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This month's cover is with 8X standup paddleboarding (SUP) champion, and accomplished legendary waterman, Kai Lenny. He has mastered big wave surfing, windsurfing, bodysurfing, hydrofoil surfing, kitesurfing, SUP, prone paddling, and more. Where there's water, he's there enjoying all that the elements can give him as he utilizes his athleticism to navigate it. He's known as a hydrofoil surfing pioneer and was one of the first wave riders to self propel himself into a wave, ride it, kick out, pump his foiling gear back in the sea and then catch another wave! He has had a number of accolades from winning the WSL Men's XXL Biggest Wave Award and the Men's Overall Performance Award in 2019, in the same year he was inducted into the Surfer's Hall of Fame and named Surf Industry Manufacturers Association's Waterman of the Year, in 2020 in addition to winning the Men's Wave of the Day, Team Champions trophy at the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge at Praia do Norte and also received the Biggest Wave and Performance of the Year at the 2020 Big Wave Awards to name a few.
We caught up with Kai while he was in Bali to talk about how he became a waterman, his career, his partnerships and the projects that he's working on from the Life of Kai to his focus on sustainability.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with the ocean?
KAI LENNY: I think that the ocean – I feel like it was just in my veins when I was born because it comes down to the circumstances of where I emerged into this world which was in Hawaii, in Maui, to loving parents that had a real passion for the ocean. When you’re that young and you’re just kind of taking in basically the world that your parents have created or that you’re a part of, you end up becoming your environment. I knew no better then to have a love for the ocean because the culture of just being in Hawaii and it was like being outside, just playing in the waves and riding in the wind – that was just normal. My love, I think it was there before I even knew. I mean in the description, I knew that my parents loved me and I knew that I loved the ocean. That was how I found and felt loved.
AM: When did you decide that you loved doing all of this, and that you wanted to take those passions and make it into a career?
KL: You know, pretty much early on! Obviously, there was no social media back then, you had DVDs, VHS tapes, magazines. My super heroes to me were not comic book heroes, because I actually have real life ones that were these incredible athletes that surfed, wind surfed, kite surfed, rode giant waves because the people that I was looking at in the magazines and in the movies, because I was able to see them also in person, because I was growing up in the mecca of watersports, it really was something that I immediately wanted to do! I remember when I caught my first wave by myself when I was 4 years old, it was like, that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don’t care what it takes, I just want to be able to do this. It’s just that my life has just evolved in that direction. I’m totally living the dream right now!
AM: We love to hear that!
As a waterman, you have mastered so many modalities from being a wind surfer, SUP, and more! Why is it important for you to be this versatile and to use the water as such a big canvas?
KL: I just think that I looked at a waterman and a waterwoman as being somebody that can do anything in the water – ride waves from 2ft to 100ft, also being able to go below the surface of the water and to be a fish in a way! So, the ocean really is a place that can provide everything for somebody to survive and to live and to enjoy. I think that that is really a testament to ancient Hawaiians and how they sort of figured out one of the best ways of living life and their whole culture was surrounded by the ocean and not only – very few cultures in the ancient world allowed time for leisure and play and fun. The Hawaiian culture did that so kind of just taking what the ancient Hawaiians did before and fortunately, we live during a time of modern advancements and technology so that all of the toys and the fun equipment evolves and there’s more opportunities to see sort of a different face of the same sort of book or cover. You can ride a wave 50 different ways and it can feel like 50 different experiences, but the spot is the same exact one. So it’s all about perspective and how you come into it and at the end of the day, it’s about riding waves, riding wind and having fun and making the most of our time on this planet!
AM: Well, do you remember your first big wave or what you felt at that time was your first big wave?
KL: Well I mean, going way back, I think that waves are relative you know? When you’re I don’t know, 8 years old and you’re riding a 15ft wave, that’s a big wave! My first wave when I was 4 years old, by today’s standards, it would have been maybe chest high for me now which is very small! But when you’re 4 years old, and you stand less than 2 feet tall, it felt like a giant wave! I think that that’s what I love about surfing and what I love about wave riding in general, everyone is a big wave surfer in a way. You only discount yourself as a big wave surfer when you start comparing yourself to others. Because there is always someone out there who’s going to ride a bigger wave probably. You know?
AM: Right!
KL: It’s not something that you can get in on any given Sunday, there’s a bit of luck involved in getting the single biggest wave, but I have always found that at a certain point, above 50ft, it all just feels the same. It just feels gigantic. But yeah, my first legitimate big wave which would be my career starter was when I was 16 years old and it was at Pe’ahi also known as Jaws, on Maui. It's the Mount Everest of big wave surfing, the best big wave in the world with my heroes, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama – they took me up there for the very first time. I was riding a hydrofoil board, but back then it involved snowboard bindings and so the consequences were extreme, but that sort of was the first day of my big wave career and so I have been surging giant waves every single year since!
AM: If you had to choose, what is your favorite watersport?
KL: I think that that is a really difficult one, it’s like, picking a finger for me, you know? It’s like, which one would you want to chop off, you know? I sort of like all my fingers, but you know at the same time, trying to describe the sensation of these sports, is like trying to describe to somebody a color that they have never seen. It’s hard to explain as each one in their own way is very special and unique and in the right conditions, that sport that I would be doing is my favorite in the entire world. Sometimes when you try to force a sport and not in the right conditions, it can still be fun, but it’s not like when the conditions line up. If I considered myself an ocean mechanic, and I had a tool chest of all of these different tools, one wrench is not going to help me fix the entire car necessarily or work on the entire car. So, it takes having many tools to kind of get to the point of riding the wave in the best possible way that I could imagine.
But that being said, if I could choose at this point, the most ideal condition to be in, it would be the culmination of every single sport that I do which is riding a giant wave on a tow-in surfboard going 55 miles an hour – I think that that sport is born of every sport that I do on a daily basis and it’s the type of sport that doesn’t happen every single day. You only get a handful of times per year to participate in something like that. So that’s like the pinnacle or the culmination of every sport that anyone has ever invented in the water.
AM: Wow!
You have competed in a number of tournaments, you surf the unsurfable, and you have such legendary status, what drives you to continue to do this?
KL: I guess beyond the desire to win competitions or to get another sponsorship deal or whatever, it’s the love of actually doing it! I often think that if I lost all of my sponsorships and I couldn’t be a professional surfer or athlete, I’d probably just be working a regular job as hard as I could so that I could literally go do exactly what I’m doing! I don’t think that I would have the opportunity to be able to do the extent of what I do at the frequency, but I pinch myself everyday that I am able to let my mind and imagination go wild! People support me to be able to go do this. It almost feels like I’m cheating at something in life! I try to just work hard every single day to make it happen. It’s something that I would do no matter what. Even if I had all the money in the world, I was the richest person on Earth, my actual life probably wouldn’t change that much. I’d probably not be on social media much and I’d be surfing even more. But for the most part, I’d be riding the same waves and doing the same sports.
AM: Do you have any routines that you do before or after competitions that are always your go-to’s to get in that mind set?
KL: I always try to go to the basics, I try to go to my foundation which is not thinking about the result. Obviously, I know the result that I want which is to be #1! Sort of less about like, comparing myself to others and I always feel that if I put in my best performance, I’m going to win and I don’t necessarily need to compete against anyone because surfing, and the collective surfing sports, are judged so it’s kind of a subjective view and you can ride the way that you want to ride, but at the end of the day, you kind of have to conform yourself to what the judge is looking for. That’s just the art of the game. If you’re playing a game of chess, there's the way that you want to play and then you’ve got to do what your opponent is giving out and you sometimes have to consider your opponent is the judge too. You’re kind of doing a dance with the judges to kind of get their approval.
I think that for me, the lead up to an event, it’s all about doing everything that I can, all of the training, all of the hard work, so that when the day comes, I don’t have to worry. I can fall back on my training rather than feeling like I didn’t do enough. I would say that the categories are, physical training, mental preparation, and then making sure that my equipment and the technology that I got is the best possible stuff that I could be riding. When all of those align, you kind of just have to see what happens. Most of the time, you can come out on top when you do it right.
AM: What is a typical day like when you’re surfing? How many hours a day do you surf?
KL: Before children, probably 8 hours! Now that I have kids and they’re really young, it’s a lot less because obviously, daddy duties and all that! I would say that now, I’ve become a better athlete because of it. In a way, in the past, I would overtrain. I would spend too much time in the water and my body would get fatigued and mentally, I would be drained. It’s pretty intense to be in an environment of these situations, but also just being out so often and pushing your body and never getting a rest day, that also holds you back! Less time on the water has actually meant that I have gotten better, faster because resting is actually training as well. Resting is just as important as lifting really heavy weights or doing your sport. It’s about finding a balance. You can’t be resting too much and you can’t be overtraining.
In a perfect world, I would be out there 100% of my time, but that’s just not the world that we live in!
AM: Clearly, surfing is a total body workout, but are there other workouts that you do either in the water or out of the water to maintain your physique?
KL: Absolutely, you know, it’s difficult when you’re traveling, because you’re just adjusting to time zones and you’re probably spending more time in the water then you have the ability to go to let’s say a gym. The types of gyms that might be around, they may not be existent in the surf world because of the remote places.
When I’m at home, my training routine is to get in the ice bath before bed every night to kind of recover. I have a hyperbaric chamber that can kind of cut down a rest day from 2 rest days to just 1 rest day. Doing hot and cold which is going through a sauna to the ice bath is very important. That’s just on the recovery side of things. I would say, that as far as training and beyond getting the workout in from being in the water, it’s going to the gym and doing different kinds of exercises and working out and actually doing enough heavy lifting with some heavy weights. I would say that it’s not about stiffening up because most people think you have to be as flexible as possible and that’s really important, but you don’t also want to be too flexible because you can actually break joints in the occupation that I participate in. So, it’s building up the muscles around the knees, the VMOs (vastus medialis oblique muscle), strengthening the shoulders, the hips and being able to handle the power of a big wave that crashes onto you. I do that 5 times a week, also going on trampoline training to get bare awareness. That’s a great workout and no more than 30 minutes will do the job! Underwater pool training, so carrying weights underwater and holding your breath simulating a big wave wipe out. It’s hard to – it’s difficult to do all of those things in one day. Depending on the season and depending on the time, you can be very well trained if you play your cards right. They’re all fun activities to do anyway.
AM: What competitions are you focused on for this year that you’re excited about?
KL: So right now, it’s a bit of my off season at the moment. Winter has passed in the Northern Hemisphere and typically, my biggest events are in the winter. But now that we’re in the summer, there’s a lot of opportunities to do some events.
Of course, every event you enter, you want to win. At the same time, my focus is right now riding big waves. One of the races that I want to do is Molokai 2 Oahu which is between one of the most powerful deadly channels in all of the Pacific. I’ve won it 4 times now across different disciplines from SUP to foiling and I’m going to go on a hydrofoil again this next year. That’s a really great test to see where your endurance lies. It’s in the middle of the summer. It’s July 30th, the last Sunday and that’s a good testing block for winter. Because winter is not too far off after that. In between there, if there is a fun and exciting event, I’ll enter. But right now, it’s about the winter time events.
AM: That’s incredible.
It was really enjoyable to watch the first and second season of HBO's 100 Foot Wave which can be seen on Max. Why did you want to be part of this show and what drew you to it?
KL: Well, it’s really cool! I was really honored to be on the 100 Foot Wave show. That being a show that recognized big wave surfers to a mainstream audience when our sport is typically reserved, or at least endemically for who’s riding what – I think any big wave footage that makes it to the mainstream, no one can tell who’s really going down the wave because we all look like specs. I wouldn’t say that I wanted to be on the show, so much as they sort of chose me. I was really grateful for that. It’s not something that you could really force unless you produce the show yourself or someone comes to you. The show wasn't about me, but I was able to be part of it and you know, that legendary figure, Garrett McNamara, is leaving an indelible mark on big wave surfing. His story is unique and special. I’m glad that people are enjoying it. It’s just bringing more eyes to this incredible sport.
The truth of the matter is, riding big waves is probably the most dangerous form of surfing and it’s typically also where maybe, people have the least amount of resources to do it – to support it. The stories that come out of big wave surfing, I’m probably the most successful big wave surfer, but there are so many guys and girls who work hard jobs during the summer months so that they can go surf giant waves in the winter and spend all of their money. It’s really a nomadic, mountain man/woman – it’s just so hardcore and those show really shines a light on the hardest working people in surfing.
