Captain Kai

Kai Linder is the kind of guy you want to call Captain. And people do. He doesn’t sail, or play soccer, but he’s the Captain type; big, with a commanding beard and a deep resonant voice. When you speak to him on the phone, it sounds like you’re talking to a successful middle-aged English academic, who was sipping a fine whiskey and smoking a polished pipe in the comfort of his favorite reading chair just before you called.

Of course the real Kai is quite different. He is a surfer. I called the Captain in for an interview. 

Chris Mason: Kai, tell us what you have been up to in the last few months, rumour has it you have been doing some acting?
Kai Linder: Haha, ya, I was one of the supporting cast on Blue Crush 2, but I might call it more of a glorified extra. It was a very cool experience and I had Roosta and Twig to keep me entertained even when we were heavy into “Hurry up and wait” land. I got to hang on the South Coast during early winter and Jbay for the Billabong, while getting paid, so was pretty enjoyable. Outside of the movie I have been getting theGoodLife off of the ground, by filming as much world class, but local, surf, skate, snow and BMX footage.

CM: When can we expect to see Blue Crush 2 in SA?
KL: By all accounts the movie will be released for the American summer, so probably June 2011.

CM: So what's the deal with theGoodLife, (how long have you been shooting and what's it about)?
KL: I started filming surfing about 12 years ago, more as a hobby than anything else. I was always passionate about film, and about 3 years ago decided to make it my work. Having been involved in snowboarding, surfing and skating in SA, I kinda organically slipped into filming these and now film most of the Extreme Sports. Through working in the industry, I noticed that many of the people passionate about these lifestyles were not getting the exposure they deserved. I wanted to make a platform for the riders, musicians and media people that live and work in the extreme sports market to promote themselves and the lifestyles that go with the sports. That's what theGoodLife is, our commitment to an exciting, outdoor and healthy lifestyle - with a bit of rock star and party thrown in for balance! The website will launch next year and there are a couple of very exciting TV and Film projects in the pipeline.

CM: How long have you been in to videography?
KL: Casually for about 15 years, professionally for three. I started learning the trade through doing events based and corporate video. This year I was part of a 3 man team that conceptualised and produced the reality TV show, Way of the Warrior, on M-Net Action Channel, I had Blue Crush 2, which taught me a hell of a lot about film and of course we are starting to make theGoodLife show, which will air on Supersport for now.

CM: You have submitted a few things to Wavescape.co.za, what was your favourite?
KL: That’s a tough call, my most recent surf film, Slab Hunters, which shows Twig, Shaun and Dave charging the mutant slab up the West Coast was pretty insane, but one of my first web videos, with Roosta charging a secret East Coast tube really pulls at my vote. He surfs one 6 hour session and the amount of crazy tubes he gets is just insane. It was also the first time I did an edit, that it just came together so naturally, I finally believed I could do it.

(See Roosta get shacked off his noggin in that video here)

You’ll find the Captain and crew on Llandudno beach this Sunday, re-living some old memories from when surfing was done in neon colours and three fins were rare. It’s Rolling Retro, with RVCA and Vudu Surf, and it’s all about the old school. For more info visit Kai’s blog and to check out his newest project theGoodLife go to http://vimeo.com/channels/goodlife