Kyle Albers gliding on his trusty Mega Fish at San Onofre.
Mega Beginnings
Some years ago, when perusing the experimental quiver at Daydream Surf Shop, surfer and filmmaker Nico Ramos came across a board that caught his eye. A swallow-tailed twin fin standing at 8’ feet tall with the words “Deepest Reaches” emblazoned on the bottom. This wasn’t an average board but, then again, Kyle Albers isn’t your average shaper, Nico had just come across his “Mega Fish” model and she was speaking to him.
He took it out for a demo and was hooked, “cruisey and fast” and “paddles so well while still being able to shred and do sick turns”, what’s not to love?
As time went on Nico and Kyle started to circle closer to one another and were eventually introduced by mutual friends. Turned out that they lived close to one another and had both attended Northwood High School, only at different times. Once they met, surf missions to San Onofre became a regular part of their friendship.
As far as surf spots go, Kyle admits, “Old Man’s is my go-to spot and the Mega Fish is what I ride 90% of the time, the two go hand in hand because you need a lot of glide to connect the wave and make the most of each ride.”
Nico confirms, “the Mega Fish is definitely a great daily driver, I ride mine all the time.”
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Soul Rhythms
Over the years Deepest Reaches has grown in popularity and the Mega Fish is certainly the most sought after model, when we here at SurfBored learned that Nico and Kyle had been stacking clips and working together to create a film, it was a no-brainer for us to get involved and help produce the film.
Alan C., co-founder of SurfBored, said, “We are all about working with independent shapers like Kyle, it’s been exciting to see Deepest Reaches grow and we are always getting requests for his boards. The Mega Fish is definitely in demand. Supporting Nico and Kyle in this project felt like a great way to help get the word out and show people that these boards are serious fun.”
I was lucky enough to get a sneak-peek of the film a few weeks ago and then sat down with Nico to learn more about the making of the film.
CD: Nico, good work man, the film is brilliant. I was stoked to see the teaser and must say that the Soul Rhythms really delivered.
NR: Thanks man, I tried not to give too much away in the teaser and am really happy with how it turned out. Most of my projects have been closer to 3 or 4 minutes but this one came in closer to 10 so it was a cool experience for me.
CD: Tell me about the soundtrack, how’d you land on that?
NR: Kyle actually chose the music. I had a vision of the edit in my head but I wanted Kyle to pick the sound, that way it felt like he got to choose the shape–through the sound–of the video. It’s actually just one track too but it has multiple sections so it feels like it’s more than one song.
CD: Oh wow, yeah I thought it was at least two tracks. That’s rad, it’s quite psychedelic.
NR: Yeah for sure, I’m stoked on it. My original cut was about 4 minutes long but when Kyle came through with this song it became a cool challenge to match it all up.
CD: How long did you guys work on this?
NR: Well, we filmed for about 2.5 years but a majority of the shots came from 2 winters.
CD: You guys got some epic days. When I watched some of the waves I was asking myself, "where the f* was I"?
NR: (laughs) yeah there were some really memorable moments from those days when the road to San O was closed and the swell was pumping. We hoofed it in and it was special man, not many people out. You could even say it was ‘lokes only’.
When the road to SanO was closed, the boys were still scoring.
CD: I can definitely see that, it’s crazy how when you add little bit more time and effort to the mission, it keeps so many people away from the spot. Good on you both, Any closing thoughts you want to share?
NR: Thanks. Yeah, and that’s that I always make my films for bigger screens…like laptop at least. The way I crop some shots don’t look that great on the phone screen because I’m thinking of a bigger picture. So, if you can, watch it on a laptop or, better yet, stream it on your TV or projector to get the full feel.
CD: Amen to that.
Shots like this make Soul Rhythms best viewed on a big screen. River Covey ripping on the Deepest Reaches "Pizza Box" model.
For all of you who have not yet seen Soul Rhythms, you can check it here and if you share the video, you’ll get 50% off any Deepest Reaches apparel from SurfBored.
