Jacksonville based musician, front man, lead guitarist for the Kreepy Tiki’s Mr. Donovan Wolf recently joined me on the Podcast to talk a little about his current band and the evolution of ‘Doom Surf’ music, among many other things.
Donavan struck me as a very personable guy with not only a passion for his craft but also dedicated to worthy causes including Peace, People and Planet.
Tracy Rigdon:
“…prior to the show, Donovan and I were talking. I hadn’t had the opportunity to get out and see his new band. And my goodness, the Creepy Tiki’s are really skyrocketing in popularity locally. It seems as though really over the last few months or so, it’s like you guys are everywhere, including being on a morning TV show recently. Tell us about that.”
Donovan Wolf:
“Yeah, that was a highlight for all of us, really. The invitation kind of came out of nowhere and went to the studio, did the live broadcast. That was pretty exciting. Everybody was super friendly, and we got a lot of traction from that, obviously, because it kind of put our name out there in people’s faces where they otherwise would not have heard of us. So yeah, it’s just been a great ride so far. This band is… just about one year old this month, and we’re still having a great time.”
Tracy Rigdon:
“That’s actually skyrocketing pretty quick for a one-year-old band, especially, I would say, in the Jacksonville market.”
Tracy Rigdon:
“Now the Kreepy Tikis, how would you describe the type of music? Is it a genre that’s like set in stone or is it something you guys created along the way?”
Donovan Wolf:
“I wouldn’t say we created it. We sort of jokingly call it Doom Surf. You know, we take traditional 60s surf music, you know, lots of reverb and tremolo and vibrato effects, you know, and real fast picking on the guitar. It’s mostly instrumental. We do a few vocal numbers where I’m kind of singing, but it’s more of like a campy Dracula voice, you know, or we’re just making sounds and howls and stuff but uh, yeah, and you know, if you’ve seen any of our videos or whatnot, we we all wear costumes. We’re all sort of a different tiki themed character. So we’re always in character when we play and We’re just having fun with it man. It’s you know, doom surf spooky surf, whatever however you want to characterize it. It’s not necessarily a new genre, but I’d like to think we’re putting a new face on it with our own spin on the characters and all that, you know. It’s great stuff.”
“…I mean, the intimate settings of places like Raindogs, where you play into a smaller room, is actually, you’re sort of on the same level with the crowd and more interaction. And I tend to enjoy that. And there’s more of a kind of give and take with the audience. Our genre of surf, usually when we play a show, we’re sort of the odd man out.”
“typically people that aren’t necessarily into surf music, they hear it and it lights a little bit of nostalgia in their heart. They think, oh yeah, I remember this. This is kind of triggers the dancing.”
Fun Fact: The Bel-Airs, The Challengers, The Shadows, The Atlantics, Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, and The Surfaris topped the charts, but it was “Pet Sounds,” the eleventh Beach Boys studio album, which came to be considered as the iconic collection of surf songs.
Donovan was recently featured in an article published by First Coast.Life , an online storytelling magazine serving the NE Florida region. The article was written by Michael Kaufmann.
“Mike has lived on the First Coast his entire life and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.”
“We are passionate about supporting the arts, buying local, and sharing authentic stories & amazing images that will engage and inspire our wonderful community.” First Coast.Life
Excerpts from the First Coast.Life interview:
When did you know you had an interest in music?
“Music has always been a part of my life. As a child my parents took me to see Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Ravi Shankar.. we always had a lot of records growing up. At 13 my mom gave me my first guitar, a Yamaha acoustic, which I still own. I locked myself in my room until I could play every Led Zeppelin song I knew.“
Who is your favorite musician or what musician influenced you the most?
“Oh boy, too many to mention: Elvis, Link Wray, Dick Dale, Johnny Cash, Jimmy Page, Nick Drake, John Lennon, Neil Young, Joe Walsh, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Kevin Shields, Jack White…”
Are there any specific memories or highlights of your career that you would like to tell us about?
