Interview with Surfer Kelly Slater

When we cyber people first hear the word "surfers", we instantly think about the folks who endlessly surf around the Internet. Well, there are other surfers out there, who are making a splash in the water and the music business. When they're not hitting the waves, they are carrying a tune for their band "The Surfers".

There is buzz going around the music world about this band made up of professional surfers whose forthcoming debut album "Songs From The Pipe," as they say in surfing terms, is a rip. ( def. To surf with great movement, style and speed)

Composed of three professional surfers, the band includes: Kelly Slater, who is a five time World Champion on the Association of Surfing Professionals' (ASP) elite World Championship Tour (WCT) and is becoming notorious as the guy dating Pamela Anderson-post Tommy Lee; Rob Machado, who finished fourth in the 1997 WCT rankings; and Peter King, who works on surf films and videos and hosted MTV programs such as "Sand Blast" and "MTV Sports".

Recently, I caught up with Kelly Slater while he was touring with "The Surfers". Noting his stunning good looks, I jokingly told Kelly that he may win the bathing suit and the talent competition but he wasn't going to score any points with me in the contest for originality of band names. He defensively exclaimed "I didn't want to be called 'The Surfers' but everyone referred to us as 'the surfers' anyway."

The name of the CD does win some points for originality—"Songs from the Pipe" was inspired by their annual winter encounters at Pipeline on Hawaii's magnificent North Shore. "There's really not much to do there at night," said Slater. "So, we would hang out and play music."

Pipeline is also significant to "The Surfers" for another reason. The story goes that band mate Peter took $1000.00 out of Slater's wallet from his surfing contest winnings at the Pipeline and bought a four-track board so they could start recording their music.

After recording, their big break came when a friend at Epic Records showed their video to Vice President of Artists and Repertoire, Roger Klein. Klein requested to hear more music, and then signed the band. " I'll bet there are not many bands who get signed via video," Slater boasted.

Slater's favorite songs on the CD are songs written about subjects close to the heart. The song "Anything From You" is about his family and making amends between his mother and himself, and "Not Your Slave" is about a friend who drowned.

"I learned a lot from our producer, T-Bone Burnett, (who has worked with Elvis Costello and "The Wallflowers") on how to approach singing a song. He told me to not push a song but flow with a song," says Kelly. "T-Bone also taught me that my song writing must be as truthful as possible, so the listener believes it."

"T-Bone got the idea for the tempo of this album while snorkeling in Hawaii,. While he was underwater he realized it all about the breathing. He kept thinking of the ocean conditions while he was producing the album" explained Kelly.

Slater feels that music has enhanced his surfing career in the sense, "It helped me to learn how important it is to focus my energy." Coincidentally, the two years Kelly spent working on the CD, he was crowned ASP World Champion on the WCT Tour.

Despite positive reviews of "Songs from the Pipe", Slater is not ready to give up his day job anytime soon. When asked if given a choice between being a surfing champion or rock n' roll star, which would it be? Without missing a beat, he replied, "Surfing has been my whole dream, my whole life. I have had quite a bit of fame in surfing, and I have learned it does not enrich your life and it can be a burden in the big scope of things. I like to write songs, but rock stardom is not something I aspire."

Slater continued, "Riding a surfboard is still more exhilarating to me than playing music onstage. Although, the other night when we played out everyone in the audience knew the words to the songs, and knowing you wrote them, that was pretty cool. "

More on Kelly Slater:

Besides singing and professional surfing, Kelly sported the infamous red lifeguard trunks for a season as a cast member of "Baywatch".

To my surprise, Slater did not enjoy the experience. "I didn't really like it…the waiting around between scenes drove me nuts. I also remember a scene I had on 'Baywatch' where I was waking up in a van and the sun is right around the horizon which is the evening, but the scene for the television series was supposed to be in the morning and that drove me crazy. Here, I am thinking no one in the West Coast is going to believe this is the morning."

When I asked him if acting was in his plans for the future, Slater responded, "If somebody offered me another part I'd be interested, but I am not interested in going to all those auditions, you have to go 'Hollywood' and I don't like that part." But Slater does plan to polish his talent behind the camera. " I am supposed to associate produce a film about surfing legend Jeff Hakman, who was addicted to heroin. Actor Sean Penn is interested in playing Jeff in the October Films' movie. I would like to be involved with any movie that shoots scenes around the ocean."

Judging from his "Baywatch" experience, I think Kelly has that producer role right on the mark. Not many actors would care where the sun was setting as long as their close up looked good. Yet, he was more concerned with accuracy of the story and scene. He's got the mark of a true professional.