Inspired by John Candy’s film The Great Outdoors, Captain Fin’s latest movie, Suck My Wake, channels the off-kilter comedy of cult classic films, while splicing in some epic surfing with folks like Creed McTaggart, Scotty Stopnik, Tanner Rozunko, Troy Elmore, and many more. On top of the non-stop shenanigans, we must make note of the insanely good soundtrack, you’ll hear tracks from Mary Monday, Anorexia, Bad American, and Los Microwaves just to name a few.

Watch the full edit of Suck My Wake now!

Teaming up to support the premier of Suck My Wake, Mitch designed two limited edition Captain Fin products with our Grind Wirelessand Barricade XL. We caught up with Mitch to talk about his global surf brand.

Master of chill, it’s fitting that Abshere quit his job to run his own business at the same time the U.S. economy began to tank. While people called him crazy, he just shrugged it off and followed his gut. “I don’t think there’s ever a right time to start a business,” he says. “If you believe in what you want to do, you have to take risks.”

For Abshere, the big idea behind it all came from skateboarding graphics. Thinking they were pretty epic as a kid, he wanted to bring a similar style of art to the surfing world. Taking the leap in 2007, he set up shop in his garage in Southern California and dubbed his new venture Captain Fin.

With a bunch of friends who were either artists or pro surfers, he began reaching out and asking if they’d be into designing surf fins. “Nothing like that was really happening at the time and we were all super excited about it,” he says. “We launched the company with fins, along with some printable t-shirts and hats, and built it up from there. It was very old style, where we slowly worked our way up.”

Fast forward ten years, and Captain Fin now has a full apparel line, is recognized internationally and boasts a handful of surf films. Yet, even with this growth, the company stays true to the one element that makes them who they are. “Our whole thing that we’ve always been and will continue to be is a fun brand,” says Abshere. “We really try not to take ourselves too seriously.”

AS A KID, I’D WATCH OLD BRUCE BROWN FILMS AND THEY WERE SO LIGHTHEARTED AND GOOFY

As a fan of the original surfing scene, back in the 50’s and 60’s, Abshere says he’s always been inspired by this surf era when people didn’t really know what they were doing and everyone was okay with looking like an idiot from time to time. “As a kid, I’d watch old Bruce Brown films and they were so lighthearted and goofy,” he says. “When I was starting the company, I felt like that’s what I wanted it to be, since it’s such a big part of my personality.”

But make no mistake, while the Captain Fin team has left the stuffy business side behind, they still have extreme focus when it comes to creating their brand. “We want to have that fun aspect of course, but we do care about making a great quality product that we hope people will like,” says Abshere. “We’re such a collective group where everyone has different ideas, so we have a whole team of people who are just really good at what they do.”

WE’RE JUST TRYING TO CREATE A GREAT BRAND AND HAVE A GOOD TIME WHILE WE’RE DOING IT

Bringing this confidence to the table, Captain Fin knows who they are and they’re running with it. From t-shirts that shout “Be cool man” to self-deprecating taglines that promote low budget films with “If you’re really bored, you’ll probably want to watch this movie,” the company takes pride in working with what they’ve got. “We’re just trying to create a great brand and have a good time while we’re doing it,” says Abshere. “We make fun of ourselves more than anything.”

Whether it’s ads, Instagram clips or full-blown movies, this genuine approach of raw talent and offbeat humor pours out of Captain Fin’s videos. And just as bands like the Beach Boys and The Rivieras were influential to the surfing days of yore, Abshere admits that music plays a massive part in connecting with Captain Fin’s audience and keeping them entertained.

MAYBE YOU DON’T HAVE THE GREATEST SURFING OR SKATEBOARDING OR EVEN THE BEST EDIT. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT MUSIC, IT CAN TOTALLY BRING IT TO LIFE

“We’ve always seen music as such a huge piece of bringing the entire thing together,” he says. “Because maybe you don’t have the greatest surfing or skateboarding or even the best edit. But when you have the right music, it can totally bring it to life. And it goes both ways, even if you do have the right stuff, the perfect song can amplify it even more.”

With a decade of experience now under their belt, Abshere says Captain Fin will continue to put out more movies in the future. “While they’re definitely a huge process, they’re such a big part of the DNA of who we are,” he says.

And as far as other future plans are concerned? Captain Fin will keep doing what they do best. “Everything to this point has been by far an amazing adventure,” says Abshere, “And as we move forward, we’ll keep trying to keep the fun alive and put out awesome products that people are excited about.”