Watch Volcom’s Psychic Migrations, Now

All photos courtesy Volcom

We’ve already handed you (eight) reasons to watch this baby. What, you need it filleted and grilled? How about through iTunes? Yeah, that should do it. Click!

Psychic Migrations has been touring the far corners of late with heavy praise from all that have laid eyes and ears upon it. You’ve heard snippets about the mind melting setups that were lit up by a hungry party of sliders on rainbow sleds. Have you plugged in that Apple ID yet? Go now! But, if you have nothing on the clock, dive in below: Stab muses with Volcom veteran quirkster Ozzie Wright about Volcom movies past, and what it is like to make surf films with one of the sport’s greatest companies…

Stab: What’s the earliest connection you have to Volcom films?
Ozzie Wright: The first one I saw was Alive We Ride, and it was before I rode for Volcom. My friend Spillsy was the first Australian team rider and he showed me. It was the best movie ever and it changed the way I looked at everything. It made me want to shred so much. It changed my life. I knew I had to ride for Volcom. Every movie since turns into a cult classic, and they’re so much more punk, and heart and soul, than other movies.

What have the films done for your career? It’s all about the people I got to be with. I went on trips with Barney Barron, he was such a big influence on me. He was the life of the party every day in the water. If you were surfing with Barney you were at a crazy party. Every wave he caught made me laugh my head off, he was always drawing and painting and being hilarious. I got to do crazy trips with Bruce Irons too and he was always shredding.

How does it feel to be considered a veteran, Ozzie? It’s been such a cool ride to see where the team has come to. It’s cool to see the flavour of the South Americans, and the Central Americans and have them all involved. It’s sick having people speaking Spanish and Portuguese. We’re international now. They’re coming from such a different background compared to what we’re brought up on as Australians and American. I mean, we’ve owned a lot of the space in surf media so it’s sick to see these guys have their chance to display their manoeuvres and their personalities. I think it adds something totally new and colourful. I want to know more about these guys and where they came from, as opposed to us who grew up as first­ world brats. They’ve had to fight so hard for anything, and you can see it in the lineup. They’re really working, but they’re waiting for the sets. They’ve got a lot of staying­ power.

And what about the characters behind the scenes? Oh, guys like Brad Anderson.There’d be some days when you’d look at the waves and you’d go, where’s Brad? Where’s Brad? And he’d disappeared into a town about an hour’s drive away to pay for an exotic massages from the locals. He got his rocks off, and that’s good.

It’s been about doing things others aren’t. Volcom were using 16mm before it was the on­ trend thing to do, and when it was all about using digital you went and scrapped it all and made a low­ budget production with 156 Tricks. Yeah, I’d just met Hollywood (Chris Searl, co-­founder of Monster Children). Back in the day he was making movies well before iMovie or any of that crap existed. So we called him Hollywood because he was the only guy who knew how to make a movie. He wanted to make a surf film on me and he decided he didn’t want to travel around the world for a year and go to all these awesome places and film surfing. So I thought, who can do it? Well, I got one of my oldest buddies, Cowboy, who was a cabinet maker, and we hired him. I remember being in France and it was the best surf of the entire trip. I was surfing this shore break and it was just crazy. There was 50 people clapping and cheering right on the sand where I was landing and I look to the beach and Cowboy’s nowhere to be seen. It was the best session of the year and Cowboy was in the next town shacked up with a beautiful French woman. I couldn’t blame him, but I was definitely bummed. Other than that, Cowboy did the best job. He’s the kinda guy who can do anything; modelling, filming, cabinet making, drumming. He’s really talented.

Do you think that part of surfing is gone? That whole, fuck ­it we’ll film where we want to and let’s go party? I definitely think that it’s so professional now and everyone has to try so hard that there’s something to be said for just living your life, surfing when you’re really in the mood, and capturing it when the planets come together. I think that’s special. You can have surfing as a job, but it shouldn’t be one, it’s a celebration of how you feel and I think Volcom has always embodied that spirit of living your life.

