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[Cassette tape winding]

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[David Gerlach] You're listening [br]to Blank on Blank,

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where lost interviews come to life,[br]distributed by the Public Radio Exchange,

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prx.org. I'm David Gerlach.

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[Soft, acoustic music, Kelly Slater sings][br]"The days are passing so fast, man I [br]

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make it through this. My self belief:[br]I'm better on my own."

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[Kelly Slater, spoken] You know, I mean[br]early on it would be like if "I just win

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a contest on tour", or whatever, win [br]a regional contest when I'm an amateur. [br]

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It eventually became "I want to win a [br]world title", then

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"I want to win multiple[br]world titles."

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And. You know, I was going for [br]all these "things", and, but I never felt

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comfortable in that moment in my skin.[br]I was always worried about the past

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and, or worried about the future and[br]thinking about something that happened in

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the past, and never like in that moment.

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[Soft, acoustic music, Slater sings] "the[br]time is now, please don't let this go.

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so let's just sail away and find our place[br]today,

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forget the yesterdays we're living."

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[Slater] When you break through [br]whatever it is you need to break through

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to actually live in the moment, and have[br]the experiences

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that are happening right now. It's a... [br]you know...

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For me that was a very special thing.[br]Which only, probably happened.

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Um... you know... in this decade, for me.[br]And, I uh... I had a few situations.

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Um... uh... you know my personal life[br]where, I was forced. You know, my dad

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dying, cheated on a girlfriend. All these[br]kind of things. Like a bunch of things

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converged in one year for me,[br][Josh Baron] Mm-hmm.

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[Slater] in my life. And um... And I just [br]sort of, uh, saw it pointing to the fact

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things, my life was getting worse not better.[br]And it should be getting better, because

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I've done all the things, met all the[br]people, been all the places,

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and accomplished the things that I wanted[br]to accomplish.

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[Baron] Mm-hmm.[br][Slater] But life was somehow

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getting worse, you know.[br][Baron] You sort of, uh, alluded

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to it a little bit earlier, eight world[br]titles. Sounds like you found some...

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[Slater] ...Nine actually... (laughs)[br][Baron]...nine. Excuse me. Sorry.

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Nine. My bad, a little embarrassing. Nine.[br]Um, it sounds like you found someone that

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you care, and, you know, love deeply, and,[br]you know, traveled to, you know, pretty

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much any place you want to travel on Earth[br]thus far.

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[Slater] Yep.[br][Baron] Has anything alluded you?

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[Slater] Um, probably just like[br]experiences at home with

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family and friends, and um, with my[br]daughter. Um, who's twelve now.

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Um, I have some, uh, some residual guilt[br]there, cause I'm just not home much.

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And uh, you know I just don't get to see[br]her that often.

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[Gerlach] Slater really opened up here[br]about troubles in his family life,

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and a few minutes later, he again picked[br]up his guitar and continued on that

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train of thought. Here it is.[br][Soft, acoustic music]

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[Slater] I woke up on my mom's birthday[br]and wrote this one, you know. It was like,

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uh, probably three years ago. I'll just sing a verse.

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[Slater sings] "I never really needed a[br]father.

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I've never been that close to my daughter.[br]Oh but I,

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I'm coming home to you."

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[Slater, speaking] Sorry, I haven't played[br]it probably since then. (chuckles)

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[Gerlach] That's champion surfer and[br]musician Kelly Slater on his

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not so perfect life, and this is Blank[br]on Blank. Thanks again to Josh Baron,

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Editor-in-Chief of Relix Magazine for[br]adding his interview to the archive.

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For more interviews that you can hear[br]nowhere else, head over to

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blankonblank.org. I'm David Gerlach, keep[br]listening. Blank on Blank is distributed

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by the Public Radio Exchange, prx.org.[br][Soft, acoustic music]

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[Slater singing] "Just like heaven,

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in your eyes.

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Now I think I, I realize."

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[Slater, spoken] Something like that, but.[br]Kind of summing up, my uh, you know the

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people around me, and...