Being Maya Gabeira

I’ve got to hand it the folks at ESPN.com who work on the “Being…” series. First, they have consistently selected interesting characters to profile, such as Ed Templeton, Ken Block, and now Maya Gabeira. Second (and I will get to this later) they sure do a great job of picking music to put in these profiles.

It’s amazing just how quickly Maya Gabeira has ascended to the top of the big wave surfing scene, and it’s even more staggering to think what else the 22-year-old Brazilian beauty can still accomplish. Just this past week, Gabeira rode the largest wave of the season at the vaunted Dungeons break. Take a look at some of the breathtaking footage of the massive waves she takes on in this video – if you have even a passing interest in surfing, this featurette is sure to get your juices flowing.

As for the music, ESPN compliments her gnarly shredding with “I’m Alive” by Radio Freq and “Come My Sunshine” by The Comas. Radio Freq is an up-and-coming indie electro act from here in LA that have been causing even the most stodgy residents of my city to put their dancing shoes on. “I’m Alive” is definitely a good adrenaline-pumping tune, and it kicks off the Maya Gabeira profile with a bang. I can definitely imagine this music blasting in clubs in Maya’s native Brazil at 4 a.m.

The Comas broke out in 2004 when their album Conductor began receiving accolades everywhere, and the single  ”Tonight on the W.B.” made plenty of waves. Fronted by Andy Herrod, who now leads The Electric Owls, their dreamy indie pop goes down smooth everytime, and from the first moment I heard “The Last Transmission” I was hooked. “Come My Sunshine” starts about 2 minutes into this video, and is pulled from their last album, Spells.

Radio Freq on MySpace

The Comas on MySpace