At a time when it sometimes seems that all that is necessary to become a legend is to keep breathing after the age of fifty, it is nice to meet someone to whom the term can genuinely be applied. Jim Banks is the real thing. From a Cronulla grommet to a Top 16 professional, an acclaimed designer and shaper, and the ultimate explorer of the Indonesian Archipelago, there is not much in surfing that he has not experienced. I caught up with him as he passed through Manly on his 'Evening With Jim Banks' tour. 

Swellnet: So Jim give us a run down on your career.
Jim Banks: I started surfing when I was about 12.  My first surfboard delaminated so I also started shaping when I was about 12 and started making surfboards under the house. I started competing when I was about 15 and ended up going on the pro tour when I was about 17. Did the pro tour for four or five years, didn't really like it so I bailed out from my top 16 position. I won a couple of contests, the Bali Om contest in '81 and the Sunset Pro Class Trials in '79. I was quite proud of the Sunset win because I was the first goofy foot to win at Sunset, so that meant a lot to me.

Who were you competing against in those days?
In those days it was Shaun Tomson, Mark Richards, Simon Anderson, Tommy Carroll, that generation, Bugs, Dane Kealoha.

So why did you suddenly turn against it?
At that time a lot of the contests were held in poor surf.  It didn't suit me and I reached a point where I felt like I had to surf a particular way to suit the judges, to get the points and I felt if I did that I was going to lose my surfing.  To me my surfing was more important than winning a contest, so I walked away and basically returned to my passion of going out and searching for waves, finding challenging waves and pitting myself against them.

So where did you go? What did you do?
I first started traveling overseas in '77 when I went to Bali. That was a big eye opener and I spent many years exploring Bali, Indonesia from the 70s onwards. I also went to Hawaii, I think the same year. I also spent a lot of time in Western Australia, exploring Western Australia. In the 80s I went up north into the desert, fell in love with that, spent many years, many seasons, surfing up there. 

Supporting yourself as a shaper?
I was a shaper, had a little surf shop for a while, we'd write a few stories, pay the bills, whatever it took.

So who did you make boards for?
Mainly myself! Ha! I shaped boards for Occy went he first went on the pro tour and I think Tom Carroll has still got one of my boards and he says he still surfs it every now and again. I didn't really do the whole team thing. In my day a lot of the pro surfers shaped their own boards anyway and I was just one of those.

So how long have you been living in Bali?
I have been living in Bali for about 5 years. I reached a point where I was living in Byron and I love Byron Bay, a beautiful place to live but I knew it was time to move on. So I started searching around and ended up back in Bali.

So how has the tour (An Evening With Jim Banks) been going?
The tour has been going quite good. It was a bit challenging because I have been out on the boat the whole season so I wasn't around to organise the marketing, promoting, getting the word out, but the people who have come really seem to enjoy it. I try to give them an as honest as I can insight into some of the experiences and adventures I have had. We have done a lot of exploration the last five years on the boat and I like to share that with people. But it's a tricky one though, because I really don't  want to expose the spots, but I love sharing things with people, so there is this fine line I dance along, of look here are some beautiful waves, but just don't ask me to tell you where they are.

So how was this year's trip, I saw it advertised that you were going all the way from east to west.
Well that's what we do each season. We start down in Rote and through the season slowly make our way along the south west coast of Indonesia all the way to West Sumatra, spending a little bit of time in each area. 90% of the time we surf by ourselves. We like going and finding our own waves and surfing by ourselves. We tend to avoid areas that have surf camps or a lot of boats as much as possible.

....and next year?
I have taken on some partners to help run the business 'cos I'm not a business guy, never was. I like making things, creating things. Creating Indo-Odyssey has been wonderful but running it as a business is not me. So now I've got people coming in to help me. I will still do the trips. I still love getting out on the boat and going looking or surf. So hopefully the business will keep going or many years yet.

What about the music? How long have you been playing?
I started playing music in my mid-twenties, considering how long I have been playing guitar I probably should be a lot better than I am. But I get by, I love music and for me a lot of it is about the quality of the tone, the texture of the sound, that I really enjoy. That's drawn me into making guitars and making guitar amplifiers. It's very much like searching for the perfect surfboard, this never ending quest to make a better sounding guitar or a better sounding amplifier, just like trying to build a better performing surfboard. And I think all three of those things sit somewhere between an addiction and a bad habit. Ha! They're all roads that once I start going down them, there's no turning back...

Do you feel there is a strong relationship between music and surfing?
It's all waves and especially when a song gets going, it's just like a wave. The song picks up and I can feel it, it will lift me, and all of a sudden it will become effortless and I find myself riding along the song just like I'm riding a wave.

You are still obviously surfing some pretty substantial waves. How have you maintained that commitment?
For the waves I surf I should probably be a lot fitter but I don't really like gymnasiums and have an aversion to working out... it seriously bores me to tears. Sometimes it's an issue and considering my fitness, or rather lack of it, that I shouldn't paddle out into some of the surf that I do. But over the years I have learnt a lot about the ocean so I think where I may be lacking in fitness I make up for it with my understanding of the ocean and when things get really crazy and really intense I actually become very calm. It's like this deep sense of peace and calmness just drops in when things get really intense and I think that is what allows me to get out of those intense situations.

(I turned the voice recorder off at this point.....then Jim made a few remarks I thought worth capturing.)

What was that about the surf industry?
I have spent most of my life trying to avoid the surfing industry, I often find that when I deal with it I end up feeling very disillusioned and disappointed so usually I am a lot happier and more content when I avoid it as much as possible...

So you are going to edit "incestuous and narcissistic" out of that comment?
Well the thing is I have a lot of good friends in the surfing industry you know, so I don't want say negative things about them because they are my friends. But as an industry, in general, yes I think it is quite incestuous and narcissistic, for sure and I think it has a lot to answer for. In the quest to have the biggest and best company and the biggest bottom line, there have been a lot of things that have strayed a long way from the real spirit of surfing. //blindboy

Jim will play at Currumbin Surf Club tonight (Thurs 28th). 7pm start, tickets $20 at the door.