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Editorial

STATIC

STATIC – CONTENT & PUBLICITY – DEMI TAYLOR

STATIC: ORIGINAL SURF SOUNDTRACKS

> CONTENT & PUBLICITY <

CJ Mirra takes surf soundtracks to a dark but ecstatic place.

Whalebone Magazine

THE IDEA

To devise & manage content and publicity campaign to support the album release of ‘STATIC’ from composer / musician CJ Mirra within the surf market.

Record Label: The state51 Conspiracy

THE RESULT

Featured in key UK and International surf media including: Backwash, Blue, Finisterre, Huck, London Surf / Film Festival, MagicSeaweed, Surf Girl, Surf Simply, Wavelength, Whalebone Magazine.

THE APPROACH

Award winning composer, sound designer and musician CJ Mirra has scored numerous films that have screened at festivals world-wide from London to SXSW. His collaboration with visionary surf filmmaker Chris McClean has resulted in more than 20 celebrated short films as well as the award winning Live A/V show ‘Chasing Zero’, establishing CJ Mirra as ‘the sound of cold water surfing’.

‘STATIC – Original Surf Soundtracks Vol.1’ features 8 tracks originally composed for one of a number of award winning surf films scored by CJ Mirra. Following an in depth interview with CJ Mirra, Demi devised a comprehensive content, publicity and marketing campaign leveraging the artist’s standing within the surf community. She managed the story via social media take-overs, in-depth features, interviews and targeted news pieces focussed on the musician and the album.

Dreamy & evocative

Huck Magazine
KEY COVERAGE OVERVIEW

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MORPHEUS MALIBU

MIKI DORA – EDITORIAL – CHRIS NELSON

MORPHEUS MALIBU

MIKI DORA – DA CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF

Dora was Da Cat, a name awarded for his grace and style on the water. But the moniker was more apt than anyone new at the time. Dora was a loner, sometimes friendly, often charming and always unpredictable.

Chris Nelson on Miki Dora

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to write a series of insightful features on surfing’s greatest cultural icons.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson, the four page features ran as a series across seven issues of Adrenalin Magazine accompanied by original artwork by Paul Willoughby.

Featured surfers included Miki Dora, Tom Blake, Mark Richards, Michael Peterson, Kelly Slater, Tom Curren and George Greenough.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by Adrenalin to write a series of features exploring the lives and impact of iconic surfers and their influence on the wider surf culture. Drawing on his wide surf knowledge, Chris brought to life these surfers tales through a series of deep dive, four page essays exploring the social, historical and cultural contexts with a distinctive, stylised narrative.

HAWAIIAN AT HEART

TOM BLAKE

Tom Blake paddles, feels the momentum shift then pops to his feet, trimming his ten-foot redwood board out on the face. The significance of this moment isn’t immediately clear, but the envelope has been pushed, the boundaries have changed and a new era is coming. Surfing has a new outpost, and its name is Malibu.

Chris Nelson on Tom Blake
George Greenough's Quantum Theory Wave Mechanics exploration of a surfing icon by Chris Nelson

THE INNERMOST – GEORGE GREENOUGH’S QUANTUM THEORY WAVE MECHANICS
The Wounded Seagull // Mark Richards: Progression in the Form of an Extra Skeg exploration of a surfing icon by Chris Nelson

THE WOUNDED SEAGULL – MARK RICHARDS AND PROGRESSION IN THE FORM OF AN EXTRA SKEG
Morpheus Malibu - The Story of surf Icon Micki Dora for Huck Magazine by Chris Nelson

Miki Dora – Da Cat that walked by himself (an excerpt)

The first thing I notice is the wave of nausea. Peripheral vision bleaches from total blackness through a spectrum of pain until a piercing harsh white fills my field of view. As my brain is slowly becoming accustomed to the blinding light, a beaver-skin hat enters stage left and blocks out the sun, allowing me to focus on the face peering down at me. The huge fur hat is balanced by the grey beard. Tanned, aged skin is wrinkled in the glare, his young eyes are edged with concern. “You OK?” he says kneeling. “Missed my fucking landing,” I reply, propping myself up on my elbows. Dora unclips. “Take your time,” he says. In the three days we’d been in the Alps, there had been a lot of silences, comfortable and uncomfortable, interspersed by a collage of stories and thoughts. He sits down in the snow. “You know I like golf? They got me a round with Kelly Slater. Afterwards he gave me a brand new set of Callaways. When they’d gone, I threw them in the lake.” Another enigmatic story tossed into the staggeringly beautiful Alpine valley below. A challenge – interpret it as you will. If you get it, good. If you don’t, I don’t give a damn.

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QUIET REVOLUTION

QUIET REVOLUTION – EDITORIAL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

QUIET REVOLUTION
ON THE NORTHERN ISLE

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The officer snaps his pad closed and turns on his heel, kicking sand off his immaculate leather shoes as he heads back towards his car. “I’m coming back again tomorrow,” shouts the neoprene clad figure as the officer starts the engine of the Nissan Cedric patrol car.

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson took a deep dive into the previously unheralded and unknown surf culture of Hokkaido, Japan.

THE RESULT

Written by Chris Nelson, the article was a 9 page feature Huck Magazine’s Counter Culture Issue. hotography by Richie Hopson.

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by leading lifestyle publication Huck to write a feature for their Counter Culture Issue. Travelling to Hokkaido in Japan, Chris drew on contacts and friends to find and spend time with the very first local surfers, hearing tales of how these pioneers first took to the icy waters. Facing hostility from the police and, in order to increase numbers, they recruited new surfers from the local motorcycle gangs. Chris took time to establish contact and build trust, tapping into local knowledge and sourcing incredible archive imagery. The resulting 9 page feature in Huck Magazine weaves together interviews and anecdotes as well as personal insights bringing to life the previously untold story of this unique scene.

