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 #013: Jacob "Zeke" Szekely
Meeting Zeke was one of those moments that just clicked—like dropping into the perfect wave out of nowhere. In this episode, we look back on our shared journey from laid-back beach days in La Jolla to some seriously heavy sessions on the North Shore of Oahu. We talk about everything from Zeke’s insane bomb drops to that one sunrise surf that turned into an iconic poster moment. He opens up about his roots, and how growing up between La Jolla and Santa Cruz shaped his wild ride through the surf world.
But this story goes deeper than just waves. We get real about hitting bottom and finding a way back through surfing. Zeke shares his path—through addiction, jail time, and into recovery—and how the ocean helped him rebuild, one wave at a time. There’s a lot of heart in this one. We talk about second chances, staying sober, and how he ended up winning national college surf titles when no one thought he’d make it.
And yeah, there’s plenty more. From going viral to calling out industry BS, Zeke’s been documenting the ride in a way that’s raw, funny, and totally honest. We dig into what it’s like being young, creative, and carving out a new kind of surf story—on YouTube, on IG, and in real life. It’s all here: the highs, the wipeouts, and everything in between.
Tune in for a conversation that’s full of laughs, hard truths, and a whole lot of stoke.
Let's do it.
Speaker 2:Nelly's Magic Moments Podcast.
Speaker 3:North.
Speaker 2:Shore Invitational 2025. They keep rolling in. Nelly, who we got, let's go.
Speaker 1:Well, we're over here on the North Shore of Oahu and about six years ago, maybe seven years ago, I went and shot photos. This guy hooked me up with this guy named zeke. I didn't know much about him and, uh, we went shot photos and he was just punting massive errors and getting shacked and we had the best day ever. And then I found out he skated too and we went skating and he was ripping skater. I'm like fuck, I want to be friends with this guy. This guy is mental, and so you know. Since then, um, we became friends. We've skated over here on the north shore, surf, shot photos, cruised all over santa cruz, big sir on yo, wherever not to name all the spots, but I had to do it and uh, thanks for coming on, zeke bro, thanks for having me dude.
Speaker 3:Big fan of your work too, dude, for years now, bro. So it's an honor to have shared some fun sessions with you and like, had you hype me up to try and jump off like 25 foot steamer lane into into waves? Dude, oh yeah that was a day you've been uh, you've been a sick hype man and it's been fun hanging with you I love being a hype man.
Speaker 1:That was a you know I. I did that with nate fletcher. I don't know how long ago 20 years ago dude, I've seen the photos he was doing the bomb drops and then to relive that and do it with you and and nate and the whole crew. But one day I just did it with just you, just me and you. We met there at the crack of dawn, it was high tide and he was launching himself into the abyss, broke a couple boards and just you know, we got.
Speaker 3:We had some crazy shots that morning yeah, one of those shots we used in like a buell um I guess like poster that I signed it, like us open autograph signing another one on the east coast. So like I still have that poster in my room dang, I've never even seen it.
Speaker 1:How's that? Well, that's amazing poster, but that's dope.
Speaker 3:It's sick. I've signed it for a bunch of people at the us Open and on the East Coast, so it's a sick shot. And it was special because I'd seen all those photos you shot of Nate Fletch over the years and you guys even went to multiple spots Like I've seen at least three different bomb drops that are like at least 30 feet, maybe one's like 40 feet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the one north of town. Yeah, that's got to be like 60 feet high, right? Yeah, he's. Yeah, you know, that was a funny day because he was already. When I showed up that day, he told me where he was going. Um, he was halfway up climbing the cliff with his board in his hand.
Speaker 1:It's the sketchiest climb ever and I'm like whoa like and he just kept going all the way to the top and I was like dude, like there's no way right, so he's waiting for a wedge. That was big enough and he did it. And I was in the water actually with the fish eye like looking up at him, yeah.
Speaker 3:Was that a cover? It was a cover. Yeah, Dude, I remember seeing that photo and just being baffled. It looks like a skyscraper-sized rock and he's jumping off like the sickest shot too. Dude Water shot jumping off like the sickest shot too dude water shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember it being a water shot dude insane. There's more to that story. Like he snapped, like he landed perfectly on the wedge and his board just went and snapped in half and one of the pieces flew straight towards me and I was like ducking out of the way from them.
Speaker 2:It was gnarly that's so, so heavy dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those were fun days. So you grew up in La Jolla, right Born and raised dude. Yeah, that's sick.
Speaker 3:So down by La Jolla.
Speaker 1:Shores area.
Speaker 3:Yeah, grew up surfing La Jolla Shores, scripps, pier, blacks, and then migrated towards Wind and Sea and the reefs.
Speaker 1:in my teenage years, Are you allowed to talk about hospitals and all those spots?
Speaker 3:Yeah, Is that good? Okay, sure, bro, we're with you.
Speaker 1:We're allowed to talk about whatever we want, that's exactly right, they're they're careful of their spots down there in la jolla, you know. I mean, there's a few names, there's even one particular wave I'm not even going to mention on here, but I used to surf a lot of horseshoes, hospitals and big rock v tour and uh that whole zone yeah, I love that zone yeah, it's special, bro.
Speaker 3:We have a stretch of reefs in la jolla that get some really good waves and I don't know, prepare us to like travel the world and surf bigger, hollower waves yeah kind of like santa cruz. There's like stretch of reefs that are different than other parts of california, because I don't know in orange county and that zone it's all beach breaks maybe like a couple jetties that break it up right. We're pretty blessed in la jolla to have those reefs.
