People into the surfing scene tend to be fairly laid back, and that would describe Daniel and Jessica Hassett, the soft-spoken husband-and-wife team that owns and runs Levitate in Marshfield, with a summer shop at Nantasket Beach. It’s a surfing-and-skateboard business that sells gear and its own line of Levitate clothing and accessories, designed by Jessica Hassett, a Duxbury native. The couple also coordinate the Levitate Music Festival, which runs for the fourth year July 9 at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. We spoke to Daniel Has-sett.

Q. How did you two come to own the store?

A. I was a junior at Hanover High School, and my hero and mentor was Bob Pollard, a great guy who had run the store since 2003. I went to work for him, and he taught me surfing and skateboarding; he died in 2006 from an aortic aneurysm. We were close to his widow, Amelia, and still are, who was running the store. We bought it from her in 2008. It was a good fit. I was just out of the University of Hawaii, and Jess is a graphic designer — she’s the one who makes us look presentable.

Q. The festival is a huge draw?

A.It started as a barbecue but snowballed and in many ways is the biggest part of our business. We got 1,500 the first year, and this year expect about 10,000, with acts like Los Lobos, Tedeschi Truck Bands, with Susan Tedeschi of Norwell, and Stick Figure, with Scott Woodruff of Duxbury — his band is just exploding in the world of reggae.

Q. Is a surf shop unique around here?

A. Yeah, it’s a niche; surfing itself isn’t a huge thing in New England, so we kind of built the store as a community center. You get a lot of interesting characters in a surf shop, and honestly I’d say 80 percent of the people who come here don’t surf or skate; they’re just creative people who appreciate the store and what Levitate is all about.

Q. And what is Levitate all about?

A.Bob named it Levitate, and that’s what he wanted to do — he wanted it to function to lift up the community, and community is what we push and grow. We run summer camps for children, and now have Bob’s kids in the program, which is great.

Paul E. kandarian

Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at pkandarian@aol.com.