It's quite possible that if you haven't heard the album Deep Fantasy that you haven't lived. It was recorded by three Australian musicians (Penny Van Hazelberg, Lee Nania, and Harley Goodsell) and released in 2012 through Airlines Tapes, a label founded by Hazelberg.
Over the last three years, Deep Fantasy has become an underground sensation. MP is proud to present an interview with the two remaining members of S U R F I N G, Hazelberg and Nania, as they drop a guest mix on us as well as juicy details about their new EP.
MP: Can you tell us about the origin/meaning of the name, S U R F I N G?
P: Surfing the internet, Surfing thru life, Surfing on these bars...
MP: What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
L: Whatever my parents used to play so a lot of The Beatles, MJ and when I started playing guitar – stuff like Nirvana and older 60's/70's stuff.
P: The first music I really got into was the Doggystyle album, I use to have that on smash, that and the early Mobb Deep albums. Then I started getting into all kinds.
MP: Who are a few music artists you're currently into?
P: Andre3000, Four Tet, Young Thug, Oneohtrix, Laurel Halo, Suicide Boys
MP: What mediums are you pursuing outside of music?
P: Anything really.
L: FIFA.
P: Yea, FIFA too.
MP: Favorite David Bowie song/album?
L: Song - "Life on Mars" / Album - Hunky Dory
P: Song - "Heroes" / Album - Young Americans
MP: Someone online described your music by saying it would be played at a post-crack '90's party. Would you agree with that statement? At what type of party would you like to see your music played?
P: I dont know I never been to a post crack 90's party, what is that?
L: Not sure, but i think the music would suit a psychedelic party over a stimulant one.
P: I'd be into a day rave in the streets of Beverly Hills.
MP: The songs on Deep Fantasy are mostly smooth, which contrast with the rough aesthetic of the music videos, such as the glitch art used for "Moonlight". Is that contrast intentional, and why did you choose to use glitch art for that particular video?
P: We asked video artist Miko Revereza to make something he felt would fit the single and thats what you see.
MP: Although S U R F I N G's music is all original, it's often classified as Vaporwave.
Do you feel like you’re a part of the Vaporwave genre? How would you describe your music?
L: Not really, we've got a lot of live elements which aren't generally associated with vaporwave so I'd probably just call it electronic or something.
P: Nah we dont feel like we make vaporwave, it was just the timing that the album came out , you can make like 10 vaporwave albums a day if you wanted to, we would prefer to take our time and add original music and original ideas. There are elements of R&B, House and Funk that we're always blending in.
I think the main misconception is that the whole thing is samples, even my vocals, which is the funniest part. Some of our favourite records from our favourite artists have blatant samples in it, so I think it's a matter of doing it with respect. Don't be lazy with it. If it takes you two minutes to sample and slow down a beat, it aint done. Put your spin on it.
MP: What was your life like during the recording of Deep Fantasy? What was one of the most memorable recording sessions for the album and where was it recorded?
P: My life was the same pre and post recording.
L: Yeah pretty much the same as it is now. It was all recorded in our bedrooms after work.
MP: What were you drawing inspiration from when conceptualizing and recording Deep Fantasy?
L: I don't know really...There was no concept, we just start building songs as we feel.
MP: What would it take to see Deep Fantasy released on cassette again or vinyl?
P: The tapes are done, we've got love for the early fans who bought the tapes so we'll let them remain rare, as for Vinyl , its coming this summer.
MP: What's your response to the massive amount of love and support Deep Fantasy has received?
L: It's certainly a nice surprise...it's really cool to have that kind of reception towards something you've created.
P: Yeah it's great, we didnt really plan too far ahead. When we started working on Deep Fantasy we were actually in another band together which was a bit more like a job than an artform, so to make music you are having fun with and then find out that other people are feeling it, its a dope feeling.
MP: What's the current status of your tape label, Airlines, and will the upcoming album be an Airlines release?
P: Airlines is on hiatus, the tape game is a bit saturated right now and it's hard running a small label, especially from Australia.
MP: What's delayed the release of a follow up album, and when can we expect new S U R F I N G music?
P: Heaps of things went down, Our friend and bass player Harley disappeared, still no sign of him alive 3 years later. We recorded about 10 tracks for a follow up album, then after he went missing we scrapped it and started again.
L: Yeah just a bunch of things kept coming up both in a personal and life sense. But we can say new stuff will be here very soon.
MP: Can you give us a hint as to who you've collaborated with for the upcoming album? If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
P: Without giving too much away, we are collabing with a few vocalists for an EP coming out soon, weve got about 3 EP's recorded so there will be a few special guests for sure, LA Vampires is one I can give you for now.
L: I'd probably wanna work with Dev Hynes, Thundercat or Sly and Robbie and do some real bass heavy grooves.
P: dream collabs, maybe Prince or Andre3000? Rocky & Young Thug will do
MP: What's the main inspiration or theme behind the new album?
P: Instead of it sounding 80's/90's influenced I think we wanted to do something that was for 2016/17, but it's come naturally, we dont sit down and plan out a sound or direction
L: Yeah I'm not sure if we can compare it to a musical point in history. It's the sum of all our experiences and tastes.