Katching up with Kut U Up

Chris Cote was returning from Australia last week when he says he almost triggered a biosecurity brouhaha.

“I was bringing my wife back this tiny cactus in this cool little aboriginal vase when I realized that I could have gone to LAX prison for smuggling plants. I threw it away right before I got on the plane. Now I have to find something in downtown Encinitas I can buy that looks like it came from Australia.”

Cote was flying back last week from Melbourne where he was a commentator for the Vans Pro Skate Park series. The editor of the now-defunct Transworld Surf magazine, Cote has carved out a niche moderating surf, skate, and music events in Hawaii, Fiji, Toronto, and Brooklyn. “I did the play-by-play for the Red Bull Signature Series that airs on NBC Sports in May,” he says.

“It’s funny, because I still get recognized in places like Australia by someone who says, ‘Weren’t you the guy in that video Riding in Vans with Boys?’ For better or worse, that was their introduction into partying when they were younger.”

While Kut U Up released two albums, Cote admits the real-life partying made for good video footage but a not-so-good work ethic.

But Kut U Up may be on the rebound. On Friday the band reunites for its first show in three years. “We have eight or nine new songs. Enough for a new album.”

The band, featuring guitarist/singer Brandon Parkhurst and drummer Brendan Rasch, who cofounded Kut U Up with Cote in 1996, now includes guitarist Matt Amador (Calabash Case). They’ll appear with Get Back Loretta Friday at the Pour House in Oceanside and two other shows, at the Belly Up and the Studio in Encinitas to follow in the near future, says Parkhurst.

“We will throw in a few new songs but we will play all the old Kut U Up songs people expect us to play, like ‘S&M Dens’ and ‘Make It Out Alive.’”

Even though Cote admits he and his Kut U Up bandmates “partied out of control” on and off camera, “I would never take it all back.” He says his two boys, aged seven and four, have not seen Riding in Vans with Boys.

“Hopefully they won’t see it until they are 15.”