Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Dave “Nelly” Nelson is a globally published veteran surf and skate photographer with countless magazine covers and spreads to his name. After spending years as a senior photographer at TransWorld Surf Magazine, Dave now shoots freelance for domestic and international publications.
Major action sports brands such as Vans, O’Neill, Fox, and Reef commonly contract Dave to shoot on location for trips locally and abroad.
As one of the best action water photographers in the world, he is usually in the right place at the right time to produce “the goods”. Dave’s relationships and mutual respect with some of the most elite athletes in the world give him access to the best action at the best spots.
Dave’s dedication to the sports of surfing and skateboarding is matched by his values as a person. A true family man, Dave cares about is daughter and wife as much as he cares for his community of Santa Cruz. A consummate role model for young athletes coming out of his hometown, Dave has helped pave the way for some of the best young talent in Nor Cal.
Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast
Episode 4: Remembering Barney
What if one person could truly embody the spirit of a community? Join us as we celebrate the life and legacy of Santa Cruz legend Shawn "Barney" Barron, a surfer whose presence was as vibrant and lively as the waves he rode. With guests like renowned surf filmmaker Josh Pomer and multi-talented artist and musician Jason “Willz” Williams, we reflect on Barney's infectious energy and his unique ability to make everyone feel at home in their own skin. Discover how Pomer’s heartfelt film "Particle Fever" captures Barney's essence and the joy he brought to the surf community.
We take you on a nostalgic journey back to the days of Santa Cruz adventures, contrasting the freedom of our childhoods with the more supervised lives of today's youth. From mischievous escapades with Barney and his dog to the camaraderie of the local surf scene, we share stories that highlight the resilience and creativity fostered by such an upbringing. Learn how the local culture, shaped by individuals like Barney, left an indelible mark on us all, encouraging spontaneity and a sense of community.
As we prepare for the premiere of a surf movie in Barney's honor, the excitement is palpable. Hear about the creative journey behind his artistic expressions, from iconic wetsuit creations to tribute songs that capture his zest for life. We express our gratitude to the surf community for their unwavering support and reflect on the importance of sharing Barney's vibrant personality with the world. This episode is a heartfelt tribute to a beloved friend whose legacy continues to inspire and bring people together.
this is nelly's magic moments podcast. Yeah, I'm brian. I don't even have a sidekick name, I'm gonna go with it. Part two brian nelly sidekick. Brian nell dog upton jr what's happening?
Speaker 2:yeah, what's up everybody? I am so excited. This is gonna be such a sick show. We would like to dedicate this whole show to Sean Barney Barron, one of our favorite surfers, humans and individuals from Santa Cruz, california, and after that, I would like to introduce two of my favorite humans. We're going to start with Josh Palmer, one of Santa Cruz's most prolific surf filmers. He's responsible for the Kill series and one of my favorite surf movies of all time. Punk Rock Surfers, also starring Sean Barney Barron. If you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing. On the other side over here, we've got mr wills, dj band member, ribsy's nickel lead singer and one of my favorite artists I thought all he did was podcast logos.
Speaker 1:My fault wills respect. That sounds like you're more talent than just nelly's magic moments podcast. I thought that's how you got your big start it's all good he didn't mention too Also does the sickest shoes.
Speaker 2:If you haven't seen the shoes that he makes, they're the dopest. So with those two introductions, what's up boys?
Speaker 5:What's happening?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Palmer, tell us a little bit about this Barney movie that you made and are showing tomorrow at the Rio.
Speaker 5:Well, it's almost like Barney made it. You know what I mean? Because it's just pure Barney, like my original idea was. I just wanted to get like rent the Rio and just invite all my friends and just stream like eight hours straight Barney Film Festival, just hang with Barney all day until you're just like you don't even know what reality is anymore. You're just Barney locked, don't even know what reality is anymore.
Speaker 1:You're just Barney locked in Dude, maybe that still happens. Yeah, exactly Because that sounds pretty sick, what you just said.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it could totally still happen. I would love to do that. So, yeah, the movie Particle Fever is, so I whittled it down to about 55 minutes and it still has a lot of those vibes of just hanging out with barney, because, uh, those were some of the best times of my life just hanging with barney yeah, I remember.
Speaker 2:Uh, I mean those are definitely everyone sitting at this table is probably our favorite times of our lives. You know, one of my favorite things about barney was he always made me feel comfortable in my own skin. He had that, which is very rare, you know what I mean, and it was like he had the skill that he didn't mind putting his foot in his own mouth and he just laughed at himself. You know what I mean, which made you comfortable, made me comfortable, like, oh, if I put my foot in my mouth or say something weird, I don't have to feel like ashamed or whatever. You know what I mean, and he was just so awesome in that way.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so yeah, totally Like, sometimes you would show up at the lane and it would be like Vince Rufo the Ackers, like you know, kind of like walk up slow, like you know what I mean, and then you'd see Barney and you'd be like what's up, nelly? You'd be like okay, I feel good, I could do this.
Speaker 2:Turn an intimidating situation into a hilarious one.
Speaker 1:Family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was the glue. You know what I mean. There's zero doubt that he was the glue for everyone, and it wasn't just me. He made everyone feel that way. I think you know what I mean. What about you?
Speaker 3:Will. I heard you guys talk before being in the water with him and you would say things of he would make you feel comfortable there, where you'd be surrounded by all the best surfers in town and Barney would be like no man, go, go do this do that. He seemed to be like he didn't care. He didn't have that attitude. He didn't care, he didn't have that attitude.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean? Yeah, that competitive.
Speaker 3:He had nothing like that. He was more like God. That guy was funny man. He just was a walking circus freak show thing. He was funny man. Every time you see him you're going to start laughing. He would make you laugh every single time.
Speaker 1:Now give me a frame of reference here, because here's the thing I kind of come from the outside in. You know, through Garen and Nelly I know more of the mystique of Barney than knowing him the same way you guys did. But the time frame you're talking about the dude sounds in that way. I'm 56. It took me till my mid-30s, 40s to get comfortable in my own skin and not kind of feel like I had to present myself a certain way. Are you talking?
Speaker 1:that this guy was that way, like in his 20s and 30s, like from the get For teens even yeah, that kind of blows my mind right, because that sets him apart immediately from even dudes, you know, in the real world at 17, 18, 21, because everybody's kind of basically presenting not a false self but kind of a false self for what the circumstance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with the ego, there wasn't much ego.
Speaker 1:Wow, that was the word of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was the word of him.
Speaker 2:You know yeah, that's the word. You know, barney was like the guy that knew he was good but didn't like to show off. And but he did like to, you know, um show his skills in the water yeah, perform, he'd like to perform. Yeah, he liked he was a performance artist you know. I mean and I'm sure Palmer's got the footage to prove that you guys are in for a treat, Cause there is.
Speaker 5:there is stuff in there that nobody has ever seen, except for me and like the crazy thing about this movie is this is the only movie in history that I've ever even heard of the premieres tomorrow. There's not a trailer out. That's true, that's good. That's pretty sick, cause there's not a trailer out.
Speaker 1:That's true, that's good.
Speaker 5:That's pretty sick, because I wanted everyone to see it, because the stuff in there no one's ever seen. So I didn't want to ruin it and be like check this out. So it's like all you guys are going to be seeing the Barney that you know, but you're going to get to see him do stuff you never even knew he did. I just got chills.
Speaker 2:It's just to see footage that I haven't seen of Barney. You know what I mean. I saw that flyer on.
Speaker 3:Instagram. It was just a picture of him and I was like what is this? Oh Palmer, oh it's on. That's how quick it was. That's how quick it was. I was hoping there'd be. I was going to ask you about that.
Speaker 1:I was hoping it was going to be like that and before we get too far down there, nostalgic standpoint. Do you remember the very first time you met him like?
Speaker 2:the. Of course I do go ahead and we're gonna go, we're gonna go around the table.
Speaker 1:So let's hear that story.
Speaker 2:Then we'll kind of circle around so when I met barney for the very first time, um, he was a curly-haired grommet, I think it was even before that, you know. He made all his wetsuits like spider-man, aquaman and all these different wetsuits was even before that.
Speaker 2:It was like just this corny curly-haired grommet that was surfing really good and we ended up chatting by cows one day and we went down. There used to be a bathroom on the cliff at cows, is that correct? I think we were down there. Anyway, we were sitting together and we were chatting. We both knew who each other were, but we had never hung out. Yeah, you know what I mean. Anyway, it was a fun hangout with Barney Barron. I think there might have been a joint that went down, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1:And maybe that's where the bathroom materialized, but I don't think existed. I think it was on the beach.
