About two months ago, I heard rumors of a new Stagnant Ambition project, a spiritual sequel to the best surf film of 2021 (Reckless Isolation), and whispers of some new kid, heavily featured in said project, surfing like a First-Chapter era D.R. and throwing down on comparable terms with Kolohe Andino and Griffin Colapinto. A few weeks went by and I all but forgot these rumors.

But the day has finally come; Allen Hazardous Waste Collection Center - Kolohe’s latest passion project - is here, and it’s every bit as good as we expected from surf-cinema’s most prolific production house.

Part of the reason Allen Hazardous Waste Collection Center was made was to show the world just how hard Taj Lindblad rips (that “new kid” I mentioned). I grew up surfing with Taj and watching him progress, and he always stood out from the rest of the S.C. rat pack of groms as having that intangible X factor that even the most decorated NSSA career could never compensate for. On top of that, he’s one of the coolest and most down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet.

I caught up with Taj over the phone a few days ago to talk to him about the making of Allen Hazardous Waste Collection Center, later diving into surfing, life, and the ranchero lifestyle. —Jackson Todd

Stream Allen Hazardous Waste Collection Center here:

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Tell me about the trip you took for the movie a little bit. How did it all come together? Was there a lot of planning?

I got the call last minute. We were driving out of Oceanside and Brother called me and was like, "Hey, wanna come to El Salvador? I'm like, "Yeah, sure. When are we leaving? He's like, "Two days." Yeah, so I had no clue. So I was just like, "O.K." and texted Sean Walker, the travel agent. I was like, "Let's go, book it, I don't care how much it is. This is going to be sick." So we went and rented Jake Marshall's house that was right on the beach. We had a chef, it was pretty sick.

That's insane. What was the chef making?

She just made Pupusas. Those little things - I don't know what they are. Yeah, she was making a bunch of those, and chicken and rice.

Was that your first time in El Salvador?

I went there for an event one time, but this was sick because I could just surf wherever and however long I wanted.

Where were most of your waves filmed?

We were surfing this wave called Punta Roca, this long right. And then there was there was a little wave out front too that was pretty fun called The Elbow. It's pretty much all rights there.

Do you have any funny or noteworthy anecdotes from the trip?

Yeah, there's some pretty funny ones. So out front of our house, there was this wave that would come and hit this breakwall thing, and one afternoon we were bored so we just surfed the backwash and was like 2 foot, backwash coming out. It was me, Brother, Ethan, and Jacob Vanderwork, and we were just just like screaming at the top of our lungs and surfing the backwash like maniacs [laughs].

Did that make it into the movie?

No, we didn't film that, because we were just surfing and then all of a sudden the backwash started happening for like 30 minutes. It was the best backwash I've ever seen. And then it just went flat and we went back out and surfed again.

Can you explain the meaning behind the name of the film? It's such a mystery.

It was Brother's idea. Allen, South Dakota is the furthest town from the ocean in the U.S., so I guess he just found the name of garbage center there and named it after that

A bit of surf industry commentary, huh?

Some industry commentary, yeah, just some crazy thing that he thought of - I don't know when he thinks of it. When the waves are flat, he just sits there and thinks about crazy shit [laughs].

I'm going to be honest, I didn’t get it at first. But now that you've explained it, it seems kind of genius.

Yeah, it's pretty genius.

Where is home base these days?

When I'm home, it's either San Clemente or up in SLO, cowboy'n up there, surfing, and living the life. A lot of time on the road, just surfing and trying to find waves.

Would you say it was pretty tough growing up in San Clemente with all the competition?

I think it was. It was good because it made me want to surf better and watching all the older dudes rip just makes you wanna impress them. I thought it was sick. It's fun because I have a good group of friends that are all the same age, and we all push each other.

What are you riding at home, and what did you ride on the trip?

I’m riding the Lost Driver 3.0, it just came out. It’s really fun, especially when the waves get bigger. When the waves are smaller, I’ve got this little nugget, the Uber-Driver Lightspeed, which is really fun for T. Street and stuff. For the trip, I just got the Uber Driver 3.0 but 3 inches bigger than I’d normally ride it.

Who are your influences as a surfer?

For sure, Brother, because I watch him surf every day. And Dane, I really like how he surfs.

Who are your influences as a human being?

Again, Brother is a big one. Brother is pretty much like a big brother to me. He’d always be making fun of the way I dress, like “C’mon dress like a man.” Always teaching me how to be a man [laughs]. And then obviously my dad and my grandpa. Those three are big parts of my life.

What’s your pre-surf hype song? I hear you’re pretty big into the country scene.

I'm big in the country scene, for sure. I listen to all the outlaw guys, like Johnny Cash, Willie, Waylon, all those guys.

Yeah. I’ve been super into Townes Van Zandt lately.

Townes Van Zandt is really sick. And Merle, The Bakersfield Boys. But I’ll also throw in a little Motorhead if I’m trying to get psyched [laughs].

What sparked the love you have for horseback riding and the ranch lifestyle? Is that something you’ve been doing for a while or is it a new hobby?

No, it’s fairly new. My my mom grew up out in Modjeska Canyon, which is in Lake Forest. They had a couple acres out there with horses and stuff, but when I was born, I didn’t have any horses.

My grandpa does a 16th birthday trip for every grandchild, and on my 16th birthday he was like “I want to take you to this dude ranch.” You pretty much go to this ranch and just act like a cowboy, but you don't do any of the work. They do everything for you [laughs]. I didn’t want to go at first, but when I got there, I saw people roping and I was like “I have to do that. This is insane.” So I went and did that for about a week as a guest, and ended up coming back a few more times.

Then Summer comes around, and the waves are flat, Covid’s here, I was just losing my mind. So I emailed the ranch dude and was like “Yo, do you guys need some help out there, even just for like a week?” And turns out they did, so I went out to Colorado for what was supposed to be a week but turned into three. I learned how to do everything.

Back to surfing. What are your short term goals?

The one goal I had for a while was to try and make some kind of part or be in someone's movie. So that one’s checked off. And then I have an edit I've been thinking about for a while. I want to do this like cowboy/surf thing. I have a ton of Lowers clips from this past summer that I’ve been sitting on, I just have to film the lifestyle part now.

And then I also want to make the Challenger Series. I want to make it, but if not, no worries, I’ll just focus on making more video parts. I had never really done that until this El Salvador trip, and I had the best time ever.

Any long term goals?

Long term, I definitely want to make the tour. But I like how people do it when they’re on the tour and they're still making cool films.

Yeah, like Kolohe.

Exactly, like my mentor.