Dane Goes Big

Dane Reynolds Scores the Cover of Surfer's Big Issue

Quiksilver's Dane Reynolds has landed the most coveted surf mag photo of the year for an image captured during the filming of Young Guns 3 in Bali. 

To get a preview of the story click here. 

To watch the new YG3 trailer, click here.

Congratulations, Dane, from everyone at Quiksilver.

Check out an exclusive interview with Dane about his experiences this year on the WQS tour.

Dane Reynolds Interview

Interviewer: In terms of the movie, how is it to be the only guy out of all the Young Guns who is slugging it out on the QS?

Dane: Ah, it’s cool.  I think that everybody that has been filming for Young Guns 3  has had their different things going on.  I think that Julian has been chasing all the World Juniors series.  Ry, I don’t know what Ry does.  I know he has been doing lots of other trips and been chasing big swells in WA.  I guess I don’t really know what Marzo does either.  I got a tougher schedule probably than most of them.  I know that they have taken a couple more trips to go film.  And I have been slugging it out somewhere. You got to sacrifice something to get your goal.  That’s why I’m saying if I don’t qualify this year it will be a big waste of time because I could have been dedicating all my time to getting these good video sections and stuff.  But you go to put your priorities in line and WQS is at the top of my list right now.

Interviewer: Why do you want to make the WCT?

Dane: I don’t know.  I have questioned that lots times and that’s why I was about to give up earlier in year because all these guys pretty much put their whole life on qualifying for the ‘CT that’s what they live for and I definitely don’t want it that bad and I can see that and that’s why I was failing. So, I was pretty much ready to give up come Margaret River.  I’ve always thought, “That would be pretty cool to be on the CT.”  I’ve never really wanted it that bad I guess.  Then, come Margaret River I had a little streak of luck and then another little streak of luck, and now I might as well put in the whole year kind of thing.  But, I think it would be cool to do a year or two of competitions and the best waves in the world and just everything else that goes along with it.  It seems like a fun thing I guess.  But I’ve never really put my whole life on the line for it, not that anybody else puts their life on the line, but they pretty much live for that, for qualifying, and I don’t think I ever have.

Interviewer: Do you think that the CT guys have best the best of both worlds because they do get good waves and they get to surf them with only one other guy? And then, also, there aren’t many events, so there’s quite a bit of time still to film, right?

Dane: Yeah, I think they have a pretty good schedule.  And, you know, competing on the CT level brings out the best surfers a lot more than the WQS.  I still can’t quite wrap my head around the 4-man heat thing.  It comes down to tactics so much, and I’m not really a tactical type of surfer.  I like the CTs- the half hour heats with 2 men, where you really get to focus on your surfing and getting the scores by surfing the best.   You cannot get by getting 6.5’s. I guess you got to go through that to get there.

Interviewer: Do you bring people with you on trips? Do you have a crew of people on the road?

Dane: No.  Actually, I traveled solo to Maldives, and I liked that a lot. I’m not really a people person.  I don’t mind being alone, but I get creeped out staying in the big house all alone all these noises and stuff.  I for some reason get spooked by stuff like that.  I will probably be traveling with Nathaniel Curran a lot.  He has been injured for a couple months, so I will be traveling with him a lot once he gets better. But I don’t mind traveling alone.  I actually liked it.  Just worry about yourself, you know. Don’t have to make conversation all the time.   I’d rather read a magazine or book.

Interviewer: When the year started, what did you expect would happen?

Dane: it was actually weird ‘cause Blair, my manger, was trying to get all these wildcards for me.  And he was telling me, “I’m just explaining to them how you are trying to qualify in one year”, and I was like, “Qualify in one year? Are you kidding me? Not me.” I didn’t have many expectations, I just figured it was kind of the next step after what I did last year.  And I have always wanted to give it a full year’s go, but I never had any expectations. I definitely never thought I would qualify in one year. And that’s why after 4 events of doing really bad, I was just like it’s not worth it.  I’m not going to qualify; there is no way.  I’m wasting my time if I get like 100th at the end of the year, and that’s where I’m headed. So, that’s why I was ready to quit.

