Before they were touring all over the world, they were recording music in their Florida apartment.
West Palm Beach-based alternative rock band Surfer Blood will return to Gainesville on Saturday at The Wooly, 20 N. Main St.
Doors open at 8 p.m., and tickets are available online for $12 at showclix.com.
In 2009, lead singer John Paul “JP” Pitts and drummer Tyler Schwarz played and recorded music together in high school. They met future guitarist Thomas Fekete at an Ultra Music Festival after-party.
“Thomas had heard some of our music we had up on MySpace at the time,” Pitts said. “We didn’t have a full-time guitarist, so I gave him my number and he called the next morning.”
Soon after, they began to record and release music, which turned into touring along the East Coast under the name Surfer Blood.
The name was created after Pitts teased Schwarz for a surfer backpack he had in high school. Originally from the West Coast, Schwarz said he couldn’t help that he had “surfer blood.”
The band has released three albums and one EP.
The first album “Astro Coast” was released in 2010, and the latest album “1000 Palms” was released in 2015.
“After ‘Astro Coast’ I didn’t know what was next,” Pitts said. “Looking back, we didn’t really know what we were doing since we had no friends or family in the business, but we just kept writing and recording music.”
Pitts describes the band’s sound as dynamic.
“It’s not too mellow or in-your-face,” Pitts said. “It’s supposed to have its ups and downs.”
Chris Platt, a 21-year-old UF telecommunication junior, has been a fan of Surfer Blood for several months.
He heard about the band and “1000 Palms” through the music app Spotify.
“‘Grand Inquisitor’ is probably one of my favorite songs off the new album,” Platt said. “It’s got a big sound that transitions from foreboding to playful by the end.”
The song is one of the band’s more quirky performances, Pitts said.
“‘Grand Inquisitor’ is one of the more impressive songs we’ve done,” Pitts said. “The musical arrangements are disjointed from each other, and the vocals are in harmony with jumps in the melody.”
Pitts credits rock band The Beach Boys for helping influence Surfer Blood’s sound and said the band’s harmonies and guitar sounds are an inspiration.
Surfer Blood has toured with the Pixies and played shows worldwide, including music festivals like the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and All Tomorrow’s Parties.
“At All Tomorrow’s Parties, we got to play with one of my biggest inspirations, the band Pavement,” Pitts said. “I know pretty much every song (lead singer) Stephen Malkmus has ever written, so getting to meet and play with them in a different country was awesome.”
However, pitfalls have come along the way with the band’s accomplishments.
A few band members have come in and out over the years. Fekete had to leave in early 2015 when he was diagnosed with cancer.
“(Fekete) definitely had to take time off,” Pitts said. “We have a website where people can donate money to help him out.”
Before the band’s worldwide success, Pitts applied to UF when he was still in high school and working on music at home.
“I would have definitely attended but I wanted to focus on my music,” Pitts said. “I love playing in Gainesville; it’ll always be good to us.”
West Palm Beach-based alternative rock band Surfer Blood will perform Saturday at The Wooly, 20 N. Main St. Show doors open at 8 p.m, and tickets are available for $12 on showclix.com.