Speaker 3:And santa cruz too, dude. Every time I've gone up there it's been a similar vibe. It's like a tight-knit beach town community, kind of like a bubble. You know right, some of the santa cruz boys don't leave the bubble, some of the la jolla boys don't leave the bubble. I always like, related and resonated with that crew up there so yeah, so when did you start traveling?
Speaker 1:and like, when did this all begin for you? Because I know it's uh, it's been a journey, right dude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, to be honest, I my surf career like was slow and steady around like 14 and 15. I started um doing well in contest, getting sponsors and probably traveled doing like the aspP qualifying series events, the three stars and one stars when I was about 15. I did a bunch of WQS events 15, 16. I was traveling with my buddy, skip McCalla, jake Halstead, I remember that, I remember that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did some sick contests down in El Salvador, Puerto Escondido, chile, south America, indonesia, like all the good wave events. And it was just like the dream, dude, like growing up. All the surfers just like seemed so cool to me, dude, they ripped, they had like the hottest chicks they were just like smiling having fun and it was just like, um, I don't know, it was what I wanted to be when I got older. So to be able to travel with my friends and, like, do what I love was pretty special.
Speaker 1:Um, at a young age, so you're keeping the dream alive.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Even better these days. You know how's your, how's your YouTube channel going and all that stuff bro.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's rad. I mean pretty much being able to live the dream through like social media and my surf career. Now I mean the wave had a huge part in it and I feel like I wasn't like I don't know, I wasn't like special or my talent didn't really stand out at those younger ages, like Skip and Jake Halstead always blew me out of the water. They still do blow me out a lot. There's so many like San Diego guys that surf way better than me.
Speaker 3:But I was really like motivated and determined and did a good job with social media, did a good job with like chasing every swell and being on top of it and I was like strategic and I was always a dreamer and unfortunately it all got sidelined when I was like 18 years old and I got arrested and did some time in in County jail.
Speaker 3:I did about six months in County jail when I was 18, through my 19th birthday, and then got out and ended up going to sober living home and court ordered rehab and was sober for a little bit but didn't really do any of the work on myself I needed to do and I kind of I relapsed and got into some more legal trouble and so like I feel like my surf career was really starting to do really well at like 18. But with that came like a little more notoriety and like a little more like money from surf sponsors and I just like didn't really have any guidance. My dad passed away when I was really little. I was seven years old. My dad passed away and didn't really have any. I don't know proper male mentors.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't know. There was, like this false depiction of masculinity in my community and so it was crazy I, I didn't really know how to act or how to handle it all. And so, yeah, I was sidelined and it was crazy, dude, I sitting behind bars like it was a it was an eye-opening experience for sure, dude and like you had like an epiphany in there or what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like it's like this isn't what I want out of my life exactly dude, I thought I was like this epiphany in there or what.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like it's like.
Speaker 1:This isn't what I want out of my life exactly dude.
Speaker 3:I thought I was like this tough guy and then think about the consequences of my actions. And then got learned real quick in jail, like got my ass kicked. It got beat up on multiple different occasions. First time my mom came to come see me, I had like a black eye and a broken nose and there was still like blood coming out of it. I was like crying to my mom and the visiting thing, where there's like a glass window in between, you're like talking through these phones and it was just like dude, I came from a nice community, like my mom loves me. I have cousins like the Borelli's that you know that like are really respectable people and I just blew it.
Speaker 3:I made stupid decisions and then I also think like when alcohol and drugs come into the picture, I just make even stupider decisions and just try and like numb that pain of my childhood yeah and so, yeah, um, when I got out and I was in sober living home, I got to surf again and like, had so much drive towards like surfing and like chasing my career, chasing the contest, also kind of like innovating my tricks, because I was always a skateboarder, rode dirt bikes and the surf and the surf and skate community goes hand in hand.
Speaker 3:But the skate world and like other action sports have, like, progressed their sports so much more than the surf world Like there's new tricks landed every year in skateboarding and snowboarding and in surfing, maybe like one trick a year if that yeah and so to be able to try new tricks and get creative was super fun um and then came the wave pools yeah, and then came the wave pools dude.
Speaker 3:when I was like 21 um 22 years old, I had just gotten out of jail the second time after getting into trouble, so this time you're clean, though.
Speaker 1:You're clean and sober right by this time, so it had taken.
Speaker 3:Is this the permanent?
Speaker 1:clean and sober, or did you end up relapsing again after this?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I was 21 years old when I went to jail the final time and was looking at like 15 years in prison, what Convicted of five felonies and two misdemeanors, Ouch, and it was that time where I realized, like sitting behind bars and like no family member, no connections, nothing could have saved me. I was like looking at hard time and I just realized I was like dude, I'm not like I wasn't a God guy and didn't like believe in God. At that point, kind of hated God resented God for taking my dad away from me.
Speaker 2:When I needed him the most.
Speaker 3:And I just like got on my knees and was just like God, someone like please help me, I'll do whatever it takes, I don't want to be in jail for the rest of my life. Like I want to turn it around. And I just had the willingness to like go to any lengths, do whatever was suggested to me and to turn it around and try and really like make my behavior, like change my behavior and make my life better and get it back on the right track. And so that was when I was 21 years old. Um, july 27, 2017 is when I was in jail and I committed, and I've been clean and sober ever since, dude.
