The Surfer's Journal presents Soundings with Jamie Brisick

Born and raised in Newport, Rhode Island, Sid Abruzzi came to surfing and skateboarding in the early 1960s. In 1969, 18-year-old Abbruzzi drove down to New Jersey to buy a few Rick single-fins, as surfboards were hard to come by in Rhode Island back then. He swiftly sold the boards, then sold another batch, and found a liking for this buying and selling business.
In 1971, Abbruzzi opened Water Brothers Surf and Skate, which became the hub of surf-skate culture in Rhode Island. And in the spirit of "If you build it, they will come," the various quarterpipes, halfpipes, and full-scale skateparks that Abbruzzi spearheaded attracted the world's greatest skateboarders. 
Hailed as the "Godfather of New England surfing," Abbruzzi is a regular at Ruggles, the fabled reef break along the scenic Newport Cliff Walk. When it became endangered, he stepped up as the spot's most vocal advocate, fighting the good fight—and winning. 
Abbruzzi is a punk rocker. In 1981, he, his brother, and some friends started the band Big World. Abbruzzi was the lead singer. He threw body and blood into the shows. Big World opened for Iggy Pop, The Tubes, and Johnny Thunders, among others.
Abbruzzi is the subject of Water Brother: The Sid Abbruzzi Story, a 2024 feature documentary.
Now 74, Abbruzzi lives with his wife Danielle not far from the break where he first rode his first waves some 60-plus years ago.
In this episode of Soundings, Abbruzzi talks with Jamie Brisick about the founding of Water Brothers, the commitment of cold water surfing, building his legendary skatepark, playing music, and shaping New England's surf and skate scene for over half a century.

Presented by Rainbow® Sandals
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Become a TSJ member at surfersjournal.com

Hailing from Noosa, Australia, Harry Bryant is a frothing, underground charger who'll drive halfway across Australia to hunt for remote slabs. He's also a bonafide surf star—his blond bowl-cutted head recognizable in lineups worldwide.
One window into his full throttle operation and persona is 2024's Motel Hell, a full-length surf feature that he made with director Dave Fox. It contains a storyline, scenes shot in Outback pubs, a mysterious psychedelic milk, and a glut of meaty tubes. 

Bryant experiments with all manner of surfboard design, takes a healthy interest in surf history, and throws himself into his travels, which is to say he goes slow, gets down with the locals, and often rides boards from area shapers.
His most recent offering is Roasted, also directed by Fox. The title describes what happens to the skin after a marathon session in warm climes. There are, of course, many barrels and many rail carves and vicious hacks.
In this episode of Soundings, Bryant talks with Jamie Brisick about road tripping through Australia, finding balance, the chaotic making of Motel Hell, his introduction to Hawaii, and his fascination with surf craft. 
Presented by Rainbow® Sandals.
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Become a TSJ member at surfersjournal.com

Australian-born, California-raised Rob Machado is known for many things, but perhaps most of all he's known for making it look easy.
After an accomplished amateur career, Machado, a member of the New School generation, joined the world tour in 1993. He rose to second overall in 1995, the year he famously high-fived Kelly Slater in the semifinals of the Pipe Masters with the title on the line. He finished in the top 16 in following years, including number three in 2000, the same year he won the Pipe Masters. 
But a broken wrist caused him to drop to 46th in 2001. He hoped to get the injury wild card into the 2002 season. But he didn't. At the time, after almost a decade on the world tour and numerous event wins, it felt like a slight. Now it looks like divine intervention.
Machado set off on the path that he's been on for the last 20-plus years. Free surfing. Board exploration. Far-flung travel. One of the world's best surfers unshackled from the constraints of competition and let loose.
Machado's been featured in many surf films, including Momentum in 1992, What's Next? in 1996, Thicker Than Water in 1999, Shelter in 2001, and The Drifter in 2009. He founded the Rob Machado Surf Classic in 1997. He's thrown the first pitch at more than one Padres game. He's jammed onstage with Eddie Vedder and Jack Johnson. The list goes on and on.
In this episode of Soundings, Machado talks with Jamie Brisick about stepping away from competition, unlocking states of bliss in the water, the peak moments of his career, desire, creativity in surfing, and his high-five with Kelly Slater in the channel at Pipe.

