Dane Gudauskas is on the move. Always. We were lucky enough to sit him down for 5 minutes to talk about his new surf flick, Blue Intensity. It’s an epic, modern throwback to the oldies. Directed and scored by George Trimm, it a modern day classic, kind of like Dane himself.

What Youth: So Dane, where did the name “Blue Intensity” come from?
Dane: “Blue Intensity” is a Sun Ra song. Sun Ra is this psychedelic jazz master, freestyle guy who
believed in outer space and flying through it at rapid speeds connecting people and aliens. And I
like that because I feel like surfing is too limited and everything is just too one-dimensional
when it can be infinitive. The feeling you get from surfing is infinitive. You get that feeling in
space and that’s why I was inspired to translate that essence into surfing.

How did George Trim come into the picture?
George is the man. He’s an editor and filmer. He made an epic movie called “The Forbidden
Trim.”

The war movie?
Yeah! You’ve seen that one?

Hell yeah.
He’s just creative and he makes all his own stuff and he has a cool different style. It’s fresh you
know. I saw this video he made with Joel (Tudor) called “Bootleg.” And I was like man I want to
work with George. He has the same open mind that I was feeling. And we got together a few
years ago and made this edit called “Outer Space.” It was super fun. This one was the next
evolution and I ended up talking with George and he’s super into music. So, we said let’s make
an edit for this thing and play it live. It was fun.

Where was this project filmed?
This one was all Tahiti and Cloudbreak. It was about 4 or 5 years of swell.

What’s your creative process when it comes to building an edit?
I just get super stoked on surfing and then you just get into the (editing) bay and you just try to
translate the same feeling into what you get in the water.

How do you get those psychedelic vibes going in the editing bay?
Surround yourself with like-minded people that are open. Just say there’s no bad idea and I
think working with Vans is cool too. They got behind it and said “hey go for it. Get unique, get
different and just explore the space.”

Do you think that’s what surfing is missing? That people need to take more risks?
I just think surfing isn’t supposed to be limited to anything. You can do one thing really well but
be open to it all. It can be transformative for so many people and it’s not just about it coming
down to you making a big air 360 or winning a heat. Really the feeling of surfing is just standing
up on a surfboard on a wave.
Who’s your favorite person to watch riding a wave these days?
Tanner is pretty sick, my brother you know. He surfs how I wish I could surf. Other than that,
everyone.

Who influences you outside of surfing?
I like jazz. I like jazz a lot because it’s just weird and foreign. I just dig on the improvisational
factor of it. Which is cool.
What album would a beginning jazz listener pick up?
I gotta go with anything from Gerry Mulligan.

What’s your dream shoe design from Vans?
Just purple velvet slip-ons.

Would they be comfortable?
Have you worn velvet? Of course, it is! (Laughs)