AM: What is it about Nazaré that you enjoy being there?
KL: I think that Nazaré is a freak of nature. It’s the perfect combination of monster waves meeting in Europe. I think that if you saw the show, it’s a wave that’s hidden in plain sight. I mean, it was only surfed in the late 2010’s and that’s just kind of incredible because big wave surfers are always looking for the biggest waves in the world to ride. It just so happens that there was one in Europe and in Portugal, a surf rich country that it just came at the perfect time for this town where society and everything it dipped in to, the world supply chain and the small fishing village which once was supported purely by fisherman – it was a dying town. When the surfing world converged into this incredible place, it definitely brought so much new life that the town is now as well known in Portugal as being a fishing village as well as one of the most renowned big wave surfing destinations on planet Earth! It attracts tens of thousands of people per day to go watch these magnificent monster waves. Vertically, they're some of the tallest waves on the planet and some of the most challenging surf that a big wave surfer will encounter. It’s just that the story of the town itself, in a way, is far more interesting than even the waves that are being ridden out there now. It is the one place on Earth that you can go as a big wave surfer and be recognized by people! Most of the time I feel like as a big wave surfer, you’re kind of like moving silently in society before you step outside of the bubble to go ride these monsters out in the ocean. There, it’s a real unique place, and I look forward to going back every year and I count my blessings that I come home safe. Most recently, we had a friend, Márcio Freire, that died there and that was the first death in modern big wave surfing at Nazaré and it was tragic because he was a pioneer and it just goes to show you that no one is safe. You can go and get really unlucky. You just have to put yourself in the hands of a higher power and if you really want it, you have to commit.
AM: Last year, you released your movie Pe’ahi. Why did you want to tell this story?
KL: That film Pe’ahi, was really inspired by part of my life story, partly my director’s life story and I think you know, truly trying to shine a light on the realities of Hawaii, I would say that it’s a yin and yang. On one side, Hawaii gives you the greatest opportunities to become somebody and to do something great. I don’t know if you watch American Idol, but Iam Tongi just won and he is the testament to exactly why we wanted to make this film.
Coming from humble beginnings on the east side of Oahu to being at the very top, I’d say that our film really lines up with his story because that’s a real Hawaiian story. If you play your cards right, you're passionate and you love what you do, you can become the greatest because everyone is looking to Hawaii at all times. But, Hawaii in some ways, is like a third world country. There's a lot of poverty, there's a lot of homelessness – on one side, there’s this billion dollar tourism industry and there’s also locals who can barely afford a tent. Cost of living in Hawaii is just outrageous, especially for the ones that generationally, have been born and raised there.
Instead of just feeling sorry for ourselves, there was this need to try to make a film that would inspire kids who do come from the most humblest of beginnings to go all the way to the top and to be the best at anything that they want to do. Surfing was just a natural vehicle to carry the story. It’s a story of hope and perseverance and working hard to get to where you need to be. It’s just wanting to tell that story that we always knew existed, but that not a lot of people outside of our community, knew existed.
AM: Tell us about the Life of Kai? How did this come about? You’re in your 3rd season which is amazing!
KL: The Life of Kai is basically, adventures that I’m very lucky to partake in. It’s about the people that I’m meeting along the way. It’s not just about showing my best moments, but showing – I wouldn’t say the struggle, but the uphill battles to get to the ultimate goal and if you want to do anything amazing in this life, there’s always going to be a lot of work that is going to need to be put in. There’s going to be the ups and the downs. It’s showing that with perseverance, you can overcome any obstacle and you can do fun stuff and that’s kind of like the whole idea behind the series. I’m sharing this adventure and at the end of the day, it’s about inspiring the next generation and most importantly, being able to entertain people too, you know and letting people be able to takeaway what they want from the show. Not necessarily trying to sell them on anything – not that they have to be a surfer or ride giant waves. If they can see the passion for what I like to do, hopefully, they can translate that into what they want to do.
AM: As passionate as you are about the sport and what you do, you’re also vocal about the oceans and beaches. You’ve partnered with A New Earth Project in this effort. Can you tell us more about this?
KL: I’ve been given so much from the ocean that it only feels like my responsibility to give back and raising awareness is always great! We’ve done so many beach cleanups. It’s only the tip of the iceberg. What I really love about working with the A New Earth Project is that it's not just about bringing awareness, it’s not just about cleaning up beaches and rivers, it’s actually about going to the source of the solution and A New Earth Project is part of Atlantic Packaging which is located on the East Coast. Their whole goal is to change the plastic wrapping that goes around every soft drink or soda that is shipped around the world into something that is environmentally friendly. That company is working on ways to produce product that is not going to affect the end user in any way. The end user won’t even see a change, but behind the scenes, I think that that is the only way that we can save our oceans from plastic pollution. Not trying to get people that don’t really have a real relationship with the ocean to change, why not just change the stuff that has been delivered to them. They can still enjoy it the same way and that’s sort of the thought process.
So this trip that I came to Bali was inspired by A New Earth Project. Bali is one of the most beautiful places on the face of the Earth, but it is plagued with trash when western society reached these islands, everything before that was wrapped in banana leaves. Plates were made out of banana leaves, wrapping food was in banana leaves and traditionally, you’d throw the banana leaves into the river because there are so many rivers here and it would flow down into the ocean and it would biodegrade. It was really a cycle of this place, a cycle of life in Indonesia. Without educating the locals and the public here that plastic will stay for 1,000's of years, there just seems like there is no education behind that. So being able to come down here with A New Earth Project, we got to link up with a lot of local groups that are working to basically educate the people and to kind of figure out a way for waste management. Any plastic that does end up being produced is never going to end up being net zero, can be picked up. Because there is no trash service like we have in the states. So it’s trying to find solutions that help these people and help the environment. We ended up getting in one of the most gross rivers that I have ever been in in my life because they have these nets that catch all of these plastics and we were just loading up bags. That was a real eye opening experience because every time that you travel to a beautiful place like this, I never want to feel that I am just here to take their waves or to take advantage of anything so it really felt good to at least clean up an entire river for the surrounding people that make this place so special.
AM: That’s really amazing to hear!
Travel is such a big part of what you do. Where are your favorite places to go and what do you do when you’re not in the ocean?
KL: Yeah so, of course, my “vacations” are going to waves! My family vacations are just one tropical place from Hawaii to another! Here we are in Indonesia! Truly, I love to go to places that inspire me and people find inspiration in a number of different ways. For me, big mountains inspire me, big waves inspire me, the ocean of course inspires me! I’d say that 2 places that I have been that have had the nicest people that I have ever encountered, which is really a draw and makes you want to be a better person, is here in Bali in Indonesia. I don’t know if people get any nicer! You can literally drop your wallet and I’m telling you, as beautiful as it is, it’s a 3rd world country and there is a lot of poverty. You drop your wallet with $500 in it, somebody will track you down and give you back your wallet and not take any money. That’s just – it can be the Hindu religion here or just be the way that the upbringing is here – everyone here is just so gracious and kind. It’s amazing! If there’s any kind of crime at all, it’s typically, outsiders or foreigners that are causing a ruckus.The other place is Fiji.
Some of the most amazing people and I think that one thing stands out with these 2 places for Bali, Indonesia and Fiji, is that you can be gone for 10 years and you can return and see the same person, and they will remember your name. There’s nowhere else on Earth like that where they will remember you, they will remember the experience that they had with you and a lot of the people in these areas, may not understand the same way as we do in western society, but they are some of the smartest people that I have met – they speak 5 or 6 languages. If they can remember the simplest of things like your name when you return in 10 years, it’s really unique and exceptional. The destination is one thing, but it’s really the people that you meet along the way that make the places that you go to, what they are.
“Life of Kai is basically, adventures that I’m very lucky to partake in.It’s about the people that I’m meeting along the way. It’s not just about showing my best moments, but showing - I wouldn’t say the struggle, but the uphill battles to get to the ultimate goal and if you want to do anything amazing in this life, there’s always going to be a lot of work that is going to need to be put in. There’s going to be the ups and the downs. It’s showing that with perseverance, you can overcome any obstacle and you can do fun stuff, it’s about inspiring the next generation to entertain people too.”
AM: You’ve been sponsored by Hurley for a number of years and have done a number of collabs with them as well. What is it about this brand that is so synergistic with you?
KL: You know, I try to always align myself
with brands and companies that I can relate to or that are equal minded. Hurley really embodies the surfing culture and there is something so amazing and pure about how in a way it is exclusive, but it is also welcoming to anybody.
That’s the one cool thing about traveling
the world because you get to meet so many unique people from different ethnicities, creeds, and just perspectives. We may be in sort of one group here on land, but together in the water, we’re all the same thing.
Surfing, I think, is a really great craft to be able to gather people. Beyond Hurley being a great brand with amazing product, you know, their ethos is, just have fun. That I think, a lot of companies want to be hardcore like surfing is for surfers and that’s attractive to many people, but I have always been drawn to having a lot of fun in the water with people that you don’t even know and sharing this great experience, because like the great Gerry Lopez once said, “the one having the most fun is the best surfer.” I think that Hurley as a brand, embodies that ethos.
I think that if you can go out and get some Hurley stuff – their trunks and stuff, that literally makes you feel good enough that you want to go out there on the water and do something. That’s the whole point of surfing – it’s sharing this experience and sharing this life. There is always going to be another amazing wave and there’s plenty for everybody!
AM: Tell us about the Kai Lenny Paddle Series that you have with Hurley?
KL: I mean, the paddle series that we have created with Hurley, was really inspired by my trip here to Bali, Indonesia in 2021. I learned so much about my surfing and my athletic performance, but I also realized that I needed certain tools to allow me to surf longer and to have more fun so that I didn’t have to be stuck outside of the water with either reef cuts, rash or sunburn! We developed a board short that had a lot of pockets in it so that I could carry stuff like my GoPros, my sunscreen, basically a snack and anything that I needed, but also up to that point, no one had created a board short where the pockets wouldn’t turn inside out and you’d lose all of your stuff or they became more drag in the water as opposed to being hydrodynamic.
Really, the idea was to have a board short that was something that you could wear on land, dry really fast while you go from one adventure to the next! Maybe it even means going hiking in the woods because most of the time, the best boardshort is one that you only use for surfing. Whereas this trunk is amazing for hiking, it’s amazing for even going out to dinner, going out to lunch, or breakfast. You can carry all of your normal things, but then you can go surfing and have something that’s high performance. Then moving to something like the rashguard or the top that we use, it has a hood to protect you from the sun when you’re trying to surf for hours. It has a pocket in the back where you can put sunscreen, snacks, water, food, tools, and then it’s also designed to not give you rash. But it also has a cushion and a protective layer around your body. Again, all of these things are ideas that were put in that I really wanted. I feel like if I needed these things as a professional athlete, everyone can benefit from it. So far, everyone that sees it, wants a pair of both. I think that that’s pretty cool and it feels cool to develop something that people might want to use themselves.
AM: It’s definitely really cool when that happens and to get that feedback from people!
You have all of these different sponsors including Red Bull and Go Pro for a number of years, what do those partnerships mean to you?
KL: I mean, my sponsors, those partnerships, they are the reason why I get to live this life that I do and they all bring something so amazing to the table. For example, Red Bull has been – above the nice paycheck to basically live and to afford being alive - they are incredible at allowing me to have opportunities to up my level of performance and I mean most recently, and we just filmed this for the Life of Kai series, they brought me to the mountains of Alaska with one of the greatest snowboarders of all time, Travis Rice! I’d always been inspired to ride giant waves from and to look towards snowboarders that they’re doing on giant mountains and in particular, with Travis Rice and they made probably a once in a lifetime dream trip come true. The stuff that I was able to learn by riding giant mountains with my hero Travis Rice, is something that – snowboarding is so far removed and different from surfing. Something like that would have never come up on its own without kind of the support from Red Bull. It’s opportunities like that that make me a better athlete and I’m just always so grateful to be part of that company because they’re more than just trying to give an athlete a paycheck, they’re really about trying to help the athlete become the best that they can possibly be and to support them. They do feel like a family at this point.