Presented by Rainbow® Sandals.
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Become a TSJ member at surfersjournal.com.

The daughter of an American father and a Japanese mother, Shirley Rogers was born in Japan in 1953. She spent her first nine years there, then a few years in Texas. At 16, she moved with her parents to Oahu. At Campbell High School on the Westside, she took photography classes and found a passion for it. She also found surfing—the act of riding waves, the culture, and the community.
In 1971, her parents moved back to Texas. Having freshly graduated, Rogers chose to stay in Hawaii. She moved to the then rural and untapped North Shore and fell in with the surf luminaries of the era—Jeff Hakman, Gerry Lopez, Rory Russell, Eddie Rothman, Shaun Tomson, and Peter Townend, among many others.
One day at Waimea Bay, filmmakers Jack McCoy and Dick Hoole handed Shirley a 650 Century lens and a tripod and told her to, essentially, "have at it." She was amazed by what she saw through that telephoto lens. These were the days before auto-focus, and it was a true challenge to follow the surfer and nail the shot, but Rogers was a quick study. She submitted her photos to Surfer, Surfing, and Tracks magazines. They ran them. Soon she was getting paid for her work.
There were few female surf photographers on the 1970s and '80s North Shore. Rogers gained a reputation for her tight, sharp, well-composed images, typically shot from the beach. Her portraiture emitted a candid and all-access quality—she was merely shooting her pals, who also happened to be the most sought-after surf stars of the time.
She traveled—to Indonesia, Australia, Tahiti. She photographed the nascent women's pro events. She moonlighted as a bartender at the Kuilima, today known as the Turtle Bay Resort. In her spare time, she rode dirt bikes. In the late 1980s, Shirley gave up surf photography, got a sales job, and moved from the North Shore to Honolulu. Now 72, Rogers lives in Huntington Beach.
In this episode of Soundings, Rogers talks with Jamie Brisick about changes on the North Shore, capturing waves less trodden, surfing's commercialization, her favorite spots to shoot, and tiger tracks in Indonesia. 
Presented by Rainbow® Sandals.
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Become a TSJ member at surfersjournal.com.

Born in 1984, Kai Neville came to surfing at age 11 on the Sunshine Coast, where his dad pushed him into his first waves. He loved it, aspired to be a pro, but soon realized he might be better off behind the camera rather than in front of it.
He got a job at McDonald's, saved up for a High-8 Sony Handycam, and started creating short surf films, which led to a job making promo DVDs for Australia's Surfing Life magazine, and then a gig working with renowned filmmaker Taylor Steele. Under Steele, Neville got a crash course in surf filmmaking when he worked on 2008's Stranger Than Fiction, for which he was a videographer and editor. 
Neville's first major surf film, 2010's Modern Collective, landed with a major splash. Not only did it announce a group of surfers that would define the decade to come—Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, Dion Agius, Yadin Nicol, Mitch Coleborn, Dusty Payne, and Craig Anderson—but it announced Neville's singular vision as the lenspiece of a new generation. 
Then came Lost Atlas in 2011, Dear Suburbia in 2012, and Cluster in 2015—all of them oozing with innovative surfing. The Neville thumbprint is distinctive: He has a love of unbridled aerialists. His musical tastes are broad and experimental. His titles are also as eclectic as his eye. For instance, his shorts: "The Quieter You Are, The More You Can Hear." "Welcome Elsewhere." "No One Knows Me Like the Ocean."
Along with his surf films, Kai is an accomplished commercial director and photographer, working with brands like Corona, Nike, IWC, Schaffhausen, and Shiseido. He also loves print media, and co-founded What Youth with Travis Ferre.
Today, Neville lives with his wife and two boys in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, not far from Byron Bay.
In this episode of Soundings, Neville talks with Jamie Brisick about chasing creativity, learning his trade under Taylor Steele, the magnetism of misfit surfers, the art of titling and soundtracking, his enduring love for print, and the grind behind some of his most iconic films. 
Presented by Rainbow® Sandals.
Produced by Jonathan Shifflett.
Music by PazKa (Aska Matsumiya & Paz Lenchantin).
Become a TSJ member at surfersjournal.com.