Surf Coasters - History

History

The band became known with their stint on the talent show television program, Ebisu-Onsen, a show very similar in concept to the American program, Star Search), on which the winning band would receive a recording contract.

Although the Surf Coasters did not win the competition, their success on the show led to a loyal fan following. They succeeded to make it into the final round of the competition, where they finished in second place; however, they still received a record deal, which led to the release of their debut CD, Surf Panic '95, which, despite being an instrumental album, sold well. The band also played that year with surf music legend and "King of the Surf Guitar", Dick Dale, who was on his first tour of Japan. Reportedly, after the tour Dale referred to Naka as the "Prince of the Surf Guitar.".

Since then, the band has released upwards of twenty records, for the Columbia, Victor and BMG record labels, and have become the number one instrumental band across Japan. Their sound has varied since 1995, including dancehall, acoustic arrangements, blues, ethereal, and heavy metal. Naka has also gone on to record, with and without the rest of the band, on other musical projects, including soundtracks for film and video games. Shigeo Naka was a guest guitarist playing the song "Test Driver" and Naka's own composition, "The Clash", with Takeshi Terauchi & Blue Jeans on their 1996 album, Catch a Wave.

Though the group has not officially disbanded, they played their last shows together in November 2005. Kurita has been playing bass with his band Chill.