Jim Banks is an not your run of the mill sort of bloke, humble beginnings and a chance meeting with cyclone swells drew him into a life long passion for surfing. One of the great punctuations marks on his journey must be his first 8ft barrel at the temper age of 14. Though it wasn't until 'Morning of the earth' came along with images of Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson's planetary wanderings from Surfer magazine that the light bulb really went on for Jim and he set his sights on what he thought surfing was really about. The magical journey of seeking out perfect waves in remote locations. Another exclamation mark in his surfing diary was flying solo to Bali at the ripe old age of 17. Banks says Uluwatu and the 3 barrels he got into on his first wave changed his life, funny that! What it also did was seal his love affair with this magical island, it’s people and definitely with its waves. Using Bali as a place to leave a change of clothes and a couple of boards he staged many explorations into Indonesia's more remote corners over the years and won his only Major pro event on its shores, the 'Om Bali Pro.' He rode the Pro surfer tour around the world for a while which took him to the exotic destinations he yearned for like Hawaii with his ranking getting ever higher making it as far as 16th in the world. Then after winning the Om Bali Pro in 1981 where he was left with an empty feeling and nothing like the satisfaction he got from having a great surf and getting epic tube rides he packed it all in and once again embraced the nomadic life. Trading sponsorships and free rides for remote barrels and the thrill of getting there. Nowadays he still makes quiet sojourn's to remote beaches and coves around Indonesia and the deserts in remote north West Australia, seeking out those perfect deep, long tube rides.
"…At the end of the day, the only thing I'm going to take with me are the memories and feelings in my heart." he states matter of factly "So these days, when people ask what I do… the answer is easy…
"I surf."
This Sunday night we are genuinely thrilled to have this legend down at the Temple of Enthusiasm to play music for us. The evening will start off with Ano playing some mixed tapes that he has put together especially for the evening.So if a night of music and chilling is your thing then we will look forward to seeing you from 6:30pm onwards.
