Bow to the Mighty Surf Lords

For Billy Woods, surf music had been a longtime passion. Until 1994 and the rise of the Mighty Surf Lords, that passion was not fulfilled.

Woods, armed with his guitar, Beauty, wanted to bring surf music back to the collective consciousness of music listeners. And while it could be argued that surf music has been a part of that consciousness since Dick Dale popularized it in the early 1960s, Woods and his Mighty Surf Lords compatriots—bassist Dave Clark and drummer Mike Lane—want to keep it that way.

“Surf has never really died,” Woods says. “It’s always been out there. There has always been a little community of surf bands. But it is growing bigger … with our help.”

With more than 75 combined years of musical experience, the Mighty Surf Lords haven’t always played surf music. (They weren’t even always Mighty until they discovered that another band had already claimed the name Surf Lords.) Woods has played with the Smoking Caterpillars and Final Notice. Clark has played with Local 420, and Lane with Eat a Peach, among others. But it was the reemergence of surf music following the Pulp Fiction soundtrack intro that got Woods thinking it was time for him to play surf, rather than just be a fan of it.

“I have never been close to the ocean and have never been on a surf board,” Woods says. “But it was my first musical love. When I was a teenager, The Avengers were probably my favorite band. And I grew up and wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll and heavy metal, and it never got me anywhere. But as soon as I started playing surf music, within three weeks I was being played on the radio and getting all kinds of gigs.”

For Lane and Clark, surf music wasn’t always a passion, but it has become a love for each of them. A lot of surf music—not necessarily originals, but certainly the old standards—features the same chord progressions as heavy metal, Lane says.

Clark says he sees surf music as crossing many musical genres, as well as musical tastes.

“From what I’ve seen over the past few months, it’s a blend of ‘50s rock, flamenco, jazz [and other] various styles,” Clark says. “I think that’s why when people listen to us, we have people in their 60s that enjoy our music and people in their 20s. The bands we played with at [a recent] Battle of the Bands, the younger generation, they all enjoyed it. They want to play gigs with us.”

But the Mighty Surf Lords don’t want people to think they are laid-back. Though “Mighty” may have been a late addition to the band’s name, it’s there for a reason.

“I think people were surprised that we were so powerful,” Lane says. “With my background playing rock ‘n’ roll drums and [Clark’s] background with metal and [Woods'] background with hard rock and metal, I think people will be blown away. I think we are more powerful than a lot of bands that play heavy metal or hard rock.

“A lot of people think surf music and they think Beach Boys, and that’s not necessarily the case."