SURFERMAG.COM ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

SURFERMAG.COM: There's a lot of unique and really expressive hand jive in your surfing, and there's a lot to be said for hand movements in dance, hula and even here in Indonesia.

RASTA: So maybe surfing is some kinda dance like that.

SURFERMAG.COM: Have you ever thought that perhaps the wave is the leader of the dance?

RASTA: Definitely. You're always reacting to it. It's the music, it's the music you dance to. You can't get into any kind of dancing groove unless there's a certain beat. Sometimes the beat’s hard and intense and you kinda do that kind of dance to it, and sometimes it's really fluid and long and erotic and whatever, and you kind of do it that way too. That is one aspect of surfing I really enjoy, is that different beat on every wave. Totally different rhythm to try to fit into and being conscious of doing it really creatively, without any kind of brainwashed idea as to what is good and what you meant to do when a wave shapes itself in a certain way. I try to let that maneuver just come out of nowhere and sorta come out of your head…you gotta go up, and go up again, you gotta go straight and do a soul arch, do a cutback or whatever. Neither is good or bad, just there to be enjoyed. It's definitely some kind of dance, for me it's just a spackered-out dance where I just do whatever.

SURFERMAG.COM: How integral is surfing in relation to who you are and how you present yourself? What percentage of surfing and the need to go surfing creates Dave Rastovich?

RASTA: I'd say a hell of a lot of my life incorporates what I experience in surfing. In terms of lessons and attitude and relationships to people and everything. I get so much out of surfing in terms of just being taught, like getting slapped by the wave and letting your ego just get slapped by it. To realize in one moment where you think you're really killing it, you just killed a wave and your ego gets puffed up, you've done a couple amazing turns or whatever, and you're feeling all good and amazing, you pull off the wave and there's just a perfect eight-foot wave just rolling straight over your head. Instantly you’re thrashed back into the moment from your ego and daydreaming to having to deal with being on the reef while a wave rolls over your head. Just being on your board and relaxing, "I have no control over this situation, okay, I have no control," and just relaxing into that. Then from those two things you can take that into daily life, to situations when you have no control, like being in a traffic jam. You might be in a traffic jam and you have no control over it, there's nothing you can do about it and you just have to relax, there's no point in freaking out, getting all strung out; it'll pass. Just like the wave passed over your head and you'll deal with it. Being in that moment right there and dealing with it. You may be on land and you’re in a certain situation where your ego is all puffed up and realizing it's thoughts in your head, it comes and goes, every thought. So surfing is huge in those kind of lessons, in personality, in respect, just life lessons, basically, and also on a daily basis getting in the water and being cleansed. Not necessarily surfing, but just going into the water every day. Getting the opportunity every day to go down to the ocean and just cleanse, just dive in and feel, really feel how that feels before I go in and after when I come out. Just feel how amazing it feels to go in and do that. I'm sure we all know how it feels after being landlocked for a week, only a week, or longer, but generally it's about a week, but just to get down into the ocean. Just to have something wash over you, just wash everything away. So that's a huge part of my life. Huge. Every day and generally first thing in the morning.

SURFERMAG.COM: Have you ever been in a fight in the water?

RASTA: Never in the water. I've seen a lot. I've definitely seen a lot at Burleigh, but no. I think I've thrown one punch my whole life and that was just as a young punk kid, 14. I've never been in that situation really, but when it's kinda going that way, the first thing that always pops into my head is, "What are you defending? What are you defending to get you into this situation?" Nearly a hundred percent it's always your ego thinking, "Oh no, my pride’s been snatched, ooh, ooh," just petty, just crap, worthless, just absolute crap. And that's always a reaction for me, like you get puffed up, you get in some kind of verbal thing, where you’re really trying to defend a point or something and you're thinking, "Okay, what am I trying to defend here?" It's always some kind of mental concept or a picture of yourself as a very intelligent person, or very skilled surfer, or "I live here," that kinda stuff. It's always jealous kind of stuff, so I've never even gotten in that situation in the water. I never will. I think if it does happen it'll be an accident and a good opportunity for me to put that idea into action. And I doubt I'd even throw a punch, I think I'd just go limp. As I was growing up, as a kid, my dad was in violence and stuff because he was in Special Forces and I don’t remember it, but I really feel some even like cellular disgust for violence. I think I must have seen him come home once really beat up or something as a really young kid. I don't remember it, but I really feel it in my cells; whenever I see a fight or hear of a fight, it instantly just repels me and I'll do whatever I can to avoid or stop anything like that happening in my little sphere of reality.

SURFERMAG.COM: Where do you see yourself in five years?

RASTA: Umm…five years. I never give a thought to that. The only time I ever think about it is when people ask this question.

SURFERMAG.COM: You should have a standard response.

RASTA: I know, I don't, I should. I really don't, I dunno. I think I'll be drifting between worlds a lot, I really do. Like more and more in my life now I'm devoting more time to feeling things that I can't see; feeling an energy field around my body and around people without words being spoken or without seeing anything. It's really hard to explain because it's only something that's just kinda started to happen. It really feels to me that I'm becoming more sensitive to stuff that I can't see, which is just like feelings and stuff. And I really feel like if I look more into that, that will become a more prevalent and more consistent thing in my daily life. So every morning -- it's a bit hard on surf trips like this and there's not much space in the boat, and the boat’s moving all the time or whatever, and we're surfing all the time, keeping a daily routine up. Just like a daily routine of clearing my mind, having no thoughts and just feeling. I really feel like it's opening this other world, this other knowing, but not even a knowing, it's just a feeling. It's so hard to describe, I don't even know how to put it into words. But just, umm, it's really like, I really think if I dive into that a lot will happen.

SURFERMAG.COM: A lot of pro surfers, you’re like, "Okay that guy’s gonna be a sales rep." You're not gonna be a sales rep. If Billabong pulls the string, and God forbid they ever do, where is your commercial value?

RASTA: I really have no plan for that period in life, somewhere that's nonexistent right now but will be there, that situation that I'll have to deal with will be in like eight years or something. What will I physically do now to have food in my belly, a roof over my head? Right now I'm making the physical steps for that to be relatively secure. Fortunately I am making enough money now that I am living in a house that I'm trying to pay off like every other mortgaged human being in Australia, and if I stick at this thing for a few more years I might own that and then there's the question of how much money I'm gonna need to survive after the mortgage. So veggie gardens and things like that are something that I'm doing now already. Going and buying food and stuff like that. When I'm at home more, 'cause I won't be traveling like I am now, I'll have more time to devote to that, so I would say that there goes a big chunk of cash for food. Beyond that, there are the luxuries of life and I don't have many. You know, I don't have TV, I don't want a flashy car, I have a car that is running, by then maybe on water. So there goes that. I don’t have all the luxuries that owning a good healthy amount of money usually has, nothing flashy. You know, I've got boards and I can shape a board so I'll shape my own board if I have to. I really don't see myself needing a lot of money. Like that I don't need to work 9-to-5, five days a week. So that's the physical plan anyway, to keep it where it is now, where I really don’t need much. Maybe by then, I'm just starting to buy percussion and drums and things, that has only been in the past few months and that feels really exciting, maybe by then I'll learn enough where I can maybe do some sort of teaching or playing with a group and just having a little bit of pocket money coming in like that. I've got friends that I'm playing with regularly at home and I've only been playing a few months so that's another whole realm to go into. As I said before, I get my real enjoyment out of things I can't buy anyway.