Split Peak Soup Podcast Episode 24--Mark "Munster" Taylor

Send us Fan MailAs a kid growing up in Santa Cruz with dreams of becoming a professional surfer, there were tons of local surf events to enter where I could sharpen my skills and get used to surfing against the best kids in the area with a contest singlet on. Out of all of them, however, there were none I looked forward to more than the Volcom Greatwhite Surf Series events, which were part of Volcom’s Totally Crustaceous Tour. The tour, which started in the late 90’s, was Volcom’s effort to bring fun and free surf contests for all ages to beaches across the world. They were laid back gatherings that rewarded progressive surfing, shelling out cold, hard cash for the Pro division, and boatloads of insane prizes for the kids. I even won a complete Burton snowboard set up when I was fourteen!The greatest prize I won at these events, however, was a lifelong friendship with the contest director, Mark “Munster” Taylor, a former pro and one of the original Volcom team riders.As Taylor came of age in the 1980’s he formed friendships with Santa Cruz rippers from all sides of town: Adam Replogle, Nate and Zack Acker, Shawn “Barney” Barron, Osh “Frog” Bartlett and the late Jeff Lansing, just to name a few. His powerful brand of backside surfing gained him respectable contest results and sponsorships with brands such as O’Neill, Billabong, and later, Volcom.As he aged out of professional surfing, Taylor, along with putting on the Volcom comps, established a name for himself as a skilled carpenter. Years later, after getting married and bringing a daughter into the world, he leveraged his experience growing marijuana to start a weed brand, 3Bros, with Tyler and Russel Smith. In this latest episode of the Split Peak Soup Podcast, Taylor and I discussed a wide range of topics, including his love for growing weed, the importance of respect in a lineup, bridging the East/Westside gap, fatherhood, buying a home in Costa Rica, and much more. We also touched upon his weight loss journey and spiritual rebirth in recent years.It was an honor to have such a beautiful soul on the podcast and it would be an honor if you could give it a listen.