HISTORY OF THE AQUALADS
AQUALADS 1996-2000
The band's beginning
In 1996, Jimmy King (guitar) and Darrell Ussery (drums) formed a surf band with Jake Berger (bass), playing Jimmy's original songs. For their initial show they were looking for a name and Jake Berger coined the name “The Big Swinging Hammers”. The trio played a few shows and ended up recording a demo that included the songs, “El Spectre,” “The Creeper”, “Bikini Jungle” (written by Darrell Ussery), Undertow and Night of a Thousand Flames. These core songs would later become staples of The Aqualads’ repertoire, and most ended up on their official releases.
But when Darrell abruptly left town, Jimmy decided to expand the band and change the name to the Aqualads. He assembled the group’s initial lineup: Greg Walsh (guitar), Colin LaRocque (drums), and Jake Berger (bass). This lineup played a handful of shows around Charlotte, and also played on the "Surfari USA" tour when it came to Spartanburg, SC. However, after their first performance at Jack Straw's, Jeremy DeHart introduced himself to Jimmy and shortly thereafter replaced Jake Berger on bass. This would go on to solidify the band’s first long-term lineup. Jeremy was a prolific songwriter and initially contributed a wave of original compositions, including “Haunted Beach,” “Hotbox,”, “Night of the Gremmie” and “Flatline,”. These songs complemented Jimmy’s songs and a songwriting team was born. At the same time Greg Walsh contributed his own sound with originals like “Dos Whammies”, “Lonboard” and Quasimodo.”
In addition to their growing catalog of originals, The Aqualads embraced a traditional surf rock sound, performing covers of 1960s classics by bands such as The Ventures, The New Dimensions, The Original Surfaris and the Shadows.. The band quickly gained a reputation in the Charlotte, NC music scene, frequently opening for prominent acts and earning critical acclaim.
To promote their upcoming Christmas show at the Double Door, The Aqualads recorded three holiday tracks along with several original songs in the basement studio of Chrissy and Brian Rowe, affectionately dubbed The Aqualab. Armed with a reel-to-reel 1/4” tape recorder and two SM57 microphones, the recordings were initially released as a CD-R and the Christmas songs were soon pressed as the Aqualads X-Mas 7” vinyl, the bands first official release.
This lineup went on to record the album Hotbox in 1998 at Pendulum Studios. The CD had multimedia videos and was cutting edge for the time. The Aqualads continued playing live shows with and even a parade for "Rock the Vote" featuring a 20' Stratocaster on their float.
For their next album the Aqualads worked to achieve a sound more like their 60's Surf heroes and less like the modern recording that had been produced by Pendulum. Jeremy penned the tracks "Surfer's Revenge", "Hollow Day", "Loose Gypsy", "Surfing with the Sharks", and "The Last Wave". To round out the album Jimmy brought "House of Siam" and "Shaken Not Stirred", and Greg Walsh delivered "Sun Stroke" and "The Island of Dr. Pinchot" to the mix. These songs and others ended up on the album Revenge, released in 1999. During this period the Aqualads also appeared on several surf rock compilations, including TubeRider, Swivlin Wahines, That's New Pussycat, and Jesus Christ Superstar among others. The band continued to play and tour around the South until 2000, when Greg Walsh relocated to Charleston, SC, bringing this era of The Aqualads to a close.
2000-2005
The Charlotte Bob Years
After Greg Walsh’s departure as lead guitarist, the band experienced a series of lineup changes. Jeremy transitioned to guitar alongside Jimmy, while various bass players filled in temporarily. They performed several shows, but in 2001, Colin left the band to pursue opportunities in Los Angeles.
During the earlier albums, Jimmy and Jeremy collaborated closely to shape the sound and identity of The Aqualads. Now this partnership was producing standout tracks such as “Curse” and “It Came From the Sea” for the next album. Their creative synergy and friendship became the driving force behind the band’s momentum during this period. During this time, they also recorded “Barbara Ann” for the American Graffiti Surf Compilation and “John 1941” for the Jesus Christ Surferstar compilation, with the duo handling bass duties and utilizing a stand-in drummer.
After working with a rotation of drummers, Darrell Ussery reunited with his former bandmate Jimmy, bringing a polished, professional sound to the group. Around the same time, "Charlotte Bob" Nelson, a guitarist Jimmy had long admired for his work with The Mighty Diamelles, returned to Charlotte after living at the beach. Bob, who had introduced Jimmy to surf music in the 1980s through his band's covers of classic surf tunes, was a seasoned blues guitarist eager to revisit the genre. The Aqualads invited Bob to join, solidifying the next phase of the band.
