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Bay area singer-songwriter David New picked up guitar as a kid, but never really got serious about being a musician until he was in his mid-20s.

“At the time, I was bored, hating my job really bad and just kind of searching for something else,” New told me last week when we chatted at the St. Pete Beach loft apartment-cum-recording space where his band, The Hip Abduction, spends much of their time. Bassist Chris Powers actually lives there, but the rest of the band members reap the benefits of the place, likely getting much inspiration for their vibrant tropical sounds from the scenic view of the Gulf off the third-floor porch.

Back then, New was working as an environmental scientist and it wasn’t anything like he’d imagined. “I thought I was gonna be green and save the world straight out of college, but it ended up that I was working for the oil company and standing up for big oil, which was awful. Writing took me somewhere else.” New says he endured it for about two years before he bailed. Then he spent a few years soaking up the sounds and culture of the Caribbean. “I ran a sailing program and taught marine biology and diving on the side. A lot of my lyrics come from what I experienced there. I grew up in Virginia, so I never listened to reggae very much. Then I really, really got into it down there and I’ve never been able to shake it.”

When he returned to the area three years ago, he dove into the local music scene and played solo cover gigs until he got lonely and bored enough to seek out some other musicians to perform with, rounding up just the right players via Craigslist. By 2008, the sextet was gigging regularly, playing local and regional shows in addition to sporadic out-of-state engagements, including an appearance at the Bele Chere Festival in Asheville, N.C., which attracted upwards of 300,000 people over the course of a weekend.

The Hip Abduction self-released their first recording, Move, in late 2008. The well-produced five-song EP found the six-piece synthesizing elements of tropicalia, jazz, acoustic rock and blues, funk, Afrobeat and reggae into a sound that has the easy-going vibe of the Caribbean without ever coming off as sluggish. Springy beats are broken up by slow moving breakdowns and organic percussion; drummer Pat Hernly incorporates congas, timbales, hand kick, tabla, dholak, and cajon. Powers brings a steady dub-influenced groove on bass, keyboardist Paul Chlapowski plays fluid melodies and sonic flourishes, and the two-piece horn combo of Matt Gawlik on baritone sax and Kevin Clark on trumpet lifts up the music with spry brassiness. New delivers his breezy lyrics in warm, soulful streams-of-consciousness. “I live to write songs that take me back to somewhere else, some small nowhere island,” New tells me. “I guess it’s just ‘cause I lived there for so long, I have an affinity for the coast.”

All the members of The Hip Abduction work day jobs, but you can find them on multi-band bills around town as well as at the odd (well-paying) cover gig. For their regular three-set shows at Jimmy B’s on St. Pete Beach, they cater to the tourists and drunken beach denizens with covers by anyone from the Funky Meters to Sublime while throwing some of their originals into the lively mix.

The idea for the Nightmare at the Museum Bash came after New and Powers, who’s on the St. Pete Museum of History board, put their heads together and came up with the idea of a Halloween concert to raise money for the struggling museum. Powers organized the bill and suddenly, SPMOH was, for the first time ever, staging a hip-as-shit benefit. So far, more than 200 tickets have sold and the event is expected to sell out.

Partygoers will be treated to a night of costumed cavorting complete with fog machines, a light show and lasers, and some surprise covers (I predict a reggaefied “Thriller”). Rumor has it that The Hip Abduction guys will be decked out in Point Break bank robbery gear. If Richard Nixon ends up on bass, you know the party’s gonna get hairy.

The Hip Abduction

@ Nightmare at the Museum Bash w/Blind Man’s Colour/Ulysses Campbell, Sat., Oct. 31, 7-11 p.m., St. Petersburg History Museum, St Petersburg, $10 in advance/ $15 at the door (all proceeds benefit the museum). Costumes encouraged; after party at Fresco’s.