With my other sponsors for example GoPro, I love GoPro because they give me the cameras to capture what’s going on in my world and bring people into this crazy environment – to take a camera that no other camera could go into.
And so, those relationships, if I go down the list even farther, Cariuma shoes, they have been amazing. They’re this environmentally safe skate shoe that is the most comfortable shoe that I have ever worn. But for every shoe that they sell, they plant a tree in the Amazon Rain Forest because they are based in Brazil. That’s really cool and their shoes being environmentally friendly is awesome and they’re the best shoe that I have ever worn!
Of course, the people that develop my equipment, people like KT Surfing and Goya Windsurfing, they make the equipment that I ride today. It really does take a village to raise somebody and it also takes a village to allow a professional athlete to perform at the highest level.
AM: How do you give back to those that are coming up in the sport who are also passionate in it?
KL: I remember being a kid and the mentorship that I had from the best water people on the face of the planet and I'm only 30 years old, but every time I do see a kid that’s coming up, I do try to like help them in any way possible to get them to accelerate their performance or to help them not necessarily make the same mistakes and to basically get them to their ultimate goal quicker. Certain things in life, you have to go through yourself of course and you have to learn on your own before you truly understand it, but you know, I think that at one point towards the end of my career which still seems so far away, being in a mentorship role will be probably more exciting than doing it myself. To see the excitement and passion of kids, that want to become something great whether it’s in the water or not, that’s inspiring. Having that young and excited energy really drives me to want to improve!
I may be 30 years old, but deep down, I’m probably still that same 12 year old kid that is just as excited or even more excited to be able to do what I am doing. It’s really important to be there for the next generation and help guide them through whatever passion they’re going in. The next generation is going to be better than whatever I can be and that’s just how you know a sport remains healthy – when the next generation overtakes the previous. That’s good for sport!
“I think that that is the only way that we can save our oceans from plastic pollution. Not trying to get people that don’t really have a real relationship with the ocean to change, why not just change the stuff that has been delivered to them. You can still enoy it the same way...”
AM: As someone who is always on the go, being a dad, a husband, traveling – what kind of self-care do you incorporate just so that you can be present?
KL: I think it’s being able to really turn off the switch. It’s so easy to be consumed by your quest and your passion. You can definitely feel like all of your focus is going to one thing. I think that the way that you get the best out of yourself is when you get home at night and you can turn that I think it’s being able to really turn off the switch. It’s so easy to be consumed by your quest and your passion. You can definitely feel like all of your focus is going to one thing. I think that the way that you get the best out of yourself is when you get home at night and you can turn that off. I can turn it off and just be a dad. I can just be there for my little girls, be a good husband to my wife, and just basically be able to transition and to have my focus be on my profession and then being able to just do what I need to do at home and do it with love. I think that that is the real trick to finding balance. You can’t overly consume yourself in anything. You may be able to sustain it for awhile, but eventually you might be crashing down. Finding balance is the key to life. So it’s learning when to turn things on and turn things off.
AM: Are there any upcoming projects coming up that you want to share that we should keep an eye out for?
KL: There’s always something coming up, I mean we’re in the middle of the season of Life of Kai and like I said, we just did this incredible trip to the mountains where I was probably the most scared that I have ever been in my entire life. No big wave has scared me as much as those mountains did and so that’s going to be really exciting to share that episode and to kind of share what went down on this incredible trip. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series dropping.
I’m in the works with new equipment of course and nothing really that’s anything yet, it’s all just ideas on paper, but I’m hoping that by this next winter, I’ll have it all dialed in and figured out and I’ll be able to go out there and do something that has never been done before!
AM: That will be interesting to see!
What do you want your legacy to be in the sport?
KL: I don’t know if you can ever have any say in what your legacy is going to become. That’s almost reserved for everyone else watching what they are going to brand you as. I think that if there is one thing that I would like to leave this Earth being known for is just being able to accomplish things and to do many things that people didn’t think that you were allowed to do necessarily. Having that enthusiasm, that passion and that love and that excitement for the sport that I do. I would say, that as a whole, I couldn’t say the one thing that I would want as a legacy. If anything, it’s to inspire the next generation to do what they love regardless of whether it’s surfing or not.
That’s the same thing that I have as a goal for my kids too! I want to give them every opportunity to be the absolute best people that they can be and to always go for it and sometimes, just taking that leap of faith. So, I think that’s what every great dad wants to be known for is that. Maybe that’s my legacy, raising the best kids I can. I want to be known not as Kai Lenny, but I want to be known as my daughters' father basically – Senna and Willa’s dad.
IG @kai_lenny
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Front/Back Cover + PG 46 Hurley | PG 16-41 , 48 + PG 146 for 63MIX ROUTIN3S Red Bull | PG 42-45 HBO/100 Foot Wave |
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see WAVES OF CHANGE | Kai Lenny in mag.
We are always up for a very flavorful plant-based meal and we're truly excited about this interview from a superstar chef that is known for elevating the vegan, raw vegan and plant-based space, Chef Matthew Kenney! We had the pleasure of being introduced to raw vegan at his restaurant Pure Food and Wine here in NYC which was a culinary experience. We also attended an editor event where he was in attendance at Ladurée Soho to launch the inclusion of their vegan menu back in 2019. It was a pleasure to hear him share his partnership with them and unveiling his vegan menu!
As someone who has used his fine dining, classical French training to elevate this cuisine, we couldn't wait to talk about how he got into culinary, his background, how he entered the plant-based space, his journey to creating restaurants that are all over the world and how Matthew Kenney Cuisine as a business model allows him to focus on his passion for staying engaged and creative! We also talk about one of his newest ventures, Ntidote and well as upcoming projects.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you first fall in love with food?
CHEF MATTHEW KENNEY: Well, my entire life, I’ve loved food. I grew up in Maine and it was all about seasonality and the ingredients. It was all about wild blueberries in the summer and wild strawberries that grew across the street in our garden. We made our own honey, maple syrup and apple cider. I always loved food and I didn’t realize that I had an affinity for cooking per se until probably after college when I moved to NYC. I just fell in love with the diversity of so many amazing restaurants, different cultures, and melting pots that you could see through food. So this was probably in 1989.
AM: That’s amazing!
It’s interesting that you decided later on that you wanted to be a chef. I’m based in NY as well, the first vegan restaurant I went to was your restaurant Pure Food & Wine.
CHEF MK: Oh wow!
AM: Yes, so it’s exciting to talk to you as your food was my first experience in that area. I'm not vegan myself, but when introduduced to it and getting to taste the flavor profile it was a great experience. Tell me about your culinary journey from where you went to school and kitchens that you started in.
CHEF MK: I basically moved to NYC right after college because I knew that I had friends there and I knew that that was where I wanted to be. I had planned to go to law school and instead, I took my first job at Christie’s when it was on 5th Ave. That was great and I realized that I wanted something social in my life. I was taken out to dinners and it was always so exciting going out to restaurants. I went to Hawaii for a little while and I did some hiking to decide on what I was most passionate about and I just had this idea that I wanted to open a restaurant in NYC. I had no skills or training whatsoever. So I enrolled in the French Culinary Institute (editor’s note: now called the International Culinary Center) and studied there and in the evening, I worked for about a year at a really amazing Southern Italian restaurant that was on 60th street I think called Malvasia and it was a chef from the island of Lipari and I just fell in love with the Mediterranean diet and flavors, the non use of butter for the most part, wild fennel and all of the exotic but clean flavors. That really resonated with me because that’s how I like to eat and live, but I had never seen it in that fashion. That had a really big impact on me, even though it wasn’t a 4 star restaurant or anything, it was really nice. The chef was kind of a known chef at that time. Gael Greene and all of the food critics from the NY Times, New York Magazine came through there so I got a real education at school, but also at this restaurant because I was there when it opened and I was able to see the whole thing come together and what was important in NY. I just got a massive education in one year.
When I graduated from the French Culinary Institute, some of my friends had gone to work at La Caravelle, which I think was a 3 star restaurant in those days. It was one of the top French restaurants like La Grenouille and so forth, but La Caravelle had a new American chef and he was hiring a new team and I went there and worked – it was very classic French. I then got a call from the manager of the Sicilian restaurant that I had worked at and I had only been out of cooking school for a year maybe. He said that he was hired to resurrect a restaurant that had been doing great, but the chef left and it had come apart. It was really struggling and it was a very high profile location and expensive restaurant. He said that he told the owners that he would only take the job if he could hire me to be the chef! I had no management experience, I had never been a chef, but I knew that I could do it. I took that job and I think that that was in 1991 and we got great reviews. Somehow, I worked around the clock and the owners were Brazilian and they asked me to open a second restaurant with them and then in 1993, a taxi cab went through the window of the first restaurant. Nobody was hurt, but it was full, but somehow, no one was hurt. It didn’t go through the dining room, but it smashed through the window and ruined the store front.
I said to them that this was a good time to change the concept. I wanted to do something North African inspired, Mediterranean, but not strictly Italian and they said that they would do it if I put my name on it. So, I did, we opened a Matthew’s in 1993 and that was my first restaurant. It was really an intense, well my whole career has been intense! It was very fast moving. My life was all about food and whatever exercise that I could get in. I would go home after 10 or 12 hour days and I would cook for my wife at that time. It was really a love affair with food.
AM: That is an amazing story of how you know, you got to have your name on the restaurant and opening it! Did you think at that time that you would be who you are now in terms of writing 12 cookbooks and all of these restaurants, concepts, and partnerships that you have?
CHEF MK: Well, that was before it was common for chefs to be able to do that. Daniel Boulud at that time was the chef at Le Cirque and Jean-Georges Vongerichten was the chef at Lafayette and then he opened JoJo his first restaurant right around the corner from me at the same time that I opened. So it was something hard to visualize in those days because it wasn’t very common for restaurant owners. There was a guy called Tony May who had a bunch of Italian restaurants – he had 3 or 4 places, he was like the king, but it just wasn't common in it just wasn't common in those days for chefs to be licensing and franchising. Wolfgang Puck did it a little bit, but that was mostly relegated to California, Vegas, and San Francisco. But there weren’t any chefs that were doing it on a global scale at that time. There may have been 1 or 2, but it wasn’t a thing like it is now.
AM: You are known as a super star chef who focuses on vegan and plant-based. Why did you want to go into this area? For those readers and listeners who may not be familiar, what is the difference between raw, vegan and plant-based?
CHEF MK: Sure! Well first, I’ll answer the last question first if that’s ok. Raw vegan which is what I got into first, it’s an entirely plant-based diet where nothing is heated over 110˚ F/120˚ F which is where enzymes are more active below that threshold and so you have to get creative with raw vegan because a lot of things aren’t good raw. It prohibits certain things that aren’t great for you. So it’s a really good diet for the digestion and great for so many things – elasticity of skin, hydration, but it’s tough to do it all year around.
Whereas, vegan, you can make anything – pizza, muffins, scones, anything! Raw vegan is more limited, but at the same time, that limitation encourages creativity. So they’re quite different although we create raw components to our non-raw food restaurants all the time.
AM: Very interesting and tell me about Matthew Kenney Cuisine which seems to be the umbrella that houses your restaurants, partnerships, products, innovations and concepts.
CHEF MK: Well as time evolved, even after Matthew’s, we had a really successful place and then the neighboring restaurant that was a block away wasn’t doing well so he said to me, “you’re always full and I have this great space and it’s not working, why don’t we do something together?” So I opened a second place, a casual place a block away. It did really well, but the partnership didn’t do so well and I left that. Matthew’s was just a really hot place for the first few years and I had a lot of offers and I couldn’t help but say yes too many times. I opened Mezze in Midtown next to the offices of Conde Nast at that time. Then, I opened a restaurant in Soho across from the Mercer Hotel and another one on 22nd street and one in Atlanta and in Maine. These were pre vegan days. That kind of got in my blood not just creating menus, but creating experiences through design. Whether it’s through music or uniforms, I just really fell in love with the idea of building restaurants. Running them is a different kind of challenge! Up until 1999 and 2001, I was running this decent sized company from my late 20’s to my mid 30’s.
You also asked me about vegan! I had gotten more and more into longevity and I have always been interested in fitness and exercise. In college, I made my own meals that were really healthy. They weren’t vegan because it wasn’t a thing then. It was in NY when I started to get more into yoga and more aware of how I felt and I started talking out loud to friends saying that I thought that I could be a vegetarian. In Maine, I grew up hunting by the way and fishing. But I just felt drawn to it – I liked foods that were clean, less stimulating, earthy and balanced cuisine. I felt that, but I didn’t know how to translate that into my career. I was also at a point where I was doing food that was more comfortable American like Truffle Mac & Cheese – these things that were trendy then. I didn’t really enjoy that because it wasn’t creative enough and it also wasn’t what I wanted in my body. I was disconnected a little bit, there wasn’t an alignment between my profession and my personal life. So, my old girlfriend at that time, made a reservation to go to a trendy restaurant at that time in Tribeca with a friend of ours. He called us after we made the reservation and said, that he had only been eating raw food which I had never heard of as a type of cuisine and he wanted to take us to a place called Quintessence which happened to be a block from our home – we didn’t know about it. We went there and the food was kind of weird and it wasn’t particularly exciting and it had strange names, there was no music, no wine, but everyone in there was so passionate about their diet and their lifestyle. They were just glowing with health! I had not seen people like that and it was full! It was just a lightbulb moment where I thought, that if somebody could actually make plant-based cuisine or raw cuisine sexy and fashionble and contemporary by applying classical culinary training to it, that could really change the way that we eat. So that was the moment where I pretty much went vegan right away!
AM: Wow!
You have a number of restaurants around the world. What goes into your thought process when it comes to deciding where you want to locate next, a partner that you want to have, the kind of concept and aesthetic that you want to bring forward?
CHEF MK: Well, we’re changing that model a lot. Basically, I always felt that focusing on the brand, the mission, the narrative and forming a team that can enhance that vision and keep creating. Just keep innovating because this space has so much runway and so much opportunity to make a difference by adding new styles, new recipes, formulas and new science. I really wanted to create a brand that would be attractive to the outside world that was looking for solutions and was looking to transform their business or their real estate property or to bring plant-based into their schools. So really, it’s all about the innovation aspect and the content and it stems from there. We’ve been fortunate to have opportunities that approached us for the last 5 years constantly from all over the world. But I’m making a shift.
I’ve been opening a lot of restaurants and have sold or closed a few restaurants over the pandemic because I want to be able to reach a larger audience and really expedite the shift in the global food dynamic and having plant-based be the center of the plate. That’s why we launched education during COVID, we had over 4,000 students in over 80 countries online at the Food Future Institute. It’s why we’re doing media projects and a bunch of partnerships with different brands and companies that serve food or products in different ways and experiences. Lastly, with restaurants we’re shifting towards more of a licensing model because it’s very hard to run restaurants in multiple states much less other countries and so pretty much at this point, we’re partnering with larger groups, developers, hotels, and brands that we think can grow a relationship at scale.
For example, we work with Kushner International, they’re based in Duabi. They have 15 or 20 properties and we work with them, we have a full service restaurant at one of them and we’re opening a second and then we’re working with them on 8 or 10 of their properties to do enterprise training by providing their chefs with tools and content to add plant-based to their existing menu. So those are the kinds of situations where we develop relationships where we can grow with them and we don’t have to do things that we’re not good at such as dealing with construction and all of that. So we’re really shifting to be entirely of that model within the next year.
AM: Which I think is really smart. Like you said, it allows you to focus on the things that you’re good at and that you want to be able to spend more time on.
CHEF MK: Yeah, it’s not our skill set. I grew up and my dad was a contractor, but I can’t be on a construction site and running a company doing a lot of things. The people that are really best at culinary for example, they don’t have experience with this type of thing. It’s just not practical for us and when we have the opportunity to do it through the licensing platform, that’s best.
AM: I actually met you back in 2019 in the fall at Ladurée’s event here in NY when they released their vegan menu at an editor event at their Soho restaurant. It was a fun event and it was inspiring to hear you talk about that at the luncheon. What does it mean to you when you are instituting plant-based menus in restaurants that still have non-plant-based dishes on the menu? People such as myself who eat plant-based half of the week or certain meals are able to be exposed to these innovations.
CHEF MK: Well, that’s where I see it going. That’s why I use the term “shift the global food paradigm,” because really what I’m looking at realistically is that the whole world will not go vegan. But I do believe that there will be a major shift to plant-based being 70-80% of what we consume. Therefore, we’re in a world where we’re all connected one way or another. So, I don’t have a problem with that as long as we’re not promoting or serving the non-plant-based. I’m not an activist per se. I'm not an activist per se. I'm an activist through art and that’s how I do it.
“I want to be able to reach a larger audience and really expedite the shift in the global food dynamic and having plant-based be the center of the plate.”
AM: We’ve been enjoying some of the new items from your brand, Ntidote which you launched at Expo West. The Pizzalmonds are amazing. Why did you want to launch this company which focuses on nutrient dense, functional foods, and supplement powders?
CHEF MK: Well, I just like Dr. Amir Marashi. He’s passionate, we have the same taste and he’s wonderful to work with! I know that whatever we do is going to be aesthetically pleasing, he’s committed to quality and I like where he is coming from as a doctor. He’s a very passionate person and that’s a big part of it. That’s the thing about Ntidote, I had the Trail Mix for breakfast and they’re very functional foods and also foods that really help us eliminate toxins that go into our bodies. It’s a big market segment and I felt that we had a perspective on where to get the best ingredients and how to activate them through the sprouting process and it’s really quite straight forward, but it’s meant to be very high quality, straight forward, non challenging for people to understand and I think that it can grow in a lot of different ways. I love the brand itself. It started off as an idea in doing a bar.
AM: Oh!
CHEF MK: We did a Ntidote Bar. It had ingredients that no other bar had like pine pollen and some really cool things and it was hard to produce them for a reasonable cost. So then it was higher to sell them at the right cost. We pivoted and then this is where we are now. I’m really happy with it and we did a nice job I feel. I love the branding and I’m just really pleased that it’s simple.
AM: I like that you were talking about that. I love the packaging. I’m a huge fan of almonds myself, so having these different flavors was really great to enjoy. I also received Golden Magic Powder, and I have found that to be lovely as well.
What’s your process like in terms of onboarding the different assortments that you'll eventually have and are there new things that you’re looking to add later in the year?
CHEF MK: We’re launching with a pretty large portfolio of products, so I think that a lot went into that and the branding and now, a lot will go into developing relationships with retail outlets or whoever will be carrying it. We want to nurture those relationships first and then once that part is stable, we’ll certainly look at other ideas as I have too many ideas and I have to learn to shut them down a bit because I really want to be able to do it right. So I want to be able to do this first phase in the right way.
AM: That’s exciting and I will definitely keep my eye out for it. I like how clean it tastes and then you begin to think about how you can incorporate it into things like my salads and other dishes. I think you guys did an amazing job with that.
How did the two of you come together to decide to do this? Had you worked together previously?
CHEF MK: No, I had a restaurant at the 1 Hotel in Miami and Amir came to a talk that I was doing. It was just a sunny weekend day and I gave a talk and maybe there was a demo. He approached me after and we just started talking and he asked me if I wanted to do something. We talked about what we wanted to do and he mentioned that we could do a bar because he’s a doctor and he really wanted to add value to his patients health by focusing on food. We decided to collaborate to do it together.
AM: Are there upcoming projects outside of this brand specifically or anything that’s coming up that we should keep an eye out for?
CHEF MK: Yes, we have a lot. We’re involved in a new company called Mates Brands and Jamison Ernest is the founder and he’s a very talented entrepreneur, he has a great eye and a really great style a great way of bringing people together. Mates is a company that will take experts in their fields and celebrities and pair them with a producer of a certain kind of product or service that they co-develop that will fall under that umbrella. The initial group is Venus Williams, Kate Hudson, Vanessa Hudgens and somehow, I got in there.
So that’s really exciting and we’re working on a few TV projects and I’m excited about both of them at production studios here in California. We just recently opened our restaurant in Doha it’s beautiful! They created this gorgeous green restaurant for us and that just opened. The next opening is in Palm Beach and then in the fall in Monaco. These are all licensing and strategic partnerships and we’re working on a sort of bespoke alcohol line where we just partnered with an influencer Sean Wotherspoon and then Matt Fontana my friend that owns BESTIES, the best vegan convenient store in the country and we opened Vegan Coffee, but it’s actually a curated sneaker shop in East Hollywood. We’re partnering with a group that has a yacht it’s solar and electric sustainable beautiful yacht that will have charters with high end plant-based cuisine. We’re actually training the chefs here today that have been with us here all week and we’ll be on the boat. So, we do a lot of different things probably involving 70 or 80 different types of projects!
AM: That’s great! I was literally going to ask you if there was anything that you would want to do that’s on your list of things to do and in just hearing you, you’re covering so many different verticals. How do you take time for yourself because I’m sure you’re traveling a lot and you’re checking on projects. But what do you do to kind of center yourself and to get back to self-care?
CHEF MK: Good question! Well we look at the entire spectrum from food growing to when it’s served and actually beyond that. My partner Charlotte, she is also my Creative Director, she has 5 towers and some of them are in the ground and she grows more food then what wecan eat here at home and she starts everything from seed. So we look at that and we partner with different groups that are going to be sustainable growing methods and we get involved with them. But on the back end, we work with Lomi which is a really cool composting machine for the home and they’re developing one for the business. It’s really cool because you put all your waste in there, press 1 button and 12 hours later, you have your compost which goes back into the garden. So we look at the whole spectrum, anything that is sustainable and promoting longevity not just for humans, but for the planet that is pleasurable, well designed, and stylish, that’s when we really get engaged into that whole entire process.
It used to be strictly food and I used to stay in my lane on that, but then I realized that sometimes that’s not enough because a lot of people are environmentalist and other people only care about their health whether it’s vegan or they’re not. Some care about animals. So we really have to embrace the whole thing and that’s why we leaned out our model to the point where we’re not physically going to be running business because instead of us being 70% operational and 30% innovation – it’s going to be 90% innovation and maybe 10% supportive of the various partnerships. That’s why I made that change because the other way of doing it which is what I have been doing for the last many many years, it wasn’t sustainable for me. I’m 59 this summer, I’m healthy, but I don’t sleep enough and I don’t feel like I give or work to the best of my potential when I’m not rested and taking time for yoga and meditation and so forth. That’s why I’m taking this model so that we will remove the majority of that operational aspect and I feel like we’ll be much better and we’ll add more value to society that way. I can also take care of myself better!
“That’s why I use the term ‘shift the global paradigm,’ because really what I’m looking at realistically is that the whole world will not go vegan. But I do believe that there will be a major shift to plant-based being 70-80% of what we consume.”
AM: You touched a little on TV projects that you’re working on. Do you envision doing a TV series or there are so many interesting culinary shows beyond the competition ones that are a travel meets cooking experience. Do you forsee or do you have plans for that?
CHEF MK: We do! I’ve been approached many times over the years for competitions and reality shows and it wasn’t really my thing. I’m more reserved. I’m comfortable on camera, but I don’t have the desire to be on camera. If I can tell a story and make a difference then I’m happy to do it and it’s also good for our company and for exposure. So, I get excited for that reason and the reason that we can make an impact, change habits, and inspire people hopefully. We’re working on 2 shows. 1 is more of a 1-on-1 type of solutions based talk show almost with celebrities and athletes that are looking to become plant-based. I don’t want to drop names, but I have names but I have had experiences with quite a few in the past and we want to do a show like that, because we believe that will be entertaining and the known figures will draw an audience, and people are interested in them, and also they will be influential in changing habits because watchers, viewers will see that and see them taking that initiative and then we’ll support it. I have a really large global network and one of my really good friends is an expert in hydration. It’s simple, but it’s not. So we have a lot of contacts like that that we will bring into the show.
The other one will be more travel. I always loved No Reservations.
AM: Same!
CHEF MK: It would be around food travel and food technology. The innovations in the food space globally. We might go to Finland where someone is creating an alternative protein with air or whatever! But it’s not about running into a laboratory it’s more about another person, what inspires them, what their background is, their local culture and the team that they built. So it will be great. I could drink a bottle of wine with them and who knows. So that will be the 2 shows that I’ll be working on.
It's not out of a desire to be on television. When I was young, Bobby Flay and I used to share a summer home in the Hamptons for 2 or 3 years in a row. He really wanted to be on TV and I really wanted to be behind the scenes. But now that I’m closer to 60, I feel like that I have a story to tell about longevity. It’s not just about people who are older, it’s about preparing for longevity when you’re young. So I think that there is something to tell in this show and to share. There will be cooking involved, but it’s not just that.
AM: I think that is awesome and I would definitely watch something like that.
When you’re cooking for yourself, what are 3 ingredients that you tend to have on hand and feel is so versatile to the dishes that you cook?
CHEF MK: Lemons, good olive oil, and sea salt. It’s not just that, I love Fuji apples, broccoli and greens but Charlotte grows them here so they’re always here. I love having a nice pantry. I love oils and seasoning. I love yuzu. I could give you a really long list but the first things that come to mind is great sea salt, lemons, and olive oil.
AM: As someone who has done so much in this space, have received a number of accolades and you have such a passion for it, what do you want your legacy to be seen as when people look back to the work that you have done?
CHEF MK: It’s not really about me. I don’t care about the legacy of me. But, I do want the work that I have done for so many years, because there are much easier things that I could have done, and I really want that to be able to carry on and to see plant-based to where it should end up. Having it at the center of the plate. I want people to be able to understand it and hopefully, it’s part of our education to kids. We learn the capitals of states, names of countries, algebra, and so forth, but we don’t understand our own bodies where food comes from and I don’t want to see a society that’s ill unnecessarily. I want people to be able to enjoy their lives much longer into their later years and to feel better while they’re young to have more of a productive society and hopefully one that’s also more emotionally balanced because of what foods can do for our well-being. So, I want to do everything that I can to put that momentum out there and to be part of it. That’s my goal. I don’t have any personal aspirations.
AM: As a personal question and one that we have talked about throughout our issues - so many people are talking about gut health and some eat gummies, take supplements, drink tonics etc. From your point of view, what are ingredients or items that people should be eating for their positive gut health.
CHEF MK: I think that most people are dehydrated, including myself because water can get boring and even when we do drink enough water, it’s not always assimilated in the right way – certain types of water, certain types of pH balances. Supplements we can do to kind of cover that. I think that's probably #1. I would say that #2 is chewing food because our digestive system doesn’t have teeth and it’s really critical. Those 2 things, can make such a difference to our digestive system. But then also, some things digest more quickly. We’re not animals so that’s why plants are so valuable. But understanding food combining, and what to layer and not to layer, eating watermelon on top of a big meal for example is not a good idea. Digestion is everything. Removing toxins and potential toxins from our body is everything and it’s critically important. I never thought about it. As young people, we don’t think about it. But when I got into plant-based, I did a cleanse with this really quirky doctor and it just changed my entire digestive system. I felt like I was flying! Ever since then, I have been acutely aware of how my digestion is, what I eat and how it will impact my digestive system. I love sweets, I love ice cream and I indulge. I eat whatever I want. But I’ve trained myself to eat what’s good for me without much effort, because I already like these foods anyway. I’m always excited to walk into a health foods store, but I think that it’s a big subject and it’s definitely everything. Because you can be on the most beautiful place on the planet, gorgeous sunny day, and be on vacation and if you’re digestion is not working properly, you cannot enjoy it!
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | This feature + PG 150 63MIX ROUTIN3S - Chef Matthew Kenney
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see AT THE CENTER OF THE PLATE | Chef Matthew Kenney in mag.
This time of year is always fun as a number of our favorite DJs are all over sharing their music and creations with a number of fans. Whether you see them in person or stream them on your favorite platform, you have the opportunity to experience their sound and what they're working on at that time!
This month, we caught up with Ferry Corsten who shared his 9PLAYLIST with us last year and with so many projects going on and a busy schedule ahead, we wanted to find out more about his artistry as well as what he's been working on. With a career that spans over 2 decades, we wanted to know more about how he got into the industry, what his creative process is, how he decides which alias will embrace his sound and so much more. We also talk about his upcoming album under his name with it's single Connect.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with music?
FERRY CORSTEN: This must have been when I was about 9 or 10 years old. My dad installed a car cassette played in my room and that’s when I became fascinated with music.
AM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a DJ/producer?
FC: When I was about 15 years old, I had already learned that you could do all these cool things with cutting and pasting tape and make edits of songs. I also had learned that with 2 turntables and mixing 2 songs together you could create something new. Soon after that I started clubbing and that’s when I met some guys who had a little studio. They asked me to come by one day and from that point on I was hooked on making or producing music. To be honest, I never really wanted to be a DJ but after my first few successes in the UK the opportunity arose for me to play at the biggest clubs and festivals. Obviously, I grabbed it with both hands and I’ve never looked back.
AM: In your career that spans over 2 decades, you have performed under a number of aliases and have had chart-topping success while also embracing an array of genres, how do you decide what project will go under what name or the need to create another name?
FC: My interests in music or electronic music as a whole have a pretty wide range, so I love to go into the studio and keep myself pumped and challenged by not always making the same type of music. This may be easy for me to understand, but not always as easy to follow for my fans. Therefore, I created these aliases so I can keep making different music without confusing my fans. They now know what to expect when they see a new Ferry Corsten track is coming or when a new Gouryella or FERR track is coming. Each project has it’s own distinct sound, one is more techy, deeper, more diverse and the other is either more trancy or more ambient.
AM: How would you define the Ferry Corsten sound?
FC: I’m always on the hunt for a very strong and recognisable melodic hook. That is the main thing. But I also look for opposites. For example, a beautiful melody played with a nasty sound or with a tougher drive underneath. Combining elements from different genres and blending them together is also something you can expect in a Ferry Corsten track.
AM: What's your process when you're creating new music and where do you look for inspiration?
FC: I always go for the melody first. When I have my hook, the rest of the track builds itself around it. I know a lot of other producers who go for the groove first, but for me its melody first.
I get inspired by all kinds of things. Of course, from new synths and sounds when I’m in the studio, but also from other music, from people, places, happy accidents and wherever the universe takes me.
AM: You have collaborated with a number of DJ's including Paul Oakenfold as well as Armin van Buuren - when you're approaching working with other artists, what is that process?
FC: It’s always great to work on something together. The one thing you need for this however, is an open mind. Being set on your idea without the willingness to compromise is not going to work. Usually, it starts by goofing around in the studio and bouncing ideas off of each other until something sticks. If being in the studio together physically is not possible, sending ideas back and forth is also an option, but not quite the same fun.
AM: Tell me about your latest single that you dropped this month, Connect. The futuristic sound of this song has been one that we have enjoyed listening to!
FC: Thank you. I like where music is going at the moment. It’s an amazing blend of techno, trance, and house. All the sounds I personally love to listen to as well.
AM: What is the meaning behind the name Connect for this song?
FC: I am fascinated with what music does to people, how it connects us all, what it does to our mood and its ability to connect one’s creative outburst with the world. It can also instantly turn a bad day into a good one. Everything is strung together and that is what is being reflected in Connect. Connect is also the first single of my next album which will see the light early next year.
AM: Connect is the debut single from your upcoming album, what can you tell us about the album and will you have any other songs that you will be releasing this summer?
FC: It will be an album full of tracks blending the above mentioned genres of music emphasising the togetherness music brings to us all. Over the next month’s various singles will be released leading up to the final release of the album. Towards the end of the year, you can also expect a new tour in light of this upcoming album release.
AM: With the summer officially starting in a few weeks, what festivals will you be part of and where will you tour?
FC: I will be playing most of the big festivals in Europe, North America and Asia. I will also host my first Resonation Radio stage at Dance Valley in The Netherlands this summer.
AM: Tell me about What the F which allows your fans to enjoy your music reimagined, remixed, and with a futuristic approach?
FC: What The F is a must for everyone who has been following my career. It is an open to close set in which I will only play my own music including crazy mashups of my tracks, updated versions, and remixed versions of certain tracks which you can only hear at this show. Obviously, I will play music from my biggest aliases as well. The name What The F stems from the idea of someone being on the dance floor hearing me play a track he or she didn’t know was mine and thinking…’He did this too????……What The F!!!’ …..F for Ferry of course ;-p
AM: You also have your weekly radio show, Resonation Radio! Why did you want to do this and what can fans hear when they tune in?
FC: I have been doing radio since 2007. My first show was called Corsten’s Countdown but after episode 700 this was changed into Resonation Radio. This name change was because of the change in format of the show giving me more freedom to play a larger variety of genres. Expect the best in melodic house, melodic techno, and progressive trance.
AM: You released Connect on your imprint, Flashover Recordings. Tell me about this label and what artists or projects that you're excited about that will be released?
FC: Flashover is a label releasing progressive trance, melodic house, and melodic techno. We also like to tease our audience with a quirky release occasionally. Our current focus is on US based DJ/Producer Dustin Hussain and hot new Ukrainian talent Cubicore.
PHOTOS COURTESY| Ferry Corsten
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see CONNECT THIS SUMMER | Ferry Corsten in mag.
Earlier this year, our FEB ISSUE #86 was covered by Team USA Olympic Gold Medalist and 5X Women's World Surf League Champion, Carissa Moore! Since we spoke to her, she's halfway through the season and at the time of the release of this issue is #2 in the World Surf League, won the Billabong Pro Pipeline as well as most recently, winning the Margaret River Pro in late April!
She is a force on the water and we also enjoy how she gives back to women by empowering them to be who they want to be as they navigate their lives and take on wherever their goals lead them! In the midst of training and making her own goals, we caught up with her to find out about her recent win, the second half of the season and her latest collaboration with Hurley for her May Moore Aloha collection by Hurley.
ATHLEISURE MAG: What did your recent win at Margaret River mean to you?
CARISSA MOORE: It was a very validating and empowering win. It had come after a string of average results that had me questioning my process and formula. I feel like things start to fall into place when I reconnect with what’s most meaningful to me and let go of everyone else’s expectations. It’s very easy to get distracted on the journey and this win was a nice reminder to trust in my preparation, process and believe in my purpose. I love Margaret River and winning with my team there made it really special.
AM: Why do you enjoy being at Margaret River?
CM: It feels like things are more simple in Margaret River. There isn’t a lot of fuss, bells and whistles. People are kind, the towns are small and there is a ton of open space. The nature is raw, the waves are wild, you can still find an empty beach or watch the sunset all by yourself. That is rare. It is a place that brings you back to yourself and the present moment.
AM: What tournaments are you looking forward to this year?
CM: The second half of the WSL Championship Tour season, I am truly looking foward to all of the events but especially Teahupo’o, Tahiti (SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro).
AM: What’s your routine on the morning of your competition?
CM: I wake up around 5am, kiss my husband good morning, make myself a warm drink, activate my body for about 45 mins and then head to the beach for a surf before the first horn blows usually around 8am.
AM: When you finish competing, how do you switch gears into relaxing mode?
CM: I like to relax after competing by taking a hot shower, eating a healthy meal, going for a nice beach walk, reading a book, journaling or putting on a good tv show.
AM: Tell us about your May Moore Aloha collection by Hurley!
CM: This Moore Aloha X Hurley collection is my favorite one yet! Created from start to finish with love and attention to all the details, this collection celebrates Hawaii, femininity and combined woman power. So grateful for the opportunity to work closely with local Hawaiian artist, Aloha de Mele, on all the prints and the incredible team at Hurley Women to create a line that combines function with fashion. It is my goal with every collection to create pieces that spark joy, empower females to feel comfortable and confident while chasing their dreams. To add, one of the things I’m most excited about is this is the first of our collections available in girl sizes!
AM: What does it feel like for your collaboration between Moore Aloha and Hurley to come together like it has?
CM: It is so cool to see my favorite pieces come to life, displayed at my hometown stores and being worn!
AM: What is your process of designing your collection?
CM: I’ll start by sending the Hurley Women’s team “inspo” pics and they’ll create a mood board, pick a variety of prints and colors for me to choose from. Once we nail that down, they’ll create a line up of silhouettes for me to look at. There is a bit of back and forth refining the selection and giving feedback. Then, they will make samples and I get to product test! I’ll send some suggestions until we get the fits just right.
AM: Tell us about your next Moore Aloha event.