Speaker 3:There's an old one. Yeah, there was one.
Speaker 5:There was one on the beach, josh, you remember. I mean, I feel, like me and Will's, we grew up with Barney, so it's hard to have like a first memory. But one of my favorite memories of Barney was and Wills probably remembers this he was probably there for that Santa Cruz High and like the thing was to like.
Speaker 3:That's what I was going to say. Yeah, I know exactly where you're going.
Speaker 5:The thing was to pants your buddy, to like pants your buddy.
Speaker 1:You didn't know where he was going.
Speaker 5:No, I do now. And Barney was the king of pantsing. People like I would go to school. I mean I don't think I would do sweats, but, but a lot of people would. But if I did that that was like double knot you know, what I mean yeah because someone will come up behind you and as soon as you're talking to a cute girl, be like yeah you know what I mean.
Speaker 5:So I think there was a couple times where I was like, ready, you know 100, yeah, so barney, there's a stage uh at santa cruz, high the quad yeah at like 10 15, everyone's getting their donuts. The whole school there. It's like completely packed barney's on the stage and I don't know who was behind him, but he jumped off the stage to do like a barney something. Someone grabbed his sweatpants. He literally jumped out of his sweatpants and was like naked basically that's amazing.
Speaker 1:Entire crowd, that's like yeah and then, and then.
Speaker 5:The best thing was is like he couldn't just put him back on because they were inside right right so he had to like go to like the window where they have, you know, serving milk and like kind of cower in the corner and put his pants regular and then put him back on. Yeah, and he wasn't even fazed.
Speaker 3:No, no, that's what I was gonna say in front of the whole school legend In front of the whole school.
Speaker 1:Legend In front of the whole school. Do you remember that?
Speaker 3:I do Do you remember that I was in the middle of the quad and the whole school was all. It was so loud and he was just like what? Yeah, he did, he cowered away but he didn't care you or me. Back then we were done. I'd have's probably about I don't know 87 people that saw Dick for the first time. Oh my God, that's a lot of people I thought you were going to say too. The first time for me was when he was at Santa Cruz High and he was on the cover, a surfer, and he was in Mexico in a barrel. Everyone had instinct back then. I'm bringing up some old school, but everyone had instinct and it was Barney on the cover and you'd be like at school going holy shit, that's the dude that's on the cover. Yeah, yeah, he was a senior. I think we were freshmen, I think that's how old he was. But yeah, those guys never went to school, by the way. Just to throw it out there.
Speaker 3:Like those surfers never went to school because they're always in the water. So power to them.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's funny and it always makes me think of like the that story lives. Sort of this John Hughes directed pants kind of thing. You, you could not script that more. Josh, you understand that as a pretty, you just can't get that gold. But the other thing, him on the cover, what we're talking? 17 years old, yeah.
Speaker 3:Probably 1989. So he was, yeah, he was still in high school.
Speaker 1:Right, but follow me on. This is like Nelly's in a world right now where these these up. They're everywhere, professionally produced, in social media. If it's happening, we consume it and it's done in the most crystal. To be on the cover of a magazine in 1989 with no social media, no internet no cell phone no cell phones. That that is elevated to like this status, like on the top of the hill because it wasn't consumed, the same way we do it now it was beyond belief.
Speaker 2:When you got a cover shot, it was like as big as it could get. Yeah, I mean, and it's just, it's a shame that those days are gone, really, because it had to go through a full editing process and all this stuff. You know what I mean. Anyone can throw anything up on social media now.
Speaker 5:And it was more than just a cover. It wasn't like oh, this guy got a good shot, it was like revolutionary.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 5:It was like this guy is doing stuff that nobody's ever done, Like we didn't even know who he was.
Speaker 1:He showed up and we're like what it's kind of like when somebody breaks through in a musical genre right, puerto Escondido right. Right what Barney did. It's sort of like when somebody does a certain something in music and then everybody else does that from now on. So you kind of go back even in the forties and fifties. You know sort of who influenced the. Elvis didn't make that shit up, he was influenced by a twist in the genre and Barney, from what you're telling me, was doing something no one was doing.
Speaker 5:And no one could do he was always doing stuff.
Speaker 3:No, it was almost like Hendricks.
Speaker 5:It was like Hendricks, so you could try to copy Hendrix, but you can't do it.
Speaker 3:And his face, remember. He's just like, ah, like he's in the barrel, just like his Barney face.
Speaker 2:That was his first of many covers, you know what I mean. But I have a funny Barney story. I have a few actually, but I'm going to start with the one trips. And I went down to, to santa maria with, uh, kristin fletcher, barney, rat boy, dave post I forget who else and the team manager of vans. So the team manager calls me and he's like hey, I told barney not to bring his dog and so make sure he doesn't bring his dog, dude, because, like you, can't bring dogs on the beach where we're going yeah it's like little secret spot down there and whatever.
Speaker 2:And so he was very adamant about it. So I called barney. I'm like, hey, don't bring your dog, dude, because like this guy's telling me it's, he's serious. And so we get down there. Barney's got his dog straight up, the guy's fuming, the team manager, vans, is fuming, and everybody's just like you know, kristen fletcher's like rolling his eyes like dude, what the hell are we gonna do with your dog now? You know what I mean. And um, so we scored waves, we come back, we're all going to sleep.
Speaker 2:It's like four in the morning and uh, it's me sleeping in one bed and right across from me is barney and rat boy and rat boys right across from me. We're like three feet from each other and all of a sudden I hear this. I hear barney's dog get up and it comes over and it starts crunching up the dog food in rat boy's ear and he was so mad. I've never seen rat Rat so mad. He like tugged the blanket off, knocked Barney off the bed, grabbed the blanket and went outside and he was just like screaming. It was just so typical Barney, you know what I mean. He just he always did stuff like he didn't care.
Speaker 1:I like that, though Confident. I like that too, confident man.
Speaker 5:You know he was a little rebel, but that was one of the good stories. Did he ever say why he brought the dog?
Speaker 2:It was especially good because it was Rat Boy. You know, Rat Boy and Barney had a special relationship, and it was like they were always frustrated with each other. And then Barney would just laugh at him.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Rat would be fuming.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know. I've got one answer. I I got one idea why he brought the dog Because they told him he couldn't. Yeah, oh, for sure I mean that's probably a heavy influence on bringing the dog.
Speaker 3:He brought his dog everywhere he did. He brought his dog everywhere. It didn't even matter where it was. He brought it there. Catalyst show. He's there with the dog. What are you doing? Dogs only came and got in the bar.
Speaker 5:What are you talking about? Brother and sister, the two sisters and foxy? Yeah, yep, is that? It was those dogs? Yeah, yeah, roxy and foxy. That was. That was the cutest thing ever flea and barney had like twin dogs.
Speaker 3:Yeah, boxers, they're cute too. It's amazing they looked, they looked alike too, and then they bring them to the cliffs. Those dogs all day would just all day long play all day long in the ice plant, just rolling over each other the whole day unreal.
Speaker 2:Flea was supposed to be here and he was bummed that he couldn't be here. He had to work a double shift today. Poolside. Maybe we can give him a little call later. Poolside.
Speaker 1:Remember we could always it's a little I don't want to put the pressure on now, but we could always those dudes, if that happens see if we could always carve out a few minutes on the podcast in the future. Josh, it makes me think about how long was this in the works and I know it's going to be the whole time but this specific movie, tomorrow Night, how long has it been in the works for you?
Speaker 5:Well, I, just basically after Barney died, I was like gosh, I really want to do my eight-hour Barney movie. But I was just every time I would think about doing it I would just be like I'm not ready, like it's just, it's too, too raw. So then, um, I guess, like two and a half years ago, I was like I was like I just I just want to start putting this stuff together yeah not for to show anybody, but just for me, I guess.
Speaker 5:Um, my wife actually showed me a really cool documentary about climbing and I was like that's pretty cool how they it was like a climber that was kind of different, sort of like how barney was different and he just was almost uh, did his own thing it wasn't the alpinist.
Speaker 1:Was it um the movie?
Speaker 3:is it yosemite, the dude from yosemite did he did yeah, not to not a buzzkill.
Speaker 1:Did he die at the?
Speaker 3:end yeah.
