Pics By Luka R. //

We caught up with Jaleesa ahead of Volcom Women’s Unfiltered, which hits Port Macquarie this Saturday.

If you’re following along on socials, or watching her films, you’d know that Jaleesa Vincent approaches everything from a creative standpoint. Whether she’s riding waves with an almost dolphin-like playfulness, or tap dancing away at the front of her band Cupid & The Stupids, she seems to see things a little differently, like she’s looking at the world through a kaleidoscope instead of glasses.

This Saturday at Finnian’s in Port Macquarie, all of Jaleesa’s worlds will collide, with a screening of her Strange But Not A Stranger mini-doc, her art adorning the walls, and a performance from Cupid & The Stupids. And that’s only half of it. Teenage Joans will be headlining, with a handful of amazing female artists also showing their work, plus Bodhi Leigh-Jones will be premiering her brand new film, Board Talk With Bodhi Leigh-Jones, alongside giveaways and more.

A totally free, female-led event from Volcom is, as we found out in our interview below, exactly the kind of thing that young Jaleesa would have absolutely frothed on. Check out our chat with her below and we’ll see you at Port Mac on Saturday.

‘In Strange But Not A Stranger’ you talk about the role of a freesurfer as showing how fun and playful surfing can be. Was there ever a time on a trip or maybe as a grom where you just couldn’t connect with surfing?

The weird thing is it’s hard to actually fathom that freesurfing is my job, so it doesn’t really feel like a job. I feel like I’m just bumming around surfing. But if I’m trying to get clips for a movie and I’m putting pressure on myself to improve or land an air or something, I definitely can get a bit bummed and lose a bit of the funness.

That’s when I have to remind myself the reason maybe that I am a freesurfer is because I have fun and enjoy it and hopefully inspire people to just have fun with surfing. So if I catch myself getting stressed or putting too much pressure on myself, then I try to just take a breath and have fun, and usually I start surfing better anyway. But it is also good to push yourself because then it’s more thrilling when you actually do catch a bigger wave or get a barrel. So it’s a balance between pushing yourself and having fun.

It is a weird job because it’s surfing, but now with Instagram, there’s a lot more commercial stuff that does feel a bit more like work or not something that comes as naturally.

Do you think surfing takes itself too seriously sometimes?

Yeah, I definitely do. Surfing, we’re literally just riding the waves. That’s such a special thing. It’s these pieces of water that have been blown in by the wind and we’re just sitting out there waiting for the right wave that we want, and that’s pretty cool.

So when there’s so much competition and pretentious people, it’s just like, we’re literally just out there playing with nature. It’s annoying when that special connection is taken out of it and it becomes just a sport, and quite an aggressive sport in a lot of ways.

Was there a point in your career where you realised that you could forge a different path?

I always semi-dreamed of being a freesurfer, but I never really thought it would happen. And I feel like maybe only now, through making surf movies and fully committing to art and stuff, that it’s kind of making sense to me and I feel proud of what I’m doing. Working on movies and just stuff that I actually really like doing. I’m super stoked now.

Especially being on Volcom, I feel like our values really align, so everything just feels right now. So I’m a freesurfer. Yeah.

I think a lot of young girls would see the surface of your life and think it’s all fun. What are some challenges that no one in the freesurfing community talks about?

I think from my personal experience, ’cause all of us freesurfers, there’s no definition of what that is really. So we all experience it differently. My version at the moment, I’m more so a filmmaker and an artist kind of thing that also surfs. So I guess that whole bubble becomes the freesurf thing.

The only thing that’s hard is wherever I travel or wherever I go, I’m kind of working. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a holiday. It’s like I’m going to Indo to make a film or film waves. Everywhere I go I’m filming or doing something. But it’s fun because I love coming up with new ideas. It’s never off the clock really.

Especially the last two years, I haven’t even been really camping or anything. I’m pretty ready to go for a camp and turn my phone off.

