The success of the Zimbalist brothers’ opus, Momentum Generation, continues to reverberate around the globe. If you haven’t seen the flick, we couldn’t recommend it more highly. But since HBO scooped it up, some of the cast members, which include some of surfing’s most notable personalities, have been bouncing from interview to interview to tell the Momentum Generation story and promote the film.
On Wednesday, Taylor Steele and Rob Machado swung by the studio of Beats 1 radio personality Zane Lowe for a far-ranging sit down that included calling up the duo’s pal, Kelly Slater, to weigh in on a few matters of import.
Between Eddie Vedder’s surfing ability and Kelly’s dog, Action, Lowe probed Kelly to wade into surfing’s imminent debut at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – a debut that will likely be in the ocean at Ichinomiya Beach in Chiba prefecture despite the WSL’s best efforts to build a Surf Ranch in Japan.
“Is it Olympic worthy?” asks Lowe, to which Kelly pauses and Rob and Taylor both laugh.
The GOAT is candid about his own biases being that he helped to bring the Surf Ranch tech to life and definitely appears to prefer its predictability over competing in “the offseason with the occasional storm,” as he puts it.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice,” says Kelly.
He stops short of divulging any details about KS Wave Co.’s development project that as of October of last year was still an overgrown plot in a rural Tokyo suburb.
The full interview is definitely worthy of your time and here are a few highlights:
Rob reflects on the Momentum Generation:
Musicians that surf:
Jack Johnson:
Rob on the high five:
