Do Ya Dig?
A short note on The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
I had an unlikely introduction to The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
I landed in Kyoto, Japan with Dane Reynolds, his then girlfriend (now wife) Courtney, Yadin Nicol, Conner Coffin, Kolohe Andino and Kai Neville.
We were picked up all bleary-eyed and ragged, loaded into a big van and driven out to the countryside by “the Japanese Tom Curren” Shuji Kasuya. Somewhere around 2 a.m. we arrived at a tiny bed and breakfast, zombie-walked into our rooms and quickly realized not all accommodation in Japan includes beds. We got on the floor and slept.
We woke up disoriented but with that first day of a surf trip enthusiasm. No one knew where we were, where we were going, and we still had a bit of driving to do. We moved slowly because the Typhoon energy we hoped to ride had shifted course and was now forecast to make landfall right on our heads. So while most people checked out of their rooms to evacuate, we checked in, bought fireworks, stocked our rations of Asahis and hit the spa. Uncertainty was high, morale even higher.
Yadin had his laptop out and was watching some documentary called “Dig.” He told us it was about this band with a wild lead singer named Anton Newcombe. That all still holds up today, but I had no idea what an impact, and what a role that band would have on my life from that moment on.