Speaker 1:Right on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no mind altering substances in seven years. So I'm super grateful. And still had to go through some shit, though. I ended up doing more jail time to clean up the wreckage of my past sober and had to go to court mandated rehab in Arizona. So I did months of jail, went bailed out to go to Arizona rehab where I had a court mandated ankle bracelet on. Finished that program was willing to do, like any program, any work I had to do, community service, um, and it was there where I realized like the more I was just like an acceptance of my situation, the freer I'd be.
Speaker 2:No doubt.
Speaker 3:And I saw people that were facing hard time. I met people that were doing time, that were sober and still like, happy and joyous and free, and I was like, dude, I want what they have, yeah, and so it was rad. I got to, you know, go through the steps, I got to give back and get out of my own self and, dude, I'm such a selfish, self-centered person Like for me to be able to give back was like a miracle within itself. And then, when I got to graduate from that program in Arizona, I got to come back to San Diego and go to sober living home with a court-mandated ankle bracelet on and got to surf again.
Speaker 3:Um, my waterproof bracelet or what dude I? It was crazy. I was going back to college and I bought this rubber boot on Amazon and I would duct tape. I put the rubber boot on and I duct tape it tight, put a trash bag over it, duct tape it again and my attorney got it approved by my probation officer that I could surf for my collegiate surf team at MiraCosta Community College and I could surf if rusty surfboards needed me at like a demo or a work thing at the beach. So rusty surfboards signed off for me to go to work things at the beach and MiraCosta signed off for me to compete for my college surf team and I ended up winning a national title that year surfing after being out of the water for like over a year in jail and rehab. I won a national title for my college surf team. With a court-mandated ankle bracelet on, my ankle was getting carried up the beach at salt creek feels like that feels like that might be a one of one it feels like
Speaker 2:I mean there's a lot. I'm sure there's ankle bracelets that have you know, kind of so, but I don't know if the commitment to the school, the bag, the whole thing and walking off a champ.
Speaker 3:I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't think a surfer has ever won a national title with a court-mandated ankle bracelet on their ankle. It was crazy. I was getting carried up the beach by my boys that were all tatted up chain-smoking ciggies it was, I don't know. That was just like one of the gifts and one of the miracles. I was like, dude, I love surfing so much and it's like saved my life. The promises.
Speaker 1:right, we talk about the promises a lot around here 100% dude, and they came true to me.
Speaker 3:They came true for me and also, just like I loved surfing so much, I would have done it even without the winning the contest or the success. Like it really did keep me level headed at a lot of times when I was a kid and there was trouble in the home front Like I grew up with an alcoholic mother and she could get pretty abusive and there was like gnarly things that went on at home and the ocean was always there for me, like it was always um, it was always there to get my mind off of the hardships at home.
Speaker 1:It's all that adversity that gave you the drive you have, which is like you know. I mean, I heard you say I was willing to do whatever it takes, and that seems like that's a common theme for people, successful people. You know what I mean. Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Are you willing to get up at five in the morning and drive up to Santa Cruz and do this and do that and go bomb, drop off cliffs and you're willing to do whatever, and if you did that all day, I bet you'd be willing to drive to Arizona and go surf the wave pool right after, with no sleep.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, and that's what it takes to be a successful human being, especially in the surf industry.
Speaker 3:You got to go hard. You know what I mean, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Zeke goes hard. I try, dude, I tried bro.
Speaker 2:And I think one thing that's a common narrative in all these podcasts that we have, and this has been this might be Zoe, it might be Poncho, it might be even Landon. You know, everybody that's kind of sat through here is and Nellie knows the word I'm going to say right now, and it's the words commit, and it not only is the practical nature of surfing or even skateboarding. You know, when you're a young kid, you're sitting on top of a bowl, there's a mind block, there's something there and eventually it's a commitment to that process. Now, the thing about that word commit is we're talking about surfing, but that could be commitment to sobriety, that could be commitment to a relationship.
Speaker 2:Your commitment, like your connection to the planet Earth, all that stuff. It's the word and the thing that blows my mind about all the stories, um, a lifetime of stories over a very short period of time. And all of this happened before science tells us your brain's even developed to handle future consequences and shit like that. You're going through this. You're not only going through that, with the dependency and all of that, you're going upstream, against what your body is even able to process. And one question though, because I think it's um, I always kind of think of the human element of it. And so the, the six months you know, and the time you were in, was it, um, was there a transformational moment? Was it within days, hours, a month or two, like, like, just to slow that story down a little bit. Um, one, slow that story down a little bit. One, did you know you were in deep shit the minute you walked in, and then, two, was it hours, days, minutes before you started reconciling a little bit?
Speaker 3:I would say the first time I went to county jail when I was 19 years old. It hit me, but I was still such a punk teenage kid that it didn't really sink in and mind like san diego. County jail is gnarly. We live right on the border of tijuana and there's a huge population of like cartel members that are doing county time before they get sent to do federal time before they get deported, and then we have like a gnarly black population of like gangbangers yeah and crips.
Speaker 3:and then there's like the skinheads that run shit in county jail and you have to run with a race and these guys like are scrapping every day. These guys are doing drug deals in county jail. Like there's gnarly shit that goes on in county jail. So for me, being like loving punk rock and hip-hop and gangster rap growing up as a, I got into jail and like all my friends were making like free Zeke shirts and free Zeke stickers and I was getting on the phone calling my boys and they're like dude, everyone's hyped on the free Zeke shirts and I was thinking, oh, I'm the man, this is my street creds going up. And I was like getting into fights and I was like thought it was kind of fun in a sense yeah getting into fights and I was like thought it was kind of fun in a sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, at like 18, 19 years old it didn't really sink in how gnarly it was, and then it just sucked and so I kind of dabbled in like prayer and like going to church groups that first time and like dabbled in a couple AA meetings and, um, didn't really like have the willingness to want to change my ways. It wasn't until I was 21 when everything hit me and, to be honest, it was like that incomprehensible demoralization where I felt like shame and guilt sitting in jail and I was like dude, I blew it Like my family hates me. I'm. I'm a disgrace.