CM: I am planning the next Moore Aloha event for this fall on the island of Oahu. Our work focuses on Mental Health, Education, Community Relations, Culture, and Environmental Conservation. Our main goal is to share valuable tools and resources with girls and women to create a positive life driven by passion, fueled by purpose. We integrate the Hawaiian culture to promote mindfulness and community. The ocean and surfing is a tool to empower girls to step outside their comfort zone and live fearlessly. Our welcoming atmosphere allows for open, honest conversation and soulful connections. Some of the activities we include are a tag team event, lei making, yoga, journaling, hula, a beach clean up and surfing. Depending on our group and our focus we will sometimes include a goal setting workshop, CPR and water safety courses, work in the lo’i (taro patches), plant trees, and invite other empowering females to talk and share their inspirational stories.
IG @rissmoore10
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | This feature + 9PLAYLIST PG 118 Hurley
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see WITH LOVE AND ATTENTION | Carissa Moore in mag.j
Since 2017, Athleisure Mag has been a media sponsor in partnering with NYC Pride. During June there are a number of events that take place that bring the LGBTQIA+ and city at large together to celebrate as well as to draw awareness and to highlight the talents, interests and passions of this community. We always enjoy Pride Island which is a fun musical festival that will be headlined this year by Christina Aguilera. There are other events that also take place in this calendar from The March, The Brunch, PrideFest and so much more.
We sat down with Executive Director Sandra Perez of Heritage of Pride, the parent organization of NYC Pride to find out about the roots of the organization, a quick history of Pride here in NY, events taking place next and how they are drawing awareness, celebrating, education and raising money for small businesses. In our JUN ISSUE #90, we will talk about the actual events that took place!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into this year’s theme as well as events that are slated, can you give us some historical background on Pride in NY starting with The Stonewall Riots that took place in 1969?
SANDRA PEREZ: NYC Pride is an outgrowth of The Stonewall Riots. So the first organizers The Gay Liberation March that emerged from The Stonewall Riots, was a loose coalition of organizations that continued to really emerge from the activist perspective. They were focused on basic human rights, recognition within our community, but also really, Stonewall was about people being persecuted and that they didn’t exist publicly.
The cause feels very present. In the last few years and this year in particular. BY 1984, there was a decision made to formalize a pride organizer, we became and were named Heritage of Pride and we’ve been organizing the Pride March and all related events since then!
AM: Which is a huge job!
SP: Yes, we’ll be turning 40 next year! It is a big job.
AM: What is your role and what are the things that you do that are specific to the events for NYC Pride and then what do you do in terms of Heritage of Pride, year around?
SP: Oh my goodness, as Executive Director, it’s always funny because I say that I do everything and nothing, right? Because you have your finger in every little pot! But for the most part, I’m charged with overseeing our events, our fundraising efforts and our advocacy. For me, a big part of what I have been doing since I came onboard in Nov of 2021 so I’m not here 2 years yet, has really been working with the organization and learning. But also, reinforcing our activists’ groups. I think a big part of the story that never gets told about Pride is that so much of the work that we do goes on behind the scenes.
People will think, “oh a march just happened.” No, it didn’t just happen. We rely on 1,000’s and I mean literally 1,000’s of volunteers that help to pull off our events every year. They’re very committed and people come from great distances. They take off of work to volunteer because it is that important to people. I was just talking about this with a staff person, but they were like, “oh my gosh, we’re responsible to the community and making sure that everything goes well.” I was like, “yeah, welcome to Pride!”
AM: Absolutely!
What brought you to Pride and what made you want to work there and to be in the position that you’re in?
SP: I spent a lot of time in the not-for-profit sector. I had run a Latinx organization for many years, I’ve worked for the Ms. Foundation for Women as part of their fundraising and development teams. So for me, my goal has always been mission work. I feel very strongly about being connected to a mission that resonates with me personally. This is a job where I am able to bring every single aspect of myself to work.
AM: That’s great!
SP: Right? You don’t always get that! I can be the Bronx girl that I am, I can be a Lesbian, a Puerto Rican, an American, I can be all of those things. I can do that and be of service to a community that I am part of and I feel strongly about that.
AM: We love that this year’s theme is Strength in Solidarity. What does that mean and how are we going to see that throughout events that are offered this year?
SP: That’s so great! You know, one of the things that continually amazes me is that we open up our themes for nominations which are across the board. So this comes from volunteers, from the general public and this year we landed on Strength and Solidarity, because we felt that it captured the call to action that we need to issue this year. The way we’re seeing that and the way that we’re trying to live into that theme is really looking to bring in all segments and to speak to all segments of the LGBTQ community. There are a lot of differences within the community, but I think that the challenge that we are all facing is very clear. For me, being able to work hand in hand and to work across different organizations is really a big part of what we try to do.
So for example, in The March, you’ll see that we’re looking forward to it. It’s our signature event and in there, it highlights our community partners this year. So you will see organizations that are celebrating big anniversaries this year – PFLAG and The National LGBTQ Task Force. Lambda Legal is being honored as community heroes. We have people from every sector that we also lift up as Grand Marshalls. The Brown and Black trans community is also very prominently represented as our drag queens who are in the front lines now every single day. For us, it’s also challenging. For the floats for example, what we try to do there with corporate partners that have a float, we try to marry them to one of our community based groups that they can share that float and to really expand that opportunity to get people to be involved and represented in The March as well as not just a corporate partner.
AM: That’s amazing. We didn’t realize that.
SP: I know a lot is made of corporations that are involved in Pride events. I am very clear that we vet our partners. A number of them we have asked point blank - what are you doing in our community and how are you living into your DEAI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) at your institution. It’s just a really important moment for us to look at not just unity and solidarity within the community, but to also place and emphasis on allyship and what needs to show up for us at this point in time when so many of our rights are being attacked, violence is an ever present risk that we’re faced with, our volunteers are faced with as well as our staff. It’s a celebratory moment, but it’s also a somber one.
AM: I couldn’t agree more. When we first approached by your team back in 2017 to be media sponsors, people asked why we would want to participate. The first response was that I think it is important to be an ally. As Co-Founders, I’m Black, the other co-founder is a white man and we are a heterosexual couple. On various sets, our teams have had those who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as we have covered those who are as well throughout our issues.
I have always felt that you should be a good ally and be able to share those stories within your pages as representation is important. It’s always been important to me as I want to be able to see myself when I'm out in the world. I've had very close friends that I knew of over the years whether it was being sent to conversion schools/therapies, having a hard time coming out to various people in their circle or simply just not being able to navigate their lives who committed suicide. For me, these were people that were my friends and even in the midst of their struggle there were such a rich fabric in terms of what they offered to the world and each time I always felt so sad that they felt that that was what they had to do and that there wasn’t enough that they could stay and either increase their circles or find community that they could navigate differently.
From those experiences, I have felt that it is always important to be an ally and to have representation reflected. I appreciate that your organization is looking to embrace and work with those that are in your community as well as outside of it. It’s also great to know that when you are with corporate partners which is necessary to put on a production of this nature, that you do create accountability and that you ensure that the benchmarks align with it being done in a way that works for what you need. I really appreciate that.
SP: Yeah, I think that in part and parcel of that, is really looking at engaging. We don’t just have sponsors, we call them partners. We call them partners for a very specific reason. We want to go beyond the exchange of a check. It’s about what are you doing to our community, what are you doing for our community, are you engaged in dialogue? How can we facilitate the dialogue and how can we educate you as to what kind of support our community needs.
I have one of our Co-Chairs, Sue Doster who always says, “we set the table so that people can sit down and have the discussions that need to be had." I say yes that’s what we do and that we go a step further by providing people with the opportunities to do better. For me, that's a real important part of what we need to be doing in the future.
AM: Who are the Grand Marshalls this year?
SP: I'm excited about this year's Grand Marshalls: Billy Porter (American Horror Story, Pose, 80 For Brady), Yasmin Benoit, AC Dumlao, Hope Giselle, and Randolfe "Randy" Wicker. We do have our Grand Marshalls, once again nominated by community members which is really great. I think that they reflect a lot of the community, they reflect the very best of advocates, and they reflect the very best champions that are out there and we look forward to having them take the spotlight and stepping off The March.
AM: For those that may not be able to be there in person, will you guys still have The March broadcast on WABC and will there be other ways to access this event if they miss the live airing?
SP: Yes! I’m very happy to say that we just renewed our partnership with WABC!
AM: Nice!
SP: So you can see us for the next 4 years on WABC!
AM: That’s fantastic!
SP: We’re really happy about that. The March is a live broadcast for 3 hours. You can also see it on ABC7NY.com, ABC News Live, and ABC7 New York's Connected TV apps on streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. We love for people to know that they can watch this in person, live at home or at another time!
AM: Pride Island has always been one of my favorites! Our team enjoys going – we loved when we saw Madonna back in 2019 – such a great performance. People were losing their ever loving mind! Christina Aguilera just got named as the headliner this year and I love that you guys will hold this at Brooklyn Army Terminal. What can we look forward to in terms of this event?
SP: I mean, I think you can look forward to the great music that has become part of Pride Island and it originated as Dances on the Pier! When we first started way back when, the community had no place to dance because it was forbidden right (Editor’s Note: Dances on The Piers started in 1986). They threw whole parties on the pier and those have morphed into things like Pride Island and so many other events that happen that Fri. and Sat. So Pride Island, you can see a lot of activations, we have talent, we have a few surprises I’m sure and great fireworks which always is fun, we have food and Christina’s set! We’re very excited to have her onboard, she’s such a great champion for the community and I‘m just as excited as you are, let’s just put it that way!
AM: When I saw the release pop out, I was like, “what?!?”
SP: I did squeal as well! There’s no jadedness here! We get very excited over the talent that we have on stage for Pride Island. But equally at all of our events.
We have PrideFest which is our street fair that takes over downtown and that’s 3 stages going on there. We have Family Fest, we’re going to prominently feature members of our community on stage with lots of local talent because this is where they grow and we want this to be a showcase of our community as well as local talent as well. We’re doing Youth Pride this year again in Brooklyn which is an important event for us because we know how much pressure young people are under. We know that it is not a safe time for them. So to be able to partner with Target over many years and they have been the ones advocating for this being a totally free experience for young people to celebrate in safe spaces. That is going to be a fantastic event. I’m really proud that we do that.
AM: I love that when you’re looking at the different events, that you present, The Brunch this year has Black chefs from the LGBTQIA+ community or that TEAZE focuses on women – you create programming where you can really showcase representation so that people can step forward and see something that can interest them. Why is it so important to do that and it’s so complex because you only have so many days but you’re targeting so many demographics?
SP: Yeah we do, because our community is not a monolith. We come in every shape and color and our interests are varied. The event producers that we bring on every year are from the community and have a real commitment to lifting up different segments of our community and that’s what you see when you see The Brunch. We’re celebrating Juneteenth and understanding that historically Black and Brown folks have been marginalized not just in mainstream, but within our communities. So really lifting up that talent and really lifting up our partnerships and what we plan to do beyond The Brunch and beyond the month of June.
AM: How far in advance do you begin planning for the next upcoming Pride event because it feels like you would be working on this one as well as the next one already.
SP: Absolutely! One of my big commitments is to get us to a place where we are planning this 2 and 3 years in advance! Because that’s the time that we would really need to be able to realize the vision, right? One of the things that we’ve done this year that’s different is that we have lightened our calendar and we decided that there are certain events that we do usually in June that were not getting the attention that they merited. So for example, our Human Rights Conference, it will move to Oct. We feel that it will be a really great time to go from the lighter aspects of Pride and really dive into the issues that are facing the community. Not just the issues, but the people leading us and offering new answers. So we’re very pleased that we’re going to move and lean into what we call Pride 365, which means that we will be present in terms of having productions year around. So we’re looking at having a fuller calendar Oct. – Dec. that will allow us to do our Human Rights Conference. We have moved our Family Movie Night and are looking at making it a monthly. It’s really about targeting families and children so that they can participate in a safe theater experience with other parents because I think that that is important to be able to build up that community. Parents who have children that are from that community are also important as well.
AM: It’s great that you looked at what you have done over past Pride months and were able to segment what made sense to stay in that period as well as looking at the longer view by seeing how you can create a fuller schedule that takes place throughout the year. It allows for those that are looking at what you do to understand that these are ongoing initiatives and are not designated for June only. Once again for those that are allies, that we shouldn’t be rallying around June but there are everyday efforts that can be done and are available.
