Dick Dale was an American surf rock guitarist who established the template for surf music. His tremolo-picking technique gave his music an added urgency, and he collaborated closely with Leo Fender on equipment innovations that, among other things, increased amplifiers' volumes. His 1961 song Let's Go Trippin', which he recorded with his band The Del-Tones, is regarded as the first surf rock instrumental, and he named his second album King of the Surf Guitar after his pioneering work in the genre. In 1994, director Quentin Tarantino featured Dale's song Misirlou in Pulp Fiction, introducing his work to a new generation. Dale died of heart failure at age 81 in 2019.