Swoon & Sway

Nothing is more Californian in music than the innovative style of surf rock. With its focus on dynamic, instrumental melodies and its foot-stomping back beat, the historic genre perfectly embodied the intense and hard-charging, yet beautiful characteristics of the sport it was named after. In the handful of bands keen on in reviving the classic style, Bombón, hailing from the heart of Los Angeles’s South Bay in San Pedro, seem to be garnering the most interest for the genre across Southern California and beyond.

The lovely ladies of Bombón have been garnering a huge reputation across the state for delivering some of the more interesting, fiery blends of raw garage rock, blended with the wonderful, blazing riffs and rhythms of surf rock. The band released its first LP in 2010, and has since contributed tracks to several compilations and toured extensively. Recently, CULTURE was able to catch up with all three band members, Angela Ramos, Paloma Bañuelos and Jerico Campbell, and hear about the progress on Bombón’s follow up to their debut record, the challenges of juggling a band with non-musical endeavors, and of course, their thoughts on medical cannabis.

One of my favorite aspects of Bombón’s tunes is the awesome song names like “Fangbanger,” “Swedish Fish” and “Cosmic Surf.” How do you come up with such rad names for your tunes?

Paloma Bañuelos: The names are always the last thing. At the end of writing something, we’re always like, “What are we gonna call it?!”

Jerico Campbell: Or, “What does this song sound like?” “Swedish Fish” was actually given its name by Dickie from Lenguas Largas.

Angela Ramos: He was in the crowd one of the first nights we played it, and it wasn’t named yet, and he yelled, “Call it Swedish Fish!” and the name stuck.

Campbell: “Fangbanger” comes from our mutual love of the show True Blood.

Your last record came out a few years ago, and Bombón has grown a lot in that time. Are there new challenges that you face in the writing process that weren’t there before?

Bañuelos: It’s weird, because it’s actually really easy for us to write things together that we’re all feeling or are in the right mood for, and when we do find the time to get together, our writing happens pretty fast. What’s challenging now is that we all have a lot of stuff going on in our lives, like work and school, so it’s difficult to find time to get together and actually do everything.

Ramos: The fact that we’re all trying to grow our careers right now, not just musically, and still making time for the music is the big challenge these days.

Many of the acts that the band is affiliated with through Burger Records are huge medical cannabis supporters. Does Bombón have any particular feelings on the legalization movements going on in the country right now?

Campbell: We’re all for it! Bring it on man!

Bañuelos: I think we all agree with it, because, although we don’t all smoke weed, we see the need for people to stop being arrested over it.

Ramos: I don’t smoke weed, but I’m definitely for the legalization of it.

I’m sure hailing from San Pedro, you all have witnessed issues with enforcement of cannabis laws and how that has affected people in your town, possibly your friends as well.

Campbell: Funny you mention that, I still see people getting arrested outside of those dispensaries in San Pedro, and it’s a shame. I mean, maybe they’re underage or something but it still seems unnecessary to have them out there in handcuffs, it seems counterproductive.

Ramos: Yeah, because then the cops aren’t concentrating on other things, like violent crimes that are going on in San Pedro.