Frolic with obscure dog breeds! Surf with violent
intent! Maybe sip on beer!
For six years, from August 2006 until mid-2012,
Dane Reynolds was regarded, universally, as the best surfer in the
world.
“He’s the face of a new era,” Kelly Slater told
Interview magazine in 2008. “He thinks outside of the box
and has a unique approach where he sees the wave differently.”
John John Florence holds that title now, of course.
But rather than forget his contribution to the romance of
surfing, BeachGrit has gazetted Monday, February 23, as
International Dane Reynolds Day.
And what better way to celebrate than to eat up his opinion and
ideas. This interview was recorded by the photographer Morgan
Maassen over two sittings two years ago. It first appeared in Stab
magazine, while I was still editor, under the title Ballad of
the Hip Surf God.
Okay, tape rolling. First I want to…
DANE: Oh my god, my dogs are sickos! That’s fucked-up.
Boogie!
(Pam and Boogie appear to be 69’ing)
Are they consummating?
DANE: Boogie, that’s your sister!
Cute! We just flew down to Mex for these photos.
Something I wanna know is, what’s the pressure like to perform for
cameras?
D: Well, a problem I was having in Salina Cruz these past trips
was that I was trying to compare myself to myself two years ago
when I went down there for that Lost Interest trip. I was getting
in my own head and trying to make sure I was surfing better than I
was two years ago. And I was mind-fucking myself and putting too
much pressure on myself and, in turn, not going forward and
replicating what I had done or something. I over-think shit
sometimes… a lot.
Do you hold that surfing you did in Salina Cruz two
years ago as the golden standard?
DANE: No, it wasn’t the golden standard but it’s what happened
two years ago and I definitely don’t want to… I want to be getting
better, but I shouldn’t be worried about accomplishing the same
thing. I should be worried about doing different shit.
How much importance do you attach to website, Marine
Layer?
DANE: Everything that’s in the media is someone else’s
representation of you and how they perceive whatever you say. When
I did that interview with Kelly for What Youth, I realised how much
you shape somebody else’s words when you interview someone. Because
if we printed it verbatim, it’s just a mess of shit so you try to
get the big idea of what they’re trying to say and put it in their
words. That was eye-opening to see how people fuck-up interviews so
bad. Marine Layer is no-bullshit. It’s not skewed by all the
filters of magazines and sponsorship and shit like that. It’s just
the footage that I like with the music that I like, and I feel like
it’s been pretty important for me.
Do you think that it paved the way for other surfers
having blogs with their own filmers? Those kids are very in-charge
of their stuff…
DANE: I think so, yeah. Definitely when it first started. Dion
had already been doing dion.tv for a while but then when I started
Marine Layer it seemed like everyone hired a filmer and started a
blog. I’m sure Marine Layer doesn’t get the amount of views it
could if GrindTV or Transworld or Stab posted it, but I like the
idea of a cult following. People that get it and dig that style of
stuff want to go there to check it out rather than putting it in
everyone’s face. I can’t say it’s that successful but I do get a
lot of people that say they dig it. But then, people say they dig
everything when they see you.
With Slow Dance finally finished, would you say that
it’s more yours or Craig’s voice that comes through in the actual
filmic part of it?
DANE: That’s interesting because I had a huge influence in it,
but I wanted it to be all Craig’s voice. I just wanted to help him
along and make it rad. I wanted to make something he was psyched
on… but I think in the process of creating it, Craig wasn’t very
outspoken. I know that deep down inside he had strong opinions. He
isn’t very outspoken until it gets to a snapping point. So Slow
Dance ended up being more my vision than I anticipated going into
it.
Dustin Miller (filmer-editor and collaborator on
marinelayerproductions) was suppose to direct Slow Dance, but you
took the reigns instead…
D: Yeah. Dustin has a family and lots of other jobs so he
couldn’t be around all the time, and nothing was happening with the
film, so I had to get really involved. I got really consumed with
it. I felt that I was the only one that was going to dedicate
everything to it so it ended up being a big undertaking. I don’t
know if all films are that confusing but it was so confusing. I
felt like I was working on a Rubik’s cube for the past year.
How do you feel about surf culture in general right
now?
DANE: I want to be positive and have hope, but a lot of shit I
see bugs me.
Do you think commercialisation has been a big
problem?
D: I’m probably the problem. Seriously, I’m a big part of the
problem because when I quit doing the contest thing I feel like a
lot of kids were like oh, okay, we can make it being a freesurfer,
we just have to look cool and put out webclips. So now there’s a
group of kids that look hip and act cool and don’t even seem to be
into surfing… looking cool is rad and all but it seems phoney when
you are trying way harder to accomplish that than surfing good. And
now all the brands have their token “lifestyle guy” or
whatever…
Fifty years ago surfers were just poor dudes. Surfing
was unmarketable. There wasn’t single person outside of beach
culture that would buy surfing product. But now, everyone’s a
marketing vehicle to sell product to as many people as possible.
That’s why Red Bull sponsors surfers, that’s why Target has all
these action sports…
DANE: Do you really think its profitable for Red Bull to sponsor
surfers?
Absolutely.
DANE: You do? I don’t really understand the direct link. Is it
just getting the logo seen more and more? Just because Mick Fanning
has a Red Bull logo on his board doesn’t make me want to drink Red
Bull…. although I do like Red Bull, but I cant drink it anymore.
Caffeine gives me anxiety.
I think in the sense that in motocross or snowboarding
you have these huge stadium venues with Red Bull logos plastered
everywhere and the best riders wearing Red Bull stuff. Everyones
going to be drinking Red Bull or everyone in the club is going to
order Red Bull-vodka, whereas in surfing, it’s so small and
premature that they are preemptively sponsoring people. As in, they
are sponsoring Mick so Monster doesn’t sponsor Mick…
How does that directly reflect the selling of a toxic, addictive
drink?
It’s just name brand recognition. Growing up, my
absolute favourite skater was Chad Muska and he could have worn a
hat with umbrellas and I would have bought it because I thought he
was so cool. So I think its safe to say most of the kids that look
up to you and Kelly go for that brand recognition too.
DANE: When I was a kid, pro surfers seemed so distant, so
unattainable, but with Facebook and Instagram everyone feels like
they know everybody, like everybody’s friends and pro athletes
aren’t “icons” anymore.
And surf movies? Media?
DANE: You know, I was thinking about this on the way back from
Mexico. How in the Taylor Steele days, he would come out with one
movie every two years. And you were expected to have a good part in
it. But now, if I don’t come out with a good section every month,
people trip out. That’s so gnarly. It’s crazy. When I was competing
it was more simple. You know that if you make the quarter-finals of
an event, you feel validated in your professional life. And your
video parts don’t have to be gnarly cause everyone sees you surf at
every event. It seems like it was a lot easier than coming out with
a good video part every month. Video parts are fucking hard.
Why are videos harder?
DANE: Because you can’t repeat your surfing over and over like
you can in a heat. You can do the same shit every single heat and
just kill it. And if you do the same shit every webisode, people
lose interest really quick.
Do you think if someone puts out a really good
performance surfing clip, is it more valid than someone who puts
out a really cool alternative clip, maybe comparing Noa’s clip in
the Telos to Dion’s clip in the wave pool?
DANE: I’ve always been about aesthetic, something that generally
looks or feels good, or has a good vibe to it, but I’m pretty sick
of shit that looks cool but has no substance. There seems to be a
lot of that going around. A good video should have both.
With the paradigm shift in rail game to air game, what
do you think performance surfing is right now? Is it moving up
above the lip, is it still having a well-rounded bag of tricks? And
would you say Gabriel Medina is good at performance
surfing?
DANE: Yes, obviously, he’s amazing at it. It’s great, he’s
really rad. But, for me, it’s like, you can’t define why you like
the way someone surfs. It’s like you can’t say I like that Mariah
Carey song because of its tempo or that speed, it’s just a
sensation or a feeling. It’s cheesy to say, but surfing is art.
Once you get to a certain level of surfing, it’s your art. So it’s
undeniable to say Gabriel Medina is amazing at progressive surfing
but it also doesn’t really resonate with me. Then again,
goofyfooters never resonated with me. I just cant relate to
them…
Who do you think is the pinnacle of performance surfing
right now?
DANE: Definitely John John. Fuck yeah. He’s the sickest. Just
the fact that he does what he does and still surfs 20-foot waves
and shit, its sick. I don’t know, this performance term is killing
me.
What’s a better term for it?
DANE: Just surfing, that’s where surfing has gone, that’s the
basic level of surfing.
Guys that only surf big waves, can you bunch them in
with regular performance surfers on the same level as you or, as I
see it, living on a different planet?
DANE: It’s a different planet. I don’t see it as the same sport
or art or whatever you want to call it. It’s not even the same.
It’s like bullfighting as opposed to petting puppies (laughs).
Big-wave surfing is so linear.
DANE: …what, linear, like…
The progression in big-wave surfing is linear in the
sense that it has so few variables, essentially just the height of
the wave. Whereas, with performance surfing Gabriel Medina can do a
backflip on a one-ft wave with such precision that it’s
groundbreaking. Throw in a bigger wave, stronger wind, and the
ground-breaking factor compounds even more rapidly.
DANE: Yeah, totally, they’re both groundbreaking in their own
right. But big-wave surfing’s not relatable to me. It’s like
playing chicken. It’s all about courage and I’m sure there is
probably lot of technique involved but it seems so… you get what’s
handed to you from nature and if you’re man enough to take it then
you do or die…
Has big-wave surfing ever appealed to
you?
DANE: I like challenging myself, pushing myself, but… no. As far
as being one of those guys that are going places for giant death
swells, fuck that. That’s why I said progressive surfing is
relative to yourself. For me, going out in eight-to-10-foot
Pipeline is a personal win. I’m too scared of dying to go surf
30-foot waves.
It is a spooky thing, huh.
DANE: I don’t know how they handle that.
Sion (Milosky, who died surfing Mavs in 2011) was like
the John John of big-wave surfing, so badass… then he just…
died.
DANE: Done. Yeah its really crazy.
In your surfing, are there any manoeuvres that you love
in particular?
DANE: I really like doing those laybacks. I like to get to the
lip and push as hard as I can and seeing where it goes.
Do you ever try to create your own
manouevres?
DANE: No.
You don’t want to do the Ttruffle Flip
(laughs)?
DANE: The Dane-Ger Flip (laughs)… no, I don’t know. I’ve thought
about stuff in my head.
That seems like such a literal way to mark your
ambitions and progression. When Kerr did the Kerrupt or when
Gabriel made the backflip his own thing last winter or when Julian
did the sushi roll it kinda became an easy way to make a milestone
for yourself.…
DANE: I’ve thought of things in my head that I think will be
functional for a wave, then I’ve tried and it doesn’t work, but
it’s rad that Josh Kerr and Julian or whatever have been creative
enough to do a manoeuvre that is entirely different than what’s
been done.
So maybe removing the aspect of creating a trick to
brand it as your own trick, have you ever thought…
DANE: …just the world “trick” sounds so dumb. I don’t even think
of surfing as tricks, it’s just one motion. It’s not even worth
talking about. How funny is it that? We are sitting here talking
about surfing when (laughs)… it’s nothing. You stand up and you
ride a wave.
It’s crazy to compare it to tennis.
DANE: I was talking to Craig the other day, we were just about
to finish the movie, and I was thinking about how dumb surfing is
and how we are all totally obsessed and addicted to going out into
the ocean, being uncomfortable in some rubber suit, bobbing around
and asking everybody in the water how many waves they have been
catching lately. Then a wave comes along and you stop your
conversation and you ride it and paddle back out and talk about it.
And because Craig and I do tricks we are better than other guys. We
get paid for it and make a living off of it. So here we are talking
about surfing.
It’s so frickin’ retarded we are sitting here talking
about catching a ripple of wind and riding it to the
beach…
DANE: You want to know what’s ironic? I always have someone ask
me for an autograph on the beach only to have them snake me in the
lineup. It’s ironic to me because I’m paid to do whatever I do and
people have supported me to do that but then they keep me from
doing that at the same time. It’s the weirdest thing. Not that I
expect any special treatment or anything, it’s just like, fuck, a
lot of the time I trip out. In Mexico, I was tripping out how the
entire time I was at the bottom of the pecking order.
I see so many people literally hassle
you.
DANE: Oh all the time, every single day I get dropped in on.
It’s super backward compared to other sports. Tom Curren should be
able to paddle out at Rincon and get any wave he wants. But he
doesn’t get a break from anyone. He grovels around on the inside
like a grom while guys that look like they’ve been surfing for four
months catch bombs. It’s unbelievable.
I think that surfing is such an equal playing field that
truly anyone with any sort of mindset or perception or ability can
be sitting right next to you.
DANE: Maybe the problem is that I surf waves that anybody can
surf. Because at Pipeline, when someone goes out there and does
something stupid, everyone’s, like, “Get the fuck out of here
because you’re being dangerous.” I feel like people’s worst
qualities come out in the line up too though. It’s like traffic,
everybody gets angry.
It’s the complexity of the sport, the nature of a
strange beast. What’s been the strangest thing to happen to you
since you’ve been a surfer?
DANE: I wish I could think of something.
You’ve told me some pretty surreal
stories.
DANE: Really? I’m spacing out right now. It’s funny when people
ask me to hold their babies.
Do you think people hand you their babies hoping you
will pass on a little magic?
DANE: No. I just think they want the photo for when they’re
older. If I had a photo of Pottz holding me (laughs) when I was a
kid, I would be psyched! So I get it, I understand it. I’d be
really psyched.
Is it weird having a natural gift that you’ve honed so
much and worked on your whole life and having people obsess over it
and worship you?
DANE: I feel very fortunate. I obsess over surfing. I’ve gotten
to where I am because, fuck, in high school I was obsessed with it
and obsessed with improving. It got to the point where I burned out
because it was stressful to be obsessed with something like that.
But I don’t know what my goal was… it’s just something you get into
like video games. There’s no reason to beat the game, you’re not
going to get anything at the end. But, for some reason, surfing is
what got me, it’s what I was obsessed with and the fact that it has
given me anything back is pretty surprising. I’m glad I chose
surfing over video games (laughs)… dunno if there’s many career
options in that field.
Pro video gamers are sponsored by Red Bull…
DANE: … really?! Well, fuck, maybe I should have been a video
gamer.
So, right now, apart from John John what surfers do you
like to watch?
DANE: I keep saying John John… I trip out there aren’t more John
Johns out there. It’s obviously difficult to do what he does but I
don’t feel like there’s that many people that…
…have that magic?
DANE: He has the ability and the creativity, he utilises both at
the same time. I feel like a lot of people get stuck trying to
replicate everybody else’s thing. A lot of people have the talent,
but I just don’t feel like people have been able to apply
themselves properly or something…
I try to think of what other 27 year olds that are
interesting to watch and the closest thing I could think of is
Jordy or Julian and they are years younger and have nothing like
Marine Layer…
DANE: Well, people are obsessed with the world tour. And I feel
like a lot of really talented surfers have stunted their growth by
being so driven to win contests. It’s good to be consistent, but
it’s also good to experiment.
It’s such a valid way to rank surfing. But what you’re
saying is that it homogenises some surfers’ talent?
DANE: …well… I don’t know. It’s possible.
Considering so many of your peers are on the tour and
focusing on competing, do you draw more inspiration from the odd
moment in the surf contest when the surf is amazing or surf movies
in general now?
DANE: Inspiration? Definitely surf movies, like John John’s
movie, Done. This is like a full-on John John fan-out! (laughs)
It’s heavy. Fuck, no one else is doing that shit. I don’t know who
else to talk about.
Everyone else is putting so much effort in the tour that
their characters disappear…
DANE: “Done.” I’ll watch that over and over. And down in Salina
Cruz, I was thinking over and over about Dusty Payne’s Lost Atlas
section shot there and how it was so fucked-up. That’s still one of
my favourite video parts ever. And I definitely get a lot of
inspiration from that. I watch contests and I’m glued to the screen
the whole time and I get why people are obsessed with it, but as
far as Dusty’s part in Lost Atlas, I’ve watched it over and over
again. Whereas with contests I’ll watch it once and then it’s done.
I’m almost relieved its over so I can quit watching cause the heats
are fucking long, like, all-day long.
So what’s it like with Kelly? You guys are obviously
both the best surfers in the world right now but for such different
reasons.
D: People have been saying that shit for years and I never
believed it for one second…
What do you believe?
D: I don’t know. Want a beer?
Yeah, thanks. Do you have a rivalry or a tension between
you?
DANE: I feel like there’s a rivalry but it’s not because of me.
He makes me feel like that. When I see him he’ll shows me clips of
himself and I know that he’s keeping check on not only me but where
people are at, or what people are doing. I feel like he’s got the
all-seeing eye of the universe of surfing.
It’s like he strives to be more undefeated than to be a
surfer. He wants to know everything, see everything. No one can
score more than him. No one can get better waves than
him…
DANE: But then I feel like he’s even keeping tabs on everyone.
Seriously, everyone! I don’t feel like that validates me, that
Kelly feels competitive with me.
So you were on the tour for three, four
years?
DANE: Three years full-time then in the last year I did a few
events.
Is it weird being off the tour? We discussed earlier how
the tour validates the majority of pro surfers as does the QS
because it’s such a literal ranking system of
surfing.
DANE: It’s just like concrete.
If someone’s fifth place in the world it’s undeniable
that they are a really good surfer, but is it weird being off it
and kinda floating in your own existence and defining who you
are?
DANE: Yeah, shit’s gotten more complicated (laughs). I didn’t
think it was going to be difficult, but it was a big change,
definitely. Things were a lot more simple when I was competing.
Belly would be, like, “Hey, we need you for this photo shoot next
week” and I felt like I could say no to anything because I was
like, fuck, I’m making quarter-finals at every event’ or whatever.
But now all the lines are blurred and all of sudden it’s, like,
wait is it my job to act cool at a photo shoot?’
Do you think you have done a good job at keeping the
purity of your interest in surfing intact?
DANE: I’ve tried (laughs). But it gets complicated when you
examine what is pure, you know. When I was a kid and surfing before
school every morning my motivation was to try to be really good at
it. I don’t think that’s ever changed, but you do find yourself
surfing with goals in mind, like a really good video part or
something, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I don’t even think
surfing with a career in mind is a bad thing. But that does tarnish
the fun, which is what surfing should be about …
Is it weird being interviewed by a
photographer?
DANE: No. That’s what’s funny because when I interviewed Kelly I
felt like it was cool to blend those barriers. I don’t feel like
you have to be a journalist to have a unique take on things. You
don’t have to be a photographer to be able to take a photo. You
don’t have to be a pro surfer to be able to ride a wave. And I
think it’s rad.
Any final statements?
DANE: No. I’ve said too much already.