Could you picture your surf career without the Stone? For me, Volcom is like college. Where people went to university, I quit school and pretty much hooked up with Volcom instantly. Luckily, it wasn’t just a bunch of robots doing their job. It was a bunch of freakin’ artists who were so into every kind of aspect that I love. Everyone was a musician, an artist, a surfer, a skater and all of those people and those mentors really schooled me on everything. I wouldn’t be anywhere near the person that I am without the company. It’s pretty special.

The Volcom team of 2015 looks very different to the Volcom team of 1999. Yeah, the Volcom team is in a really awesome place right now. The characters in it are massive, everyone has a really good personality and people surf with character.

Breakdown each guy starring in Psychic Migrations. Mitch Coleborn… Mitch is a heavy hitter. He doesn’t muck around. He wants serious shit. If it’s not the best waves you’ve ever seen he just stays asleep. He gets a lot of sleep, and that’s good for health and healing. When the waves get above three foot he does airs well above three foot. He does the biggest airs.

Yago Dora… Yago Dora is a freak of nature. He’s like a walking Robotron. He’s six foot tall, 18 years old and his bones are made of rubber. He rips everything. He’s a cross between Damien Hardman and Christian Fletcher. He can do eight turns to the beach, and he can do the craziest airs you’ve ever seen. He’s an absolute freak.

Carlos Munoz… Costa Rica’s finest. He looks like a palm tree. He surfs like the Son of God. He’s a classic.

Droid… Droid is one of the best natural talents the world’s ever seen. He’s humble and his natural ability is on another level. It’s all instinctual. He can play the guitar like a freak, and he can surf all on pure instinct. It’s unreal to watch him surf. There’s no thinking.

Miguel Tudela from Peru… He’s a little ball of energy. He gives it his all and he’s got a lot of psych. He’s doing flips and all that shit.

And the mad scientist on board, Ryan Thomas (RT), the creative director behind BS, The Bruce Movie, a bunch of other Volcom projects. RT is the epitome of a mad professor. You look at his face and you want to laugh because he just looks crazy. But believe it, he’s a fucking lunatic. He’ll have you sitting there in a second if he wants a shot of your face. He’s a perfectionist. He’s got a unique vision.

You’re on­ set in Indonesia. Give us the rundown. This trip has been a crazy, 14­ day slumber party with 15 dudes in a tiny lounge room all wrapped up in blankets in the air-conditioning watching movie after movie out here in the ocean jungle. We’ve seen so many crazy teenage movies. The other day it was hilarious, Yago just goes, “Hey you guys, umm, what is a boner?” And everyone was like, “A boner is…” And there was 50 words to describe what it was. A woody, cracking a fat… There’s a lot of English words for boners.

One of the trips for the film was down to South Oz. Now that there’s a couple of groms at home, do you think twice when paddling out with the sharkies? That’s what it’s come to to get uncrowded, quality waves. It’s pretty unnerving to be surfing in some of these places we’re going now. The first day we were surfing a spot where I knew a kid had been killed, and my leggy broke and I had to swim right across the channel, exactly where he’d been eaten. The second day we surfed another reef and I came in and Nate, one of the filmers, was like “Did you just see that shark?” It was like a 20­ foot great white. I looked down the beach and I saw a 20 ­foot great white jump out of the water and eat a seal. That place is really frightening. There’s not many surfers down there and the waves are incredible, but every beach you go to, there’s a plaque in memory of someone who’s been eaten. The ratio is absolutely terrible. It’s really dangerous.

But you’re still damaging yourself. You seem to have a pretty low regard for your safety. Ha! Yeah, and it’s actually better than what it was. Having two children I definitely try and self­ preserve a lot more than I ever used to. I want to stay alive as long as I can. Surfing these death defying waves, I’m over it. Sharks, I don’t like them.

Go get at Psychic Migrations on iTunes here, now!