Speaker 5:Dude, that movie got me dude. Yeah, it was that movie Fuck that movie.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, it's heavy.
Speaker 5:It kind of is. I was like that was pretty cool and it kind of gave me an idea, because that movie's about the fil sort of two and he's like I wanted to follow this guy, and so I was like that couldn't be like a good narrative.
Speaker 5:It could be how I've just always been following barney. And so I just started to put it together and I just I had it done like pretty much a year ago and I just watched it so many times just by myself and I just watch it over and over again. It just made me feel so good. And then, um, and then, uh, just recently, my buddy was like hey, I want to play music and do a show, like do you have any movies? And I was like, do I have any movies? And I was like, oh, I got this barney thing that I made, but I guess I could clean it up and show that. And then I just I was like, yeah, let's do that. And then, uh, I was like it's coming up really quick, let's try to show before christmas because everyone gets busy. So I just like was like, oh, yeah, call up the rio, because obviously I'm gonna show it in santa cruz.
Speaker 5:And right on so then all of a sudden it was like he's like okay, did you do it? And I'm like, yeah, I did it. And then I was like, oh, wow, okay, I gotta finish this thing, and like get ready. And so I've just been like I've been literally I'll be editing it tonight, like it's just do you feel like and this is, this is Nellie.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you more about me later, but my mind goes in certain spots Do you feel like this is like a final stage of grief, in a way like a processing thing?
Speaker 5:I don't think it's a final stage for me, but it's just like I said. I just made it really for me and then I was like had this opportunity, I just want to share it with my friends right on.
Speaker 2:I want to touch on that real quick. Um, first of all, thank you for making this movie. Yeah, this is gonna be crazy, you know I'm. I just can't say enough good things about barney, you know I mean, and how how rad he was. There's just 50 million things go rushing through my head right now. But when I went to Barney's service it was a very, very intense day and I just had these stories all worked up in my mind and then Palmer got up there to speak and he couldn't make it through it.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, and it was just like he basically said everything that I wanted to say. So, which was cool, but to see all those emotions coming out was really anyway I can. It's palpable your love for Barney. You know what I mean and I really respect that and the fact that you said no. After all these years, it's not the final stage of grief. You know what I mean, and we'll probably be grieving for the rest of our lives. Someone like Barney.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:There's very few people that are as special to us as he was.
Speaker 1:No, I think it's amazing and I think, in a way, I think it comes in different ways. I think people's kind of acceptance of something that was that isn't you know it comes in unexpected ways. Sometimes. You know there's the obvious, you know moment, but then there's also sort of these surprise moments where you're like a different way to remember them or putting like getting your emotions around it a different way, and this is, I think, that's an amazing way to kind of phrase. It isn't so much like I praise, like even a stage of grief, it's more a current way of sharing Barney, or sharing Barney again with some people that maybe they're in a different place than you. That's the point, like I think it can mean a lot to a lot of people in a different way.
Speaker 3:For sure, yeah, I think it'd be cool too for people like my. I'm bringing my girl with me. I'm gonna bring my girlfriend to the premiere and she'll get to see because I can describe it. I could show her old videos that I have. But to be there and be with him you can't really describe of like how he was, like when he'd walk into the, if he walked in this room right now.
Speaker 3:We all know this whole podcast is done and we're gonna, you know, mess around. Something's gonna happen. We're gonna take a break. There's no way going to happen. But it's cool because I'm looking forward for her to see it. But no, because I have a feeling I haven't seen it. I missed the rough cut that you were going to do with Garen and Buell, but I was stoked that I didn't get to see it, actually, because now I'm more going to be, you know, sat in my seat just looking at all of it. Maybe you used old footage and with that and you said things that no one's ever seen. I have footage that no one's ever seen and it's like it gives you chills when you see it on your camera, like, oh my God, like we have. People have to see this.
Speaker 1:Like you have to be let out.
Speaker 3:I'm so happy and I'm just so. I'm proud of you, man, because you too, nelly, because you guys have been damn since we were kids. You guys have much for so many people with pictures, with videos. You told the story of like what it was like I don't even surf and I know this. You know what I mean. Like it's, it's, it's dope to see it. I want to give you guys your props and your flowers because you guys have done so much for so many people. And to do this for barney, it's almost like you would do it anyway. You know what I mean. Like this, you'd hang out with everybody at the rio, anyway and you painted all their boards.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly that's how I was in, just to let just let the people know that's how I got into the end of the circle right there and wills.
Speaker 5:You're one of those people that I appreciate too, so much like from day one um wills is amazing musician artist. He sings songs about us growing up and all that, and he has another band too. That's insane. I don't that I love. The name escapes me right now, but there's a couple Forward.
Speaker 3:Back or Cruisematic. Cruisematic is insane, cruisematic is sick.
Speaker 1:There's some deep stuff there. I listen to that every once in a while. There's some amazing shit on there.
Speaker 5:That's our early stuff, I feel like Will's is talented like Barney, he could do anything. This guy right here.
Speaker 3:And that was cool because, barney, I started painting a lot when he died. I don't know how it happened, I just wanted to paint.
Speaker 1:I was going to say that sounds familiar. He always tried to get me.
Speaker 3:Come on, come over and paint with brushes. Come on wheels, come over, paint, paint, paint. I'm good, brian, I got pens. I'm cool, I'm going to be over here doing this. And then, when he passed away, it's like you just don't. I don't think he's gone per se, but we have so many memories and so many. There's so much aura and energy in that town still from him. He's not gone. You know, like he's still. People still talk, they smile. You know I mean like oh, barney, okay, cool, yeah, he is gone. You don't get to see him again on the physical part, but you could always watch him on your movies, you know on your photos on man.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:It's amazing. One of my favorite memories of Barney is actually uh, I went over there to do an interview and do some photos and portraits and stuff for Vans, I think and, um, I brought Keala over there with me, my daughter, and you know she gets bored easy, like any kid does, and Barney just set her up with this full palette of paints and canvas and all this stuff and got her the sickest scene and got her a drink and all of a sudden she was stoked and she didn't, you know, and I had all the time in the world to do what I needed to do. And she remembers that, like you know, and she, she loved Barney too. You know Barney spent a lot of time over at my house too, so she remembers Barney. And that's one of the coolest things about this movie is there's a lot of kids that never got to know Barney. It's at that. What has it been? 10 or 11 years now since he passed?
Speaker 3:away 11 years.
Speaker 2:And so there's a bunch of these Groms who I shoot with who are 14, 15 years old. They never knew Barney and they're going to get to see they're going to get.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm saying. The people have never seen how powerful is that partner?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, and I think the thing for me it's very hard to translate, but that's why I like this, this format, this format right here. Um, because luckily, nelly's demographic goes from 12, 13 years old as far as some. He's in the water all the way up to some of the legends. But the beauty of that is is is we're building this podcast, this long form. It's not so much the obvious rad shit about Barney, it's what we said earlier that be yourself. You know, choose to be different, choose to be bold. You know I don't know the dude, but that's. I'm inspired by these words in the last like 24 minutes, and so I think that's a big part of it.
Speaker 2:You know, if you talk to anybody in Santa Cruz, you're Peter mouths and you're Adam repugnance and your skin dogs, and it doesn't matter who it is the Barney's their favorite person. You know what I mean. And then you go outside of town and you talk to Ozzie right and Gavin Beshen and all these people that used to hang it at Barney's house, and you know I mean I go over to the North shore and I talked to them and they start crying, you know how much they already meant to them.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean and it's just a beautiful thing that he touched so many people and you know from from all over the world. You know he did art shows in Paris and he did. You know he spilled coffee down. Johnny boy goes back in the North shore. You know what spilled coffee down, johnny boy going back in the north shore. You know I mean. And that guy's like the gnarliest hawaiian there is yeah and he turned around and he's like fuck barney yeah you're such a fucking barney, you know?
Speaker 5:I mean like anyone else, it would have been on like it would have been done slaps.
Speaker 3:It would have been slaps for sure, it was just barney's or pantsed if it was the 80s, I wish he was here because he would have told you that story. And he told me that once and I'll never forget it. Because he said that and he's like do you understand how crazy Johnny Boy Gomes was back in the day? No one would mess with that guy ever, yeah Ever. You'd get slapped for nothing. Yeah, exactly. And he was like the enforcer dude but and Flea was scared Like oh my God, oh my God, he's going to hit him. He's going to hit him. He's going to hit him. God damn it. Fuck, barney, what are you doing? You're such a Barney, that's why they call you Barney. Ah, now I get it.