“I’ve been lucky enough to open for some of my heroes, including the Supersuckers, Los Straitjackets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Legendary Shack Shakers, and half the Misfits. Most recently, The Kreepy Tikis performed live on tv for News4Jax River City Live. That was a great experience.“
First Coast.Life
“Spooky instrumental surf rock from the dark depths of Jacksonville Beach, FL. A kreepy tribe with a vintage vibe.”
- GORY COREY-drums, thumps, and things that go bump in the night
- Dr. WOLF (Donovan) – guitars & voodooverb
- JUNGLE GEOFF-guitar & bagpipes
- SECRET AGENT CHARLES- slappin’ da bass
- LALA- theremin magic
“The Kreepy Tikis are Jacksonville’s premiere Doom Surf band: a unique mix of 60′s instrumental surf music, a campy/spooky presentation, and traditional tiki culture.” – River City Live
Tracy Rigdon:
“… they’re (River City Live) reaching out to locals and I think that’s a fantastic thing.”
Donovan Wolf:
“Yeah, likewise. I think it’s really cool. I told the producers there the very same thing, that it’s really cool that you guys are putting music on television. That’s something that we haven’t had in a long time. We had MTV 40 years ago and then they stopped putting music on. It’s like, well, here’s a local show that’s actually going out there finding bands, bringing them in. It’s hard enough to make it as a local band. To have that kind of opportunity to say, hey, you want to be on this highly visible live program? So super cool. I definitely really appreciate that.”
Donovan Wolf:
“… so I started in the 80s when I was coming of age. There was a great music scene there. And around the turn of the century, I don’t know, it just sort of petered out. And I think it’s a lot more electronic music down there, and DJs and stuff, and EDM. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s not a lot of places that cater to live original music. And Jacksonville is actually unique, I think, in that there is a lot of venues that do live music.”
“A lot of it just caters to original music, and it’s fantastic. I mean, obviously we have the history here with Southern Rock.”
“But you know, I’m just happy that there’s support for the scene, you know? And that people are into music. You know, we play at Kona Skate Park a few times and you know, it’s all ages obviously, a lot of kids there. that are skaters or whatnot, but I mean, they are really into the music and that gives me, you know, great hope for the future generations. Not all the kids are on playing video games.”
“… I tell you, I was just there a few weeks ago because we played a show and I went out and took out my old skateboard while I’m wearing my band costume. I’m Dr. Wolf the witch doctor for the Kreepy Tikis. So I’m out skating around in the bowl a little bit. I’m like, I still got it. And then the next day I was just a wreck. I pulled my hamstrings and blew out my Achilles tendons. I’m like, man. I knew I was too old for this, I should have listened. But it was fun.”
Tracy Rigdon:
“… Well, it’s been a great conversation with you, Donovan. I’m glad we got to talk about some of your upcoming gigs.”
Donovan Wolf:
“Alright man, I sure appreciate it. – I appreciate what you do.”
“All right, buddy. That’s great talking to you. Thanks for the invite. Keep up the good work.”
Tracy Rigdon:
“All right, brother, we’ll talk to you soon.”
Upcoming Kreepy Tiki gigs 2023:
- 5/6 VegFest Riverside
- 5/20 The Mutiny (Ocala)
- 6/9 Jax Fairgrounds
- 8/19 Kona Skatepark
- 8/26 Brick & Beam Jax
- 9/16 Bamboo Room (Savannah)
- 10/21 Murray Hilloween
- 11/1 Jax Downtown ArtWalk
“My last band, Chrome Fangs, was more of a heavy psychedelic rock sound with a few surf-adjacent songs, but I always wanted to start a dedicated instrumental surf band.“
Donovan is also passionate about conservation and has more recently been involved with the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
“The purpose of this Foundation is to carry on Captain Paul Watson’s effective agenda to defend life in the sea through a unique strategy of aggressive non-violence and intervention against illegal operations exploiting life in the sea.“
“As the co-founder of Greenpeace and the founder of Sea Shepherd, Captain Watson has become the world’s most iconic anti-poaching and anti-whaling strategist.“
“The Foundation is not associated or affiliated with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) or Sea Shepherd Global (SSG).”
The Official Captain Paul Watson Foundation
** Music Tracks for this Podcast by Alex Grohl on Pixabay
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