Cast your own Shadow with DION AGIUS

Mr Dion Agius…

Dion’s always been a few steps ahead of the pack… I first met him in the early 2000’s… Brades had been talking up this Tassie born, booger transformation for days… But with Brades still a 15 year old frother I chose to judge shit for myself… It was back in the time when air reverses were apart of surfing royalty. Since I had first started shooting the boys, they had collectively nailed only a small bag of spins…

Dion rocked up cruisn’ all smiles blazing, said gday, paddled out and began throwing fins, tail and reverses all about our li’l shorey… He out clipped all the RV kids and came in as happy as he had arrived… Brady’s froth had come through, but it was when we headed back to Monkdog’s that Dion’s creative flare shone through… We had checked the days footage when Brades said… ‘Dion, show us that vid you’ve been working on’… Dion came back with… ‘I hate showing my shit’… We heckled him out enough and he threw the VHS in the player… At this point I had been battlin’ on as a wannabe filmmaker for a year or 2, I had my VX2000 and some wack Pinnacle studio program and honestly thought I was making progress… That was until Dion fed that tape in the player… I cant remeber a great deal but the one thing I do remember was Joel’s part… The clips were bangin’ and the edits were neat and tidy… On Joels first wave his title ‘Joel Parkinson’ appeared as he was bottom turning, as he came off the top and into his carve the spray dissolved the title… The spray dissolved the title, What the fuck!… My ego had been removed in a few seconds… The kid had rocked up thrown punts and spins all about our virgin beachbreak and rubbed salt to the wound with some sweet graphics… I blamed my entry level program for my lack of effects… Truth was I didnt have a clue.

What Dion has done in the last few years has kept him ahead of the pack… We didnt even know what a blog was until we caught word of DionTV… Dion began the Surf Blog revolution, im sure there’s some prick grippin that claim but I dare say it was shit …

Its not just Dions surfing that’s progressive… His whole way of life is… What better character to have cast their Shadow…

Wade chased up Dion during his recent time at home.

RV: Dion you have been out of the water with a busted foot. What have your been doing with yourself?

DA: Yeahhh I snapped my lisfranc tendon last year and I was out for 6 months. I hyper extended it again about 4 months ago in bali again and was out for three months…. I’ve just been cruising at home and the states, trying to get some painting done, a bit of partying and trying to get my fat pasty little rig back into shape….

RV: I remember you killing it on the junior series one year, I think your won 2 contests or something. Do you ever see yourself going back down that path? What are your thoughts on competitive surfing?

DA: yeahhh I used to love competing when I was younger and doing the junior series was too much fun, as soon as I hit the WQS though I was just having too much fun partying and not focusing on the contests and of course I got smoked and I had one big run in with Dan Ross in the Maldives one year when I stopped him from getting a wave in the dying seconds of a heat, I really didnt want to do it but it was a heat so I thought fuck it everyone else does it and he’s probably going to beat me if I let him have it. so I hassled him, he didnt get it, I went in… He is like a friggen 7 foot giant compared to me… He came up to me screaming and I thought he was going to knock me the fuck out. Im sure he wouldn’t have, but after that I just thought fuck this, I cant stand this shit… So yeah, that was basically it…

RV: What music are you pumping at the moment?

DA: At the moment im really into some cruisey stuff, YACHT, james Yuill, memory tapes, the xx, just trying to give me ears a break after raping the hell out of them with electro dance mixes for the last 2 years…

RV: What song do you know every lyric to?

DA: Haha the only song I have ever known every word is ”Wonderwall” by Oasis… Its still one of my favourite songs of all time…

RV: Theres a DJ deck setup in your lounge room… Is that something you would like to get into? Have you played any sets or gigs anywhere? (please excuse my lack of DJ terminology im from Caloundra and I listen to metal)

DA: Hahaha… I have no idea of the correct terminoligy either, it was after Splendor last yeah watching Van She tech absolutley go mad during a set and I really wanted to learn how to do it so I figured id give it a shot. Adam Bennets is pretty much the man at it these days, so he gave me some tips and yeah, never really any gigs but maybe one day… I pretty much suck balls at the moment so I wouldnt want to get up there and get booed off stage or something…

RV: You also have that rad old organ that we found in the op shop for $10. how’s your organ career going?

DA: I actually learnt a few songs on that thing when I was at home bored… So far I got a little Cold Play, a bit of Matt and Kim and some Gary Jules.

RV: You have been doing Dion tv for a few years. Now all of a sudden it seems the whole surfing world is following suit and somewhat copying your idea. what are your thoughts on this? does it piss you off or are you cool with it?

DA: I think it was just a matter of time before everyone figured out that its just another way to get yourself out there and make you more valuable to your sponsors… Blogs have been around long before we started to do it but I think I just somehow stumbled across it a little bit earlier.. I think its cool, I love checking out what other people are up to and it makes me want to try and keep our site fresh and stop doing once a month posts…

RV: Your pretty big in the states. do you think the U.S crew seem more interested in alternative characters like yourself?