Speaker 2:Spill coffee all over him. I'll never forget that story. Well, that was the other cool thing about, and you know what I mean. And he was always, like I said, putting his foot in his mouth, and always, he always said stuff off the cuff. He never thought about a thing before he said it.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so he said some crazy stuff where it was really awkward and we're all standing around going oh God, and then he would just start laughing Like he knew. He figured out how bad it sounded and what he said, and then he just laughed at himself and it was all good.
Speaker 1:And another great thing about growing up when we did is all that shit wasn't recorded. That's a different world. Now. You get these hung-up moments and these real-life public moments, and now 98% of it is recorded, so you don't have that sort of pause and then just everything goes back to normal. You can live in that sort of like that memory.
Speaker 2:So palmer what else you've been doing in santa barbara?
Speaker 3:palmer lives in santa barbara, yep uh, yeah, josh, what have you been doing? Everyone, what have I been doing?
Speaker 5:but what I also wanted to say, though, about that era and why I think this um project is extra special, is because um like, if you, I have kids now seven and thirteen and it's like you look at the kids now and you know they're, they're, they've got their stuff together.
Speaker 5:I'm not gonna say they don't right, but it's like they're on short leashes, like we don't let our kids just go do stuff and we'll see you. Whatever it's like we know where our kids are at all the time and where. And I I remember when I was 13, it was like I would see my dad for 15 minutes maybe, like once every couple of days, you know.
Speaker 5:And it's like but it was like I was hanging out with wills, like for four hours, and I was at Barney's house for seven hours and I was at fleas house for six hours. So we were, we were our family, family like. It wasn't like I was hanging with my family, it's like these guys that's who we were with a hundred percent, yeah, and that's.
Speaker 1:That's such a great point, because west side's tight, you know, I mean it was like you guys had your scene and it was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:But the east side too I was hanging.
Speaker 5:I would hang out with julian seacon. I would spend the whole weekend over at his house, like you know, just all of us like Santa Cruz. It's like we were just. It was just like that time period was extra special and we got to experience it and it was. It was rougher for us as kids, but I think that we bonded and we grew stronger and we, like, made our own family and it's just beautiful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:I was on another podcast and we were talking about something down this line that sort of. I haven't had it argued back yet, but that generation is within a few years. That was truly the end of that. You got to remember like cell phones kind of came in early 90s and this sort of like helicopter parenting and I'm not even throwing shade at parents these days it's just what you do. Our parents weren't dicks. They did not not care about us. Like you said, when we rolled out, started walking the train tracks to Santa Cruz it might be 12 hours there was no way to get ahold of us. There was no. They may give you a couple of dimes to throw in a pay phone and check in from somewhere, but other than that you were just out there. But I make the argument that you guys are a little bit behind me, but that generation is possibly the last outside play with no regard generation that I can think of, and it's trippy that that just ended.
Speaker 2:It's very trippy it's trippy.
Speaker 1:It didn't exist 200 years before. It ain't going to ever exist again. But for this little moment in history, for arguably, and not much more than 80 years in american history, american history kids just fucking played outside and then it just it was. It wasn't, it was, and then it's not again, and it is a magical time. It is truly and I think that might come through in that film tomorrow a little bit is that nostalgia of a time put, you know, time stamp on something that, um, maybe won't exist again it was all about your bicycle back then that's exactly it, yeah that's kind of what I was saying.
Speaker 2:You know, palmer, is that you know there's east side, there's west side, there's all sides, whatever.
Speaker 2:But like back then during the prime, when I was hanging out to the lane every single day and it was all you guys, every single day, it was wills, it was paul calici, it was he it was tazzy, it was lopez skin dog and lopez and flea and rat and you know I mean, and it was just this family and they were there every day and they took up every parking spot and they surfed, they were on every wave Straight up.
Speaker 3:They sat on the stairs every day. Those stairs, they sat on the stairs every day. Yep, every day.
Speaker 5:We would just sit there. Yeah, everyone that walked by, we'd make.
Speaker 3:That's the videos I have. There's people walking by and you'd have people oh yeah, for nothing.
Speaker 2:For nothing, you remember that one?
Speaker 3:oh, we would critique everyone yep, I always thought too, nelly, when back in those days I was like, well, because you were older, but but not much by much. But it was always like, well, well, where's nelly from? He's from the west side, right? No, no, he's, he's from santa cruz. Basically he can bounce on both sides. I'm like what? Because back then you couldn't go on that side of town.
Speaker 3:No, being like knowing anybody, no, I was respected, like well, how's, yeah, how's nelly over there filming with rockhold and julian, seacon and omar and all these kids, and then he'll come over here. He's at the I don't know how does he do that? Then you meet you and they're like oh, you have like that same kind of quality barney has. You're cool with everybody, like your vibes are always good, it's nothing negative, nothing like it was the same thing and that's I know that's a cool thing.
Speaker 3:I didn't go up here, that's well I know that, but I just meant like when I'd see you around I was like well, you're always at these places that we're at like yeah, and you're in, like yeah you're with everybody. I was wondering like well how? But wait, I went over here and I saw pictures of him hanging out over here how do you do that?
Speaker 1:wills is right. You don't have to be born here, because if you, get here at an early age, you still have to choose. You still eventually kind of like land right. You eventually, even if you get here at five, six, seven, eight years old, you do land in Santa Cruz and you are truly one or the other. It's just the way 80, 90 percent. I agree with you. It's like Nelly's got this sort of this overall kind of vibe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, your vibe has always been like I'll go over here, I'll go over here and you're cool with everybody. You were a skater, I remember that and it was damn, that's cool. He takes photos, damn. And Josh does videos Like okay, cool right that was fun.
Speaker 2:It was a good time.
Speaker 1:Maybe the art's the mediator, nelly, maybe the fact that you were sort of documenting the time kind of gives you that Switzerland feel of like being neutral. You know, ain't going to be no war here.
Speaker 2:I was. You know, I was the Energizer bunny too, so I never stayed still long enough for people to get sick of me Exactly.
Speaker 3:Exactly those pictures. You'd be taking pictures of them and they'd be like well, these might be in the magazine. So yeah, let's, let's. This is my good side right here. Click, this is my good side right here. We love Nelly.
Speaker 2:I was not afraid to drive from Garrapata to Anya every day. Stop at Derby on the way and skate.
Speaker 1:And smoke a pack of cloves.
Speaker 2:I remember Nelly's cloves I'd be, like.
Speaker 1:what is that smell? That's not weed, nelly, let me try one of those. What is this? What kind of weed is that? I was like Nelly from Europe me try one of those. What?
Speaker 5:is this.
Speaker 3:What kind of weed is that? I was like Nelly from Europe.
Speaker 5:What is that?
Speaker 1:Nelly from Europe. I didn't know what a clove was.
Speaker 3:And then next thing you know guess what happened? People started smoking cloves. You had a whole little group of people smoking cloves. You started that shit.
Speaker 1:Oh, Nelly.
Speaker 2:As you can hear it in my voice, all those damage that this club did.
Speaker 5:It's. Another thing about Santa Cruz, though that is incredible is the geography of it. Like Will said, you could ride your bike everywhere You'd get these packs of kids. I remember, before I surfed, I would hang out with the same guys like Mike Brummett Flea and we'd ride Bay Trails and there was like Godzilla and we were all into BMXs. Yeah, so fun.
Speaker 2:Such a special time in Santa Cruz history. You know what I mean, and it'll never be replaced, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:I just was at the when you were texting me about this podcast. I was at John Hudson's service While it was going on. I was like, okay, I'll hit you up when I'm done. They had a video of it and it showed exactly what you're talking about. Just, there is so much special history that's here, even from the seventies and even the sixties. But the seventies and the eighties is where it all kind of came up. And then by the nineties, when we were in the nineties, we took everything that those guys had and those guys just took it to a whole nother level, especially with the surfing those guys did.
Speaker 5:It's an amazing place to grow up, man, like it's the best place to grow up, because it's like built for kids, like you could go. You could take the bus up to the university. We do the bike trail on our skateboards, yeah, just so much fun stuff to do for kids.
Speaker 2:We we had we had a boardwalk, you know what I mean. Like wagner the boardwalk yep, oh, every day was a different adventure, you know. I mean you might be jumping off the toilet bowl one day and then your body's surfing its the next day, and then you're going to the boardwalk or going to the east side seeing what kind of trouble you can get into, or whatever.
