Surf By Surf East began in 2014 as an alternative to the giant music conference South By Southwest in Austin Texas. It was named in deference / parody to that because it was and continues to be mostly about Surf music, obviously, and it was based in East Austin. It originally occurred during the same week that the other festival took place, though it eventually moved to just preceding it in order to not compete. Surf Rock (the instrumental phenomenon) had always largely been ignored by the giant music thing that takes over our city once a year, so it quickly found a home in this quirky arts market, the East Austin Handmade Arts Market, founded and organized by Brooke Wilton.

The arts market had been founded only a month before, to provide a pop-up alternative to what was largely happening only down in the South Congress area of Austin at the time. Brooke felt that East Austin was doing a better job of recognizing artists outside of the gallery system, primarily due to the success of the East Austin Studio Tour (E.A.S.T.), and so would not just cater to tourists like the SoCo scene had been doing.

Brooke's own entrepreneurial endeavor had been with creating locally hand-made shirts as Flameless Shirt, and he had spent 3 years setting up every weekend, rain or shine, down in SoCo to sell his wares. He had found that the area was getting too congested, and not really fostering the atmosphere of art appreciation he had envisioned. As a musician himself, Brooke also felt that bringing live music (and not just busking) together with the locally handmade art was a great way to support many different types of Austin artist, and provide something for everyone to enjoy.



Though not hitherto a fan of Surf Rock, his partner Cedar Stevens had begun introducing him to the local bands of the genre, and they regularly began to enjoy a monthly event called Second Saturday Surf that their friend Kaleb Asplund was hosting. This live music show regularly showcased Surf Rock bands from all over Texas, and occationally also from out of state, with 2-3 bands playing each month. There, Brooke met many of the amazing bands in the re-emerging Surf Rock scene and found that this town was a spearhead of the revival of this underground genre.


Elena Pinto-Torres of The Spoils at the East Austin Handmade Arts Market.

So naturally with South By Southwest beginning again, Brooke decided to try to provide an alternative; to showcase this largely ignored music genre, and as a draw to bring people out to the pop-up market. At the same time, Brooke, Cedar, and Kaleb began to help foster the bands to find more fans and create a more cohesive scene.

For the first 11 years, this tradition was free to the public, growing in popularity and in the number of bands included each year. In the first several years it also took place in conjunction with Second Saturday Surf, spanning two venues.


Charlie Escondido of The Really Rottens in the Flameless Shirt booth, trying on a fez.

Brooke Wilton, with Ann Thomas of Mudslinger Pottery, practicing to be in a JJ Abrams movie.

The story continues here...

The East Austin Handmade Arts Market is a partnership between local artists, musicians, and businesses to provide unique and fun events in our community. We support cultural diversity, ecological sustainability, democratic ideals, and creativity in myriad forms.