SP: It is an everyday effort and we realize that we need to be banging that drum. We have a very unique space within the LGBTQ ecosystem, but organizations are year around. It doesn’t matter the size, we’re one of the largest Pride organizations, but I’m thinking of rural communities that are trying to put together their first Pride, most of these things come from people who want to create a safe space and our programming allows them to do that if they can leverage our work in service of their community, that really is the goal there. To teach that voice and to keep that platform open for the people that we serve.
AM: Are there organizations or charities that a portion of the proceeds of the sales of tickets/admission go to support?
SP: Actually, we’re very proud of our Pride Gives Back Program! It is a grant program wherein we award upwards of $100,000 a year to a variety of different groups that can apply to a grant program. This year, I think that we’re just sending out the award letters. There may be 15 groups in our cohort and they range from very very small organizations to large organizations who are looking for either support to stabilize. I think that what I love about the Pride Gives Back Program is that it really speaks to the organizations that are at the absolute grassroots. They’re not necessarily being funded yet and we get to find them, fund them, and incubate them. We have some of our grantees who use our space to carry out their events. We really do try to support their work with publicity as well as resources as well as staff time. We want them to succeed, we want them to feel that they are part of our organization.
We’re doing that and we’re also expanding our partnership that we have with Mastercard which will allow us to pilot a grant program for small businesses. We’ll be making announcements for that, later on this month.
AM: We were talking a bit about volunteers earlier, is there still an opportunity for people to be able to apply to be involved in this year’s events?
SP: Absolutely! We are always looking for volunteers. This is the time of year where we sign people up and we make it really easy. All they have to do is to visit our volunteer page and what we do there is provide information to come to meetings and our training. Our volunteers can be hybrid. You can be a day of volunteer and you’ll get some training. We have very experienced volunteer captains and there is always time to hop on board this train!
IG @nycpride
PHOTOS COURTESY | NYC Pride
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see STRENGTH IN SOLIDARITY | NYC Pride in mag.
We love attending music festivals and here in NYC, Govenors Ball kicks off our summer season! This 3-day festival has a number of the hottest artists across 3 stages and a number of genres! Over the past few years, we've attended this event on Governors Island, Randall's Island, and Citi Field. This year, it settles into its new home in its 12th year at Flushing Meadow Corona Park in Queens from June 9th - 11th! This year's acts include Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Diplo, Kendrick Lamar, SOFI TUKKER, and Kim Petras to name a few! Over the 3 days, people can celebrate their favorite artists, have Instagram-worthy pictures, enjoy fabulous food and beverages and more!
We caught up Tom Russell, Co-Founder and Partner of Founders Entertainment who puts on Gov Ball from his vision of creating a music festival that also honors the spirit and diversity of NY! We wanted to find out how Tom got into the music festival industry, his passion for music, how Gov Ball was created, and what first-timers and veterans can expect when they come to the show this year! We delve into partnerships and the future of this festival. Make sure you read next month's JUN ISSUE #90 which will have our recap of this 3 days of music!
ATHLEISURE MAG: Before we delve into Governors Ball, how did you get into the business of music festivals?
TOM RUSSELL: I grew up in NYC and was obsessed with music from a young age and I was going to concerts at a young age starting in middle school. I got really into punk rock going to concerts on St. Marks Place. As I got older, I went to high school, got really into jam bands, went to New Orleans for college and got really into funk music and world music and all of that of course Hip-Hop since I was young.
I went to a festival called Bonnaroo and had the time of my life and I had the best time ever! I said to myself after that weekend, “I need to work in music festivals." This was my passion. I was living in New Orleans going to Tulane and I discovered that the company that did Bonnaroo was based in New Orleans. So, I wrote them an email, wrote them another email, and another one and they finally wrote me back.
I somehow managed to wiggle my way into there and get an internship. I did it for a semester and then they offered me another internship and then Hurricane Katrina happened and they evacuated their offices to NYC which is where I was born and raised. I was in NYC for that semester as well. They offered me a full-time job and I had to make a decision at that time. Did I want to go back to college, or did I want to take a job with the company that I wanted to do more than anything? I decided to drop out of school, drop out of college with 1 semester to go, and take a job with Superfly. I worked with them for 6 years until I hit my ceiling at Superfly, and I decided that it was time for me to leave to pursue my long life goal of bringing my hometown and beloved city a music festival that they could call its own.
At that time, you had Lollapalooza in Chicago, Austin City Limits in Austin, Outside Lands in San Francisco, but there was no cultural institution in NY and I felt that that was just wrong and it didn’t make sense to me. So I left Superfly to start Gov Ball with a couple of friends of mine. It was good timing and we really hit the nail on the head with our programming and we really tapped into this growing festival culture and this demand for really good live music in NYC. It was kind of off to the races from there!
AM: I love that and that is such a great story!
What I love about Governors Ball is that you have different types of genres that are playing in the same space across 3 different stages. You can obviously see artists that you enjoy that you're already fans of as well as other genres and artists that you weren't familiar with and you always leave adding more to your playlist after going which I think is really cool.
TR: Well that was a huge thing for us. We all looked at our Spotify, Apple playlist, iTunes what have you and we saw that we weren’t just listening to Hip-Hop, rock, or pop, we were listening to everything and it was important to us to put together lineups that had artists that we loved and that we knew were amazing live musicians, but also we had something for everybody. People just have tons of different tastes. We carry that on to this day where we’ll have an EDM headliner, a Hip-Hop headliner, and we’ll have a pop headliner, and everything in between. I think that it just speaks to the variety of tastes that not just music lovers have, but also New Yorkers because it’s such a diverse city.
AM: Absolutely.
What is your process like when you’re sketching out a year ahead or whatever in terms of the different types of artists that you’re bringing in?
TR: So we’re always looking for the biggest and the best. We certainly know what bands have new records coming out. We certainly know what bands have a desire to tour around the Gov Ball time. We know what bands we would love to have, but they’re definitely not touring and we kind of go for all of it and see what sticks. We start out with the headliners and there are artists that we have made offers to every single year in the hopes that it will pique their interests and sometimes we just throw something crazy out there and they come back to us and say yes. Other times, it goes nowhere and we just fall back on artists that really want to play the festival and are releasing a record around that time of year. But for us, it’s important to have the biggest and best things. Because one of the beautiful things about NYC is that New Yorkers have access to the best of everything. We have access to the best food, the best music, the best parks, and there’s so much to do, that it's essential for us to put together a lineup that is the best and that people just can’t say no to because there are so many other things to do in this city. We have to stand out. So, it’s always, how do we put together the biggest and best lineup that will get people to have a double take and say, fuck, there’s no way that I am missing that.
AM: Well this year, it’s going to be at Flushing Meadows, Corona Park. What is the thought process behind finding the ideal space because it is 3 massive stages, plus all of these other activations that are also on-site?
TR: I would say that for any great music festival, the venue is almost as important as the artist. It really defines the vibe of the overall event and for Gov Ball over the years, we’ve struggled to be honest. We’ve moved. We started out as a 1-day festival on Governors Island, we moved to Randall’s Island where we grew to a 3 day festival, and we moved over to Citi Field coming out of the pandemic. But we never really had a large greenspace venue that is iconic and lent itself well to live events and that led us to Flushing Meadows at Corona Park. A park that was built and designed for events many many decades ago. It’s easily accessible by subway and LIRR. It is full of iconic structures, museums, and tons of trees. It’s such a unique green space. We’re so excited for this year and for our fans to see it because the festival will take on a whole new life and a whole new vibe and one that we have really wanted to have since our start. You look at Lollapalooza, they’re in Grant Park. Austin City Limits is in Zilker Metropolitan Park. With Gov Ball, we haven’t had that yet. Flushing Meadows is truly an incredible and special place that we just can’t wait to bring it alive!
AM: I’m excited and looking forward to it!
Food is always a huge component of music festivals as well and you guys have incredible vendors such as our favorites: The Halal Guys, and Taqueria Diana as well as food partnerships by bringing in the Queens Night Market. Why was this important to have such a diverse series of foods?
TR: So for us, we wanted to have the best of everything! The best music lineup and of course, the best food. People need to be able to eat and drink and to listen to great music. With us being in Queens, we couldn’t not think of the Queens Night Market which is such an institution. It has such an amazing collection of vendors from all over the world. We reached out to John Wang, founder of Queens Night Market and he’s so brilliant and what he created there and it’s so special. So we said, “look, we’re coming to Flushing Meadows and you’ve been there for so long and we have created this amazing amazing event, we would love for you to be able to help us curate some vendors that really speak to Queens and speak to what you have built and to help us give more variety to what we are offering.” He was kind enough to make a number of introductions and help us to feature food that will really be additive to the festival and to get people super super excited to have food from around the world. From Mao's Bao to Twisted Potato, La Brasa for those folks that go to Queens Night Market like myself, it’s really going to be great. So they’re going to go from seeing one amazing act to having an amazing meal, to seeing another amazing act to having another amazing meal. What do people want in life? Good food, good music, and good drink. That’s all that you need.
AM: It’s a full experiential opportunity to have all of these things together. What are some things that are being added to this year’s event that may be different from last year? For those who go every year or may have missed a few, what can they expect?
TR: I think that the biggest thing this year is our new venue. I mean, this is going to be a Gov Ball experience that’s unlike any other because it's a brand new site which is full of lush trees and iconic elements like the Unisphere. How we’re bringing the park to life with lighting and décor and art installations. What we’re doing to enhance the trees, it’s really going to be super duper special and for those folks that have been to Gov Ball once, twice, 5 times or 10, they truly have no idea what they are in store for because this venue is a whole new ballgame and it’s so exciting. We just can’t wait for people to be able to see it and to experience what Gov Ball has wanted to be since it’s iteration.
AM: In addition to all of the things that take place on Gov Ball’s festival site, it’s great that you also have After Dark. We love the idea of people being able to continue the party and to see a number of the artists that are performing at other venues around the city and to expand your footprint. Why is this an element that you love including with Governors Ball?
TR: Well look, the festival ends at 10pm because the NYC Parks tell us we have to end at 10pm and I don’t want to go to bed at 10pm! It’s way too early, it’s summertime in the city on a Fri., Sat., and Sun. night. So we reach out to the artists that are playing the festival and we tell them that we want to work with them some more, feature them in an After Dark show, keep the party going and we know the fans will like it. So we have events with Saba, Metro Boomin’, SOFI TUKKER, and tons more. So, for us, it’s giving the people the opportunity to keep the party going. We’re predominantly a NY festival because most if the people going are from NYC and the tri-state area. But there are tons of people that come in from around the country and around the world. So we want to give people the opportunity to see the festival at the park, but also to experience these great venues in Manhattan and in Brooklyn and elsewhere.
AM: That’s smart!
TR: Yeah. We just want to be able to have something to fill out there whole weekend.
AM: For those that won’t be able to attend the festival themselves, is there a way that they would be able to listen to the lineup whether you partnered with a streaming platform or anything else like that?
TR: So we aren’t livestreaming the event this year. If you want to get a take on this year’s music, you can hop onto Spotify and look at our official playlist. But that’s what we have in store for this year and I can’t say enough about this venue and what we are doing there. For those folks that are on the fence for going this year, I can’t sell it enough. It’s going to be super special and super new and Gov Ball unlike any other.
AM: You also have an entire philanthropic component to Gov Ball that involves the community which is amazing. Can you tell us more about that and how you’re supporting these particular initiatives?
TR: Since we started the festival, we’ve always wanted to give back to the local community. When we were in Randall’s Island for years in East Harlem, it was important for us to work with local East Harlem institutions because we were impacting that community the most. The flow traffic from the festival was going right through the East Harlem neighborhood. We started to build these relationships with local non-profit partners.
When we moved over to Queens, we brought that same goal in mind. This year, working with super local organizations such as Chhaya and ECRC (Elmhurst/Corona Recovery Collective) we’re giving them the opportunity to expose their amazing causes to a brand new audience and we’re also giving our audience an opportunity to work towards tickets to the festival by volunteering at those organizations. So for a few hours of work and volunteering, you can get a Gov Ball ticket and we’re fundraising for these organizations. These are super small and local that truly need exposure. They truly need funding so for us to be able to give back to them, it’s a really important initiative of ours. Over the years, we have worked with really large organizations too such as Everytown and Planned Parenthood and we’ll continue to work with those bigger organizations, but it is always important for us to be hyperlocal and to help these smaller organizations that have these great causes who have less awareness and to give them a means to benefit.