Speaker 3:I burned bridges with my friends, girls, surf sponsors. Rusty Prisoner called me before I went into jail and was like dude, you got to get your shit together Dropped me and I'd been sponsored by Rusty for like nine years prior to that and like dude, since I was like 12 years old and so many things hit me at once and I was just like I needed to turn it around and I didn't really know how. But I knew a couple of people that had been sober for a long time.
Speaker 3:And I just I was like please help, like I'll do whatever it takes, just guide me, and having that like heart wrenching, like shame and guilt and like that incomprehensible demoralization that has been explained to me in the past. I was like really driven, like purpose driven, to want to do the work and change my life and turn around, and I still have to like, every day I still have things.
Speaker 3:I need to work on every single day to day and, um, it's a daily thing for me but, like today, I'm really grateful to have guidance. I have, like, amazing mentors and men that have helped guide me through hardships. I've lost family members, I've lost friends, I've gone through debt and still made stupid decisions in sobriety, and I have guys that have been through it and been able to guide me and I'm super grateful for that.
Speaker 1:Because, because, we're the lucky ones. Yeah, we are, you know. And then you take, you know, you look at me and Jake and it's like, for for us too, there's a hundred that didn't make it. Yeah and uh, you know, in the surf industry I know a bunch of people who are clean and sober and, um, they, most of them, realize they're the lucky ones. You, most of them realize they're the lucky ones. You know what I mean. They're it's, it's just a straight miracle when you pull through this side of it, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a segue to what you're, the way you kind of handle it and just doing my homework for this it's. There's a lesson that you kind of teach your own kids and friends that have gone through it. One of the reasons that we do what we do when we're younger with alcohol and drugs is we want to alter the state. We're not comfortable in our skin as we're sitting across from another human that's the bottom line is like I'm not comfortable being vulnerable and transparent with you, so let's get fucked up. And when we're fucked up, we're kind of in that thing, but I think you know leaping forward to it.
Speaker 2:What they don't tell you and they should, or somebody should kind of keep you on their wing is you can alter your state in different ways. And when I look at, like your social media presence, the way you kind of charge, the way you do it, it looks to me like what you're choosing to do. You're still like you're addicted to altering your state, but you're doing it in a very innovative, fucking crazy way with your healthy, healthy and but. But you're still, you're still on it, you're just on it and healthy. Is that right?
Speaker 3:for sure I'm an adrenaline junkie, yeah exactly anything that gives me that like spike in adrenaline yeah like surfing big waves, surfing sketchy waves, airs, skating gnarly shit, riding dirt bikes, wheeling dirt bikes with no helmet, like even though I know I should have a helmet on because I've gotten smoked before, and I know kids should be wearing their helmets. Like dude, it's, it's a bad example, but any of those little things like to just defy the law or just any little thing that gives me that rush I froth on and psych on and, um, yeah, it's crazy. I definitely have found like these natural highs that are so much healthier than drugs and alcohol and it's like, dude, I got sober so I can live life, and like so many people that got sober before me, like Steve-O, for instance, from Jackass who was an amazing mentor to me when I first got clean and sober.
Speaker 3:has he still has so much fun dude, and he's been sober like 10 plus years now and does tons of rad, rad, crazy shit. Like just skydived naked the other day. Like sent me videos of him skydiving naked, jumping out of an airplane butt, ass naked dude with another strap to another dude for some comedy bit that he's working on and it's just like, yeah, life is so good today and it's like thanks to the fact that I'm clean and sober and thanks to the work that I've done on myself.
Speaker 3:but I definitely do still like push the limits of like what is all right to do and what's not all right to do because, dude, at the end of the day, I'm an adrenaline junkie and still have those addictive tendencies and it's fucking entertaining entertaining, and you know, and now you go ahead now.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just gonna say the funny thing.
Speaker 2:Now somebody's like little angels on your shoulder, could tell you, like, and you're in the worst point of it and they're like that's costing you money, that's costing you friendships, and they realize, but the thing you're good at, if you can do it like, if you can replace with these healthy habits, you can monetize that shit. Like you can monetize your lifestyle, which we'll get on, that you know when, when nelly's, nelly's ready, but I think it's. It's just so hard to kind of clarify that, but it's. If somebody could tell you that then you're on this kind of like Kaizen path. You're going this way anyways and there's things you can do organically and to make money on your way to doing the thing you want to do anyways.
Speaker 3:That's kind of what happened? That's our next Sego. Right there. I want to get into the wave pool thing a bit. Um, I see that you're wearing your rusty hat. You're still writing for rusty, or did he sign? Re-signed you? Yeah, a couple years after I got out of jail and got out of rehab and was sober doing well, went through my court stuff, cleaned up the wreckage of my past, I started getting boards back from rusty and slowly but surely I got some free boards and got back on the team.
Speaker 3:That's right that rad and it was special. And then around yeah, I think it was actually like 2019, I started having some good contest results, released some videos online and was having some success and actually got to go to the Waco wave pool with, like Josh Kerr, grayson, Fetcher, alex, sergente um sierra kerr a big crew me and sorge and grayson flew out there went like wake surfing what a crew, huh it was sick dude.
