Music scene: Unique sound is nothing new for Underwater Bosses

When a band like Underwater Bosses has as a featured video on its webpage, their rendition of the Hyrule Castle Theme from the Legend of Zelda (the greatest video game ever), no one should be surprised by their explanation for their band name.

“The name is a video game reference,” explains bassist Greg Bresett, “you know: the big bad bosses that dwell in the digital seas.”

If you got the impression this trio is a unique band, you’d be right. But then again, it takes a unique band to play a unique event like a Skate Ramp Party. On Aug. 19 at Brown Street Warehouse in Clark Mills, the Syracuse-based surf punk band will be performing on a skate ramp while skaters skate the ramp. The event is free, and all skaters are welcome to bring their skateboards.

The show will begin at 8 p.m. with Zach Surp opening the show, then Underwater Bosses play at 9 p.m.

“With the party we’re aiming to bring some cool people together but also to film some funny clips for upcoming Underwater Bosses & Dry Campus videos,” explains event organizer Zach Surprenant. “This will be a very original show for sure.”

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The members of Underwater Bosses — Bob Breen on drums, Chris Stewart on guitar and Bresett on bass — have been playing in bands together since the early '90s, including the precursor to the current band, Surfer R Cool, a surf punk 4 piece until they decided to strip it down to an instrumental trio.

Surf rock may seem an anachronistic choice in this day and age, but for Bresett, the attraction to that particular niche is simple.

“We’ve been writing surf rock songs since the ‘90s and really just love the style and genre,” says Greg. “Surf rock is just fun to listen to and people seem to really enjoy it when they hear it live.”

If you think by now you have a solid handle on what this band’s about, you haven’t been paying attention. We’re talking about a band who lists as their influences such a diverse roster as the Ventures, Dick Dale, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, King Crimson and Yes. This is a band who played a gig dressed up as Snoopy, Linus and Charlie Brown and opened with The Vince Guaraldi trio’s Linus and Lucy theme. In other words, expect the unexpected.

Underwater Bosses has released two full-length albums on Sharawaji Records which are available on vinyl, cd and digital format and available for streaming or digital download on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and several other platforms. They are currently at work on a new EP.

Dry Campus, the organization presenting the Skate Ramp Party, is a New York-based video collective that makes videos about snowboarding, skateboarding, canoeing and music, filming around the Upstate NY region, New York City and Canada for their annual video releases.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Underwater Bosses bring their unique sound to a unique event