Watch: Torren Martyn // Downtown Strut
"Woah, I think there's waves right around the top."
Thus begins one of the great surf sections in Calypte - the Torren Martyn/needessentials film from from earlier this year.
Not the best surf section, at least for my money, that happens a touch later at a shorter, bowlier right, but this passage sets the pace.
Alone at a long right - check 2:04 to see just how long - Torren manages all manner of tube positions, from the bog standard stance, to his classic heel squat, and the more avant-garde frontside layback. The whole scene set off by the music of Ali, a three-piece band from Jakarta who deal in Afrobeat with a mid-eastern twist. You can purchase tracks on Ali's Bandcamp or listen on needessentials' Spotify channel.
The following is a short Q&A with Torren produced by needessentials:
What made that day stand out as the best surf of the Calypte voyage?
Before the trip, I remember so clearly thinking how amazing it would be to just have one really memorable session with our little home bobbing away in the channel and how it would just be a dream come true. That was certainly the day, I couldn’t believe what was happening around me, the unridden perfect waves that were coming through and the fact we’d just landed ourselves in the right place at the right time, it was such a miracle.
Tell us about just how perfect those waves were.
Yeah, no words really; it was mind boggling. I was pinching myself.
What did you do afterwards to celebrate or reflect on the experience?
We sailed a couple of hours back to a safe anchorage, dropped the anchor and cracked a beer or maybe it was beer then sail then anchor then beer. We ate, cheers’d and slept well that night.
Ishka did an incredible job filming the day in what looked like challenging conditions.
He really did! The morning started off very stormy and unruly. I hadn’t seen that wave before nor did I know the reefs around it.
At the first couple of signs of surfable waves that steamed down the reef we had a look for a keyhole to drop Ishka to the beach and by the time we’d found a relatively safe little spot the ocean had cleaned itself up and I was in shambles to get out there and test the waters.
Did that day influence the rest of your voyage in any way or your approach to surfing in general?
I remember that day as one of the best days of my life. It really fuelled my curiosity of surfing and searching for waves. I’m not sure if it was a blessing or curse to be honest.
The soundtrack song to this section is really catchy.
Yeah I love that track, it's just so funky! The band Ali are from Jakarta, Indonesia, and the track is called 'Downtown Strut'. I’m grateful that needessentials invested in such an epic range of music for the Calypte film.
How is fatherhood and do you have any future adventures planned?
Fatherhood has been the greatest adventure yet - it's a trip! As for future films and adventures, I don’t know if anything will compare to the whole Calypte experience but Ishka and I are planning a wild little sailing trip early next year, this time on a much smaller vessel.
Comments
caught this when it was touring on the NB and some fella gave a short spiel before it started and i'm sure it was in relation to this wave - he said something like "this wave is way heavier than it looks on camera, it's unbelievable how much Torren's surfing masks just how gnarly it is"
Man, he has life wired.
Thanks for the heads up on the tunes, awesome!
Theres a heavy peak slab around the corner form my place on the exposed wild side of this coast I live in saffa land, that only starts working at 6 to 8 ft (west oz scale). Torryn showed up one day with a mini entourage (not sure how he found out about it) but was cool as in the water and very impressive to watch him take off on these heaving peaks. Made it look easy, and it's most definitely not. As for this wave in the clip...inspiring to know theres still waves of power and quality out there without humans around. Not sure what it's like now though, but worth having a dig and exploration again.
In 2008 I searched online and bought detailed nautical charts of the Philippines coastline identified some potential areas to check and found quality reefs. I know I could go back anytime between Nov and March and score overhead barrels to myself and stay with local family I befriended there in 2008. But Indo still has the size and power I crave. Would love to explore more there, find some empty perfection, before I get too old (I'm 47) and the surf resorts and Charters wreck the joint.
You in Durban, Mishad?
Very nice surfing and there is a pleasing purity to the white, stickerless surfboard.
No words. Just ....none whatsoever
As a long time funk fan I am definitely keen to see more of this kind of music in surf flicks. I think it deserves a place amongst the pantheon of great surf flick music genres. My other favourites are country soul folk / rock, and Aussie rock. The needessentials flicks obviously have fantastic tunes.
hamishbro, totally agree. surf clips are great with no music but if you're going to set it to music the type/style is so important, it can make it or break it. JJ Florence or his team get it right musically. Lots of videographers spend a lot of time with the visuals then tack on tunes as an after thought, spend time researching the music and reap the benefits.
I was having a chat to Torren in the line up during a session on a remote island after he had sailed in on his yacht. He asked if I knew of any other good breaks in the area. I said yeah, ...but I should probably keep my mouth shut. In a cunningly charming way he convinced me to divulge the information, offering to make an exchange concerning other little known gems he had on a secret file in his head.
I told him of an epic right-hander, a very fickle set up that I had only heard about and seen some discretely displayed images, but never had the opportunity to surf. When I described the wave as being long and heavy with the only path to safety through the tube, his eyes lit up!
I guess only Torren knows if that epic session came about through the conversation we had in the water.
It may well be some other destination that no one knows about.
I do know that he never reciprocated with information as agreed.... smiling, likeable, crafty human!