Been off the blogging track for nearly four months. Is that a hiatus? A vacation? A sabbatical? A creative slump?
Of course, when you neglect a project for awhile, you feel that you must come up with some excuse. This is particularly so when people inquire about your well-being. “Are you okay?” “Did something happen?” “Where have you been?”
Other than to thank people for asking, I got nothing -- no excuse, no funny story. I simply have been on break -- feel free to call it a vacation or a sabbatical -- from being a blogger. Meanwhile, the Pups practiced regularly, played a couple of shows, and lined up new dates. The creative juices even bubbled up a few times over the four months to work on new material.
Our blog missed the entire spring. We now are moving into a Sacramento Valley summer of hot days that call out for rock ‘n roll Lava Pups style. As we gear up for the next couple of months, the break from blogging has to end.
A quiet weekend at home was an opportunity to get back on the blogging track. It also was an opportunity to start promoting our August 16th show at Shine: Surf Night with the VibroCounts.
The first step for promotion was coming up with a poster. But a cartoonish poster for a show with the VibroCounts, three talented and very experienced musicians, did not feel right. As individual musicians, members of the VibroCounts, among other things, played with the Beau Brummels, nearly had a recording deal with Brian Wilson, and opened for some of the great acts from San Francisco’s summer of love. My cartoonish art just would not be fitting for, or respectful to, musicians with such serious, stellar resumes.
That meant thinking outside the Pup box and exceeding the bounds of what comes easily. What were we promoting? Talented. Experienced. Surf music. As those thoughts turned over, an idea came. It was time again for an old school poster. And what is more old school than Mickey Munoz’s quasimoto? Black and white photo. A true classic.
Mickey Munoz was a big wave pioneer. He was with Greg Noll, Mike Strange, and Pat Curren in the winter of 1957 when Waimea Bay was first ridden. Mickey Munoz also was a small wave innovator, experimenting with shorter boards. And he created the quasimoto.
Creative slump over! In a couple of hours, the poster emerged. An old school look for what should be an old school show -- fun, energy, and two surf bands. Maybe this is the first step to ending the vacation and getting back on the blogging track.