Chris Nelson explores the surf culture of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture for Huck Magazine

“Winter sees the whole island transformed into an almost featureless amalgam of monochrome hues as deathly winds slice in from the Siberian plains with the clinical sharpness of a Samurai’s cold Katana blade.”

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QUIET REVOLUTION

Every time Noboru and his crew would come across a motorbike gang they would corner the boss and sell the stoke of surfing to them with an evangelical zeal that would shame a New York ad agency. “It was a bit scary, having to talk to these gang bosses,” says Noboru. “Not all the bikers could swim, but one of them tried surfing and said to all the others, ‘Surfing’s cool!’ so then others tried it, you know. Until that time there was nothing to do around the costal towns like Muroran or Tomakomai, and people didn’t like bikers, but bikers started surfing, surfing is better really, so you could say we were a movement for good.”    

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FREEZE FRAME

SURFING NOVA SCOTIA – TRAVEL FEATURE – CHRIS NELSON

FREEZE FRAME:
SURFING NOVA SCOTIA

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Lance Moore has represented Canada three times at the World Surfing Games. ‘First time in 1992, we were like the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team. I learnt a lot,’ he says. ‘Now I can hold my own with anyone if the waves are good.’

THE IDEA

Chris Nelson was commissioned to write a a main travel feature exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada.

THE RESULT

Chris Nelson wove together interviews and anecdotes to produce a cover feature for the Independent Travel supplement. Photography Richie Hopson.

Supported by Destination Canada

THE APPROACH

Chris was commissioned by The Independent to write an article exploring an ‘off the beaten track’ surf destination. Chris travelled to Nova Scotia accompanied by photographer Richie Hopson, to spend time with the local surf community, hearing tales of pioneers and adventurers, stories of exploration and adversity. Chris’s contacts and reputation allowed an unrivalled access the scene. Combining personal insights and interviews, the resulting piece ‘Freeze Frame’ was the cover feature for the weekend travel supplement. The trip was kindly supported by Destination Canada.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent

It is still dark as I struggle into my damp wetsuit. My toes are beginning to numb as I stamp my feet and breathe a warm, ghostly mist onto my pink fingers. The new block of malleable cold-water wax I’ve brought from Cornwall has protested at the drop in temperature by turning into something that resembles a lump of diamond-hard, coconut-scented flint.

Surfing Nova Scotia, travel feature by Chris Nelson exploring the surf potential of Nova Scotia, Canada for The Independent. Photography Richie Hopson
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FREEZE FRAME

As surfers, our quest is always for the perfect wave, but the fine print has always included a warm-water clause. Over the decades we’ve scoured the Equator looking for the ultimate ride; risked leaky ferries off Bali, malaria-riddled jungles in Java, shark-infested waters off Mozambique and civil wars from Nicaragua to Sri Lanka.

They have been surfing in this Canadian province since Saturday 7 July 1962. “The amazing thing about our surf history is that we can trace it back to the very first day a Nova Scotian paddled out on a surfboard,” says first-generation surfer Jim Leadbetter. “Rod Landymore and his brother had a father who was in charge of the Eastern Fleet. An American admiral came to visit and brought them two surfboards. They caught their first waves that very day.”

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BODYSURFING & BEING

THE ART OF BODY SURFING – BRAND EDITORIAL – DEMI TAYLOR

LIGHTNESS OF BEING

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The wave crests, and I’m cast into shadow, a moment’s pause, an inhalation then, kick, kick, kick, reach, go. Holding my breath, just for a second I’m suspended in time and face, then unleashed, racing down the line, left arm outstretched, body taught as the wave chases me down.

THE IDEA

Demi Taylor was commissioned to explore the art of bodysurfing in a seasonal feature for outdoors brand Finisterre to support S/S swimwear line launch.

THE RESULT

Written by Demi Taylor the article features on the Finisterre website.

Supported by imagery sourced by Demi Taylor.

THE APPROACH

Demi was commissioned to write content copy for Finisterre to support S/S swimwear line launch. The resulting feature drew on Demi’s personal experience as a bodysurfer. Supported with interviews and anecdotes from both the world’s best bodysurfers as well as Finisterre brand ambassadors she tied the copy back to the brand.

Demi Taylor content copy for Finisterre to support S/S swimwear line launch.The art of bodysurfing.

The Lightness of Being (an excerpt)

I first met Mark Cunningham in Ireland in 2001. Bundoran was playing host to the World Masters Surfing Contest and a who’s who of icons were in town to compete. There were the two Tom’s – Carroll and Curren – Rabbit, Kanga, Kong, The Sultan of Speed and The Wounded Seagull, and Simon Anderson riding his game-changing Thruster. And then there was Mark – lifeguard from Ehukai Beach Park, running water safety. We spent a lay day in the infamous Bridge Bar, trading tales and talking surfing.

With broad shoulders and a broader smile, he talked in yet broader brush stokes about 25 years spent guarding on the North Shore – nonchalant, sincere, humble. It was only after Mark left that one of the assembled legends leant over and explained to me, with a certain reverence, that I’d just been in the company of the godfather of modern bodysurfing. Mark was a man who dominated at Pipeline for some 20 years scooping every title going, setting the template in the style stakes. Quietly committed. And that was my first lesson in bodysurfing – that there’s no room and no need for ego. It’s a lesson that’s doled out whenever I swim out: body surfers are not at the top of the pecking order, and that’s OK.

LIGHTNESS OF BEING
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