It was roughly 10 years when I received an email from Vincent Minervino about booking his band, The Brigantines, on a Pop Break show at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey. I remember booking the band and they were absolutely incredible — blending the beautiful sounds and aesthetics of surf rock with indie rock sensibilities.
Flash forward 10 years and Minervino and his wife/business partner Magdalena O’Connell are two vital names within the surf music community. (To clarify, I take zero credit for their success, nor should I). The hard-working duo formed Hi-Tide Recordings which went from being the label Vincent’s bands like Black Flamingos would appear on to an internationally-renowned label supporting acts from all over the world. They are also responsible for the Hi-Tide Summer Holiday (formerly the Asbury Park Surf Music Festival) — a multi-day celebration of surf music (amongst many other genres) and the surf/tiki/mid-century modern lifestyle. Oh, and to add to this already impressive resume, they have another label Nu-Tone Recordings (focusing more on jazz, soul, R&B, etc.) and touring DJ acts (representing both musical stylings their labels represent) and lifestyle brands (e.g. Big Slick Pomade, et. al).
Simply put, it’s amazing to see two people who started out as a musician and a face in the crowd become such crucial curators of an amazing, and often time under-appreciated genre of music. Recently, I caught up with them to talk about the Hi-Tide Summer Holiday, how their label evolved during the pandemic, and so much more.
This is the first Hi-Tide Summer Holiday since Summer 2019. Before we talk about the organization and the booking and all the technical stuff with the festival — how are you guys feeling, from an emotional standpoint, about the festival returning to Asbury Park this year?
We are thrilled! Initially, it was a little challenging to put it all together because of various COVID waves that have happened in the last year. We cast a super-wide net based on attendee feedback of who they wanted to see, and ended up with an absolutely killer lineup coming together. The [Asbury] Lanes team and Hi-Tide supporters have been just amazing leading up to the big weekend
In my opinion, this is easily one of your most star-studded lineups with Southern Culture on the Skids, Los Straitjackets and Man or Astro-Man? performing this year. How do you feel this lineup stacks up to the others from years past?
It’s amazing because it has highly requested newcomers to the event – SCOTS & MOAM? – and then we are bringing back some friends who have visited before. The artists that play Summer Holiday become part of a family, and we can’t wait to expand that even further this year!
In regards to a lineup, what’s a band that you feel that might not have the name recognition heading into the festival, but by the time people see them, they’ll be easily converted to fans?
I gotta say Televisionaries. Just an absolutely killer live band that has really come into their own in the past year. The band is on fire right now – recently returning from a tour of Spain, a performance at Viva Las Vegas and shows support Nick Lowe. Don’t miss them Friday night at 8:00 PM!
In 2019, you moved the Hi-Tide Summer Holiday from the Asbury Park beachfront to The Asbury Hotel and Asbury Lanes — what’s been the benefit of this venue change?
We originally started at Asbury Lanes with Jenn Hampton & the team back in ’14 and ’15. When that closed down for renovations, we moved to the beach and had a few great years over there. Being inside of a venue does give us more predictability so that we can plan the event with confidence vs. having to carry a weather contingency on every detail. The new Lanes is state-of-the-art in every way – the sound, the lights, the staff. We are very thankful that they have welcomed us for this event.
What are some new additions to the Holiday that you’re excited for people to check out?
The most significant new addition is space in the schedule. In the past we have packed the days full of content and we felt like it was a bit of a marathon for people. This year’s schedule is nice and relaxed, allowing people to just enjoy themselves at the hotel during the day, or venture out into AP to experience the town before descending on Lanes for the evening shows.
While the Hi-Tide Summer Holiday was on hiatus during the pandemic — Hi-Tide Recordings certainly wasn’t. Let’s talk about how the label has evolved since the last time you all threw the Summer Holiday in Asbury.
The pandemic actually allowed us to connect with many new supporters. While people were stuck at home, opening up a Hi-Tide package became a mini-escape for a lot of people. We’ve grown to the point that the label is now Magdalena & my full time gig. We have almost 40 artists on the label now from all around the world. We have developed artists like The Surfrajettes & Televisionaries into next-generation headliners, and we have some of the most recognized veteran surf and exotica groups like Satan’s Pilgrims & The Tikiyaki Orchestra on the label now as well. We are about to sign a lease on a space in Freehold also that will serve as a showroom and small retail spot for the label. We are really excited to bring the business into the Freehold community.
Also, you launched another label — Nu-Tone Recordings. This label is still in its early stages, but fill the people in on what this label is all about and what’s on the horizon for it?
While we love “Surf, Lounge & Exotic Sounds”, we also love other kinds of music. We have been following The Jazztronauts from Staten Island for years but couldn’t really work with them formally because it didn’t fit into our little corner of the music world. So we decided to break out of that with the formation of Nu-Tone. We see a lot of people ordering The Jazztronauts records alongside Hi-Tide releases as well, which makes us super happy. We are hoping to release lots of styles with this new label – funk, soul, jazz, garage & more. Stay tuned!
Outside of the Holiday and the label, you both DJ throughout the country as DJ Hi-Tide and DJ NuTone. Can you talk about the experience you create with these sets? Also the mindset going into creating your playlists?
We DJ as a way to see the world, meet people and bring our music into public spaces where we know the atmosphere fits. One common thread between the Hi-Tide & Nu-Tone format is that they are both transportive in their own way. That’s really the heart of everything we do.
Finally — what are you most stoked for for the label for the near future?
Our release schedule has been action packed this year with TONS of amazing new music – and we are just getting started! Beginning next Friday, we have a new vinyl release every 2 weeks until November – Charlie & The Tropicales, The Bradipos IV, Satan’s Pilgrims, L’Exotighost, Bloodshot Bill & more. Follow us on socials and better yet – sign up for email updates at hitiderecordings.com to stay in the loop!
Tickets for the Hi-Tide Summer Holiday are available here.
