Conversations with Jack Medland // RHYTHM

It’s a different world down here in the small coastal town of Yallingup, Western Australia. A far cry from the dormancy of a city in lockdown, where fear and the screeching sound of the seven o’clock news controls the general population. Down here Mother nature rules, she is our master. When you’re surrounded by a million stars and wake to the sound of birds chirping and offshore winds with beautiful glassy swells, you begin to forget that we’re still emerging from a global pandemic. It comes as no surprise that this is where surfer, shaper & Rhythm ambassador Jack Medland chooses to reside…

Jack since you were a young grommy you've been intrigued by surfing culture & the art of shaping. Can you tell us about your relationship with Ross at Soul Board store and how this all started?

 I first started working with Ross when he agreed to show us how to fix dings in return for sweeping the floors at about age 13. I was blown away by the collection of old mals and various memorabilia he had buried in amongst his shop. I was quickly hooked especially after he made me this beautiful 9’1 hybrid log one morning when I turned up for my Saturday morning shift. Ross and the staff there became my ultimate role models and that is how I became so indulged in surf culture and the art of shaping.

The first board you ever shaped...

 A green and yellow thruster reshaped out of an old kite-surf board we found at the tip.  Stripped the glass off and remodelled it.

Why have you decided to base yourself in the small coastal town of Yallingup?

A beautiful coastline with epic waves, great wine and good people.

Jack your surfing style is timeless, elegant & somewhat classy. Who are your biggest influencers? Whether that be jazz musicians or wild west cowboys...

 My biggest influencers in terms of surfing would be the old boys here in Yallingup. They lived and surfed throughout the greatest period of evolution in surfing. I love sitting up on the hill listening to them burn off stories of the good ol’ days.

It's inspiring to see more West Aussies express the multi-dimensional talent that we have oozing from these shorelines. How would you describe the surfing scene from West to East?

 There is so much talent here in WA. That’s one thing I love about it.  From big wave chargers to wipper-snapping groms or the next generation of loggers.

Its such a diverse range of surfers and whether or not they are pro or it’s a hobby, it doesn’t seem to matter to the community because everyone’s just out there having fun.

 You started Moonshine Surfboards in 2019... tell us the story behind that name.

 Still fresh but a long time pal Pete Dwyer and I came up with the name to represent the fact that we are out here makin’ boards in the wild west.

 Where do you see your business heading in the next five years?

 Trying to take each day as it comes but I would like to think of having my own workshop for cars, boards, music and memorabilia. The ultimate den.

Favourite album on vinyl?

 The Legendary Jim Croce

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INTERVIEW, PHOTOS & VIDEO for Rhythm

LIME CORDIALE x Deus Temple of Enthusiasm

At the Deus Temple of Enthusiasm, music is an important part of our philosophy, and we pride ourselves on being able to find great bands and musicians from far and wide, especially for events, such as our Deus 9ft & Single Art, Music, Film & Surf Festival. For us, good music is a must. In fact, at our events, we have one night dedicated to it. Friday night, sandwiched between Film on Thursday and an Art Gallery opening on Saturday is the slot we set out to fill, and we reckon we aced it this year when we managed to persuade Australian band Lime Cordiale to shoehorn another gig, in their already super busy touring schedule. Everyone at the Temple were super stoked. What we didn’t know it at the time but the band were also more than ecstatic to jet over to Bali for the weekend, and boy oh boy, did it go off!

Once the dust had settled from the 9ft weekend, hangovers abated and a normal speed of life slid back into place, I had the opportunity to chat with brothers, Oli & Louis Leimbach, who are the quintessence of Lime Cordiale, delving a little deeper into their charismatic tunes and creative life, both in and out of music. Here’s what they have to say…

// Growing up in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, how did the creative culture surrounding your hometown influence your work?

We started writing songs on acoustic guitars, but our first few gigs were at bars that we’d pack out with everyone we knew. We inevitably moved to electric guitars, cranked up the volume and subconsciously changed the groove to get people dancing. It’s hard to win over a drunk crowd and you can’t be subtle. As the venues changed, our style evolved. But we’ve always written music that we’d want to listen to ourselves… and hopefully our friends too.

// The official music video for the track ‘Temper Temper’ which was released late last year is beautifully kooky & seriously enthralling to watch. What were some of the highlights involved in the production?

In order to achieve that slight stop-motion effect, we filmed everything at 25% and then sped it up x4. It meant that on set we were moving and singing along to a super slow song. And 25% is really really slow. The song was unrecognisable even to us, so even with all the rehearsals we’d get lost and have to do the whole damn slow thing all over again.