Interviewer: So you seriously thought you wouldn’t make the top 100 after you lost in Newcastle?

Dane: No.  I was going to quit.  Right when I arrived in WA, I was talking to Ry.  I was telling him, “I’m going to do this contest and I’m done.”  That’s why I was trying to lose.  I was just like, “I’m over it.”  Then, the next thing you know I did good there.  So I was like I might as well do South Africa and Scotland.  And South Africa was a good result and Scotland was a pretty good result too. Now I just need four more, which is a lot.

Interviewer:  The judges seem to like your surfing, especially Margaret River.  You were dropping really big scores the whole time.

Dane: Yeah, sometimes I’m even embarrassed when I get too big of scores.  That being said, I thought that in Maldives, I thought that I had the score. I thought that 100% by judging how some of the other scores were going in that heat, I thought that I had an 8 at least and I needed at 7.1 but it was a 6.5. I didn’t really get that, but I guess I would have to watch it on video.  I did a pretty cheesy air, but so was one of the other competitors that got a 7.5.  He did two maybe even cheesier airs that and got a 7.5 so I was like ok mine has to be an 8.  So, I guess they can’t always give to you. But a couple times, I’ve been embarrassed by how big my scores were.  A couple times in South Africa especially, a bank and half ass turn and then bank off the close out would get a 7.5.  And I was like, “Oh, I’ll take it.” But that’s what I mean; I need to quit being embarrassed about that because who cares what the other competitors think, I guess.

Interviewer: You said before that people give you tons of advice. Is that still happening? What do people say? What is your response to them?

Dane: Probably, little bit less now.  But, I was pretty hardheaded to advice for a long time.  I didn’t want to hear it and I wouldn’t accept and wouldn’t even consider it and it got really irritating because I didn’t want to hear it.  Especially when I wasn’t doing events and everyone’s advice was to do events. They were pretty much giving my advice on what to do with my life and it bugged me. But I don’t mind it now when guys give me advice as far as straight up heat surfing because I need it.

Interviewer: What is the advice you like?

Dane: I don’t know.  Um, can’t think of anything specific off the top off my head. The thing that bugs me is like when you get a bunch of people drinking out a bar trying to give you advice.  It’s like the last thing I want to talk about then is my surfing.  And I’m not good at accepting any praise at all.  And lots of guys are like, “You have more talent that I did at your age and you better do something with it.” And I don’t know what to say to that, “Thanks”?

Interviewer: Why are you so uncomfortable with praise?

Dane: I don’t believe it and I don’t know how to accept it. And I don’t want to be rude and not say thank you but at the same time I don’t want to hear.  That’s not the reason I do this is to be praised by people.   I guess it’s cool that people have praise to give me, but I don’t like hearing it.

Interviewer: Is the level of surfing on the QS better or worse than you expected? And, who has impressed you so far?

Dane: The level of surfing is good. I go into a lot of heats where you know any of the three other guys can beat you, and that’s pretty nerve racking.  That’s where I can’t get my head around it, you know. There are three other people who could beat you.  My whole thing in heats is I always sit wide and try to do my own thing because I am so bad at hassling for waves and like I said the whole tactics of it, so I sit wide and I try to get my own separate waves.  They might not be as good but I know that I can do the airs and stuff and get the scores on them.  So waves where I can't do that kind of freak me out, where I can't sit in my own little zone, where everyone is on a single peak. That’s why Maldives was hard for me because everyone was hassling on the peak.  The level of surfing is good.  I like the way Jordy surfs heats a lot.  In South Africa he was punting.  Every wave.  They weren’t exactly very risky, obviously.  I mean I don’t think I saw him not make an air the whole entire contest.  You know he is doing little airs about this big and they weren’t exactly the most difficult parts of the wave. But he would combo them up with sick turns and always something big off the close out. He looked real relaxed, which I know I’m not.  I went out to Al’s (Merrick) to go shape a few boards with him and I told him to make them as stiff and draggy as he can because I tend to do all the little movements especially in all the heats when I’m all nervous, I will just go tic tic tic and I just get so psyched up.  But, he looks so clam and relaxed and fluid.  That’s one thing I lack.  Its pretty hard, it does come down to tactics a lot more than you would hope.