Speaker 3:I was best friends with alex sergente and he was living with grayson fletcher and zion right and a couple guys and it was sick. We were cruising every day, surfing, skating, riding dirt bikes, just doing fun shit and and Josh Kerr gave us the invite and so we came and met him out in Texas and Slater was actually there surfing with, I think, shane Dorian and Jackson Dorian, and so Slater asked to be in our session and me and Sorge and Grayson wake surfed all morning and then drove straight from Austin to Waco and met up with the crew and it was like so special dude, we had like a mental session and just being with those skaters made me want to like push the limit of our sport. Like progress, the air game. I think that first night I landed like a big Superman air verse and then tried a bunch of finger flip attempts, broke two boards and like 200 attempts later got close but didn't land it. And then it was the second night.
Speaker 3:Grayson, sorge and I were out there trying tricks that none of us had done and I got super close to the finger flip. Grayson and Sorge were giving me tips. Grayson ended up landing a big full rotation alley-oop and just like that atmosphere and that like vibe of like skaters where they're just pushing you Like you got that shit, zeke, put it down. They're like commit dog, like they're just firing me up and it was like yeah, unlike anything I've ever experienced before.
Speaker 3:Cause, no offense to the surfers, but, dude, we're so selfish. When we go and surf with our friends, there's only like one wave of the day that comes through and you're all battling for it, and so it's like a selfish pursuit of glory.
Speaker 3:Everyone's, you know like trying to get that one wave, and so in the wave pools it's like you all are going to get the same wave. So you guys are kind of hyping each other up and there's a good atmosphere and a good vibe. And me and grayson and swords were just like putting down sick tricks and I ended up like on the last final attempt it was like midnight, dude, and they gave us extra time at the pool. I was getting super close. Grayson swords, josh kerr was like commentating, and up in the booth running the waves I finally landed the finger flip and that was summer of 2020. Dude, that was the first one ever done. Iconic, that's a finger flip and that was summer of 2020, dude, that was the first one ever done, yeah iconic.
Speaker 1:That's it First finger flip ever done.
Speaker 3:Like first.
Speaker 1:Cheers to that. Oh, thanks, it was special dude.
Speaker 3:It was special and it was like proper and I remember that it was mental.
Speaker 1:I was tripping when I saw it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was during COVID, so nothing was really going on.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:So that clip went super viral.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Millions of views on the WSL, millions of views on Stab. I gained like 60,000 followers overnight on social media and we had always been doing fun shit. But after that trip, guys like Josh Kerr and Jamie O'Brien and many other people that I looked up to were like dude, you guys got to document your lives. I'm living with these and hanging with these pro skaters and snowboarders and dirt bikers and we're just always doing fun shit. And also, these are the leaders. They're at the forefront of success and the forefront of progression and all of their sports. They're winning x games, gold medals and they're going to the olympics and they're just crushing it.
Speaker 3:so it only made sense. I started my youtube shortly after that and um kind of followed like a guideline that jamie o'brien had and ben gravy and these other guys that were killing it and that I looked up to and it was just rad. I was having fun just filming our everyday lives with my roommates and my best friends. I had this kid, shane Kruitzer, who lives over here on the North shore now, who ended up coming and living with us and making, filming and editing my YouTube videos for like two years. We were putting out one, sometimes two, a week and I've still been putting out a YouTube video a week for almost four and a half years now, been editing a lot of them myself, but-.
Speaker 2:It's a great channel. Thanks, it's a great channel. It's just fun, dude. I love doing it. There's no doubt.
Speaker 3:Yeah, even like almost five years later now, I'm still having fun doing it with the same crew, even like anybody who comes into my life, like we're just documenting our lives and sometimes like trying to think outside of the box on what we can do differently and how we can document it differently. And I'm pretty blessed, dude, I get to showcase my rad life online and sometimes I do some pretty outlandish shit, so people like it's pretty controversial.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you about that Ben Gravey thing because I actually never knew. Was that real, like when he came down and filmed one of your spots in San Diego, or like what was the story there?
Speaker 3:Ben was. I stirred up some commotion because I just wanted to talk shit and then Ben made a joke about it and I'm just really good about like seeing an opportunity to like capitalize on, um, like a hot topic 100 and so I don't really care to like I don't know, call somebody out on their bullshit online or to just be like loud and and outlandish about it start, start a beef exactly, I'm dude.
Speaker 3:I see beef for a second, my beef I mine like was like frustration with a couple filmers in southern california that were putting out raw sessions, and like as a youtuber and a professional surfer, I was traveling all around the world risking my life at these surf spots and especially my hometown that I grew up like surfing. You know everybody in the community I'm surfing these waves that are dangerous and I'm out there for six, seven hours at a time.
Speaker 3:My film paying a filmer to document it yeah and then I come in from a session and an hour later there's already a raw session video up on youtube with all my clips that, like my friends and I might've been saving for a movie or we wanted to post on our YouTube channel first and these guys are like posting the clips, the whole video online raw for their monetary gain, and so I just thought it was wrong, and I still think it's wrong.
Speaker 3:but nowadays it's like dude Ross Sessions, a pipeline and all these spots in Hawaii. There's dozens, if not like 20 or 30 channels that are doing it a week out here in Hawaii. So you can't if you can't beat them, join them.
Speaker 2:That's exactly it.
