The Drifter Rob Machado

By: Julian Chavez | January 06, 2010 | Film Travel

The world of surfing has very few true icons. With The Drifter, a new film from director Taylor Steele, former Pipeline Master Rob Machado cements his position atop the world of professional surfing. In The Drifter, Machado travels to Indonesia in search of the peace and serenity he missed during his tenure competing on the world surfing tour, but what he eventually discovers is something altogether different and far more profound — really good waves. We caught up with Rob Machado while he was promoting the film and asked him a few questions.

How would you describe the premise behind The Drifter?
I would describe it as not really a typical surf movie, not a documentary, but kind of a morph of the two. It is documenting the months of time I spent in Indonesia going around to different islands looking for surf and meeting people along the way. It is not a documentary, though. We started off the project like a documentary for the first three or four months, but what happened is, I handed my journal over to the guys, and they are, like, “Wow, we are kind of missing a lot of stuff when Rob is out doing his own thing. All of these cool things are happening.” So, we went back and shot some more scenes, recreating the best moments to help make the story more linear.

The Drifter marks the first time a major record company has been involved in a production of a surf film. How did that come to be, and what is Warner Bros. Records role exactly?
The relationship goes back to my relationship with Hurley. Both Bob Hurley and Paul Gomez have a really good relationship with Tom Whalley at Warner. I don’t know how it exactly came to be; it just kind of naturally happened. We asked him to come check out our project, and he was really interested in it and said maybe there was something they could do from their side of the game, as far as music goes.

How would you describe the collaborative process between you and director Taylor Steele?
Taylor and I have worked together since we were 15 years old. I have been in pretty much every surf movie he has ever made, along with little skits. We have traveled around the world together, and we grew up surfing the same spots. It is just really easy, and we have that kind of trust and have that kind of relationship where we can tell each other what we are thinking.

How has your relationship with surfing changed over the last 10 years?
It has been a really good change. The last time I did the tour was in 2000, so transitioning from the tour to more of a free surfer and then obviously moving into The Drifter project — it has been awesome getting away from the tour and being in that rut and doing that whole thing.

What would a 12-year-old Rob Machado think about the 36-year-old Rob Machado?
That’s a good one. He would probably be, like, “That dude has got a lot of hair.” And at the end of the day, he is still surfing, so he would be, “Right on! He is doing what I am doing.”

What are your favorite qualities in a surfer and which living surfer best exemplifies those qualities?
I would say style, first and foremost — how people approach the wave, ride the wave. I think the one guy that I grew up with and who always had that was Tom Curren. He was the guy, kind of mysterious, and his wave-riding ability was impeccable.

What’s the next project on the horizon?
I have been hanging out with Taylor, and the topic of our discussions, now that The Drifter is finished and people are seeing it, is like, “Alright, what now? Where do we go from here?” There are a few things being bounced around, and we haven’t settle on anything yet, but we will definitely be coming up with something.

Bookmarks: Page 1 of 1 pages