A Real Surf Band


	Mermen Mark Dickson, guitarist, Martyn Jones, drummer and Allen Whitman, bassist, relax at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, before a show. (Photograph by Gary S. Chapman)

tars of the West Coast surf-music-revival scene, the Mermen have the Internet rogue wave wired. The ultra-cool Bay Area trio have their own elegant website, of course. These days, a rock-and-roll band doesn't cut it without one. The group recently hooked up with MediaCast, a two-year-old company that produces live concerts broadcast over the Net. Mermen bassist Allen Whitman, "somewhere on an interstate in Texas," tapped out the following sketch of the hot band's wired life on the road:


	Mermen bassist Allen Whitman uses all his free time on the road to respond to email and write his weekly online column. (Photograph by Gary S. Chapman)


	The Mermen at play in the real world. (Photograph by Gary S. Chapman)

"I am sitting in the front seat of our tour van. We are headed north to Dallas in the middle of a two-and-a-half-month tour. Unlike other members of the band, I can't sleep in a moving vehicle. I can't read a book either; it makes me nauseous. So, after linking to our email account this morning in someone's house (someone we met after the show last night who offered to put us up after hearing my plea from the stage for a place to sleep) and downloading some hundred messages from people around the country following the progress of this tour, I can reply to and converse with fans and business people alike.

"I heard from an old friend, I set up several radio interviews and one in-store performance. We get a show in Miami because someone saw our website and picked up a CD and loved it. They, in turn, contacted a local radio station, who picked up on the music and interviewed us. We're doing an extensive interview with online magazine Cozmik Debris wherein the editor simply sends us his queries and we answer'em and send'em back. Easy as pie."

http://www.mermen.com