// Living, working & gigging around the globe with your bro is pretty special. Have you guys been close since kids?

Like any young brothers, we weren’t too crazy about each other. But we’d go on holiday as a family and be forced to hang out together. It’s meant that we know how to deal with each other. We definitely piss each other off at times but we tend to get over it in a matter of minutes. The major bummer is that we’re always the ones having to share the double bed if we’re touring on a budget… and we are on a budget most of the time. Even though we were pretty different as kids, we’ve ended up liking the same things and sharing the same hobbies, so we have a lot of fun on tour.

// How do you express yourselves creatively outside of music?

Louis is a great visual artist. His recent work with lino-cut has made up a lot of our album covers, merchandise and tour posters. It’s pretty crazy shit and I think he’s the only one that truly knows what his artworks are about. I’ve always enjoyed filmmaking and making the music videos is my outlet. All forms of art-making are time-consuming pursuits so a lot of the time we prefer to rest our minds and go for a surf or a beer instead.

// Louis the linocuts you’ve whipped up for the previous album artworks are stunning. Does Bruce Goold happen to be an influence on your work?

The two of us made a documentary about Bruce with our Dad recently. That’s where we really absorbed ourselves with his work. It was the conversation at every family dinner for over a year. Bruce is an undiscovered genius. He has the ability to tell a detailed story through one artwork and that’s something that is also a big influence on our songwriting too.

// Will we see Lime Cordiale hit the vinyl? I feel like it’s your kind of vibe.

It already has and they’ve sold out! More on their way. They take a while. We must be waiting for candles to burn in the Czech Republic before they can print to wax.

// Grungiest live music bar you’ve had the pleasure of playing at?

We’ve played a set in downtown Las Vegas a few times. We were scheduled to go on at 2am but the whole night was running behind. When a couple of Aussies are expected to stay sober until 3am for their only night in Vegas… it’s not gonna happen. Playing in Canggu for you guys was pretty grungy in its own way. You often get some pretty moody sound engineers at venues but that was never going to happen with a crew of Balinese lads!

This interview was curated for Deus Ex Machina, Temple of Enthusiasm

A Chat with Xavier Rudd // Storm Boy Album

For Xavier Rudd, writing music and living his life are one and the same, releasing his new album Storm Boy this Friday the 25th of May, it's expected to be his best yet. Between surfing, camping and getting back to his roots in the great outdoors, he's harmoniously creating and reverberating the things that are going on around him. Multi-instrumentalist (playing the didgeridoo, guitar, harmonica and aztec drum simultaneously) and respected environmentalist, he's not one to miss. I got to chat with him on the phone this week about Storm Boy.

Your new single Walk Away is powerfully uplifting and evokes some seriously heart-warming emotions. What were you doing when the lyrics came to you?

I first started writing the song when I was driving back across Australia, at that point I was in Western Queensland coming from the Kimberley and had a pretty amazing trip across the country. The idea of it comes from being able to walk away from stuff which we all have to do sometimes in our lives, letting go, and just holding our own and being true to ourselves.

Xavier you’re an incredibly spiritual, down to earth human being. What does spirituality mean to you and is it classed by a religion?

I always find that funny to hear because I don’t really see myself as spiritual. I guess my music comes from my love of the earth, I’ve grown up in the bush and I’m always camping. I’ve spent a lot of time on country, you know with my dog, just surfing, and I think about those things, the things that I love. I love the natural world and I care about the future of it. In a way I feel like my music guides me, it’s ahead of me to a degree.

The ocean for many of us is a way of life, and once you start surfing it’s ridiculously hard to stop. Where’s the best session you’ve ever had?

Aw best surf session, I’ve had too many haha! I recently had some incredible waves in Fiji, just perfect and absolutely pumping, but I’ve had that many good surfs I wouldn’t know where to begin. I have a few favourite surf spots, some of them I’ve sworn not to mention to other surfers but Winkipop and Bells Beach where I grew up- I haven’t surfed it for a long time but it’s home. I had so many memorable surfs there as a kid, you know before and after school, there’d just be these perfect waves…

Australia is such a vast, wild country and you’ve spent many moons under this hot desert sun. Is there still somewhere you’d like to connect to and learn from?

Yeah for sure, there’s tonnes of places I haven’t been in Australia, and everywhere I go has its own vibe and I love it, it’s such an intriguing place and the energy is always shifting. I’ve been fairly extensively through the Kimberley and feel like that’s probably the most powerful place I’ve been to and would love to get back. Tassie too, I’d like to see more of Tassie, it’s definitely a special place.

