The Tarantulas are a

surf guitar Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band. The Tarantulas Formed in 1995 in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, with

Randy J Randy J (Randy J. Shams) is the guitarist and founder of the surf punk band The Tarantulas. Life and work Born in Orlando, Florida, Randy J moved to Los Angeles in 1987 and shortly thereafter began composing music for film trailers and TV. Aft ...

Shams (also known as a film composer) on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and Chris Valentino on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Early history

In the early 1990s, guitarist Randy J was performing as a solo guitarist at local

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

s and bars in Orlando. Chris Valentino, who was already gaining a reputation as an experienced percussionist and jazz drummer, would sit in on drums and the two musicians would improvise on instrumentals during live shows.Torreano, Bardley
The Tarantulas Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved June 8, 2013 The experimental elements of the music gradually became a backdrop for pure traditional surf guitar melodies in the style of

The Lively Ones The Lively Ones were an instrumental surf rock band from USA, active in Southern California in the 1960s. They played live mostly in California and Arizona. They recorded for Del-Fi records with production from Bob Keane. They recorded mostly co ...

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. ''Rolling Stone'' placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 ...

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

, and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

. In August 1993 Randy J began performing under The Tarantulas name and by 1995 The two musicians found a

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

, Loran Lea, to round out the band, and the trio continued performing as The Tarantulas.

Monster Wave era

In 1998, Ken Baugh joined The Tarantulas on bass and recorded with the band on "Monster Wave 100 Feet High". Ken was already known as a surf guitarist with his own band, the Ten Penny Heroes. The band continued performing shows at the House of Blues in Orlando, opening shows for Link Wray, and performing shows with The Friends of Dean Martinez and Dick Dale. The trio released ''Monster Wave 100 Feet High'' in 1999 followed by ''Bandidos De Rojos'' in 2000.

Current recordings

The Tarantulas Greatest Hits..or ... The Big Sellout was released in 2004, and Don't Murder Anyone ... Listen to the Lovebeats in June 2006. They feature drummer Eddy Barattini, vocalist Kelly Cole, and early Tarantula tracks from the original lineup in the mid-1990s. In 2011, The Tarantulas released the singles "Love in a Haystack" and "Summertime Girl". The current members for touring and recording are Randy J on guitar and vocals, Bill Juharos on drums, and Udi Cohen on bass. The band is currently located in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and Florida. The pop-punk album "13 Bites" was released in October 2019. The surf album "Surf 101" is scheduled for release in 2019.

Loran Lea

The Tarantulas original bassist, Loran Lea, died in an auto accident on January 27, 2013. Loran played with The Tarantulas from 1995-1998. He appeared on the 1996 Tarantulas EP recorded at Full Sail University (Orlando) and on the 1997 Tarantulas EP recorded at Audio Playground (Winter Park). The songs on the first EP were: Shark Attack, Lonerider, and Demolition in Death Valley. The songs on the second EP were: Third Break from the Shore, Freakazoid Mind Warp, and Death Zone. Loran also appeared on the first live recorded version of "Bandidos de Rojos" in 1997. Following the Tarantulas, Loran played bass for the band "Red", a popular Florida band based in Orlando. Loran was considered by many to be an excellent musician and extremely talented bassist. He died at age 40.

Trademark

The Tarantulas is a registered trademark through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.United States Patent and Trademark Office Shams has acted against other bands with the word "Tarantulas" or "Tarantula" in their names, threatening legal action unless they change them.Holslin, Peter (2013)
Grand Tarantula vs. The Tarantulas
, ''

San Diego City Beat ''San Diego CityBeat'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in San Diego, California that focused on local progressive politics, arts, and music. It was published every Wednesday and distributed around San Diego county, although with a focus on the ...

'', May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013

Discography

Albums

*''EP Self Titled'' (1996) Tarantulas *''EP Third Break'' (1997) Tarantulas *''Monster Wave...100 Feet High'' (1999), Richter/Tarantulas *''Bandidos De Rojos'' (2000) Tarantulas *''Tarantula's Greatest Hits or...The Big Sellout'' (2004), Tarantulas *''Don't Murder Anyone...Listen to the Lovebeats'' (2006) Tarantulas *''13 Bites'' (2019) Tarantulas *''Surf 101'' (2020) Tarantulas

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarantulas Rock music groups from Florida Surf music groups Musical groups from Orlando, Florida Musical groups established in 1995