Looking Sideways
I was never into podcasts until Paul Evans, he of Surf Europe and now Wavelength editorship, tuned me into a classic one about 1970s football, I loved it because my home side, Ipswich Town, were, unlike now, very good in the '70s, and I could chuckle aloud to tales of drinking and smoking at half time whilst doing more mundane tasks.
I have dabbled in many other areas of podcasting, I enjoy Paul himself on Not The Length, David Lee Scales over at Surf Splender is most excellent, especially on the bi-monthly The Grit cast with Chas off of Beachgrit, there are a few others I dip a toe into now and again as well.
I always think that a good podcast in a niche, put together and compared by someone with in-depth knowledge across an industry is one of the joys of the internet. Never before have we been able to access so much interesting content, and in the world of surf/snow/skate action for want of a better grouping Matt Barr is that man. He comes from the world of snow, a top snowboarder, journalist, editor and now director of one of the biggest action sports and outdoor brand communication agencies, ACM, he is incredibly knowledgable and well connected and more importantly very curious about the people who make surf/snow/skate/bike and the outdoor world in general tick. His looking sideways podcast is up to an excellent 155 episodes, which includes three classics bantering with his best mate and TSP subscriber Ed Leigh. The beauty is he embraces all levels of our world, from high profile like Mick Fanning or Travis Rice, to the people who grind a life in their sport like Carve Mag owner and editor Steve England. It's a fascinating mix of people, and really shows the diversity of life in our niche of human kind.
As we always say though, digital is awesome, but will it stand the test of time when it comes to documenting all of our brief moments in our world. That's the reason we love print, we can fix moments in time which are not going to die when the operating system they are stored on becomes obsolete. Thus it is with great excitement that Matt and his partner in crime, and excellent photographer Owen Tozer have self publisher their first book.
It is a beauty as well, was shot on their marathon interviewing trip to California and includes absolute icons of our world like Herbie Fletcher, Taylor Knox, Jamie Brisick, Greg Long, Cori Schumacher, Craig Peterson and Kevin Naughton and Jamie Thomas to mention just a couple. It is beautifully curated, shot and simply a perfect addition to anyones book shelf, to dip into now and then, or veraciously consume as I have just done.
If you'd like a copy go HERE
If you haven't listened to the podcast get stuck in HERE