Your new album Storm Boy is set to be on our speakers at the end of this month. After six years since releasing Spirit Bird you must be pretty euphoric to get back out on the world tour!

Yeah I’m pretty excited, I mean I didn’t stop, I was working on a side project called the United Nations in between and have been pretty busy since. Storm Boy is a special record for me, there’s a lot of songs that are 10 years old in there, so I’m excited to get out and for people to hear it, hopefully they’ll dig it. Definitely keen to get out and play it around the world.

Life on the road is sweet but after a while it may take its toll. How do you find being constantly on the move?

It’s tiring no doubt, I heard from someone I can’t remember who it was, that you get paid to travel not to play music. It can get tiring but I’m really lucky, there’s a lot of great artists in this world, great musicians that are really good and don’t have the opportunity to be doing what I’m doing. I’ve had a great career and the opportunities that I’ve had are always super exciting, it would be be kind of disrespectful to be complaining about that aspect of my life as it’s pretty cool.

Your palpable affinity for the natural world and consciousness towards environmentalism and the rights of indigenous Australians is remarkably respected. What are you hoping to inspire with Storm Boy?

Yeah all of those things that you mentioned are close to my heart. I’m not someone to plan things too much, I’ll let them flow and it will come naturally. If the record is able to connect within those circles and help anyone have a conscious awakening or a need to help the environment in any way then that would be amazing- that would be huge. But as I’ve always done just see how it goes, see how it flows and pretty much I’m just stoked to be doing what I do. If that brings positive change in any way to the environment or on a humanitarian level, to people on their own road, then that’s a massive compliment to me.

Catch Xavier's Storm Boy Tour around Oz:

AUGUST 2–

UC REFECTORY, CANBERRA, ACT

AUGUST 3–

UNI HALL WOLLONGONG, NSW

AUGUST 4–

ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY NSW

AUGUST 5–

CIVIC THEATRE, NEWCASTLE, NSW

AUGUST 10–

NIGHT QUARTER, GOLD COAST, QLD

AUGUST 11–

THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE, QLD

AUGUST 17–

ODEON THEATRE, HOBART, TAS

AUGUST 18–

THEBARTON THEATRE, ADELAIDE, SA

AUGUST 24–

THE FORUM, MELBOURNE, VIC

AUGUST 25–

COSTA HALL, GEELONG, VIC

Tickets on sale from

April 20 

This interview was originally featured on Summersite

Living Passionately // Monsta Surf founder Cam Greenwood

If you haven’t come across Monsta Surf; get amongst it. These guys are existing to change the way that we live by inspiring a passionate way of life, whilst giving back to those not as fortunate. Through following the Monsta journey and its admirable ethos for the past few years; it’s insanely inspiring to see this brand have such a positive impact on individuals and communities throughout the world. This is the story of Monsta, and the man behind the undeniable magic- Chief wizard Cam Greenwood.

Surfer, photographer, writer, speaker, and absolute legend @camgreenwood

1 / To pursue this dream, you dropped out of a Commerce degree at University. What advice/words of wisdom can you give to the younger gen, or anyone for that matter, about pursuing their career path?

Know your why. So many people know what they do. Or what they want to do. But not many people know why they do it. When you have a deep why behind whatever it is you’re pursuing, your what will become so much stronger because you will be walking with purpose. You will also have more determination to overcome the obstacles along the way if you know why you are doing something. At Monsta, we have a very clear focus of the “why” behind what we do. And that is we exist to encourage passionate living. Our business is simply the platform we use to reach people. As I’ve pursued my dreams, I’ve become so fixed on the purpose behind what we do and it’s developed such a strong confidence for this adventure we’re on, from the valleys to the mountain tops.

@josh.hallam frothing in a Filipino pit. PHOTO @camgreenwood

 2 / Your Team released the Live Passionately film late this May (free to watch on Youtube btw!) Can you tell us a bit about the Kickstarter campaign for the production, and a few logistics in making the film happen?

What an amazing adventure that was! Last year, we took some of our ambassadors to the Philippines. We have some really talented crew on our team so we wanted to document the trip. We told the ambassadors they were going on your average surf trip. But what eventuated was not what anyone was expecting at all! We explored the beautiful coastline, climbed volcanoes, surfed some incredible waves but the highlight of the trip was doing water filtration for some of the affected communities of Typhoon Yolanda.

The team didn't know we had this planned and it was super cool to see the profound impact the projects had on not just the communities there but also on our team personally. When we got home from the trip, Jordy Merry was looking through the footage and really believed in the story that was there. He took a massive leap of faith and decided to quit his job in order to produce the film. It definitely wasn't an easy process but we learnt so much along the way. The post production took about 4 months and then we launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund the final touches and raise funds and awareness for the locals affected by Typhoon Yolanda, who have become great friends!