Speaker 3:And I don't want to like hate on them, but I just thought it was funny. So I wanted to kind of start the beef and I also dude growing up on like hip-hop and rap music. Dude, the beef is like sick that's it.
Speaker 2:It's what it's all about and I think it like it brings out like I don't know, drive out of people and brings out this like male ego thing that sometimes like is hilarious and entertaining no, there's no doubt about it and it also gets like the views in every other industry yeah, it'd be, like, it'd be super helpful, like when we left here on film, like you hit me and we created a beef with dudes you don't know that, you know like, and I would take it for nelly, I would take that and we just start a legitimate beef. We, we need nelly, you need a beef you gotta have controversy.
Speaker 3:You know the surf world's never, or hasn't really had that since. Like andy, irons kelly slater rivalry there hasn't been like beef or like real shit. That's like deep and like raw and gnarly and dude. Like I see it in the skate industry, bro, when, like nija, houston and taishan were battling for like sody, like taishan openly said like nija isn't a thrasher skater, bro, like nija ain't like in the streets right he ain't like hood like us.
Speaker 3:I was like bro, that's sick bro like, call out your, call out your't like hood like us. And I was like bro, that's sick, bro like call out your call out your competitors. Call out your rivals and I think that was sick and I even like tried to start beef with like aton, who's like a black belt and like gnarly would have kicked my ass, but he was too uh, he was too good of a human to want to actually talk shit he didn't take the bait didn't take the bait dude.
Speaker 3:But so yeah, that ben gravy thing was a joke, he, he turned it into a joke. I was pissed off at filmers and then ben turned it into a joke against me which was good for everybody which was good for everybody and ben's really good about like making everything light-hearted ben gravy is someone who, like, doesn't take anything too seriously yeah he laughs everything off and he's also sober and and a real good close friend of mine. Now and dude, there's nobody more. You guys are just up in santa cruz right yeah, there's nobody more driven than ben like dude.
Speaker 3:He puts out two, sometimes even three, youtube videos a week, um, and he's grinding, but, dude, it's rad like. The youtube thing has opened up opportunities for me to continue to do what I love and travel and surf, because unfortunately the surf industry is struggling right now.
Speaker 2:Totally.
Speaker 3:Like. Unfortunately, all these companies are owned by I don't know what a conglomeration and there's just not that much money or budget for athletes like myself to make surf movies and put out weekly YouTube videos and pay filmers and editors and travel and do what we love and got to get creative.
Speaker 2:It's I mean super creative to make a living in a weird way, the industry and it's just from an outside looking in it's like um, you know they, they're, it's a scale problem, meaning that it was this rad thing that people did and then it hit this golden era because it was on the up. The part of the business on the up is easy 100%.
Speaker 2:It's easy to build. It'd be easy to have an idea to start it up. Then you get to the top of it and now you've got 1,200 stores worldwide, you've got infrastructure, you've got overhead, and now you're trying to scale this sport. That was so sexy on the way up and it still is the exact same sport, but now what you've done is you've put this huge weight on the top of it. You know, you know the corporations have made the you know, this beautiful simple thing into a corporation and you've got stockholders and you've got all of these different things. Um and we're seeing it today, I think um, landon or chachi pulled up. You know, was it billabong? Yeah, closing all us stores, wow. Or worldwide? Was it worldwide? Or us, us, us stores?
Speaker 1:that's not just billabong either. There's other companies?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, of course, but it's just interesting once again we are the lucky ones.
Speaker 1:Uh-oh nelly, oh boy just don't touch it gotta touch it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, there you go and I just saw volcom was like filing for bankruptcy. But I do agree. We're lucky and blessed and I myself am so fortunate to have been able to work with rusty, because rusty surfboards is still owned by the same guy. Rusty, present or for who's 72 or 73 years old, has owned it for years now, since 1985.
Speaker 3:And even though he did sell the clothing aspect of it to a guy, it's still a family owned by this guy, jeff backshaw, in western australia, and, dude, it's owned by and ran by surfers the clothing side of his owned by a family and surfers and the surfboard side of his owned by surfers. And I still meet with both of those owners on a regular basis and like talk to them all the time and it's just rad to be like working with a guy and a team that cares and actually like and they serve.
Speaker 1:That's how it's done.
Speaker 3:Exactly, bro, you know what I mean. So it's rad dude, it's sick, and I mean, yeah, I'm pretty blessed. I don't know my roommate, I have, like Alex Sergente, have started our own little like side quest, called like off the chain, like OTC, and we make like shirts and stuff off the chain.
Speaker 3:And it was just like a vibe during COVID where we're saying like get OTC, get off the cell phone, get off the couch, get outside and get off the chain. You know like live your life. And I just think things like that are rad, like maybe someday we'll turn it into a real brand.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But watching guys like I don't know Julian Wilson, john, john, florence, clay and Dino start their own brands and give back to sponsor athletes and totally owned right there for own companies are sick dude. So I have hope in the surf community and the surf industry. So I hope it bounces back.
Speaker 2:It's too, it's, it's the it's the cheesiest thing to say, it's just. I think this is like a it's culling of the herd. They call it. You know that happens in the environment, it happens on the planet and I think something balloons up and then what's left out of that? Usually it sort of creates diamonds. You know who's left? Because the waves aren't going away. This company, this, this plate, it's not going away. It's just a radical realignment of what was for 30 or 40 years. That's and that's.