Speaker 1:It's a legit argument that it would be hard-pressed. They always talk about like the like we do a lot in the magazine with, like Franz Lanting and stuff about the ecosystem being one in the world Like Monterey Bay is one-off in the world as far where the redwoods meet the shit. All that stuff I get, that part of it, the you know the bio, you know all that stuff I get. But I've been all over the place and raised kids back East, came back here, was born and raised here. But I'm talking as the crow flies mile to mile. What other city can?
Speaker 1:You just walk out of your house, walk three and a half miles, which is easy as a kid, and everything changes. Everything in front of you changes, like you talked about. You walk a little bit north, you're in a whole different environment. You've got a world-class amusement park, you've got four different world-class surfing spots and you want to make a right-hand turn. You're up in the mountains. It's trippy, right, and I would just be hard pressed as a kid. It's this playground. But it's not just a playground, it's like all attainable on your feet or a bike.
Speaker 2:Yeah, trip, it's weird I take it for granted, a lot we do, and then every once in a while I'll go down to, like you know, oceanside or huntington or whatever, and then I'm like, oh my god, like three days and I just start freaking out and I'm like you know, my God, like three days, and I just start freaking out and I'm like you know Not that there's anything wrong with those places, but I'm used to the Redwood Forest, you're used to riding your bike to go to look at the ocean Huntington you have to drive.
Speaker 1:That's exactly my point I live like six blocks away.
Speaker 3:No, you got to drive.
Speaker 1:That's my point. That's my point.
Speaker 3:The blocks are. Wait, the ocean's right there. No, no, you gotta drive. Yeah, we live this close. No man, you gotta drive. Yep, that was the first thing that hit me, because santa cruz I'd use, no matter, you live on the upper west, doesn't matter, you could ride your bike like you gotta go up the hills, but you could ride a bike and the thing too to think about is like it immediately kind of puts in this classification.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, when you say it ain't ever gonna be like that again, you're like all right, fucking old guy, you know. But here's difference, the difference in the culture we're talking about. Even skateboarding, surfing, it's very similar to academics and very similar to high-level sports is it's gotten very specialized. The thing that we did when we were kids it'd be SoCal Skate Park. Yeah, I played football, but you'd skate after football. We literally didn't have these sort of like specialized expectations. We just did everything. We literally did everything because it wasn't like what are you best at? And that is sort of a thing.
Speaker 1:Now it is kind of a thing now, like what do you? I know you want to do these five things, but what are you best at? I do two of those and then, if you're really good at one, I don't want you playing football anymore. We just had Jackson Taylor on right, that's what I'm saying, you know, like we just had Jackson Taylor on who's up and coming and eventually no shade at all. But it's like, if you're really good at this, don't do that. That was never a conversation in my household. You broke your leg doing this. It wasn't like you're going to be sacrificing this career, you just did it all, and I don't think that happens as much. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, that was another thing about that crew. You know the Rat Boy, flea, barney and all those guys, because they had a humongous crew, but they were all really talented and they all skated too. You know what I mean. And I remember a story about John John. John John grew up skateboarding and you know he was a really, really phenomenal skateboarder. But then it came to the time when he was searching for his world title number one and and he got I think it was bob hurley called him up and said hey, john, um, we don't want you skating anymore.
Speaker 2:and he just started laughing because he knew that, yeah, nobody can tell john what to do no right, he's not gonna stop skateboarding and and skateboarding is probably one of the reasons that he got so good at airs. So it's like you know. It's not that he doesn't have a ton of respect for bob hurley, but, um, you know, just to stay true to yourself, it's, it's a huge thing and, and you know, I've saw a lot of old skate photos of flea and barney like ripping quarter pipes and ramps, and I remember Flea from Derby when he was such a little shit.
Speaker 3:That's another story. Dave, that's another story.
Speaker 5:Oh dude, when I was in junior high there was the high street ramp. Yeah, and we would sit on the high street ramp and just watched like the best skaters in the world on this huge ramp, gigantic, and I couldn't believe that. You know, I've, you know, growing up I was like this is so insane. Surfers and the skaters are insane like this is the nutsest place like I was like like where am I?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, I love this place so much.
Speaker 5:Yeah, just, and the Redwoods and the ocean and the, and you can take the bus anywhere. That was what was so great about UC Santa Cruz was just they had this epic bus system, so you could literally ride the bus anywhere too.
Speaker 1:It was just just perfect, and I'll tell you this cause it's, it's, it's lucky, you know, in a weird way it's, it's. You're born and raised here. Then I bust out, get married and we have a significant life in Denver, significant life in New York and then back here for like the last 12 years. But the thing about there's a feeling, even in this room, and remember, when you're in Denver for a while, you eventually get to know people, people that were born and raised in Denver. They don't talk about their town like that. They don't have that same emotion. They love it. They're kind of like connected to where they grew up. But it's not. And I still have, even over in Europe on travels here and there. I still haven't quite found a place like this where the culture kind of meets the water and all of it kind of comes together, where there's this sort of emotional connection to a place like this I haven't seen one.
Speaker 2:I've been all around the world yet I haven't seen. I mean, I'm sure maybe there is one, but I haven't seen one and it's got its problems and everything.
Speaker 3:But above and beyond that it's, it's still home right here kids, you would say you'd go out of town. And if you'd meet a girl from the boardwalk, say, I used to work at the boardwalk when I was 14, that was my first job, and you'd meet girls there from sacramento, stockton, wherever they live in the inland, wherever they live, it's all good fresno wherever they're at. And all you really had to tell them was I'm from santa exactly what?
Speaker 1:oh my god, oh my god. All you had to say was that if you go to tahoe.
Speaker 3:It's the same thing in tahoe. You go to tahoe where you from santa goes, oh, oh damn yeah all right, cool, yeah, right on. Then it got even deeper if you said like, okay, what part of Santa Cruz? Oh, you know. That's exactly it, I'm from the west, oh shit, Okay. Well, I'm from the east side, oh shit, Cool right yeah.
Speaker 5:It was cool.
Speaker 3:That's all Wills had to say.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that was my one line, right there, andy had a job at the boardwalk.
Speaker 3:I remember my friends that had jobs at the boardwalk.
Speaker 5:back then they were rich.
Speaker 3:Yes, they were rich. I'm going to say it now. The statute of limitations is over. We were making hand over fist money because we were ripping them off where we were. I would make $100 on the weekend of ones and all of us were doing it on the weekend.
Speaker 5:Before cameras Before cameras.
Speaker 3:Imagine you're 14, you have $100 in ones and it's just like corn dog for Nelly, corn dog for Brian. Josh wants some nachos, he wants some cotton candy. Man, you're lucky my dad's dead.
Speaker 1:He's talking about that juvie officer. I don't think he had that's legal statute.
Speaker 5:Yeah, they would come. My friends that worked at the boardwalk would come to school and they'd be like what do you want? Yeah, what do you want? Want a donut? They just spit out like logs of cash we're making like $3.25 an hour, yeah, we were making like oh my God, my first job. We were taking home $100 an hour.
Speaker 1:That's exact my first job at Whiting's. I didn't even know what it was, but this pay stub hung around for long enough. I remember it was $2.18 an hour. Jeez, I'm 56. I'm older, but $2.18,. I'm 18 cents, I'm thinking like, and I banked 40 plus overtime july 4, shit like that, and I can't remember a time. But that means I would have put my ass on the line and, after taxes, walked home for 40 hours work with, like what, 62 bucks.
Speaker 1:But in in the world, if you were working full time, you were loaded gas was what you know whatever it was, but it's now but the other thing that just kind of leans me towards is like a deeper dive, like so we're in junior high and some stories. There's the sort of mystique and the life that Barney had. That's well documented and will be more so small stuff, though. Was he a Little League player? Is there some small stuff we don't know about him, Like even as a kid? Junior high that was that maybe like that you wouldn't know, just from off the cuff, like movies or shit like that he was an open book.
Speaker 5:He was. He was just an open book. You knew everything about him before you even walked in the room. And when you walked in the room, you knew everything he was thinking.
Speaker 1:Even in junior high.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like all the way he was pretty much the same, yeah, well he was.
Speaker 5:he had bipolar and I don't know if that affected that at all, but it was like he didn't hold back ever Ever.
Speaker 1:It's just amazing.