The tribe meeting with the locals to install clean drinking water filters.

 3 / The Story of Monsta Surf - Live Passionately film is beautifully created, humorous and just down right inspiring. What was the main purpose in creating this film? Giving back being a core value for the Monsta brand and your way of life.

Thank you! At the core of everything we do, we wish to inspire people to live passionately in their own lives. Over the past few years, I have blown away by the response we’ve received as I’ve shared this story to schools and organisations across Australia. We recognised that we had a tribe of people around the world who loved what we were about but may not have had the opportunity to hear how Monsta started, why it exists or hear some of our ambassadors stories. So the purpose was to be able to share our story to inspire people to step into their own stories. It really just evolved from there.

En route to climbing a volcano. PHOTO @camgreenwood

 @elliotgray__ @camgreenwood stoked to be alive. PHOTO @seandwyeeer

 4 / Tell us about the Monsta Foundation.

The Monsta Foundation exists to remove the chains that hold people back from living a life of passion and purpose. It was founded in 2012 as I travelled to Kenya. I realised there was so much more to my dreams of creating a surf brand. That I could use this brand to also inspire people and make the world a better place along the way. We do water filtration work in South East Asia and Kenya. We also support our friends in the community of Huruma in Kenya. Next year, we will be expanding our work into local communities in Australia which I’m so excited for!

‘I see a tribe of people who are connected by their passion to live without limits, dream without fear and live passionately in every moment. We are a global family and together we strive for the same vision.’ PHOTO & WORDS @camgreenwood

5 / In 2012 you traveled to Kenya with Go Beyond All Borders; evidently it changed your life and many around you. I hear Monsta has an upcoming Awareness Adventure trip for 12 lucky people back in Kenya, where it all began?

 Yeh we sure do. We actually have 14 people coming with Caz (the legend behind Go Beyond All Borders) and I. We held Skype interviews with people from all over the world who wanted to be a part of the adventure. It was super hard narrowing the team down but I believe we have an incredible bunch of world changers coming with us and I can’t wait to get to know them all over the 2 weeks we will spend in Kenya.

Oceanic dreams. PHOTO @camgreenwood

  Beach bonfires and good vibes. A favourite moment from the Live Passionately film. PHOTO     @camgreewood

6 / In this consumerist society, where companies and brands have a major influence on what we choose to spend our moula on; do you think clothing brands such as Patagonia, OuterKnown and Monsta itself will start to overtake some of the bigger surf labels in the consumer industry, purely because of their positive impact and ethical core values? After all, the products we choose to buy are a reflection of ourselves and the values that we uphold.

I’m dreaming of a revolution in the clothing industry. As we move forward, we wish to be a really positive voice in the manufacturing space and I am constantly learning more about best practices. From the materials we use, to how they are sourced, to how the factories we partner with create a friendly working environment for their employees, we really wish to make the world a better place in everything we do. I like to see the other brands who have a similar ethos to us as our friends. As we disrupt the industry together, I would love to see the bigger brands change and focus on how they can too make the world a better place through their operations. At the end of the day, we’re all responsible for our world and its people. And if companies place less focus on market share and competition and more of a focus on what they’re actually doing and the ‘why’ behind it, I think together we can turn a fairly negatively impacting industry into a powerful force for change.

@brebsy and the crew delivering water filtration systems to a little village in the Phillipines.

 7 / What can we expect to see from chief Cam Greenwood and the Monsta Tribe in the future? Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be rad.

 Wow. So many dreams! I’m dreaming that our tribe will be a powerful voice in the world. I’m dreaming that we will have a world changing influence. I’m dreaming that we will be able to empower people to find freedom from their battles and live a life of passion and purpose, just as we are so blessed to live. I’m dreaming that our spark will blaze trails with love wherever this adventure takes us. And ultimately, I’m dreaming that with what started as one surfboard in a backyard, turns into millions of lives changed throughout the globe, just by simply existing.

Ready to inspire the world. The beginning of the Live Passionately film. PHOTO @seandwyeeer

Watch the full film here; it’s not one to miss.

The Live Passionately film documents the journey of Monsta Surf's 'Live Passionately' movement. The film follows the tribe as they are taken on the adventure of a lifetime to the Philippines. In this 50 minute film, the team head to the Philippines in order to find paradise and search for perfect surf...

Massive thanks to Cam Greenwood for taking the time to answer this interview, and for all that you do. Yew!

www.monstasurf.com