen to his buddy Zack Mitchell’s demo tape. Mitchell, a drummer, had recorded some songs with guitarist Kalu Coletta and bassist Gabe Makenzie. Upon first listen, Rafferty could hear his lyrics pair up with the group dynamic in his mind, and immediately wrote up a few songs’ worth of lyrics practically overnight. Before long the crew was jamming. “Lost Cause” was born.

Their sound was old-school punk, heavily influenced by bands like B’last and Black Flag. Standout tracks include “21”, “My mind”, “Empty Bottle”, and “Tomorrow” (their most popular song to date). It wasn’t long before the local boys had won over the Santa Cruz punk crowd. In 1996 they were signed to Half Pint records. Copyright complications compelled to group to change their name, and for a few more years they performed under the moniker “Leveler”.

Sound and Fury *notice author in red surrounded in the Pit*

Around 2003, grown-up responsibilities led this tight act to disband, with Rafferty and Makenzie raising families and moving inland, while Coletta migrated to Oahu to hone his surfboard shaping skills. Fast forward a dozen years later and Rafferty, who had moved home and raised a few babies, felt an urge to get the band back together but struggled to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules.

Fellow punk rocker Guerin Myall was celebrating his 50th and asked if the crew could come together. Coletta had returned but Mackenzie was still living and working in Oregon. Despite this, Rafferty figured “if you build it, they will come”, and agreed to play the show. Sure enough, everyone was able to get together to salute their fellow punk rocker’s half-centennial landmark and the magic resurfaced.

The Band is Back!

“It was like nothing had changed,” remembes Rafferty. “The energy was immediate!”

Now the boys are back— this time to play their first official show this Thursday at the Catalyst with fellow at Live Oak shredders, “Kemper’s Temper”.

Next Fall, Lost Cause will join the similarly reunited Santa Cruz punk band “Good Riddance” on October 5 at the Discovery in Ventura. The group plans on releasing music from the early cassette days and recording new music next Fall.

Come pay homage to these local lifelong punkers! Show starts at 8:30. This is one you don’t want to miss! Plus the cover is only $5!!!!!

HOMETOWN HUCK!

Posted on May 17, 2018 by nealdude85

Who will win? All will be revealed come June!!!

Hometown Huck

Life At Sea’s Tim Ward Offers $$$ to the biggest boost!!

By Neal Kearney

Surf progression is fueled by many things: organized competition, bitter rivalries, cross-training, and a deep pool of iconic influencers and paradigm shifters. Borderline mythical Earth-shakers, from the Duke to Dane, continually redefine the way we look at riding waves. Add in the continual evolution of surfboard and wetsuit design, advent of life saving safety vests and the utilization of jet-ski assistance, and you’ve got some strong forces propelling advancement.

How else can the limits be stretched? In the name of progression, Santa Cruz-based artist Tim Ward and his “Life At Sea” brand, are offering a $15,000 purse for their best-maneuver-caught-on-video competition called “Hometown Huck”. Waged between local Santa Cruz surfers and their respective filmers, this contest awards a honking hunk of cheddar to the craziest display of gravitational gymnastics.

A full $10k of that purse goes to 1^st Place, and prize money has a partial split to the winning filmers. Bitchin’! The window started in 2017 and will end on May 31st of this year. With less than a month remaining to submit entries, this is a clarion call to all local punters to utilize the remaining days concentrating on corking out and submitting their clips before time runs out!

Monsieur Ward

Life At Sea is a Santa Cruz influenced line of stickers, patches, keychains, and more. Most visible locally, are the Monarch, Octopi, Mermaid, Shark, Poppies and other local flora-and-fauna bumper stickers. They are everywhere! Straight from the ever-inspired and creative Ward, the newest designs include a line of Surf Rat, Anchor, Black Flag, and other nautically themed designs.

Now, along with going global with various designs customized for many locales, the brand has donated nearly $50,000 to ocean cleanup and preservation so far, as well as donating toward our local Monarch Sanctuary at Natural Bridges. A portion of every Life At Sea purchase goes toward these honorable causes–which is fuckin’ dope!

Ward’s iconic TR Productions logo

Ward is noted for his cartoon strips in the dearly departed Transworld Surf, as well as designing globally recognized graphics for brands like O’Neill and the Monterey Marine Research Vessel. He is also a stylish surfer, deep thinker, and great friend. With the Hometown Huck contest, Ward and Life at Sea are offering up $10K to the local Santa Cruz surfer who captures themselves launching the craziest air during the contest window, which started in 2017 and will end on May 31^st, 2018.

This kinda aerial competition isn’t unprecedented. In 2008, Volcom announced they would award a ten-grand purse for a completed kickflip on a surfboard caught on tape, fueled in large part by team rider Ozzy Wright’s obsession and near-makes.