The group briefly experimented with a three-guitar lineup for one show before Jimmy transitioned to bass, finalizing the core members: “Charlotte Bob” Nelson on guitar, Jeremy DeHart on guitar, Jimmy King on bass, and Darrell Ussery on drums. The group eagerly started recording their next album in Jeremy's basement studio, again dubbed "The Aqualab". Bob helped push The Aqualads’ sound in a bluesy and experimental direction, contributing tracks like “Surf! Surf! Surf!,” “Folly Beach,” “Rodeo Gals,” “Speedshifter,” and “Snowboarding.” Meanwhile, Jeremy continued to bring original compositions to the table, including “Tarantula,” “Oasis,” and “Pier #9.”
With this dynamic and eclectic lineup, The Aqualads performed numerous live shows and ultimately recorded their third album, Surf! Surf! Surf!.
In 2005 Charlotte Bob stepped away from playing live shows to focus on his marriage, bringing this era of the Aqualads to a close.
2008-2017
The Return of Greg
From 2006 until 2008 the Aqualads would not have a performing lineup. After the departure of Charlotte Bob the remaining members found themselves in different projects and dealing with the challenges of life. However in 2008 Greg Walsh returned to Charlotte with his family. After much discussion with Jimmy, Jeremy reached out to Greg to see if he would be willing to re-join the band. Greg agreed and the Aqualads started off on their most stable and successful lineup change.
The original idea was to get Greg and Jimmy back on guitar and return Jeremy to Bass, leaving long time member Darrell Ussery on Drums. However after their first show with this lineup, Jimmy once again decided to go back to Bass, leaving Jeremy and Greg as the Guitarists in the final lineup.
It was during this time that the group started the initial efforts to write the modern Surf Music Classic album "Treasures". Over the prior years the collaborative writing team of Jimmy King and Jeremy DeHart had already crafted "Reef Rider", which would be the opening track of the album. In early 2008 they would once again go on to write "White Sands", "Vientos Del Sur" and "Bon Voyage". During this period Jeremy was dealing with the loss of a parent as well as a divorce, and what would come from this tumult was a writing spree that included the songs "Snake Eyes", "Phantom Point", "El Borracho", "Washout", "Atlanticus" and "The Whirling Dervish". The album was taking shape as Greg delivered "Crystal Cove" to once again round out the Aqualads sound. To record the album Jeremy reached out to Rick Miller from Southern Culture on the Skids, and the band would travel up to Rick's studio over the course of a month to track and mix the release. Rick was an avid collector of vintage Surf Music and was the perfect fit for the bands newer more agressive tone. The release of Treasures in 2011 would solidify the Aqualads as a major Tour de force in the Surf Music community.
This lineup proved to be the most dynamic and long lasting lineup of the group to date. They would play multiple Instro Summit shows, local shows, The Surf Guitar 101 Festival and the Asbury Surf Festival of 2017.
In 2013 Jeremy departed the band to pursue other opportunities, however came back in 2015. While other songs were written during this period, there were no more recordings made and ultimately Jeremy departed once again in 2017 leading to another series of lineup changes.
2017-2023
Castaway and Hi-Tide
After the departure of Jeremy in 2017 the band hired guitarist Brad Morris to take Jeremy's place. They went on to play a handful of shows and ultimately signed with Hi-Tide recordings. This label relationship would produce the Christmas Digital release, which was comprised of the songs that had previously been released on an Aqualads Christmas album from 2011, as well as an EP that included the song "Catch On", an original from Jeremy, who was pulled into the studio to perform on these sessions. Brad Morris and Greg Walsh also contrubuted songs, and the EP was released by Hi-Tide on 7" entitled "Castaway". After the release of Castaway the band played the Hukilau in Ft Lauderdale, and a few local spots in Charlotte. However during the COVID years Jimmy King moved out of Charlotte, leaving the remaining Aqualads bandmates in limbo.
2023-?
The New Dimension
In the summer of 2023 Greg and Darrell decided to invite Jeremy to restart the Aqualads. The 3 of them had played together from 2008-2017, the longest run of any lineup of the Aqualads and within a few practices were back in the saddle. They added Jeremy's then Bass Player, Dave Wall, from his other Project "The Manakooras" and played a few shows at the end of 2023.
Unfortunately in the first few months of 2024, Greg Walsh once again left the band. The Aqualads found themselves with yet a new lineup with only 2 of the original members. Not to be deterred, Jeremy and Darrell decided to forge ahead by moving Dave to Guitar and, after a few lineup changes, found a new bass player. Mike Young, who brings an original energy back to the band. They headlined the "Southern Surf Stompfest" in Atlanta at the end of 2024 to much praise, and are planning a slew of new releases for 2025.
With the original writing of both Darrell Ussery and Jeremy DeHart still crafting the sound of the Aqualads, they are beginning to push ahead into new sonic territories. What will the future bring? Nobody knows, but for sure, there will be more Surf Music on the horizon for the Aqualads!