Speaker 2:That was a huge part of his personality and his froth for life. He was really just stoked to be alive and you could tell every single day. But he had episodes he had I don't know how you'd describe him, other than bipolar. But he'd have episodes where he would go manic, yeah, and sometimes they lasted five, six, seven days of manic and I was on a trip with him one time.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:And he was on a manic one and it was just like it was crazy, you know, know. I mean he decided that he was gonna marry um tyler smith and his and his fiance, and he invited bruce irons over and hank over and like and like tyler. Tyler and his fiance had zero idea what was going on so like they all came in and everyone was sitting down and all of a sudden barney got up and he had this book and he had this thing written out and he's like all right, Tyler, and he's like.
Speaker 2:I want to introduce you to your new wife. And he had a ring that he had made for them and they were just baffled In Tahiti.
Speaker 3:Yeah, You're not even in America, you're not even here.
Speaker 2:So he had this full procession lined up. Hank was, you're not even here, so he had this full procession lined up. You know, I mean, hank was there sitting next to bruce, and it was, you know, I mean, and and we got to witness their wedding and they didn't even know they were getting married. And then, you know, they came back and had their real wedding.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, that's an amazing story, dude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's an amazing story and that's why you just and I guarantee you, tyler was just like yeah, yeah, right, yeah right. Like think about that.
Speaker 1:You know, you know the real shit's gonna go down, but there's nothing gonna be more special than that moment and that's a story forever. Yeah, we got married on blank date, but we got married by barney here in tahiti. Dude, that's a crazy story. Right there shout out just got so many stories.
Speaker 2:You know that same trip actually. I called him up and I said Barney, you know you have to make sure that Barney's going to be ready. I went all over the world with him and, um, I'm all did. Our flight leaves at eight in the morning, which means I'm picking you up at five or whatever it was you know and um, christie gave us a ride, so we pulled up in my 4Runner and Barney, from curb to curb, was full of Barney's stuff. Nothing was in a bag.
Speaker 2:Fucking amazing All the way from literally like 40 feet across the street was art stuff paint tools, surfboards, deck pads, leashes.
Speaker 4:Like you, name it His dog.
Speaker 2:It was all just spread all the way across the street to where no one could. There's zero chance that anyone could drive down the street, oh my God. And we just pulled up. We're like, oh my God, I was horrified. We needed him in the car at that moment. He's like help me out, help me out. We had to load all this stuff in the board bag we were just throwing and he had all these you know pads like this, like just hundreds of what was his art medium Like?
Speaker 1:in general a little bit of everything. Or did he have a particular like medium?
Speaker 2:He did a lot of painting Painting, but he also did sculptures and he did leg molds. Oh my God, leg molds Like over and he would mold their legs.
Speaker 1:Oh, my god, and their boobs, yeah, and their boobs like a movie called leg mold, social leg mold or what's called.
Speaker 3:Uh, what was it called? The vocal movie you did with all the what was it? I did the edit, he, I mean, I popped my achilles and I was in crutches and barney called me up. We live on the same street, on dufour and he called me up and said, wills, wills come. I want you to add this movie. He had a brand new like microplasm or it was called.
Speaker 5:What the hell is it? I thought it was like social.
Speaker 3:It was called like social and it was a vulcan movie and he called me over there my barney.
Speaker 3:Come on, man, I'm on pills, my leg is fucked up I don't want to do anything, like I'm in pain, like I don't want to do anything. He's like no, come over, I want you to edit. I got a brand new apple computer and back then it was like, oh, he had the new one, the new, new ones. I wanted to. I wanted to do it because I wanted to check out the computer and it was.
Speaker 3:I was going to say this today I'm glad we brought. I'm glad you said that, because I was going to say, as one of my best memories of him was, for probably eight or nine days straight I went to it. He picked me up Every day from my house Like down the block, pick me up, bring me to his house. I'd walk in his crutches. I would stay there For probably eight or nine hours Until my brain Would just stop working. And I edited that movie for him and every day, no matter what I needed, he'd come in there and he'd always check up on me and see what I was doing and he'd come in there and be fucking bread bowls from riva's right now that's amazing, perfect.
Speaker 3:I want to go get it, I want him, he gave me, he gave me the ultimate like so much food, so much good stuff, but he basically gave his vocal movie to do and he made me edit it and I said okay, so where's the music? What am I editing this? Yeah, oh no, there is no music. They're gonna do it out after you do it. That's opposite of what we do what are you talking about no, no, and.
Speaker 3:And the other thing was he had a shoebox full of mini dv tapes. He's all okay. So what's this movie about? Well, it's leg molds. I want you to do the leg mold stuff, but each girl has their own like persona and their bolt like personality of the legs. And I want you to use all this footage from my trips that I would take with my camera.
Speaker 3:He had a little camera yeah can't wear a mini dv and you just put it into that and do it that way. I'm like there's no music you want me to edit and I go through all these fucking tapes that you have. Like you know long it's gonna take, yeah, but we got time. You know we're good. And he would just be flying off in his room doing whatever, people coming by all the time, and it was being that room alone in the room just in the dark, and he'd hear a knock and he'd come in and he'd check on me for a little bit and smoke some weed, do whatever, and then leave. And then I got the movie done. They sent it to vulcum and it was like, oh, he made a movie. And then I did the edit and I was. I was stoked, it was cool and I didn't know what the fuck was gonna happen like there's no way they're gonna pull this off yeah, I'd edit this with no music and you know, as an editor, there's no.
Speaker 3:You gotta have something like. There's gotta be something to tie off of. But sorry, that's good he did it and, yeah, send it down. The rest is history. There's a movie out.
Speaker 1:It's called where do all these live right now youtube? I mean where? Where do like all these?
Speaker 3:four, five, six, seven find it there is that where, josh?
Speaker 1:do you know where they live?
Speaker 5:I don't think leg mold socials on youtube. I I think I have a copy of like part of it. But I remember, barney, I was like because you know I was already making movies at that point, but I was like barney, like you're making a movie, like what, what is it about? And he had already made and palmer does movies.
Speaker 3:Why don't you ask palmer to do it? He'll tell you how to do it.
Speaker 5:Yeah, yeah well, I remember wills did a great job, but I was, but I just, I remember asking him like so what is it like, you know? And he was like well, you know how, like flea has his surf section and you know, rat has this section, well, each model's gonna have her section, like it was almost like yeah they were like surfing, like their surf sections, but it was like leg mold section. How did it come out?
Speaker 3:it was cool like it actually was cool. Yeah, the girls were in it, the girls all were hot and all the west side girls or whoever was in it, but uh, they were all cool, everything was cool. And it was just this weird. Imagine he went on all these trips that Nelly's talking about all over the world and he happened to have a camera. So whatever he's filming there'd be filming of monkeys and just the weirdest shit he would film and I was like, okay, I have no music, you understand that. So I'm just okay, let's put this in here. This will work right.
Speaker 1:like I don't know what the fuck's gonna happen. Like amazing josh, I'm starting to get my mind around how eight hours of this and going to another place might work. I'm starting to get.
Speaker 3:I remember you asked me and I'm all dude palmer's right here, like he makes movies, like I'm in crutches. No, no, you can do it. I want you to do it too. Okay, cool, I'll do it. And then I'm pretty much probably glad I did it because it was not a nightmare, but it was like I want you to make a movie with no music, time consuming. I want you to go through these 50 fucking mini dv tapes of my trip around the world or, as we know now, a lot of bread bowls, a lot of bread bowls but you want to bring me food every day.
Speaker 2:So drugs, everything, brian you ask what his media, what barney's medium? Yeah, barney's medium was everything yep life, everything. If you went into his yard, there was 500 art pieces and they were all different, whether they were sculptures or whether they were little paintings, or he would make stuff out of old skate trucks with like crazy icicles hanging down. He made a robot yeah, he made a robot out of his trophies, called a trophy man, and he made a dog. This goes on to like thousands of things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's some and I'm going to butcher this right now, but Nellie and I think we talked about it somewhere but there's this philosopher, a dude named Berg, out of England, and he kind of talks about and this is trippy talking about Barney, but this is brutal. What I'm saying right now it's something along the lines of we're not on this planet or the existence to be seen. You know what I mean. We're here to express ourselves.
Speaker 1:And then what you just said makes me think this dude was nonstop expressing his artistic side. He was, and if you kind of go into that thing, he wants you to go down this path where you're less of yourself being seen and more just. You're an expression of this whole fucking life that we are right and simpler. It's always simpler, simpler, simpler. But it sounds like this dude from the first part. We talked about the way he was able to pull his ego down and just sort of like I don't think he wasted a lot of time on the nonsense that some of us went through. Right, he just got to it and even artistically it sounds like he did, and that was the coolest thing about his art is that he didn't care what people thought.
Speaker 2:No, so it wasn't. He wasn't doing it because people thought that his paintings were cool. He just did stuff because his brain was always churning, moving and uh wells, will you pull up your uh barney man on your youtube, or oh yeah I'll play.
Speaker 3:I'll play some music while you're, unless you want to sing it live oh sweet jesus, I can sing it with it yeah, there we go, let's do it.
Speaker 2:This was one of the easiest songs I've ever had to write.
Speaker 3:By the way, we're in grief, we weren't grieving, but he just passed away. Tell us a little bit about that. Flea told me. He's like, look, and when flea tells you something, it's like when that dude comes to you and looks you in the eye and flea, and he's like, yeah, we're probably gonna need a barney song. That's all he said. And I was like, okay.
Speaker 3:So me and corona went to uh, mitchell's on the, where they did the paddle out for Barney, right on the little bench, and he wrote some stuff and we wrote some stuff down and I was like this is gonna be kind of Kind of easy to write because, barney, there's so much things you can pick from. To write a song about Nelly yeah, I could do that too, because there's so many things along his journey that you can pick from but Barney had Way more than any of us did, so it was pretty not easy I wouldn't say that I don't like to use the word easy but to write a song for Barney, about Barney, you pretty much have all the material because you've seen it all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it ain't easy to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it came up with this song right here. Volume up, yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, there it is.
Speaker 2:Sing, Sing it Will.
Speaker 3:Let's go. That's what we used to say. Every day we see that fool Yep.
Speaker 4:These are about Buell's wet suits. Yeah, Buell.
Speaker 3:Yep and everybody wore black flies back in the day and he wears black flies.
Speaker 4:Look out, yep, and that's Trophy man that we're talking about.
Speaker 3:Yep, look out. Yep, here comes the trophy man, and that's trophy man that we're talking about. Yep, the trophies Look out Yep, because you know Barney and this would be like everyday Barney right here, this is everyday.
Speaker 4:If you would see Barney surfing and chilling in the lane, he would say something funny calling you his name.
Speaker 3:He'd make a nigga name for you, for sure.
Speaker 4:Easy. I see Batman. I seen him Wolverine. He was living his dream In the surfer magazines. Lots of people around the world Loved how he lived. He's the way Santa Cruz is. We always were kids. That's what we'd say Every time you see me go.
Speaker 3:That's what you'd say. Everybody would say that Everybody, everybody, god, I'm a Everybody See we were blessed.
Speaker 4:Yep, we were beyond blessed.
Speaker 2:For real.
Speaker 4:To grow up with this man walking through handstands. He was a mess, but he was a beautiful mess.
Speaker 3:He was a mess.
Speaker 4:He's a beautiful mess.
Speaker 3:He would make you pictures of memories and whatever he'd given you, yep. Yep.
Speaker 5:Go Ninebarn Damn Legend.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 3:This song gives me chills when we play it. I gotta play it, it's hard to sing it, but it's cool, it's good.
Speaker 4:That's what we say. Even though you're in the clouds, we can see you're looking down. Good night Bon, that's what we say. Good night Bon, that's what we say. Yep, yeah.
Speaker 3:Then Corona gets the little, you know the little licks for him.
Speaker 1:Corona, the little you know the little licks for him.
Speaker 3:Shout out to corona jc crunch, he's a dj now. Shout out to corona yeah, there's just so much history with it. Yeah, shout out to dublin beats who? We record this song out in san jose. Thank you, justin. It was special reggie paid for the song. We didn't have any money paid for us to make this song. Shout out to reg. Yep, yep, barney man.
Speaker 2:That's sick right there, it's not one wasted lyric.
Speaker 4:It's like sheer genius that was on the Cliffs.
Speaker 3:We wrote it on the Cliffs, the hook. We wrote on the Cliffs, and then I went back that day and wrote the rest.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it gives me chills listening to it. That fucking gang, that's what we'd say. Yep, see him around. He spread love in this town. Go Ninebarn, that's what we'd say.
Speaker 5:Man.
Speaker 4:Go Ninebarn Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 3:Yep, this was a hard song to listen to when it first happened, when he passed away. Not bad, a lot of people were listening to it and I understood it. But then years would go by and then you're like, yeah, I get it. Okay, thank you, it was cool. It was a way to give back, you know.
Speaker 4:Because he gave so much to so many people man so powerful.
Speaker 3:Trippy huh, trippy, trippy.
Speaker 2:Just reminds me of his personality. You know, yeah, and it's like it's really hard to put someone's personality into words, but you nailed it, you know man, it's like you said it was.
Speaker 3:People told me right right before we wrote it. Right before we wrote it, he said this is gonna be the easiest song for you. This is what bill said, this is the easiest song you've ever right. He's got everything all written out for you that he's done. He's crazy. You could do this, you could do that. I'm all damn you.
Speaker 1:You're right, because you know what it reminds me of and you'll know this more than anybody is is. They always say stay with me on this, but they always say like the best album. Sometimes, or artists breakup albums because that shit's raw and real. Yeah, and so this one. It's not easy to write a song about somebody.
Speaker 3:The worst thing for an artist when you know like you grew up.
Speaker 1:Yeah the worst thing for an artist is out of the blue, say I'm gonna do something about this and all of a sudden you feel sort of like a stop in the process. But man, that is, that's heavy.
Speaker 3:That's heavy man and it was weird. You might've said it might be in the movie, it might not, it doesn't matter, but they made that vocal movie and Troy Eckert came to me and at the end of it then the premier came with man wills. Fuck man, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. What do you mean? Like movie was cool. What do you mean? It was great. It gave you chills watching. He said no, no, but we didn't use your song, man, we didn't use that song and I always thought like, oh, you know, it's all good, exactly doesn't matter, it's all good, but he's all yeah, but that song just means so much. And now it's kind of cool that you know might be in this one tomorrow night, but it would mean, you know, it's kind of cool to know that hasn't been played, that because a lot of people probably don't know about it. But yeah, people here know about it. But right, fucking nine bar man.
Speaker 3:Crazy when flea says that you got to do it when flea says you want something you got to drop everything and do it so like flea says goes, people listen. You know, I mean like a nelly podcast logo exactly, yeah, exactly exactly that's what I said, anything for nelson yeah, I was like all right, all right yeah anything. They wanted me to draw a logo for this podcast and I'm like for nelson, done, done done.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much. I'm so stoked well that's all good so honored.
Speaker 3:You couldn't believe it when uh went up then he sent it to you and then I gave it to him and then it was like a couple days went by him. Uh, does he like it?
Speaker 1:or what's going on here, he fucking loved it. Okay, god damn, you gotta tell me that it's my, it's my. The whole whole other podcast is brian's fucking like. It does not talk about that, but it's uh easy. No, it it. It hit the minute, and the only one better than that's the north shore one yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a different one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a text you will, oh no you did.
Speaker 3:No, no, you did. I'm just saying the first one was like, was like, damn did I. Was like does he like it or is he? He doesn't like the color.
Speaker 2:What are you doing? That's good Dude.
Speaker 3:And so let's um. We all do, yeah, we all do, we all do man, josh, any final thoughts?
Speaker 1:as we kind of wind it down Like anything else, I think um, you know, uh, we'll be, we'll be blowing this up. The podcast will live on. Um, uh, but there's, there's. You know, we're 24 hours now from this thing rolling tomorrow night, right, is there any any other like drop-ins or any feelings you have about the whole thing?
Speaker 3:um uh you're really gonna be editing. You're really gonna edit it, like when we leave here, you're gonna ask put a couple tweaks on it well, I've just been trying to make it. I actually interviewed katie harper this morning, so I'm gonna try to get a quote in there so barney's first art teacher at santa cruz high, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I just uh I just want to be as good as as I could for barn and for everyone yeah, yeah yeah, shout out to every single one of the people in santa cruz who love barney, you know, I mean because I know that he's a special individual and irreplaceable for sure. And I hope that, yeah, I hope to see you at Palmer's movie tomorrow night, because I think it's going to be the hit of the year.
Speaker 1:Oh, at the very least it's going to be a party and I think, from what I heard today for that group tomorrow, I think it to be a party and I think, from what I heard today for that group tomorrow, I think it'll be a proper tribute to a dude that he kind of left it all on the table for you guys and I think it'll be proper.
