He met bassist Eric Wilson in 1979 and later started their first garage punk band, which was named The Juice Bros. They became founding members of Sublime in 1986. In 1996, Sublime disbanded, due to the death of lead singer Bradley Nowell from a heroin overdose. The Long Beach Dub Allstars then formed in 1997. Their first album, released in 1999, was called Right Back (DreamWorks).

It was announced in early 2009 that Gaugh would be reuniting with Sublime at Cantina Los Tres Hombres in Sparks, Nevada on February 28 with new frontman and guitarist Rome Ramirez, in the place of Bradley Nowell. Following positive response, the band decided to reunite properly in August 2009 for a possible tour and new album. However, not long after the October 2009 performance at Cypress Hill’s Smokeout Festival, a Los Angeles judge banned the new lineup from using the Sublime name, and the band was forced to change its name. The new lineup of Eric Wilson, Bud Gaugh, and Rome Ramirez performed together as Sublime with Rome. A debut album, Yours Truly was released on July 12, 2011.

Gaugh left Sublime with Rome on December 10, 2011. He was replaced by Josh Freese. On January 12, 2012, in an interview posted on budztv.com, Gaugh expressed regrets about touring and recording with Sublime with Rome stating: “In hindsight I would not have used the name. I didn’t want to in the first place, I was talked into it and I would like to apologize to certain people and the fans for trying to justify or talk them into it as well.” When asked how it felt to play Sublime songs again, Gaugh said, “It was really good for the first few months, after that, it just felt wrong. Not playing the songs but playing them with the name Sublime, without Brad.”

In 2016, Gaugh appeared on an episode of Finding Bigfoot, where he and long time friend James “Bobo” Fay explore the wilderness in search of the elusive beast.