Speaker 1:It sounds dramatic, but that's all that it is, and what comes out of it is more of these stories it's gone through it before the surf industry, but I don't know that it's ever gone through it like it is right now, um yeah when nike came in and tried to bust into the surf world, that was was a little weird, you know, because they were not a surf company.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Their factory is 100 miles inland in Oregon.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And some people bought it and some people didn't buy it, you know, and a lot of people were like really kind of eggy. They were like what's this company coming in and throwing all this money around? Where were they when we needed money for contests? Where were we when the surf industry was struggling like now that, now that it's a four billion dollar industry, they want to come in and and take over basically yeah and then, as soon as they figured out that they weren't making money, they just said up and just dumped everybody and left it in turmoil.
Speaker 1:Yeah, guys like julian wilson and michelle bere Perez, and all these guys that rode for Nike, nat Young, and on and on and on and on, they just let this Sorry, guys, we're out.
Speaker 3:Bro, so gnarly yeah.
Speaker 1:So I saw the writing on the wall. With that one I was like nah, I bet dude.
Speaker 2:So you're in a weird spot where your lifestyle, your hobby is also your company, your business. Now, right, Is that fair to say?
Speaker 3:Yeah, pretty much. I pretty much document everything and put everything online of what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis.
Speaker 2:And I don't mean to be a dick about it, but where do you exist in that? And I'm not saying because I know there's that one, there's my. It's funny Cause the first thing you Google, which is it's probably fun, into your path and your story, you Google your name and it says like internet personality, which is a trip, because I just heard a lot of different shit and I wouldn't have thought that. But that is sort of like the space you're in. But in those quiet moments like where are you? Are you a gamer?
Speaker 3:How do you unwind from that stuff like how are you not that for sure, dude? That's a good question, bro. Not too many people have asked me that I would say. The only thing that I don't share as much on social media, like in my youtube videos or on instagram, is like that I meditate like journal and I don't talk too much about my like, sobriety and recovery on online right a because the people that I work with in sobriety and recovery like I want to keep them anonymous and B, because I just I don't know, I don't like want to, I don't know like brag about just keep it separate, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's not a part, yeah, I don't want to brag about like the selfless things that I do and also like dude, I'm still pretty cocky and self-centered sometimes and still working on myself every day. But yeah, dude, I would say those natural highs of surfing, skating, um dirt biking are just as much as like a form of meditation, a spiritual enlightenment, as like actually sitting down and going through a guided meditation or journaling or reading a book, Like I've been trying to read more but I'm so ADD and those those things like keep me level headed and grounded.
Speaker 3:But dude, it is pretty rad to like, I don't know. Meditating has helped me set my intentions and can you do it?
Speaker 2:I just wrote an editorial in the magazine about meditation. I do it every day, I try. I can't fucking do it like I'm and I'll never stop trying. But I realized like 17 seconds in, I realized it's 17 seconds in. I'm not meditating like I come and I'm, then I get two minutes in. I'm like I'm doing it. I'm like I just said I'm doing it, so I'm not doing it. Meditation is, it's a, it's a in, even badly. I make the argument even a bad meditation is better than no meditation.
Speaker 2:But meditation is hard, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been like five, six years of me trying it at least a couple times a week for me to finally get to a point where I can actually dive in. And then it's like that high I do everything, like all or nothing. So, yeah, I do get like that high from a good meditation where it's like, dude, I was all in and I was actually present and feeling the sensation of my breath going into my nostrils, out through my mouth and counting my breaths, and there's so many different types of meditation now.
Speaker 3:But I know it's rad, like the Griffin Colopinto crew, san Clemente Groms like Cannon Cars, like 18, 19 years old and the kids meditating with Griffin andin and crosby and co smith and those guys and it's rad. At 18 or 19 I never could have seen myself like sitting down, still meditating, locking in and like being present. So I think it's rad for those kids because, dude, it's a good tool and, even though some people hate on it, it's helped me a ton yeah, so it's rad, it's, it's rad it
Speaker 1:just reminds me just you guys wait, go can you keep it going while I go grab uncle butch. I don't want to leave.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, no, yeah with that. Well, I'm staying on this one. I'll talk on this shit all fucking day. Now we don't, we don't need you for this one. But the thing about it is we also had on the pod, we had, uh, zoe chate and we had jackson taylor on, just. But there's a common theme of these 17, 18, 20 year old kids that that are um they're.
Speaker 2:I probably wasn't thinking about that till my thirties, forties, and I was loosely thinking about it, but the reality of these kids, when, when you talk to them and that they're even kind of having a space in their life for you know, a balance in their universe, balance from their day, and also they're using it athletically as preparation for these gnarly events.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and so I agree. I think if you're trying to lock in and compete about Griffin's on the WSO dude, you got to be so present. Unfortunately, I have horrible heat strategy. I've never really done good competitively other than that national title win.
Speaker 2:Explain that a little bit. Cause there's 40% because of the magazine. There's so many people that are loving this culture, but what would be a terrible heat strategy if somebody kind of knows like so you're out there? I mean.
Speaker 3:I've been hanging with all these kids that are so dialed into a heat strategy. They know that they need to be on the first wave, they need to hold priority, they need to not fall and need to capitalize on like having the better of the exchange, and I've never really looked into any of that these kids have at like a young age. They have surf coaches and they're like so strategic. I always just wanted to have fun.
Speaker 3:And I just thought that surfing was about like having fun with their friends and surfing your brains out and trying crazy new shit, and it was like an outlet for me. Um, so I don't know know, dude, there's pros and cons to that, but if you want to make a living and make it on the world tour like you do have to have some strategy yeah and I'm so, add.