I have been working on a vampire movie that’s coming out early next year, but we’re having some premieres at the end of this year and that’s been huge. For the filming part it’s fun, but I reckon it’s been 10% filming and now 90% editing. So it’s a lot of time, and emails and organising and pitch decks and all this random stuff.

Tell me about PUSSY Surfboards – what does shaping give you that something like art doesn’t?

Yeah, that’s fun because it connects me to surfing in a different way, where I’m learning about boards, but also getting in contact with other people who are interested in learning to surf. It’s been really cool being in contact with other women who maybe used to surf when they were younger and then phased out of it. Now they want to get back in ’cause PUSSY Surfboards have given them the inspiration. It makes it look more fun and more feminine, so it’s been cool making boards.

I don’t know, kind of feeling like I’m giving back. That’s such a lame way of putting it, but I guess just feeling more connected in the community in a personal way. There’s no pressure on it. I’ve just been having fun with it and I’m learning as I go and I have no expectations with it.

What’s it like working with Volcom? How important is them helping put on Unfiltered for you?

I’ve just been trying not to think about it too much because I don’t want to feel like there’s any pressure. I’m just going slow. I’m like, yeah, do some art, get the band together. We haven’t played in a year and we have no band practice. Kind of terrified, but it’ll be fine.

It’s all very winging it kind of. But that’s the beauty, I think, the more DIY, grungy way of bringing surfers and artists together and just seeing what happens when we’re all together. Trying not to force this amazing event, but just bringing like-minded people together and having fun.

I feel like Volcom always brings an awesome crew. I’m just going to go there and have fun.

What do you think teenage you would have thought about a female-led event like Unfiltered?

Yeah, teenage me would have been so stoked. I would have been there so happy to watch girl bands and girl artists. I’d be like, ‘These are my people.’ So, I think young Jaleesa would be pretty stoked on current Jaleesa, which is cool.

If teenage Jaleesa could steal one thing from your life right now — a board, a painting, a piece of clothing — what would she steal?

Whoa, that’s so hard. She’d probably steal my dolphin fins. My pink fins. I’d be like, ‘Whoa, pink fins. That’s sick.’ I’ll just go with that.

Can you describe the art that you’ll be showcasing at Unfiltered? What medium, what style?

I’m kind of not too sure yet. I’m working on this painting with oil paint. So, if I don’t finish it in the next couple of days, it’ll still be wet and I don’t know if I’ll be able to take it. So, it’ll probably be a lot of paintings that you would have seen in the documentary from Strange But Not A Stranger.

A lot of those paintings are in my storage container, which I’ll have to find.

Cupid & The Stupids are playing, which feels pretty rare. Would you guys ever consider going a little harder on pushing the band into the music industry?

Yeah. I’m actually pretty surprised that we’re going to be playing at the Port Macquarie event because it’s so hard getting everyone together. That’s why we only kind of play once a year, ’cause it seems to be only once a year our schedules align to all do an event. So yeah, I was pretty mind-blown that it’s actually happening.

It’s just so fun ’cause it’s catching up with my friends. A couple of them live down in Melbourne and some in Byron, and then I don’t live anywhere. So it’s such a good catch-up.

It kind of feels like we’re older in a way, and it’s like these were the good old days when we played music. We’re up there on stage and we’re like, ‘Wow, remember this feeling?’ It’s just the good old times, reminiscing on them and playing. It’s good. It’s fun.

There was a brief time where we had the idea of making a mini doco, like a funny doco or something, and we were maybe on an up trajectory, and then COVID happened and maybe a few of us in the band turned more into adults and decided there’s more important things than touring and being in a band, and it just kind of fizzled out.

Now it’s more of just a group karaoke session hangout on stage.

For someone coming to Unfiltered by themselves, what can they expect from the night?

I reckon she can expect just a welcoming energy. We’re all celebrating surfing and women surfing and women’s art. There’s going to be paintings on display, surf films, bands, and it’s all just very inspiring if you’re into art, music or surfing.

Especially being in Port Macquarie, maybe events like this don’t happen that often. So yeah, hopefully if you’re a girl surfer or artist around that area, you can come and we can all connect and have a fun night together.