Q&A: Taylor Steele on Music, Surf Films, and His Upcoming Sessions Festival in Encinitas

Few surf filmmakers have shaped surf culture more than Taylor Steele. From his early days editing to the beat of punk rock in Focus to the more atmospheric sounds of Sipping Jetstreams, Steele’s films introduced new music to an audience that was eager for something raw. He hit the mark, again and again, resonating not just with surfers, but an entire generation.

He’s like a master sommelier when it comes to pairing surfing with music. A master who knows how to recognize an audio-visual combination that, if done right, becomes unforgettable. This September, he’ll be hosting another iteration of the Sessions Surf Festival

The festival kicks off September 12-13 with a live-music and surf contest weekend at Seaside Beach in Encinitas, the backdrop to many of his first films. The headlines are Unwritten Law, whose songs have appeared in his films going back to Focus, and Osees, whose sound powered the iconic South America section of Psychic Migrations. Tickets are available here.

We caught up with him ahead of the festival to talk about the music behind his work, how his process has changed over the years, and what he’s hoping to create at Seaside.

When you first started making films, what was your process like for selecting music? 

“Honestly, it was less of a process than people imagine. I was 18. Punk rock was what I listened to, and more importantly it was music I could actually get. I wasn’t licensing anything — I was calling bands who were friends of friends and who thought it was cool their song might end up in a surf video.

But once I had the songs, I was pretty obsessive. It was all about the performance. I’d edit each wave to the drum cymbal — there’s a tempo in the cymbal where if you land the spray coming off a top turn right on it, the turn suddenly hits so much harder than it did on its own. That was the whole formula. Music was there to make the surfing feel bigger.

The other thing was that in the ’90s the surfers and the bands were both into the movies. It wasn’t a transaction. Everyone was the same age, everyone was broke, everyone wanted the same thing. And the tempo of punk just meshed with the tempo of surfing that was happening at the time.”

As your audience grew, did it become harder to pick the right track, or did you feel like you better understood what made for a good pairing?

“I’m not sure the audience growing ever really factored into it. What changed was the feeling I was chasing. Early on, music was there to get you amped. I wanted you to watch a section and go straight to the beach and be frothing to surf. That’s a specific job, and punk did it perfectly. The tempo of it just meshed with the tempo of surfing.

Then as my life changed and what I was surrounded by changed, my perspective changed. I wanted to show the world as something beautiful, romantic, and inspiring — in large part because my girls were young at the time and that’s what I wanted to hand them. Once that’s the goal, the music has a completely different job. It’s not driving specific turns or moments; it’s carrying the tone of a place and the feeling of a trip.

That’s a harder brief, but not because there’s more pressure on it. It’s harder because a song that makes you want to go surf is easy to recognize the second you hear it, and a song that captures what a month somewhere actually felt like isn’t something you find by shopping for tracks. By Castles we were solving it by recording a lot of it on location, having the surfers play and pulling in local music. That got us somewhere a playlist never would have.”

For both your films and others, what are some of your favorite soundtracks and parts from over the years?

“That’s a hard question. There have been so many iconic sections and soundtrack pairings over the years — that’s honestly one of my favorite parts of bringing a film together.

When I was a kid I’d watch the same films and the same sections over and over, and those songs just get ingrained in your brain. I think that happens for a lot of surfers. You hear a song years later and it’s tied to your favorite section, and it brings back a piece of what we all love about being out there. That’s a strange kind of power for a piece of music to have, and it’s not something you can plan for when you’re making the thing.

That’s what we’re trying to create with Sessions this year. We’ve got Unwritten Law, who’ve been part of so many sections in my films going back to Focus, playing live at Seaside — which is where I started shooting. And the South America section in Psychic Migrations with Burch, Ozzie, and Nate Tyler is up there with the best-paired sections of all time, so having Osees headline feels right. They’re also one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.”

For tickets and more information on the Sessions Surf Festival click here.

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