Interviewer: Do you like you chances of making it this year?

Dane: Like where I’m at right now?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Dane: Yeah.  I like where I am right now.  I’m feeling pretty good because they are going to reseed after the next event, if I can make a couple of heats in the next events I will hopefully stay in the top 15 so then I can be at the round of 96 in most events.  And from there, if it’s a 6 star, I only need to make a couple heats at a couple events.  But, my goal this year is to win one event - whether it is even a one star or six star.  So, if I retain that goal and helpfully win an event and hopefully it can even be a four star or up.  Then just make a couple more heats here and there, I feel like I have got pretty good odds.  But it is going to be the highest cut off ever by about 1000 points.  I don’t want it to come down to Hawaii and be on the brink because I have never even done any of the Hawaii events. It hard, ‘cause you could draw Love Hodel and Sunny and Makua at Haleiwa and then what are you going to do?

Interviewer: Is there a lot of partying on the QS?

Dane: Depends on who you’re traveling with. I try to avoid it.  I don’t even like partying. I kind of realized that.  I don’t even like going to bars and drinking.  I like drinking, but not going to bars.  All you do is get advice from everybody, all these drunk people giving you life advice. I don’t even want to hear it.  I kind of avoid it a bit.  But, definitely you always blow off some steam with some drunkenness after you lose.  Depends on who you travel with.  If you travel with guys and they lose before you, you are stuck in hell really.  They’ll be out every night before you surf your heat in the morning.  At the hotel, you gotta go downstairs and let them in at like 3 in the morning. You have to be careful who you travel with.

Interviewer: What have you been reading and listening to?

Dane: Just finished, um… I’ve kind of been reading the modern classics like The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway and before that I read A Brave New World.  That was kind of cool; I like that. And listening to, man I don’t know.  Ive been listening to nothing really good that’s new.  I’ve been putting my ipod on shuffle and listening to whatever comes up.  But, I haven’t really been that into it lately.  I lost my ipod in Mexico, and I started reading so I’ve kind of been locked into that.  It passes the time a hell of a lot faster than listening to the music.

Interviewer: Are you trying to continue your education on your own?

Dane: Well, when I stopped going to high school in 10th grade I hadn’t read any of the required readings.  Not that I really care that I didn’t get to read these books, but they tend to be really good if they are required reading.  Like Hemingway and Steinbeck are not something that I am so interested in reading in the beginning but they are written so well that they suck you in.  I am not really into the thrillers and the modern books. So I’ve kind of just gone back to the modern classics that you are pretty much required to read in high school.  I just started A Farewell to Arms, another Hemingway, because I liked The Sun also Rises a lot. 

Interviewer:  The other YG’s, Julian and Clay, are probably going to end up doing this the QS too.  What do you think is going to happen with them?

Dane: I think Julian is going to fly through it like Jordy is right now. And Marzo too.  Marzo is hard to say.  I’ve seen him surf so ridiculously good, but I’ve seen him do some stupid stuff similar to me.  I’m not saying I don’t know it; but I’ve seen him in Florida just this year he got like a 9 something and needed like a 2 something and then sat there for 7 minutes never took off on another wave and lost. I’m no one to judge.

Interviewer: Does it bother you to see other people do that?

Dane: No, it comforts me that other people do things like that because I do do things like that.  I wasn’t rooting for him hoping he was going to make the heat, but in the end I was like “I do that too”.  But obviously he surfs better than everybody on the QS so I don’t think he will have a problem if he can get his head around the competitors. I saw Julian in Newcastle - the first 2* QS he ever did, which I thought is the weirdest thing ever because in the US we are bred on a timeline when you finish your amateur contests at 18 then you do every QS, but you start doing a couple at 16.  He had never done that, but he just blew through heats.  I don’t think he had any real results, but he had no problems.