Members of the band “Bongo Surfo” have been playing music of the 1960s way before it became “classic rock.”
Mark Towns has been playing guitar since he was 10 years old living in Fort Worth, Texas, and is known today primarily for playing flamenco jazz guitar.
He and his three fellow band members have known and shared music with each other for years, but at South Pasadena’s Eclectic Music Festival on Saturday, the group made its public debut as Bongo Surfo, playing what Towns described as “tropical surf rock.”
Towns was playing electric guitar for the occasion.
“You might say I’m going back to my roots,” said Towns, whose home and studio is in La Crescenta.
Towns, like his bandmates, has played all over the world.
“These are top pro musicians,” said Towns, who spent much of the coronavirus pandemic writing music, which is now finding its way onto streaming platforms. Singles will come first ahead of a full-length album release.
While Towns’ bio is longer, the indie pop rock band “Rooted” has younger roots. The group was playing on the main stage near the train station to start the festival, which ran from 3 to 10 p.m.
The teenagers, ages 13 and 14, are all freshmen at various schools in the San Gabriel Valley.
“They finished strong and got a great reception,” said Jonathan Lim, the proud father of Maddox, a member of the band. “We’re so happy that they let us open the festival on the main stage.”
These musicians may not yet have seen the world, but they’ve played around the L.A. area, and performed at the Eclectic festival before the pandemic hit. They have future concerts lined up at the Alhambra Library and in Hermosa Beach. They also have music that will be available online. They’ve been practicing at Lim’s home in Arcadia since they were 8.
“They are like family to each other and to us,” Lim said.
Contrast and commonality were the name of the game at the Eclectic Music festival. There were lots of food trucks serving everything from lobster rolls to kettle corn.
People strolled in shorts in the lovely 70-degree weather and became fixated at the clay pots and jewelry displayed in the craft area behind the old school district building.
Eventgoers wandered through downtown listening to seven hours of what was truly an eclectic brand of music from stages around the city, with tunes that could be heard for at least a mile in all directions from the heart of the festival on Mission Street.
Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Bongo Surfo at marktowns.com/bongosurfo and more about Rooted at rooted.band.
First published in the May 3 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
