Surfing and music have always been intertwined.
asserted
Surfing → intertwine → ?
In the early 2000s, the clearest parallel between surf and song came from a burgeoning subsection of folk- and blues-leaning singer-songwriters, as handy on a goofy foot take-off as a fretboard.
asserted
parallel → come → fretboard
"Ben Harper is a musician first and he loves surfing.
asserted
he → love → surfing
I'm a surfer first and I love playing music," surfer, filmmaker and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson tells Double J's Michael Hing.
"
asserted
Johnson → play → Hing
He brought me out on the first tours, but I was the one who always knew somebody in town that had surfboards and wetsuits if we needed them.
asserted
we → bring → them
"
No-one from that scene travelled further than Johnson, who has sold more than 20 million albums and earned a permanent place on playlists at every cafe you've ever sat in.
asserted
you → travel → cafe
In November, the two of them tour Australia together again, with John Butler, another peer from those early days, on every date.
asserted
two → tour → date
In 2001, Johnson toured Australia for the first time, playing a couple of dates at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival, where Ben Harper was practically royalty, his earlier headline sets still spoken of with reverence.
asserted
sets → tour → reverence
"I got a better spot than I should have on the bill," Johnson says.
asserted
Johnson → get → bill
"Ben asked for a favour, and he got me in there."
asserted
he → ask → me
On the final night he played the slot immediately before Harper.
asserted
he → play → Harper
Tens of thousands crammed into the tent for the headliner.
asserted
thousands → cram → headliner
They left as fans of the unknown support act.
asserted
They → leave → act
He'd soon be filling arenas under his own steam, but Johnson made his gratitude clear at the time.
asserted
gratitude → fill → time
"I was like, 'OK, I've got to pay Ben back for taking me on tour.'
asserted
I → get → tour
So, I called up some friends and was like, 'Bring a bunch of boards down to the beach.'
asserted
I → call → beach
We got everybody in his band out in the water, and it was such a memorable day.
asserted
it → get → water
Ben grew up surfing and skating, so he had a little more experience.
asserted
he → grow → experience
But some of the other guys in the band, it was the first time they'd ever tried.
asserted
they → try → band
"Those are the kind of days, when you look back on touring and a lot of the memories you have, that I almost remember more than the show itself."
asserted
I → look → show
That trip began a 25-year habit: Johnson has played about 100 shows here since.
asserted
Johnson → begin → shows
Adoring crowds help.
asserted
crowds → adore → ?
So does the sun, surf and sand.
asserted
sun → do → ?
"I always feel really at home," he says of Australia.
asserted
he → feel → Australia
It's from growing up in Hawaii.
asserted
It → grow → Hawaii
"Some places, people look at you funny when you're walking around in flip-flops.
asserted
you → look → flops
Everybody else has shoes except for you.
asserted
Everybody → have → you
Then you show up other places and you're totally fine, you feel right at home.
asserted
you → show → home
"
There's a neat symmetry, then, in the two artists touring Australia together again 25 years on and Johnson is still, unmistakably, a fan.
asserted
Johnson → be → Australia
"Ben Harper was somebody I listened to for a couple of years before we ever got a chance to meet, and anytime I get a chance to do a show with Ben, I just fan out again," Johnson says.
asserted
Johnson → listen → Ben
John Butler, another peer from those years, and one of Australia's best-known roots artists, joins every date of the November tour.
asserted
Butler → know → tour
"I remember showing up for a sound check at a show we were doing together," Johnson says of his first encounter with Butler.
asserted
Johnson → remember → Butler
"I hadn't heard his music much.
asserted
I → hear → music
I walked into this venue and heard somebody ripping on the guitar.
asserted
somebody → walk → guitar
I just sat there like, 'Oh, wait, I'm playing with this guy tonight?!
asserted
I → sit → guy
"
"For me, it's not just any normal group of shows," he says.
asserted
he → say → shows
After that first Australian tour, Jack Johnson became a megastar.
asserted
Johnson → become → tour
When he toured his second album On and On in 2003, he headlined arenas on his own terms.
asserted
he → tour → terms
None other than Hollywood A-lister Ben Stiller made the video for that album's song Taylor.
asserted
None → make → song
"To tell this story, I've got to be a little bit of a name-dropper," Johnson says.
asserted
Johnson → tell → dropper
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia