“I suppose it’s coming on 20 years since Dane and I met,” says Craig Anderson, a recent inductee to the Dad Club.

“We started working pretty closely on Slow Dance with Quiksilver, and then obviously with Former. I always love the vibe and energy that Dane brings when he edits. His track selection… I don’t know. It’s just a unique take. I feel like he encapsulates a trip or a vibe and leaves people with something a bit more than just a couple waves on a timeline.”

Can confirm: I’ve already rinsed ‘System – Prewn’ to exhaustion after getting an early screening of this.

The trip he’s referring to, this one in Chile, happened a little over three years ago now. Benny was keen to check that stretch of South America. Craig had been there once before: 2013, with Dane, Machado, Burch, and Thomas Campbell.

This time, they had a full month.

“I don’t feel like I ever really get that opportunity,” Craig says. “But my wife (a lawyer) was working on a murder trial out in Dubbo, so I had a good window to spend a month somewhere. We were able to link up with some local legends Punto, Bunny and Nicolas Vargas and actually get into a routine. Barbecues, beers, surfing every day even when it’s not that great, it’s just a totally different experience.”

“A lawyer?” I press.

“Yeah, she’s a public prosecutor. My work and life seem like an absolute joke compared to what she gets up to. She actually does important work. I’m just fucking going to Chile with my mates, goofing around, drinking beers and catching fucking waves,” he laughs.

 “But hey, someone’s gotta do it.”

“Punto is the best cook and I love the way he surfs,” says Benny, talking about their local tour guide and lone regular foot, who’s absolutely spanking it in this clip. “It’s sick he’s on Former now.”

Punto, the MVP.

At the time of calling, Benny had just wrapped a day of laboring (not driving his family’s cherished 1982 Road Boss) down in Ulladulla.

For the past couple of years, Benny’s hit pause on driving the big girl up and down the Hume Highway, moving into a studio on Noa Deane’s property down south.

“I’ll probably be doing that shit for the rest of my life. So I’m just giving myself a break. I love trucks and the mechanical side of it, but yeah, sitting in them day in, day out gets pretty tiring. You can only listen to so many albums and podcasts before you go mad. Often, I’ll just listen to the truck actually,” he explains.

“Honestly, I’ve kind of been missing it a little bit,” he continues. “Some of the work’s sick. I really enjoy it. Especially out west where it’s a bit quieter and there’s some good blokes still driving. Some really funny characters I’ve met through dad. It’s sick when you’re driving, you’re kind of convoying together, stopping in at pubs.”

Truck porn in the Andes.

When I ask whether it feels like a big milestone to have Dane edit a clip of him, Benny laughs:

“Man, I feel bad because he’s gotta watch my surfing and the guy rips that hard… But obviously I always feel honoured and appreciative to be part of his clips.”

Benny, grab rail swoop.

“We didn’t really get amazing waves and the sand wasn’t that great,” says Craig. “It started getting better when we were leaving. We thought about extending, but then I kind of broke my ankle on the second last day. It’ll be in Defect. It’s a pretty nicely shaped wave. I was probably in the pit for six to eight seconds. And then a bit of backwash pushed me up into the lip and I couldn’t roll off my board and just crushed my ankle.”

“It’s called syndesmosis,” he continues. “I think Harry [Bryant] just did the same thing, but yeah, it’s like a whole ankle strain, but your tib and fib kind of split. So they put a tightrope through that to stabilize it. I had a pretty shit run of injuries at my foot the year before that too, and was out for six months, and that was a four-month injury, but I don’t know, just getting older and shit happens. It’s just annoying when it’s a two-foot wave.”

Craig, busted hoof and crutches in Santiago.

Reminder

Defect will tour globally in June, with an online release scheduled for July.
Before that, Former is releasing extended “prequel” cuts from various trips.
The aim is longer-form edits that let moments breathe, rather than short, high-impact surf clips.
Another extended cut featuring Dane Reynolds, Dillon Perillo, and Jake Kelley in Puerto Rico is also coming.
Welcome-to-the-team clips for new Former recruits Timo Simmers and Gabe Morvil are planned.
A Jay Davies part is also in the lineup.