Speaker 3:I get into a heat and I just paddle for every single wave and go on anything that moves and that's not, uh, efficient I got an effective strategy.
Speaker 2:It's a chess match right. A lot more than people think it's a chess match, um, but getting, but getting back to the other side of like this, this, you know, I want to kind of circle back to the business side of it and sobriety and all of it is, um, sounds like you're on point with like sort of your place in the world. What about like diet and shit like that? Is that? Is that a focal point for you also, are you?
Speaker 3:definitely something I'm still working on. Traveling as much as I do, I struggle to have a consistent, healthy diet I did. I eat so much junk food around the world.
Speaker 3:I'll be traveling 40 something hours to Indonesia and the only thing open late at night is like a McDonald's or Pizza Hut or KFC and it's like I get stuck in these cycles of eating unhealthy food or eating whatever they have there. Sometimes I go to super remote locations where it's all you can eat is like whatever they have at this ramen or whatever they have, this little stand right so that's something I'm still working on.
Speaker 3:For sure, I brought like protein bars with me to places to work on it and when I'm home, I definitely use meal prep and, um, do yoga and try and try and pay attention to what I'm putting in my body. Especially now I'm seeing like dude, I'm 29 years old and I eat shit skating or dirt biking. Dude, my body's torched for weeks.
Speaker 2:There's no doubt. Yeah, your little 24-hour recovery period has now become one or two weeks, but that's sort of the thing you're doing right now. I think is you're doing a smart thing, which is building a media infrastructure around your content creator.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you're the content right now. To a certain extent, that's not necessarily what it's going to be in 5, 10, 15 years. You're building. I think I really enjoyed watching your channel because I think what it is is we're talking about scalability of a model channel. Cause I think what it is is we're talking about scalability of a model and and you know, as as you keep doing it, you're sort of setting this blueprint. You're the one putting yourself, you're putting yourself out there, but the reality is what you're doing is you're building straight up business. Thank you, dude.
Speaker 3:I appreciate that. And yeah, I mean the end of the day, if we don't make money, then I can't continue to keep doing what I love. So, like dude, to be honest, the last couple of years at least the last two years every dollar that I've made for my surf company, surf sponsors or my company with, like whether it's ad revenue on YouTube or brand deals, I pour straight back into my company and my brand straight back into hiring filmers and editors.
Speaker 2:It goes right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, straight back into buying surfboards or gear or paying for, like OTC, clothes to be printed to give out at movie premieres, or straight back into traveling. Dude, I spent like 60, 70 grand last year traveling and that's all like back of the bus, back of the airplane, coach tickets for me and a filmer. And, dude, it ain't cheap going around the world with a filmer and an editor to document these surf trips. And on last minute strike missions when a swell pops up, got to pay.
Speaker 2:You can't even control the tickets. You're just going now and I think that's funny, cause I get overwhelmed because this whole thing sort of under the umbrella of Santa Cruz vibes media, a magazine. We put a print magazine out in Santa Cruz and Monterey County, but this part of it's the other side. We do a newsletter, we do the podcasting management, but it's the same way, you just keep pouring it.
Speaker 2:You have to these mics, this one right now. This won't pay off for two or three years. Sometimes I'm sitting there thinking like, how do you do this? Sometimes Then I look at companies I respect and they're like I think you know a lot of companies that we would say are of note. It's four or six years before they even start turning a profit.
Speaker 2:100 you have, and I think what washes people out is this moment. Right now, the reinvest moments are like fuck it. Yeah, they can't see the end of it, but they're doing the right thing, or they do the other thing which they don't reinvest. They start drawing from it too early and it just, and it just fades it's not something you can do.
Speaker 3:You gotta invest in yourself. I did two and a half almost three years of not making a dollar off youtube, just crazy, monetize this single video because we wanted to use dope punk rock music like offspring, adolescence, penny wise, any just rad music vibe to, and you can't make money doing that, so yeah but now it's paying back and like I've grown a following and I love what I'm doing and people love it. Everywhere I go around the world, people are giving me props and yeah, dude, I'm stuck it's an amazing story like it's.
Speaker 2:It's. It really is an amazing story, and that's even the context of me just meeting you and kind of looking at it and talking to nell um, you know, and I and I really feel like it's uh one. I think you probably feel a lot of ways you're lucky, you're here for sure and you're doing something with it beyond lucky 100, and that's that's the raddest part of it no, and yeah, I mean dude.
Speaker 3:I've got plenty more stories. I want to hear stories from nelly too. We got to do a part two one day. Boys, do a part two.
Speaker 2:That's what I was telling him I was telling him that the nelly gets santa cruz we talk about, and I said the thing about this for sure 100, because the thing about I was talking about like talk shows.
Speaker 2:I said it's the like, even like kimmel and the guys that the legendary before podcasting, you know, and even the height of it right now, the rogans and stuff, the there's the guests that are the most meaningful are on 8, 10, 15. I told them there's no pressure on the North Shore. This is the beginning of a conversation we're just getting to know each other.
Speaker 2:This is my second conversation with Landon. It was way better than the first. I don't ever feel that dooming pressure that we've got to get it all in in 48 minutes 100%.
Speaker 3:I've got to go get Uncle Butch, no worries bro much love. Thanks, brother, 100% just your youtube channels jacob zeke, zekely and uh. Instagram. Just z-e-k-e underscore, just having jacob zeke on youtube internet personality.
Speaker 2:Yeah, all right, thanks thanks bro.
