MM: You mentioned making lots of fish earlier.
DT: The first one I really got my hands on was when Thomas Campbell came to Oz in 2000. He brought a 5'8" Frye fish and it was just the most beautiful surfboard I'd ever seen. I was so stoked on it and started building them. That was right when the whole fish population was swelling. When Litmus came out I was 16 and just completely blown away. Here I was with all my buddies who were hardcore thruster surfers, we always rode thrusters when the waves were good, but as a little side to that I rode longboards also. On one hand I had my longboard buddies and on the other my shortboard guys, and there really wasn't much crossing over which was kind of weird. But then when Litmus came out the penny really dropped in terms of the types of surf craft available. Derek Hynd surfing weird and wonderful craft at JBay and Wayne Lynch’s commentary made sense to me. It got me really stoked on the romanticism of the surfer/shaper, seeing Wayne Lynch and going, 'That's for me, I want to build boards.'

MM: How was the film received in Oz?
DT: I need to choose my words carefully because I can't speak out of my sphere but it was not huge by any stretch of the imagination. For the most part mainstream Aussie surfers didn't quite get it. In many circles it was written off which was really kind of sad. I think it was before its time. I think now the climate has matured a bit and much more open to, for want of a better word, 'alternative' ways to surf, surfboards, etc. I think the film was probably premature but hugely influential. But even now people are still getting their first copy of Litmus.

There's a huge following of whatever you want to call this movement. There's been a lot of press in films for riding fish or planks. Joel Tudor was massively influential, Thomas Campbell's films, Skip Frye and other older shaper’s resurgence, pros riding single fins and fishes, it's all completely had an effect on Oz there's no doubt about it.

MM: Is the mentality changing from thruster-shredding only?
DT: Totally, and now there is a pretty insane selection of boards for people to surf. Most surfers aren't good, that's the fact of the matter. The majority of surfers can't shred. So all of a sudden there are these tinted glossy hybrids and not only are they beautiful but they ride amazing and are more user-friendly than your average pro model tri-fin. It was always going to happen that the average Joe would embrace fish, quads, eggs…it just makes surfing more enjoyable. Because nobody gets to surf all day and pick the tides perfectly, well not many people. We're all fitting this into our lives, our work, and our commitments. You know, get on something fun and make it easy!

MM: Let's talk about your shop…
DT: Sea Cell’s a board showroom and art gallery, a place where people can come hang out, order a custom board and watch me shape it if they want. It’s also home to art shows, film showings, parties… I also sell my sticks through other stores, in particular Six Ounce Boardstore in Bondi.

MM: Are you making art as well?
DT: No, I don't make any art as such. Lots of my friends are artists so it was a natural progression to use the Sea Cell as an art space. Paul McNeil, Brent Wayling, Matt Yeates (Sea Cell co-owner), and myself collaborate to pull together art shows.

MM: How often?
DT: Every three months or so. We had a recent one with Jeff Canham, Andy Davis and Alex Kopps, which was a show we had wanted to do for over a year. I've known Andy Davis for a long time and met Alex Kopps a few years ago. The Sydney show was called 'Sink' and the Byron show 'Swim.' Other artists we’ve shown have included Robert Moore, a really great Aussie artist who's worked for Mambo for years, his stuff is just completely amazing. Ryan Heywood, Jimmy Newitt who just produced a zine called Killer, Paul McNeil who is stupidly talented and Matt Yeates a local painter. The next show is with two Victorian guys, Jeff Raglus and Gerry Wedd, a painter and a ceramicist.

MM: Was that story about Lis pulling in the tails at 5am true?
DT: Steve was coming to Oz, unknown to me, having a holiday with his family in Lennox. We share a mutual friend, a San Diego ex-pat guy. He set up a BBQ and all of a sudden I'm about to meet Steve Lis. This came way out of left field. He's was really kind and a true gentlemen. We were chatting about the waves and he asked me about my shaping. He offered to come over to my shaping bay which at the time was out back of where I was living. So basically he came over and went ahead over the next four arvos and drew me out templates, fin templates, fish outlines, fin placements and brought all his boards out. He rides big quads and had three or four with him, all glass on quads. From 7'0" to 9'1", no bumps, just proper fish tail, pointed nose quads. He was super friendly and generous with his knowledge about the fish. I was just lucky and blessed, at the right place at the right time more than anything.

More Information about Dain's shapes can be found by visiting www.seasurfboards.com.

Michael Machemer is a New York surfer, writer, photographer, curator and a frequent contributor to Newyorksurf.com. Michael can be reached at eataknish@newyorksurf.com.