Speaker 5:Well, what I do want to say is the cool thing about this movie. The reason why I've watched it a lot and I enjoy watching it, is because I didn't try to make it like sappy, Like it's not like oh, we missed our friend, it's just like fun.
Speaker 5:I love it oh it's just super fun and the and the exactly like you guys were saying earlier, it's like a really excited to show Barney to people that haven't met him. You know, like I had fun handing out flyers on the cliffs and it was funny like two things. I noticed one thing a lot of people didn't know really who he was, which surprised me. And then the other thing was I'd be like hey man, surf movie and then like they were like under the age of 30, they'd be like movie really yeah I can't watch a 15 second edit and I'm like, yeah, a surf movie, and, and they're like a movie though, right, how long is it?
Speaker 5:Is it on TikTok, is it on?
Speaker 3:TikTok.
Speaker 5:Yeah, exactly, and I was like I was kind of blown away. I was like because I remember as a kid, some of my best memories are going to, you know, the auditorium downtown and watching Five Summer Story. Just seeing my heroes in person and, just like there's, a lot of legends are going to be coming to this show yeah, you just gotta speak, gotta do.
Speaker 1:Like the translation, it's 200 tiktoks tomorrow night if they come through these 200.
Speaker 5:That might be a lot for them, but, but if you are going to be on your phone, maybe take it into the lobby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly so wait, I have one more thing to say. We didn't get to talk about barney's wetsuits too much. Oh yeah, ryan Beal made all of Barney's suits and they were straight, as phenomenal as you could ever imagine, but they just kept getting better. It started with Spider-Man, right, and then down the line somewhere all of a sudden one day I was shooting the half and he showed up and he was Wolver-Barn and it was a Wolverine suit. I saw that one.
Speaker 3:He had these ears, he had like things coming off of it though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, His little wings. Yeah, the little wings on the gloves right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wolver-barn, you know, shout out to Buell for making all those suits. That was like one of the highlights of my photo career and my life actually just seeing that stuff and seeing Barney as a superhero, you know which is what he was to us.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Buell man MC Buellio.
Speaker 5:That's what I'm going to say Tomorrow night you're going to see Barney as a superhero. I fucking love that.
Speaker 3:I can't wait to see the stuff that you said. No one's ever seen it. I've seen all your movies. We've seen all your movies. We've dissected every movie you've done To say that you have footage that no one's ever seen. That gives me chills.
Speaker 5:I filmed a whole new skit persona with Barney and then never ended up using it. What was the camera that you used? Oh my God, In New York?
Speaker 3:That's crazy. Is this old mini-DV footage and stuff like that or what is it? Something like that? Yeah, a lot of it from that era and then of, yeah, a lot of it from that era.
Speaker 5:And then, well, that's like we were talking about how, um, like he was, I mean, in high school, a lot of us were just growing a little bit yeah hoping to grow.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and barney, like like the footage of him at that time, like he matured in just a fast way and like his he doing acrobatics and just he was like so skilled. It was just like watching that footage over again just made me realize. Like I remember when he burst on the scene with the cover shot and I was like whoa, but like he was literally like so next level compared to the pros at that time it was like barton lynch. I went to the autograph signing and it was like barton lynch.
Speaker 5:You know what I mean yeah like barney, and barney was like doing stuff that the best guys in the world couldn't even.
Speaker 1:Nerd Kind of a nerd question here, like inside baseball. Knowing him that way, would you consider it like a freaky natural talent or was he straight up like that sort of like putting the time in massive repetitions?
Speaker 5:It was natural, the one thing I forgot to say was he did a maneuver. There's like what? Like six, five billion people on the planet I don't know how many of them surf. He's the only one in history ever to have pulled a standing barrel roll on a wave and he's done it multiple times. No one else has ever pulled one off in history Not John John, not Tom Curran, not kelly slater. I don't know how many they've tried, but barney's the only one in history that has ever pulled that maneuver just natural freak ability, just freak ability.
Speaker 1:And he said it.
Speaker 2:You heard him say a couple times. A couple times. He was constantly thinking outside the box he lived outside the box. He lived outside the box and he's done flips like I have a.
Speaker 5:There's a shot of him in the video that Garen Mile took of him doing a flip I think he's in Costa Rica or something. Standing flip on his board, lands perfectly on the wave and he ended up not riding out of it, but it was like he did stuff like that too.
Speaker 1:It was crazy particular podcast with these guests. There's a common theme between it. Maybe he's the ultimate. It's the word commit commit, because you commit to an act, you commit to a form of art, you commit to, you know, basically a skill like that, because the first part of that is not only envisioning, like the kind of the logistics of the whole thing. The bigger part of that is committing mentally to that move. Right, because that's what stops the reason you say there's billions of people and only a few people have done it. I think a lot of people can't take it over the edge on committing to that move.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Crazy.
Speaker 2:Remember the magazine I worked for. They sent me on a mission to shoot the Barney flip, and this is back in the film days, so it wasn't digital, where you just rattle off shots and like it doesn't matter. So I was. They would send me 30 and 40 rolls of film at a time and we'd go up to Laguna's or wherever we'd go.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And he would just try, flip after flip after flip, and I was just taking the rolls of film out and just throwing them away. You know what I mean rolls of film out and just throw them away. You know I mean, and like, or I'd get them developed and pick the jam out of it. You know I mean, but I don't think that didn't happen very often, often in the in the surf photography world, where they were just like burn as many rolls as you want, get the shot until you get the amazing.
Speaker 1:You know wills play us out. What do you want me? To play the same thing. Oh, I'm into it, that's, I can't think of a better.
Speaker 5:Once you hear that song every single night, that song is like playing in my head when I go to sleep and when I wake up it's like in my head. Yeah, that song is like one of the best songs that Will has ever done, that's crazy. But I'm telling was easy.
Speaker 3:This guy is super talented, right here just like nelly, super talented as a photographer, and like we all are check out tables, tables, talent right here where's your landing site?
Speaker 1:like this, the cheesy part of it like is do you have the website you'd like to?
Speaker 3:yeah, we did corona just made our new website. It's funny that you said that let's do it but that's old school stuff that shows you the history and stuff. But yeah, where do they go? Ribseysnickelcom, which is the most awkward name to pronounce, but if you know the story, there's a guy named ribsy. Shout out to him, even though he doesn't talk to me anymore.
Speaker 1:Look at me yeah yeah, ribseysnickel r-i-b-s-y-s-n-i-c-k-e-l's easy, josh, any place to land for all this for you.
Speaker 5:Well, just follow me on Instagram, Yep, I'll be on the glide and I have a YouTube page Josh Pomer Surfing.
Speaker 3:Right on, oh wait. Yeah, I want to do my Instagram too, Wait.
Speaker 1:What is this for? I said the cheesy part.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry. Art by Wills on Instagram and follow josh and follow nelly.
Speaker 2:I want to thank you guys very much for coming on here. Can't be more grateful to both of you for everything you've done over the years and and you can hit it you know you guys have all done a lot for me, and you too, right nail doug and brian's dad.
Speaker 5:Uh was my probation officer. You know what hey?
Speaker 1:you're a good producer. That's a cliffhanger for episode two. My dad arrested Josh. Yes, hell yeah.
Speaker 4:Here comes the trophy man. Thank you guys.
Speaker 3:Good morning.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, I just wanted to make sure and say a huge thank you to volcom surf for all the clothing and uh to merge for socks and for all the barney socks they gave us some barney socks to throw out at the movie and um also to amelia barney's sister, and palmer we're so thankful yeah, we're so thankful for Volcom and Buell and the Merge, for all the socks and Amelia, who's going to be their Barney sister, and she's going to have some artwork of Barney's on clothing called Nine Barn.
Speaker 5:You can check them out at ninebarncom and she also does a contest once a year. The mayor actually proclamated Cinco de Mayo Sean Barney Day.
Speaker 2:And thanks to Flea, because Flea does pretty much a lot for the Barney contest every year. Yeah, raises all the stuff for all the kids and gets the prizes and the money.
Speaker 5:And also I just wanted to send a thank you to all the surf shops that sold tickets. Bob Pearson at Arrow has been huge and obviously he loves Barney so much he's going to bring some really cool Barney stuff to the show and pack wave and fuel surf shop and billabong surf shop. Adam Rapogel. Thank you, appreciate it. Yes.
