Tsunami Samurai
Instrumental surf rock based in Louisville, led by Bryan Hamilton. Founded sometime in 2011 or 2012 and would be more active from 2014 onward. Broke up in July 2019 and reformed in October 2019 to which they've remained active since.
Biography via Cincy Music
Tsunami Samurai is a fresh wave of instrumental surf rock, casting a mist of carefree beach-blanket shake and stomp over greater Louisville and offering those in attendance a unique and memorable audiovisual experience. Formed in a roiling rip current of classics from the Ventures, Dick Dale, Link Wray, and all their gnarly cohorts, Tsunami Samurai rips and shreds through a familiar yet underappreciated genre, a genre pure but with an undercurrent of mischief, respectable but with a hairy, pulsating chest tattoo that reads “Big waves only!” Emerging from the thick, reverberating swells, ripples of spy, classical, pulp, biker, and many other genres wash upon the shore. With frolicking guitar interplay and an uncompromising rhythm that leaves listeners reaching for a hula hoop and wishing to scurry along the beach like frenzied sand crabs, joyous in the summer sun, Tsunami Samurai can turn any event into a party. Tsunumi Samurai is composed of a group of seasoned rockers who have committed themselves to creating and seeking out super-cool surf-inspired music and doing it up right. Founding members Bryan Hamilton (guitar) and Ulises Rocha (bass), formerly of the Athens-based band Cigarello, got the party started in 2011. Chester Martin (guitar) and Mike Boblitt (drums; formerly guitarist and singer of Those Darn Amigos), joined a couple years later. Together this quartet shaped their sound to be “vintage” but progressive, enthusiastic but skilled, raucous but toneful. Balancing such disparate dynamics recommends them to wide and varied audiences. They’re received with appreciation at late-night clubs and wedding receptions alike. Fun’s fun, and good music’s good music. Come on out and watch as Bryan and Chester bounce riffs back and forth like a beach ball, tremolo picking their Dick Dales off and synching into harmonies so smoothly you’ll find yourself thinking, “Wait a second, there’s some musicality to this surf thing.” Zoinks! Ride the penetrating waves that Ulises conjures on his bass guitar, and go tumbling headlong as he switches up mid-groove into a walking bass line that takes you back to that chill summer sunset you spent on the beach with that kid—what was his name?—that time you visited your grandma in San Bernardino back in ’94. (God, what was his name? So much slobber.) And marvel as Mike boom-chuck-chuck-boom-chucks a righteous surf beat for a really long time. Catch a wave. Surf’s up!
Members
Current Lineup
- Bryan Hamilton - Guitars
- Stephen Phillips - Guitar
- Ulisses - Bass
- Andy Cook - Drums
- Yoko Molotov - Tambourine, Dancing
Past Members
- Amy Yabao - Tambourine, Dancing
- Romana Bereneth - Farfisa, Slide Guitar, Other Instruments
Releases
- C'est La Vie! C'est La Surf! (Album) (2018)
- Texas Toast (Single) (2019)
- Cuban Sunset (Single) (2021)
- Seppuku (Single) (2021)
- The Stranger (Single) (2021)
- Athena of the Plains (Single) (2021)