Jack Johnson, known for his surfing and music career, discusses his relationship with musician Ben Harper in an interview with Michael Hing from Double J. Harper introduced Johnson to touring, including a 2001 trip to Australia where he helped secure Johnson's spot on the bill at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival. Since then, Johnson has played about 100 shows in Australia over 25 years, appreciating the country’s surf culture and warm welcome for his laid-back style.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Surfing and music have always been intertwined.
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Surfing → intertwine → ?
In the early 2000s, the clearest parallel between surf and song came from a burgeoning subsection of folk- and blues-leaning singer-songwriters, as handy on a goofy foot take-off as a fretboard.
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parallel → come → fretboard
"Ben Harper is a musician first and he loves surfing.
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he → love → surfing
I'm a surfer first and I love playing music," surfer, filmmaker and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson tells Double J's Michael Hing.
"
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Johnson → play → Hing
He brought me out on the first tours, but I was the one who always knew somebody in town that had surfboards and wetsuits if we needed them.
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we → bring → them
"
No-one from that scene travelled further than Johnson, who has sold more than 20 million albums and earned a permanent place on playlists at every cafe you've ever sat in.
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you → travel → cafe
In November, the two of them tour Australia together again, with John Butler, another peer from those early days, on every date.
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two → tour → date
In 2001, Johnson toured Australia for the first time, playing a couple of dates at the East Coast Blues and Roots festival, where Ben Harper was practically royalty, his earlier headline sets still spoken of with reverence.
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sets → tour → reverence
"I got a better spot than I should have on the bill," Johnson says.
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Johnson → get → bill
"Ben asked for a favour, and he got me in there."
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he → ask → me
On the final night he played the slot immediately before Harper.
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he → play → Harper
Tens of thousands crammed into the tent for the headliner.
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thousands → cram → headliner
They left as fans of the unknown support act.
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They → leave → act
He'd soon be filling arenas under his own steam, but Johnson made his gratitude clear at the time.
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gratitude → fill → time
"I was like, 'OK, I've got to pay Ben back for taking me on tour.'
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I → get → tour
So, I called up some friends and was like, 'Bring a bunch of boards down to the beach.'
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I → call → beach
We got everybody in his band out in the water, and it was such a memorable day.
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it → get → water
Ben grew up surfing and skating, so he had a little more experience.
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he → grow → experience
But some of the other guys in the band, it was the first time they'd ever tried.
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they → try → band
"Those are the kind of days, when you look back on touring and a lot of the memories you have, that I almost remember more than the show itself."
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I → look → show
That trip began a 25-year habit: Johnson has played about 100 shows here since.
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Johnson → begin → shows
Adoring crowds help.
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crowds → adore → ?
So does the sun, surf and sand.
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sun → do → ?
"I always feel really at home," he says of Australia.
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he → feel → Australia
It's from growing up in Hawaii.
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It → grow → Hawaii
"Some places, people look at you funny when you're walking around in flip-flops.
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you → look → flops
Everybody else has shoes except for you.
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Everybody → have → you
Then you show up other places and you're totally fine, you feel right at home.
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you → show → home
"
There's a neat symmetry, then, in the two artists touring Australia together again 25 years on and Johnson is still, unmistakably, a fan.
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Johnson → be → Australia
"Ben Harper was somebody I listened to for a couple of years before we ever got a chance to meet, and anytime I get a chance to do a show with Ben, I just fan out again," Johnson says.
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Johnson → listen → Ben
John Butler, another peer from those years, and one of Australia's best-known roots artists, joins every date of the November tour.
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Butler → know → tour
"I remember showing up for a sound check at a show we were doing together," Johnson says of his first encounter with Butler.
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Johnson → remember → Butler
"I hadn't heard his music much.
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I → hear → music
I walked into this venue and heard somebody ripping on the guitar.
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somebody → walk → guitar
I just sat there like, 'Oh, wait, I'm playing with this guy tonight?!
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I → sit → guy
"
"For me, it's not just any normal group of shows," he says.
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he → say → shows
After that first Australian tour, Jack Johnson became a megastar.
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Johnson → become → tour
When he toured his second album On and On in 2003, he headlined arenas on his own terms.
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he → tour → terms
None other than Hollywood A-lister Ben Stiller made the video for that album's song Taylor.
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None → make → song
"To tell this story, I've got to be a little bit of a name-dropper," Johnson says.
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Johnson → tell → dropper
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia