Occasionally, a young surfer is plucked from obscurity, his talent recognised by a scout, and then held aloft and shown to the world. They quickly command a giant salary and they are the toast of the magazines. The magazines ask whether they've got what it takes to fulfil the hopes of whatever surfing nation they're from and if they enjoy being the Next Big Thing. Like most teens, they have an opinion. They don't like all styles of surfing. They're not always aiming to be world champ. They're just enjoying what is a pretty sweet sorta ride.
Dane Reynolds is American surfing's next big thing. Uh, but so is Jamie O'Brien. And, uh, Bobby Martinez used to be but isn't now even though he's in the top five; and now we've got John John Florence. Confusing? It's how the media works. Dane is 20 and he's working on his first profile movie, The First Chapter. Dane's not interested in qualifying just yet and he's prepared to tell you how he feels without self-censorship. During a recent profile in Surfing, editor Evan Slater quoted Dane describing Kelly Slater's airs as "the ugliest things ever - and way easier to do." According to Ev it was typical Dane: "He's very opinionated and says stuff without really worrying about the repercussions cause no one's really printed some of his call-outs before." Ev went on to say: "Anyway, Kelly obviously saw it, emailed Dane and accused him of trying to start a feud. Kelly then called me and said Dane was really bummed on the quote and that it was 'taken out of context.' I then called Dane, he said he wasn't bummed at all, and said Kelly was the one going off on him. I believe Quiksilver urged Dane to apologise to Kelly, which he did."
We found Dane holed up in the editing suite in the Sydney suburb of Mosman, working on his film. He was typically golden-tonsilled, bummed with the lack of waves around Sydney but happy to take control of the direction of his new film...
STAB: Tell us about the deal with Surfing and you ripping into Slater's wheelie.
DANE: It was pretty funny. I was making fun of the wheelie not directing it at him. All I was doing was making fun of those airs but Kelly kinda claims em though. He wrote me an email saying that they were sick.
What'd you write back?
I wrote kind of apologising because I didn't mean to come off like that. I felt bad but he told me jokingly that wheelies were sick and I'll make fun of you when you work it out (laughs). And what'd you say, you'11 never catch me doing one of those things? Nah, I didn't even write him back, I didn't know what to say. I think some people want to fuel a feud or something but there's no feud there.
Kelly ripped into Evan, eh?
He was pissed, I think because he was hyping me up in the same article I was writing him off but I wasn't really writing him off, it came off kinda like that. You can't write off Kelly Slater. And I'm surprised he even cares, the same time he's won seven world titles, like, who gives a shit what some random kid's saying.
They're a safety air. They're so controlled. Your tail is last thing to leave the wave and the first thing to touch again. Bruce does em and they're pretty sick, he does em with a lien grab. I don't blame people for doin1 em in heats because judges love em. That's kinda what I was saying that judges don't have a clue because they love the wheelie. That's how it came back to Kelly because I was making fun of wheelie airs and I had a heat with him at lowers where he did two big snaps and a wheelie and they gave him a 9.8. The air was gross but the two snaps were good.
Were you rattled because you were gonna get beaten by a wheelie?
That was the first wave of the heat, in the first five seconds and he gets a 9.8.1 sat out the back waiting for sets for 15 minutes. I got all psyched out, I didn't know what to do. It's hard when someone gets a 9.8 in the first five seconds of a heat, like, what do you do?
I hear you had some early cuts of the film you weren't really digging?
I had some early cuts of the film and that's why I'm here right now. It's looking pretty good, we got some good stuff from WA the other day so we're just trying to piece it together.
So do we have to turn down the sound for the Audioslave tracks?
(Laughs) Oh definitely no. I'd kill myself. I'd hang myself. It was like that at first. They were working on it in Australia and I was in Cal ifornia so we had a little bit separate views and it was already far along when I saw what was happening. All it took would be a couple days together and we're on the same track.
What are the highlights?
Some stuff from home and from the Box the other day. I was watching a cut on the Gold Coast and there was a lack of good film so it was good to get some 16mm. That's what we were after.
Oh no, no slow-mo tubes to put us to sleep?
Nah, only about five or six waves. Most of it's DV (digital). It's like 70/30 at this point, DV to film, It's a good mix.
What's your favourite track?
A Pavement song. Pavement's my favourite band.
If you could compare it to anyone's profile movie what would it be similar too?
Shoot, there's not gonna be any interviews or anything so it's not gonna be much like anything before it. I hate that most movies are so straight-forward and the guy's sitting there and he's saying what's going on. I'd prefer people to read between the lines.
What profile films have you really liked in the past?
Arc was one of my favourites, Taylor Knox's profile film. All three of Taj's have been sick, and The Bruce Movie was pretty sick I just wish there was more surf footage. I like all the Volcom movies, they've got a good feel. Creepy Fingers is sick too.
Who's impressed you surfing-wise in Australia?
Craikey (Ry Craike) and Yadin (Nicol) are both ridiculous. Ben Dunn's ridiculous too but I'd much rather watch those other guys surf but shit, you know if you've got a heat against Ben you're not gonna win, Dude, it's better to surf for enjoyment, I don't care about contests.
Is Craikey as rounded as Yades?
I've never met someone who hates going backside so much in all my life. There are people who don't like going backside but they'll go out and complain or whatever but he just doesn't even go out. He doesn't even care.
How 'bout Jamie O'Brien?
He's older than me and we've never been in the same division. He's doing the most nuts stuff out there today. I watch him and just try to match it because he's at the top of the level as far as creative surfing is concerned.
Where would you like to be ub 18 months time?
Oh man, I don't know, I'm focussed on the next two months to just finish this thing. After that I haven't really put too much thought into it. I know Quik want me to do contests. All I know it's so much better doing trips you want to do rather than dreading going to Japan or Brazil for six stars. It seems worthless at the time but everyone's gotta go through it.
