actIon sports and Beyond

this Month

Machine Head

WHEN BAND
BUSINESS GETS HIM
DOWN, FRONTMAN

ROBB FLYNN TAKES

TO THE LAKE WITH HIS WAKEBOARD.

geaR
Boat MasteRCRaft xstaR
with PeRfeCt Pass systeM
BoaRd CwB
Bindings Ronix, PaRks
Bonifay signatuRe Boot

It’s a quIet summer day 75 mIles north of Oakland when the roar of 350 horses tears across the otherwise tranquil waters of Lake Barryessa. A Mastercraft XStar skiboat cleaves the placid water. Following behind and cutting a hard heel-side turn into the wake and exploding into the air is Robb Flynn, avid wakeboarder and frontman of Machine Head.

“The reason I like wakeboarding is because water is more forgiving than cement,” Flynn says. “I can’t skateboard anymore; I just fuck myself up too much.” That isn’t to say that hitting the water at 25 mph hasn’t come with its share of consequences. “I’ve had a couple of near concussions and I’ve definitely had to hit up the chiropractor few times after a good wake sesh.”

You may wonder, Why continue to be dragged behind a boat? Wakeboarding provides him with a welcome release from his day job. “It’s something that I can do to clear my head when band stuff is driving me up the wall.”

Also, it’s not the solitary pursuit you might think. “My wife is sick, dude,” Flynn notes. “She’s an amazing wakeboarder.” And the frontman has also made the lake into a band retreat: “I’ve gotten the whole band up there. Adam [Duce], our bass player, is pretty good. I got Dave [McClain, drums] and Philip [Demmel, guitar] up there and they’re still learning, but they love it…I can go out there and drag people in my boat all day and even if I don’t wakeboard it’s a blast for me.”

Perhaps Flynn’s favorite event of the summer season is his beer-fueled birthday bacchanalia, which takes place every year in late July. “I’ll get 10 campsites in a row, right on the water and wake up at 7:30 and go out on the boat and do that for five days. I get all my friends up there and it’s just a killer vibe.” PATRICK F. ALBERTSON

flynn: alan hunGry