Ninth KFJC Battle of the Surf Bands Catches a Wave on April 19

Battle of the Surf Bands founder Ferenc Dobronyi and wife/musical partner Karen Broder Dobronyi.

Southern California may be the once and forever wellspring of surf music—Dick Dale’s wild shows at Orange County’s Rendezvous Ballroom famously ignited the surf craze in 1961—but the San Francisco Bay Area can more than hold its own with local disciples of Fender guitars and amps and waves of reverb.

You can see for yourself on April 19, if you journey to the Ninth KFJC Battle of the Surf Bands at Smithwick Theater on the Foothill College campus, Los Altos Hills or click here to watch the event streaming live to your laptop.

Starting at 2:00 pm, 12 popular Bay Area surf bands— Young Barons, Surf Monster, Buzzy Frets, The GnarlyMen, Del-Novas, The New Shockwaves, The Seismics, The Reefriders, The Bloat Floaters, Frankie and the Pool Boys, the Reverbivores and Pollo del Mar—will perform 15-minute sets to provide fans with a smorgasbord of instrumental styles, compositions, and musical techniques.

But rest assured, reverb—the raison d'être of surf music—will be a major presence in every set.

Frankie and the Pool Boys performing at the Eighth Battle of the Surf Bands held at Art Boutiki, San Jose.

The Battle of the Surf Bands is the brainchild of local surf-music legend Ferenc Dobronyi, who founded not one, but two seminal instrumental acts: Pollo Del Mar in 1993, and Frankie and the Pool Boys in 2007. Much like Dick Dale’s raucous SoCal dance parties, the debut Surf Battle in 2004 was inspired by the scene at a Pollo Del Mar residency.

During his band’s regular monthly gig at the Hotel Utah—a SOMA (South of Market district) bar and hangout built in 1908—Dobronyi became aware that “touring [surf] bands would come around looking for a solid gig, and fans showed up to be drenched in reverb.”

“The shows reminded me of the ‘Battle of the Surfing Bands’ organized by Los Angeles radio station KFWB when it was a rock and roll powerhouse in the early 1960s,” says Dobronyi. “So, I started our ‘Battle of the Surf Bands’ to Bay Area surf musicians together in one place for a colossal party. The first one was packed, and we’ve kept doing them sporadically ever since.”

This year’s event is free, although a $20 donation at the door benefits KFJC 89.7 FM. It’s also the first time the battle will be hosted at Foothill’s Smithwick Theater. A campus map is available here.

“The Surf Battle is usually held in bars,” explains Dobronyi, “so we can now open up the event to all ages—which is a big plus.”

Although the Battle of the Surf Bands may appear somewhat infrequently, Dobronyi promotes surf music all year round with his Bay Area Surf Twang and Reverb Directory (B.A.S.T.A.R.D.) on Facebook.

“It's a focused community of bands and fanatics,” he says, “and it’s the best place to hear about shows and releases.”

Here, Dobronyi—whose own group, Frankie and the Pool Boys, releases its latest album, Endless Drummer, on May 1—shares a bit of a deeper dive into the Battle of the Surf Bands.

You’ve said the Bay Area Surf Battle was inspired by KFWB in Los Angeles. Was that why it was also important for you to align with KFJC as a kind of historical synergy?

The station has had a long history of supporting surf music, and I wanted to give something back. Revered DJ Phil Dirt had a dedicated surf show for 25 years, and that tradition is carried on by DJ Cousin Mary. In fact, all the DJs include surf music in their shows. And like KFWB used to do, KFJC often records the Surf Battle and releases CDs and DVDs as a fundraising campaign for the station.

What is your typical concept for curating the event?

Bands appearing at the Surf Battle should be from the Bay Area and play guitar-led instrumental music, but there have been exceptions to every rule. I think the underlying narrative is that with all the bands sharing much the same backline [drums and amplifiers], why do they all sound so different? Surf music has a lot more variety to it than most casual listeners might suspect.

Are there any challenges to producing a surf event in the Bay Area?

The main challenge to producing surf music events—in the Bay Area or anywhere—is that the music is instrumental, and it appeals to a very small, but special and appreciative audience. So, we've got to make sure that audience is identified, and that it knows about the event. It helps that KFJC has a great signal that covers most of the Bay Area, and that their listeners are open to a variety of music styles. Beyond that, the bands need to be available. There are a handful of surf bands that are sorely missing from this year's roster.

What are some of the things that make you most proud about producing the Surf Battle?

I love that all the bands give their best effort to be loose and work with the constraints of not using their own equipment. We provide a backline, because we have 12 bands to get through in three-and-a-half hours, and we can’t afford the time to have equipment changeovers between each act. It’s also a lot to ask bands to plan 15-minute sets for the Surf Battle, when they can play at least three times longer at their normal shows. But everyone is very helpful getting on and off the state quickly so we can keep the show running smoothly. In addition, while I'm usually working pretty hard the day of the show, I love seeing all the band members hanging out and getting to know each other.

Have any acts surprised you during the past eight shows?

I am always happy to see young bands who are obviously so into the music. It makes me hopeful for the future of the genre. We used to have to sneak those kids into the Hotel Utah to play! The Pyronauts, The Deadbeats, and The Corsairs—and now The Young Barons—all played the Battle of the Surf Band when they were teenagers. A lot of them are still involved in the scene to this day. I also love it when bands make an extra effort to set themselves apart from the crowd—suits, costumes, outrageous stage antics. That definitely makes them more memorable.

What do you feel is the current state of surf music and surf bands in the San Francisco Bay Area?

I don't think there are more—or less—surf bands now than when the surf revival started in 1997. It’s steady as it goes. I do know it's hard to keep a surf band going. You have to be really committed. I'm sorry when a great band evaporates, but then another band will come along to fill the void. As always, Bay Area musicians and music fans are open to experimentation, and that keeps the surf genre fresh.

Preview the Bands

Want a peek at what’s to come on April 19? Here are the 12 surf bands that will do “blissful battle” at Foothill’s Smithwick Theater. Click the band names to see their sites for more information.

Bloat Floaters