Surfing
Listen to Chris Cote's 'Many Moods of Pipeline'
With the Volcom Pipe Pro on deck, turn your speakers to 11 and jam to Cote's ultimate Pipe playlist.
Imaikalani Devault, VPP 2016
© Brian Bielmann / Volcom
A lot of people have been asking me about the incredible, eclectic and genre-bending playlist I made for the Red Bull Playlist page of Spotify. Answering that question has proved daunting, since the playlist itself was an amalgamation of the emotions I have felt while staring into the guts of one of the most complex and fascinating waves on the planet — the Pipeline. On my flight over to Hawaii for the Volcom Pipe Pro, I met a woman in her 70s who recognized me immediately, asking, “You’re the guy who made the ‘Many Moods Of Pipeline Playlist’ right?” I nodded and smiled ‘Yes’, and the questions began …
Her: Talking Heads into Shellac made for a wild start, why did you pick those two songs to set off the vibe of the playlist?
Me (Chris Cote): Well, I feel that when Pipeline is at her most ferocious, surfing becomes a war, therefore Talking Heads, “Life During Wartime” was a great tone-setter. The Shellac song also nods to her (Pipeline's) power and ferocity — a tour de force if you will.
You continued the thrash with McRad, Hot Snakes and Pentagram, but then calmed things down with Cosmonauts — what was the theory behind this section of the playlist?
Again, I wanted to bring some heat in the beginning to illustrate, to your ears, how erratic and fast-paced Pipeline can be — there's wild stuff going on out there. The Hot Snakes song, “Plenty For All” kind says ‘There are plenty of waves out there, but good luck getting one.’ The Pentagram song is a song about worshipping at the breast of a woman who can at times be very evil, and Pipe specialists worship Pipeline — she is their queen, forever.
You shook things up with "Escape," the Pina Colada Song. Gave me chills.
Pipeline isn’t always scary, sometimes she can be a vacation in the tropics, small, glassy, blue and beautiful and friendly, like a Piña Colada in paradise.
Things got even weirder after that song.
They did, indeed. ‘Harder They Come’ alludes to the fact that when you come in hot at Pipeline, you will be humbled. The Built To Spill, Unwound and Wu Lyf, songs are songs that should be in video parts about Pipeline. ‘Danger Zone’ is obvious, then, ‘Coconut Girl’ takes you to sunset on the porch watching Pipeline on a nice day, maybe at a BBQ at the Volcom House where Tai Van Dyke is cooking something nice and there are beautiful girls walking down the beach — fantasy style music.
Am I asking you too many questions?
Not at all, I love talking about this playlist. The next song of note of course was Van Halen’s 'Everybody Wants Some’ — 'cause everybody wants some of Pipeline … I want some, too.
Who is Kut U Up?
I’m glad you asked, they are an incredible band out of North County San Diego that I play bass and sing in — that’s how I know they’re amazing. This song was used for an Andy Irons video part and can be easily applied to a crazy day at Pipeline, when surfing Pipe becomes a battle to ‘Make It Out Alive.' You can find out more about Kut U Up on Instagram @kutuupmusic.
Thanks, I’ll follow right now. Why did you end the playlist with Country Comfort?
Just them good vibes. At the end of the day, Pipeline is a beautiful wave, the crew that surfs there are full of life and the emotions that go into surfing this wave are insane. I’ve never surfed it big, but I can imagine when you come in from a wild session, you want to relax, and this is a song that will help you do that, Hawaiian style.
Would you like a back rub?
Um, sure! Making this playlist really stressed me out, that would be nice...