AM: Just looking at the future, do you ever see Gov Ball to be the same as a Lollapalooza, an EDC or a Tomorrowland that pops up in other cities around the world? Do you ever think that that would be a journey that Gov Ball will take at some point?
TR: I don’t. I think that Gov Ball is NYC born and bread. I think that the ethos of the event is NYC, we feature NYC artists, it’s NYC food vendors, NYC graffiti artists, NYC contractors and vendors and non-profits. The whole vibe of the event is NYC and we don’t really have the desire to stray from that. I think that the NYC works in NYC. I don’t think that you could plop that down anywhere else and we just want to continue to be able to make Gov Ball the best that it can be and now with us at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. I think this is only the beginning and we’re just super excited to go down this path of this incredible new home and new venue that we’re bringing to life and to just continue to bring NYC the very best in lineups whether it’s food, music, or what have you that we can!
IG @govballnyc
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | PG 100 Charles Reagan | PG 102 Aaron Ricketts | PG 105 Roger Ho | PG 106 Carter Khowe | PG 109 Downs |
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and read Welcome Home! in mag.
This month's The Art of the Snack takes us to Archer & Goat in Harlem. With a menu that merges Latin American and South Asian flavors as well as a number of beverages that will be perfect for the upcoming season, we know that this will be a good time! We took a moment to sit down with Chef/Owner, Alex Guzman to find out more about the meaning behind the name, the ambiance, menu and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: Please tell us about you and Jenifar Chowdhury's culinary background and what led to opening Archer & Goat?
CHEF ALEX GUZMAN: I grew up in the hospitality industry and have worked in both front of house and back of house positions in restaurants in Miami and New York. My wife did not have much prior experience in the restaurant world prior to opening our place but we both share in our love for food and reverence for restaurants which led us to opening our own place, Archer & Goat.
AM: What is the significance of this name?
CHEF AG: The name, Archer & Goat, is based on our zodiac signs, I am a Sagittarius (Archer) and my wife is a Capricorn (Goat). We feel that our personalities align well with our astrological signs, which means that though we are very different, we make a great partnership in both our personal and business lives.
AM: What cuisines are offered here and how do these play together?
CHEF AG: My mother is from Ecuador and father is from Puerto Rico, my wife's parents are from Bangladesh. We were both born and raised in the cultural melting pot of New York. Our cuisine is a mashup of all of our backgrounds including Latin American and South Asian flavors. Our chicken vindaloo arepas with cucumber raita and cotija cheese is a classic menu item that reflects the mashup really well.
AM: When did you open and why did you want your location to be in Harlem?
CHEF AG: We opened four years ago, about one year prior to the pandemic shutdown. We have lived in Harlem for over a decade and there really is no neighborhood quite like Harlem - the diversity and sense of community here is really special, and we are humbled to have been able to contribute to the neighborhood with our restaurant.
AM: Tell us about the design aesthetic for those who are coming in to dine?
CHEF AG: Archer & Goat occupies the garden level of a townhouse in a beautiful historic district in the heart of Harlem. When designing the space, we wanted to create an intimate convivial vibe, with a long bar as well as an open kitchen. When walking into the space, we always tell people to look up to see one of our favorite design features - the pendant ceiling light fixtures which are in the pattern of the Sagittarius and Capricorn constellations. We also have outdoor seating areas in the backyard, which is great for small private events as guests have the space to themselves, and front patio, which great for people watching!
AM: What are the spices and ingredients that are specific to the cuisines that are at Archer & Goat?
CHEF AG: Our sauces are key ingredients to making our dishes unique and pop with flavor, including our cilantro chimichurri, sofrito, mint mojo, and panch phoran mayo, which is made with panch phoran Bengali five spice blend.
AM: What are 3 appetizers that we should try when we come in?
CHEF AG: The Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Plantain Chips with mint mojo and panch phoran mayo dipping sauces, and our A&G Preservation Platter with house pickles, marinated olives, and candied pistachios.
AM: What are 3 entrees that we should have in mind when we pop in with friends and family?
CHEF AG: We love every item in our tightly edited menu so it would be hard to pick just three! If we did have to choose, it would probably be the A&G Burger with Fries, Roasted Duck, and the Shrimp Curry.
AM: Brunch is always our favorite meal of the week. Tell us about your brunch offerings.
CHEF AG: On the weekends, we offer both our brunch and regular dinner menu all day. Our brunch menu includes American comfort brunch classics with our own unique Archer & Goat twists. Our Breakfast Arepas which is a version of steak and eggs crossed with eggs benedict includes a very unique pickled cilantro hollandaise. We also have a Hot Chicken Sandwich with pickled strawberries and maple aioli, and Spiced French Toast with orange marmalade and rose whipped cream.
AM: Cocktails are always a must to enjoy with any good meal. What are 3 that we should have our eye on?
CHEF AG: The Archer, which is hibiscus ginger agua fresca spiked with mezcal; The Goat, a turmeric margarita, and The Naz, which is a masala old fashioned.
AM: In terms of dessert, we love sharing, what are 3 that might be great for the table?
CHEF AG: Our Tres Leches Panna Cotta and Flan are always on our menu - both are a light and refreshing end to a meal at Archer & Goat. We usually have a third dessert that rotates, such as our Chocolate Tart with a tea biscuit crust and pomegranate whipped cream.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Michael Tulipan
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see THE ART OF THE SNACK | Archer & Goat.
We remember seeing the original Fatal Attraction with Michael Douglas (Wall Street, The Game, Ant-Man franchise) and Glenn Close (Air Force One, Damages, Tehran).
We watched how emotions went from an illicit passion to aggression to stalking and how those involved navigate these relationships which made this an epic thriller!
The Fatal Attraction reboot brings these concepts and feelings together with Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek, Dr. Death, The Affair) and Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex, Party Down, Fleishman is in Trouble) pick up the characters of Dan Gallagher and Alex Forrest. Although the series is based on affairs, we see what happens after and how those involved deal with the fallout of his actions.
This mini-series focuses on the true crime story of the death of Betty Gore by Candy Montgomery. Whether you saw Hulu's version, Candy or not, Love & Death is worth taking a look at how this story involving members of a small community interact with one another when this crime and murder trial took place. Elizabeth Olsen (Avengers franchise, Wandavision, Doctor Strange in the Mutiverse of Madness) and Jesse Plemons (Vice, The Irishman, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie) showcase these characters in another light.
We suggest that as you watch the 7 episodes, you also listen to the companion podcast of the same name as it brings insight to the series with those in front of and behind the camera. In partnership with Texas Monthly which reported the story when it came out during the trial, journalists share what took place to those involved after the trial, the Texas justice system, the culture at that time, and other insights.
We always enjoy when QCODE drops a new series that takes us into another story that is guaranteed to be an immersive audio experience!
In The Foxes of Hydesville, we go back to the 1800's where Leah Fox (Carey Mulligan) has been estranged from her brother and teenage sisters. In this true story about the Fox sisters, we learn that they are not welcome in their town due to being mediums.
On the request of her brother, she takes them to where she lives and works to keep them safe while realizing that they have harnessed a power that is not only lucrative, but ultimately creates the social-religious movement of Spiritualism in the nineteenth century.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY STREAMING in mag.
In LODGE: An Industry Tour of America's National Parks, this coffee table book focuses on 10 National Park lodges that have a rustic charm that you'll see as they are today. You'll see images of large lobbies, grand dining rooms, guest rooms and more! You'll get a bit of history as you read about what took place in these spaces, architectural moments of note, period specific furnishings and more. You'll also find out about historical figures and pop culture moments. This book includes: The Ahwahne (Yosemite National Park, California); Crater Lake Lodge (Crater Lake National Park, Oregon), Curry Village (Yosemite National Park, California), El Tovar (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona), Lake McDonald Lodge (Glacier National Park, Montana), Lake Quinault Lodge (Olympic National Park, Washington), The Oasis (Death Valley NP, California), Old Faithful Inn (Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming), Paradise Inn (Mount Rainier National Park, Washington) and Zion Lodge (Zion National Park, Utah).
In Regrets Only, we meet Paige Lancaster who left being a writer for a TV crime series that was well paid in LA to come back to the East Coast as a single parent with an 8 year old daughter. Being homeless and broke, she moves in with her widowed mother in her CT hometown.
She meets the Parent Booster Association run by Ainsely Anderson (who ended up marrying Paige's high school crush, John) and clearly they are doing well. At a get together where she is found in a compromising position with John, a series of events takes place from murder, embezzlement, bribery and adultery. As someone who has written detective stories and although she needs to be able to find a new writing job, she believes that she has what it takes to figure out who murdered the PBA member, how far do all of these activities go, being able to be close to John and how she can get her life back on track!
Prefabricated homes are a cost effective, time efficient and environmentally sound way to build your desired home. Prefabulous For Everyone, shows 24 examples of homes built wholly or partially off-site. Manufacturers have seen the trend for house sizes to come down, but increasing the quality of the amenities. This books includes small as well as large prefab homes from modular, SIPS (structural insulated panels), panelized, and kit builds. Homes from across the US and Canada are included. Sheri has included luxury, modest as well as lower-cost homes in this book. You will also get to learn about manufacturers that have been in this industry for a number of years as well as those that are up and coming should you be in the market to purchase one for yourself!
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see BINGELY BOOKS in mag.
Nick Bathurst, Founder of TH/RST Group, Food & Beverage Operator Manager of the ROOF at Park South talked to us about our new favorite place that just opened for the season on Apr. 27th. You can swing by Sun. and Mon 5pm-10pm, Tues - Thurs 5pm - 11pm and Fri + Sat 5pm - 12am.
The spacious roof deck has high-top tables right by the edge for a bird’s-eye-view of the Manhattan skyline as well as lounge-y areas that are beautifully decorated like the Umbrella Lounge low-top tables under bright orange umbrellas; the Flower Area, the space’s focal point is at the roof’s rear offering privacy, and Garden that features potted plants including sunflowers and a colorful live wall.
ROOF at Park South is also the ideal location for semi-private and private gatherings, ranging from 15 to 175 guests in vignettes specifically designed for events that maximize the guest experience. They also offer creative, customizable food and beverage offerings for parties of all sizes.
Shared plates are perfect for a rooftop experience at the ROOF at Park South as they create a relaxed and social atmosphere, allowing guests to engage in conversations and share food. With a global menu curated by Chef Bryce Shuman, guests can explore diverse flavors while enjoying the rooftop views. Shared plates are also great for large groups who do not want to sit for a formal dining experience.
Nick suggests 3 dishes that we should order our Brisket Sliders with maple BBQ sauce and pickled onions. The combination of tender brisket, smoky flavors, and the tangy sweetness of the maple BBQ sauce creates a mouthwatering experience. For those who enjoy a hint of spice, the Spicy Mangalitsa Pizza is a must-try. Topped with chilies and drizzled with honey, this unique pizza balances heat and sweetness in a harmonious way. The spicy kick is complemented by the natural sweetness of the honey, resulting in a flavorful and satisfying treat. Also, our Shrimp Cocktail with cocktail sauce and lemon is perfect for the summer.
He also suggests 3 cocktails created by Beverage Director, Ivan Papic - their Famous Froze which combines rosé, Singani 63, raspberry syrup, and lime. The Passion Fruit Daiquiri features plantation rum, passion fruit, and lime. For a classic option, try the Bee's Knees with Ford's gin, honey lavender, and lemon. These refreshing cocktails embody the essence of summer at the ROOF at Park South.
Keep an eye out for the NY Pride and Fourth of July Celebrations.
PHOTO CREDITS | ROOF at Park South
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see ATHLIESURE LIST | ROOF at South Park in mag.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | John Newman in mag.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Carissa Moore in mag.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LOOKS | Dua Lipa X Versace in mag.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see IN OUR BAG | When We’re On the Go in mag.
Read the MAY ISSUE #89 of Athleisure Mag and see HOW TO DRESS | For When He’s Out and About in mag.
