Julian Wilson: The Rail Project

Julian Wilson: The Rail Project

I have always loved skateboarding and ever since I was a grom, I’ve always dreamt of having surfing and skateboarding come together. With the support of @redbullau I have been having some fun bringing this to life! The possibilities are endless with this thing…what next!?

Punting Portugal Session.

Punting Portugal Session.

Have you got a couple of minutes spare for the likes of Julian Wilson, Kelly Slater and Eric Geiselman, hell yes I hear you cry. Hit play for punts and major plays from surfings elite.

DRIVE FAST & TAKE CHANCES – JULIAN WILSON

DRIVE FAST & TAKE CHANCES – JULIAN WILSON

Sit back and immerse yourself in the joy that is Julian Wilson on his a-game. Insane airs with landings smoother than a greased up eel, a rail to rail masterclass and threading through the aqua playground like a knife through butter. Enjoy the happy place that is this edit. 

Julian Wilson – Wayward

With the 2017 WSL World Tour season only a few weeks away, Julian Wilson is putting his rivals on notice with the release of Wayward, a sizzling edit put together over the past 12-months, featuring sessions in Fiji, Indonesia and at home on the Sunshine Coast. Filmed and edited by Julian’s close friend Jimmy Lees, Wayward is a showcase of Julian at the top of his game, and features a number of waves guaranteed to get the surfing world talking, as well as noteworthy cameos by Craig Anderson and Lee Wilson.

Don’t just take our word for it though. “There are definitely bits of this edit that really clicked, or are the best version of things I’ve ever done!” says Julian. “I’m really excited to share it all, and can’t wait to see what kind of reaction it gets.”

Click here for the clip: #JWayward

#JWayward

By his own lofty standards, 2016 was a frustrating one for Julian Wilson. He made the final at Margaret River and threatened for the title at various stages, but couldn’t quite string together the wins needed to really challenge for the WSL crown.

Most frustrating of all, as the clip above attests, Wilson was in the best form of his life in the water. As fit and disciplined as anyone on tour, with his beautiful girl by his side, and backed to the hilt by friends, family and sponsors, Wilson is one hot streak away from flying to the top of the ratings. The supermely fit and confident Queenslander knows it.

With the first event of the World Tour two short weeks away, Wilson is rounding out a productive off-season that was highlighted by his wedding. A short time later, Wilson is proud to unveil this incredible edit, Wayward, firing a shot across the bow of his opponents in the process.

While a million girls’ hearts will be broken by the first bit of news, the latter will see surf fans turning cartwheels of joy, as this is Julian Wilson at his finest, pushing his performances like we’ve never seen before, edited in fine form by close friend Jimmy Lees. With the world tour in a state of flux, the title race is wide open and ripe for the plucking, and Julian Wilson is as hungry as they come.

We caught up with the kid from Coolum on the eve of his 2017 assault

Congrats on the clip, it’s incredible. How long have you been working on it for?

About 12 months, the oldest footage is from this time last year. I didn’t really have a plan back then so I held on to the clips, then had four days in Bali early in the year with my wife Ashley and got some more good stuff, and the idea to pull it all together started to hatch.

I had another trip to Bali with Jimmy Lees, Lee Wilson and some other friends, and from there we figured we already had a bit of footage, maybe we should aim to do something a little bit longer. I had an opportunity to go to Fiji between Portugal and Hawaii to chase a swell for a few days, and that came together really well, too.

This feels like one of the rare edits in this era of three-minute web clips that can actually hold the viewer’s attention.

I hope so. I feel like there are some bits in there that have clicked, are better than some things I’ve done before, or are the best version of certain moves. Hopefully it’s entertaining enough for the viewer to get through it all, even though it’s that bit longer.

You went to Fiji with Craig Anderson, how was it?

It’s been a while since we’ve done a trip together. Craig’s a good friend and we don’t get many opportunities to hang out anymore so when I saw the swell pop up in Fiji, for some reason I thought of him instantly. I texted him two days before we were meant to leave and asked if he wanted to go get some waves. He wrote back straight away saying he’d love to, and that was it.

We connected in Fiji and scored. It was so spur of the moment, in and out at the peak of a two-day swell, so last minute we didn’t even have a photographer with us. There was no one around, apart from a stand-up paddle crew, but they had a flat water race at the peak of the swell. So it was really just me and Craig trading off waves at super fun Cloudbreak. We were losing it, they were definitely the best waves I got last year.

Back at home, those lefts running into a southerly wind seem ideal to hone your backhand airs on?

Oh yeah, for sure. Anything that brings a bit of South, storms and swells that get into a few of my little spots can be really fun for trying airs and new stuff.

Are they backhand big spins you’re pulling?

Yep. Chippa Wilson does a lot of them. He’s incredible at the technical stuff, but his are almost like a flat spin, whereas I really wanted to do them into the transition of the wave. These were the first few I’d ever really done, so it felt really cool to land something new.

Where does the inspiration for them come from. Do you practice on a skateboard first or just go out and do them?

I don’t really skate that much these days, but I do watch a lot of skateboarding and get very inspired by it, and then want to bring that to the water. Seeing the stuff the skaters are up to really gets me pumped to try new things, definitely.

Do you then bank that sensation and know that if you get a similar section you can pull that move out again?

It definitely makes me think about waves like Lance’s Right and North Point, and it’s nice to know that when you get them on, and it’s clean and barrelling, you might have another option and the chance to go as big as you possibly can.

You kept that clip under wraps until now, is that hard to do these days?

It is, definitely, but because my life is so contest based, I know that if I need to get away it’s only ever going to be a quick hit and run, a few days on a swell. I’ve got a pretty tight crew, so it’s easy to keep things under wraps between us, for sure. It’s nice to be able to hold some things back in this modern Instagram world.

Julian Wilson
https://www.facebook.com/JulianWilsonSurf/
https://www.instagram.com/julian_wilson/

Jimmy Lees
https://www.instagram.com/jimmylees/

Nate Lawrence: @lawrence_photo

Bangers & Mash

Julian Wilson’s new lil film. Featuring a bunch of free surfs all over Oz…