Podcast: Rasta’s Best Barrel + JOB On Remaining Relevant

Surfers seem to slide right into the role of cyber-provocateurs. Though the dots are seldom connected, we appear to have no problem hurling opinions into the void and watching them explode. Names like Matt Biolos, Joel Tudor, even Kelly Slater are well-worn voices in this racket. 

But now, there’s a new name shaking the cage. After a recent keyboard bloodbath, triggered by a certain article, Big Dick Power Surfer has emerged as a name you don’t want to cross. If you’re smart, you’ll steer clear of Buckley.

This week on the pod, after dissecting the carnage of Buck’s cyber-beef, the boys dive into a conversation about surfing’s most mythical creature: part man, part dolphin, and Mother Earth’s wild-eyed son, Dave Rastovich. 

The episode one premiere at La Paloma, Encinitas, was chaos—sold out two nights straight, with Rasta in the flesh for a Q&A. The place was so packed they had to bolt the doors shut, while ticket-hungry stragglers clawed at the desk, hoping to score a last-minute entry.

For those unlucky souls who couldn’t snag a ticket, Ep. 1 is live now on the site, and this season comes with a new playbook on board materials. At Rasta’s discretion, no PU was to touch the shaping bay. The only stuff he’d work with? A unique form of grass: flax.

“We started to play with a lot of different materials,” says Gary McNeil, Rasta’s go-to craftsman. “In the early days, it was bamboo, but that was like trying to glass a t-shirt. Hemp was really strong, but the boards were too stiff. Basalt felt like carbon. But flax has this crazy tensile strength to it. Rasta’s been on them for 8 years, he’s got size 13 flipper feet, and he bashes the shit out of them. And, he’s never broken or creased a board. What’s wrong with this story?”

The boys then roll a live clip from the premiere night, where Rasta describes the phenomenon of mind melt. Spending more than 10 seconds in the tube, he says, is when the world begins to fall away, and you can achieve the pinnacle of human experience.

“Anytime that happens—when you have to take a breath—that’s the peak of the surfing experience for me,” notes Dave. Captivating stuff.

Mikey and Buck also gab on the inexplicable urge to light Jacob Szekely on fire, JOB’s refusal to be forgotten and his itch to offload his beachfront house at Pipe, and the financial suicide of chasing competitive surfing in 2024. Plus, Mikey offers some hard-hitting gambling wisdom that has nothing to do with surfing, as well as sharing a beautiful life lesson from Nathan Fletcher.   

Feed your ears this week. Listen to the Pod.