Surfing
With Red Bull TV showcasing Volcom's latest movie, Munch, we caught up with star of the show, Australian powerhouse Noa Deane, to discuss the dark arts of being a video star in the social media era.
Freesurfing superstar Noa Deane’s kamikaze approach to aerials and reckless abandon in the face of oncoming sections has been winning him fans since his late teens. Now on the brink of turning 30, bar a brief period of burnout a few years ago, Deane sees himself "surfing better now than ever" and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He pushes himself and his surfing as hard as anyone in the game, leaving a torrent of epic video parts, a trail of battered flesh and fibreglass, and an army of stoked groms in his wake.
Deane re-signed with longtime sponsor Volcom earlier this year and to celebrate he's just released Munch, a trademark tornado of huge airs and evil Australian slabs, co-starring his long-time sparring partner Ozzie Wright and New York's favourite surfing son Balaram Stack, all pieced together beautifully by lensman James Kates.
We caught up with Deane at home in New South Wales, Australia, to find out how modern life is treating the son of '70s surfing icon Wayne Deane and see what lies ahead, just over the horizon. Hit play above to enjoy the full movie and then dive into our interview with Deane below.
Munch is great. We can't imagine it took much convincing from Volcom to make you film a movie with Balaram Stack and Ozzie Wright?
Definitely not! It was my idea as much as Volcom's, so it all came together pretty easily. I've always surfed with Ozzie, but I don’t know if I've ever really surfed with Balaram outside of Hawaii and it was sick. He came over, we hit a bunch of spots and he was ripping. I love surfing with that guy.
Ozzie Wright still seems to love it as much as anyone.
It's the best. I first met him when I was 18 and I remember thinking how sick it was that the dude was frothing so hard – and he'd probably already been doing it for 15 years by then. He just really appreciates surfing and that's sick. To have that much fire still is incredible. Surfing's the best job in the world, but it's hard to keep reinventing yourself and keep changing the way you surf to keep your mind fresh, and he nails it.
Ozzie just really appreciates surfing and that's sick. To have that much fire still is incredible
People probably think it's a glamorous life, but it must get gritty on the road, shooting in the middle of nowhere...
It's funny, you’re trying to do it as cheap as you can, because then you can go on more trips. It's really not about having fun out of the water, so you just get the most budget motels you can find. I love watching the TV with no internet. You can't just look up what you want, you have to cop whatever's playing.
These places are also always next to some dodgy looking restaurant, where you meet all these characters. You always run into someone weird who's going to say something crazy to you, like the universe wanted you to meet them.
You had a string of premieres for the movie. Showing your work off in real life to a packed room must be satisfying?
That's one of the main reasons I love it. It's cool. The young groms are so impressionable They’re sponges and I love asking them about surfing and where they like surfing. If they’re stoked on the video and they’re stoked on what you do, that's pretty special.
You're always going have to answer to how many views something gets or whatever, but it should also always be important that a grom gets impacted. If they love the music and the surfing, and it clicks with them, it might change their lives. That's sick.
You moved from the Gold Coast in Queensland down to the South Coast of New South Wales and became really tight with the local bodyboarding communitys. What have those guys taught you?
I've been blown away by the drive they have to surf and get clips, it’s gnarly. You can surf all morning and get the sickest clips, but they won't leave it at that. They'll still try and get two more surfs in, even when you're absolutely cooked.
You watch bodyboarders and pretty much any wave that barrels is a ramp to them, so I've taken that mentality from a lot of the people I surf with and it makes me want to just go as hard as I can.
What's good surfing to you?
Barrel-to-air, that’s the ultimate. My favourite thing to watch is say, North Point, in Western Australia. That wave's the sickest and I love watching people take it on when it's pumping. I loved what Vans did with the Pipe Masters. I know that not a lot of people did airs in their heats, but if there was a day when it was barrel-to-air out at Pipe, that's one of the most exciting things ever to watch.
Barrel or air, which way are you leaning?
Hard one. I like doing airs a lot, but nothing is better than getting barrelled. I burnt out a few years ago and I think my second wind was all because I only ever liked doing airs and now I like getting barrelled, too.
You turn 30 soon. Does that mean anything to you or is it just a number?
I guess it means I've got to act a little older? Nah, forget about that. I’m stoked, though. I'm tripping that I've been paid to surf this long and I feel like I'm surfing better now than ever.
What's on the horizon?
I want to do a more in-depth video, it'd be cool to do more of a profile. I think people love those movies with people talking about all the crazy stuff that's gone down along the way. It’s interesting seeing how people’s minds work and I feel like you can squeeze a lot of cool visuals and stuff into movies like that. I don’t know if people think it’s cool or whatever, but it's a goal of mine. I feel like I will have done something if I made a movie like that.
Last one for anyone who's seen the movie, has that hole in your armpit fixed itself yet?
That was horrific. It hit me so hard, hurt so much and when I put my hand inside my wetsuit, my whole hand went into my armpit. It was vicious. They told me I couldn’t surf, but I'd only surfed once and caught three waves, so there was no way I could leave it at that. I taped it up and could only really paddle with one arm, but I got a few more waves and tried a few more airs, which was stupid and made it worse, but that was all good. It's all good.
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