Surfaces with special guests, khai dreams and Public Library Commute
November 18, 2021 at 7:15pm
The Sylvee in Madison
Forget the beach, Surfaces bring all the sun and feel-good vibes straight to the club — no matter how dark and crowded it may be. The Texas duo's breezy melodies feel right at home onstage, especially when they add jazzy sax and piano to their soul- and electro-infused pop. The band proved to be natural performers when they quickly grew a following online after releasing their debut album, Surf, in 2017. Consequently, their 2019 Endless Summer tour — put together all on their own, without a manager or booking agent — sold out fast. Still, even as Surfaces' fan base expands, they continue to do things their own way, and that DIY mentality, along with an endlessly optimistic mindset, is infectious both onstage and off.
Surfaces' kaleidoscopic mix of sunny bedroom pop, reggae, soul, hip-hop and electronic offer a fresh — and much needed — dose of positive energy all around. The Texas duo of Colin Padalecki and Forrest Frank first came together online. While still in high school, Padalecki started producing music, bringing in his cousin Alexa to sing along. Once at Texas A&M University, he began posting his songs online and caught the ear of Frank. The two got together to jam, and eventually Frank invited Colin and Alexa to record on his houseboat in Seattle, which resulted in Surfaces' first track, the jazzy, blissed-out jam "Be Alright." From that point, Padalecki and Frank went to work on their 2017 debut album, the self-produced Surf, with Frank taking the lead on vocals. As their music quickly gained traction online, they continued to keep their DIY approach, all the way down to their minimalist, pastel-hued album covers, designed by Padalecki. Turning down major-label offers, they released their second self-produced album, Where the Light Is, in 2019, and then set out for their sold-out Endless Summer tour. Continuing on that success, Surfaces came back with album No. 3, Horizons, just a year later.