DA: Geez I dont know about that, I’ve been lucky to have some USA sponsors since I started and I think that helped alot, they always had me over there for contests and photo trips so I just kinda fell into the scene over there… They seem to have alot of the same NSSA bland kinda guys over there so yeah I think maybe being a little alternate to the masses does help stir up a little interest…

RV: You dont dress like a typical surfer, the surfing world can be pretty narrow minded do you ever cop any shit because of this?

DA: Haha all the time… more so behind my back, i’m sure there is alot of shit being talked on me behind my back. I don’t really give a fuck, its just clothing, and I couldn’t give a shit what anyone else is wearing. I think its just the typical surfdog that writes off tight jeans and whatever because they probably think i’m gay or something.

RV: From what ive seen the girls like your style… How have you been going with the ladies lately?

DA: hahahahaha fuck no!… I’lll tell you right now, being a 5′7 italian hairy midget does not score highly with the ladies… I’ve got nothing right now…

RV: Close your eyes right now… What do you see?

DA: Black. with a bit of white where I just accidentally looked at the light.

RV: Your locked in a room with 5 minutes to live. You have a yoga mat and a rum can. how do you chose to spend your last moments…

DA: In the crouching dog hidden mosquito position and use the yoga matt as a rum-bong.

RV: Who inspires you in surfing?

DA: Taj, Ozzie, Jordy, Dane and yourself, with your crazy no holds barred, suicide attempt aerials.

RV: You’ve always been a creative surfer… Any new airs in the pipeline?

DA: Well its not new but i’ve been enjoying trying kerrupts, but I like when they are real tweaked out, I think it would be really possible to do one but land backwards, almost like a frontside kerrupt rodeo… That’d be sick.

RV: The whole modern collective has kinda taken the world by storm. You guys have formed a team consisting of the most exciting new surfers on earth and are doing trips together and making movies. Its not unlike what snowboarders have been doing for a long time with there films. Tell us a bit about the modern collective.

DA: Yeah im really excited about the whole project and I hope it lives up to the hype! Its kinda scary to see how much it has managed to infiltrate the surfing world, so I hope everyone isn’t let down… Its been really fun doing trips with all the guys, surfing with them all is so fun and definately pushes your surfing and makes you realise the level that its getting to these days. Dane did a rodeo today at straddie and he was over it, Kai was telling me it probably wouldnt even go in… That scared me alot.

RV: Who came up with the concept?

DA: Its Kai’s idea… It was kinda a natural progression from Stranger than Fiction. Kinda like the old ‘Under the Influence’ with everyone under 24. but he just kinda whittled it down to the 6 guys (how i made the cut is still beyond me) and then mixed it with a bit of a Sipping Jetsreams artistic influence and thats what popped out…

RV: Travelling with the triangled freaks of the Modern Collective must push your surfing? What’s it like travelling and surfing with guys like Dane and Jordy?

DA: Yeah its definitely made me realise you cant get by punching out air reverses anymore. I did a trip with Jordy to Lakeys and Bali earlier this year and that was fucked… It was amazing ’cause Jordy is a mad dog and we had a hell time but surfing with him was seriously depressing. He would nail about 5 clips per surf and i’d be pushing it for one. I cant believe how good that guy is, its like a whole ‘nother level.

RV: You have alot of rad art in your flat. what inspires you when attacking a canvas?

DA: Umm sometimes i’ll have a rough idea of what I want to do, but generally half way through it I dont like it and then ill rush out the last half… or just give up and start a new one. Theres a few half finished messes floating around!

RV: Do you have a favourite artist or artists?

DA: At the moment im really enjoying some new collage mixed media type pieces. This guy Lou Beach was a big influece for that little phase, and I have a book called GORE by Black dice that I picked up last year, that has a lot of random amazing collages. Those guys are pretty sweet…

RV: You were one of the first guys paying someone to follow you around and film every surf. How much has it helped your surfing?

DA: Yeah it has been a big help in the way that it makes it so much easier to get footage for movies and what not. But it’s really bad in the way that it can fuck your surfing. You’ll only catch certain waves that have a big section and usually race and try one big thing. It had really stopped me trying to surf a wave from start to finish… Something that im just starting to try and work on again instead of racing every single wave into a big flyaway.

RV: Now that so many people are starting up blogs and having personal filmers trail them around, do you ever look at it all and go… “Shit… I kinda started all this… I’m a 24 year old pioneer.”

DA: Hahahah not at all. Its just natural progression I think. Especially for someone who is a free surfer. The idea of not having a filmer is obsurd to me, I couldnt even imgine how I would be getting anything done if Beren wasnt there to help capture the one air I manage to pull a month.

RV: Are there any blogs or sites out there that your really digging? surfing or otherwise.

DA: Yeah I have a huge list of bookmarks that I check most days. Art, design , photography… fffound.com, yimmysyayo and ‘but does it float’ are always pretty amazing.

RV:  Whats next for Dion? word on the street your moving to Sydney?

DA: Yeahh im off at the end of this month. Ive been on the gold coast close to 10 years now and its well and truly time for a change. I love the city of  Sydney and how much is always going on. Maybe my tight jeans might fit in a bit better amongst the large Sydney gay community as well…

RV: Finally a few words to describe Runamuk Visuals.

DA: Punkrocking mad hounds who dont give a shit and are sickos… Fuck yeah.