And Now: A Brief Departure From Regular Programming

Surfing has become such a colourful, varied beast! In an age when the volume on everything is jacked to 11, thank the sweet baby jesus for those in surf with the ability to keep it breezy. Case in point: At one end of the spectrum, heavily-contrasted, super slow-mo clips cut to a Lord Of The Rings soundtrack. And then at the other, there’s this.

But what the hell is this?

In short, I don’t really know. And I love that. On paper, it’s a short film from one of surfing’s least shackled art departments (Volcom). But in execution, it’s so much more. It’s nostalgic, it pays homage to the company’s romance with colourful narratives (think: Psychic Migrations, True To This, Creepy Fingers, Magna Plasm, The Dawn of the Stone Age). It’s a departure, if only brief, from the incessant surf porn programming that we’re as guilty of aggregating as anyone.

Details are rather hazy: Last summer, Volcom’s surf gang were flown to Hawaii, shown no script prior, and not told what they were doing. Will Oldham (the Surf Sage), better known as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, was there. The shoot was loose, wild, and went for one day. And what they got was Exit The Earthly, the short film you’ll watch above.

I suppose you’d describe it as surf-comedy-action-adventure? Who cares. All that matters is the moonshine-influenced spirit animal, Ozzie Wright, and his curious gang of surf pals. Bravo to whoever at Volcom green-lit this.

Ain’t no dark without the light!