“Ninety-nine percent of the world’s songs are about love and sex. The Mambo Surfers write the other one percent.” Bo Johnson (Mambo Surfer In Absentia) The Mambo Surfers have been making music together for 15 years. Their original music has always been genre-bending, drawing on their combined influences ranging from Bollywood to blues, Sufi chants to Native American chants, Bedouin songs, ragas, polkas, punk, ska, reggae, surf, samba, and of course, rock ‘n roll. Saji writes, “The writing of The PTSD Songbook was an attempt to contribute to the work carried out by groups like Guitars For Vets in addressing issues of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans. I’d heard Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans talk about the need to exist at high adrenaline levels, about their difficulty in talking to friends and family after their tours of duty, and of compensating with unhealthy behavior for feeling empty and disconnected from the lives they had left behind. In 2009, I chanced to meet Patrick Nettesheim of Guitars For Vets, and was impressed by the organization’s work and dedication and the very human approach of putting a guitar in a sufferer’s hands to help the healing process. All of us associated with the Mambo Surfers were sympathetic to the cause, and donated several guitars to G4V, but I felt there was more we could do. But having neither the money nor the time to give further, I decided write and re-work songs I had written, then tap into the musical talents, vision and energy of the Mambo Surfers to create a unique and memorable songscape to shine a light on the plight of our soldiers. The basic message of The PTSD Songbook is that anyone suffering from PTSD – be it due to violence, disaster, sexual or physical abuse, or illness – take power over their own healing by telling their stories. That’s it. The Songbook does not offer any medical advice, judgements or magic cures. We just urge you to tell your story, however you can.”