Zoltan Torkos, local Santa Cruz surfer and magician, sent Volcom an entry of him landing a, to be fair, “credit card”, kickflip. Volcom said no dice. Not above the lip, a condition clearly stated in the rules. The internet didn’t agree, and the Youth Against Establishment caved to public pressure ultimately awarding Torkos the cash.

The “Hometown Huck”, is basically the same idea, just on a local level and without restrictions on any particular type of air; much like the 50K payout won by Dusty Payne in 2008’s Kustom Airstrike campaign. Also, this aint’ no corpo publicity stunt, just a creative individual trying to pump out some flair and froth in a dying, core surf scene.

I recently chatted with Ward about his passion project and here’s what he had to say…

Ward Floats the Boat

You’ve been fortunate to have such success with your Life At Sea bumper stickers over the past decade or so. Is this contest a way of bringing back the creativity that Santa Cruz surfers have long been known for?

Great question. I was just thinking the other day, that Santa Cruz has pretty much invented the air, more than once. Kevin Reed in the very beginning, on a single-fin no less. Then Ratboy many years later, in an amphitheater setting at the (Steamer) Lane, when he split the peak with Slater and stole the show with an epic, futuristic Backside 360. Both KR and Ratboy were mag covers. I love the fact that Santa Cruz has such a prominent role in progressive surfing.

Ratty smokes Slates with the “Air Heard Around the World”

When/how did you decide to pursue this competition? Were there any specific inspiration or “Eureka!” moments in the brainstorming process?

Honestly, I feel fortunate to have had some of my art take off the way it has, and I simply came from a wave-sketching grommet-hood. The words, “Hometown Huck”, recently hit me as an event name, combined with a mental image of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn surfing on a fence post . That was it- I wanted to do something new, to give back to SC surf roots, and the Huck Finn idea/image was pretty damn fun.

The Wily Bastard himself, Huckleberry Finn

What kinds of moves are you personally hoping to see? A twist on an old favorite, or one that you’ve never seen or knew existed?

It would be awesome to see a backflip in contention, but I have no preference. Any burly move is a burly move. If you rotate, great, but if you do a huge straight air, great!

Without being too intrusive, how did you come up with the prize money. 10K is a considerable chunk o’ cheese!

The dough comes from the Life At Sea brand sticker/decal sales all over California, Florida, now in Hawaii and beyond. The purse was originally $5k, with a two-month shooting period, last summer (2017). That year was very flat, so I extended the window to an entire year–combining the money from that initial attempt with that of this year, 2018.

Noah “Waggy” Wegrich

Who are some of the local surfers whose entries you are excited to see? Any solid entries so far?

I’m not one of the Huck judges, so I’ll just give my own personal viewpoint and nothing else. The standout to me, with just weeks remaining are: Waggy (Noah Wegrich) with a huge frontside straight air and Shaun Burns with a frontside full rotor. And if we’re being honest, the actual skill and dedication required to stick the kickflips Zoltan (Torkos) does, who knows who will be in the money.

Who makes the call for the winner, and what goes into the final decision?

The judges are Shawn Dollar, Bud Freitas and Kalu Coletta. Each will independently select their own top picks, which will then be merged for the final math.

The “real” Santa Cruz is a distant memory, sadly. Is this an effort to shake up local rivalries and bring back the “core” or “nonconformist” reputation SC is known for?

I’d say it’s simply the result of an appreciation of progressive surfing- which does have a high degree of non-conformity. It’s purely for fun and for stoking some people out though…that’s it! Most of these #hometownhuck clips can be found on my Instagram @timwardart as well as Dave Nelson’s @nellysmagicmoments

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!!!

Posted on February 21, 2015 by nealdude85

I was introduced to the heavy, psychedelic sounds of a band called Kyuss at an early age. Their sound was equally raw and hypnotic, a blend of howling vocals and soothing instrumentals that became somewhat of an obsession for me. Born out of the hot climes of Palm Desert, Kyuss wasn’t the first of its kind, but became ground breaker for introducing the world to the unique genre of music known as “Desert” or “Stoner” rock. Kyuss dissolved in the mid-nineties, and the remaining members continued to share their unique musical prowess with bands such as Queens of the Stone Age, Unida, and Mondo Generator. Twenty years after the breakup of Kyuss, their legacy still remains, and on March 27^{th at} the Blue Lagoon, you’ll have the opportunity to taste the desert with three unique bands that retain that primal yet melodic sound. The lineup consists of Santa Cruz’s own Doors to Nowhere, the low desert area’s You Know Who, and Uncontrollable, featuring ex-Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age member Nick Oliveri. Over the next three weeks I’ll be interviewing Nick, along with Mike Pygmie of You Know Who, and Marc Lewis of Doors to Nowhere to bring you into their world. Stay tuned and make sure to mark your calendars for this epic rock event!

Mark Your Calenders