Jake Kelley On Why Dane Reynolds Hated Him, Living Next To Curren Caples’ Golf Simulator, Falconry + Being A Banzai Warlord

Fresh off winning 1,491,999¥ in S.U.R.F. California (presented by Sun Bum and Kona) — a surf competition concluding in a Japanese swimming pool — Jake Kelley found himself “drinking beers in the Caribbean with Dane [Reynolds] and Dillon [Perillo] watching a hurricane hit Florida.”

Serendipitously aligned with the finals of Dave Rasta’s EAST project, Jake started by sharing notes from his first Zen Yeti encounter earlier in the day. “We’d just gotten out of a crowded lineup and were drinking beers. Then we saw Rasta and the Stab crew and asked if they wanted a tin. Rasta just goes, ‘Coors Light? Those fucking things don’t even get you drunk.’ I was quite impressed,” he recalled warmly. 

Jake, who possesses a wealth of unusual life experiences, is a fitting winner for S.U.R.F.’s unconventional judging criteria. Born and raised in Newbury Park, 20 minutes south of Ventura, Jake is the son of a falconer. “Yeah, dad’s been working with falcons since he was a kid,” Jake explains casually. “He uses them to scare off birds at places like dumps or train stations, and he hunts with them too — ducks, rabbits, you name it. He brings them home and cooks them. It’s pretty wild.”

To supplement his pro surfing revenue stream, Jake also works part-time as a production assistant for high-end fashion shoots. “It’s random, but fun. You work long hours — sometimes 14 to 16 hours a day — and the job can be anything from filling coolers to helping out the talent or assisting with photography.” 

Though he is sworn to NDA secrecy on his dealings with talent (not Diddy), he has some superb off-record yarns unfit for publication. “It can be a pretty cool glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous,” he laughs. “It’s that full cross of worlds, and you learn how to do things on the fly and how big projects are executed.” 

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However, given his recent signings with multinational surf conglomerates: Former and Rage, Jake may well never have to lift a studio reflector again. “I don’t really know how to make sense of getting sponsored again at 29. A bunch of friends going surfing together is all I perceive it as really. That’s kind of the joy of being a bit older. You realize that any bit of time that you get to go surfing with friends on a trip is a pretty sick deal.” 

Speaking of friends, pro skater and Stab High alumnus Curren Caples is Jake’s landlord. “He actually just took his room out of the place and built a golf simulator because he is really into golf now. Being housemates with a golf simulator is pretty sweet. It got built right before I left, so I’m yet to see what happens after a big night on the beers. I imagine you’ll be able to hear people whacking golf balls from houses away. It’ll be interesting when the first window breaks,” he says.

Though Jake’s connection to Ventura and Chapter 11 seems long-standing to outsiders, there was a time not too long ago when Dane Reynolds openly “hated” him. Though Dane later penned in a blog post, “it was no fault of his own, I was just being an asshole”, Jake notched Reynolds’ transgressions against him up to being “a shithead little kid”. He explains, “I looked up to Dane, and I was probably super annoying, catching all the waves I could. I get it now — when you’re an adult and you only have limited surf time, the last thing you want is some kid hogging waves.” 

Tis’ all water under the bridge now, as evidenced by their “Hurricane party”.

While few could have predicted Jake’s path to S.U.R.F. glory, his peculiar list of accolades including a Wave of the Winter Entry from 2015 at second-reef Pipeline suggest he is prone to all sorts of rogue, unpredictable behavior.

“When I rode for Oneill I made good friends with guys like Nils Schweitzer and Eli Olson on the North Shore. One day there were only three of us out at Pipeline, and I just happened to get an insane wave. It’s probably still the best wave I’ve ever got,” the Banzai warlord told Stab. 

Sometimes the wand picks the wizard – catch more Jake below.