Bl!SSS Magazine | October 2015 | #98

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photo: Duncan Macfarlane

JACK FREESTONE EAST COAST AUSTRALIA




RANDOMS // 26 PRODUCT REVIEW // 32 KIT & ODA KING // 34 JULIE GOLDSTEIN // 36 SHAPER PROFILE: BLAKE PETERS // 38 MURAL OF THE MONTH: TASSO // 40 INSTAGRAM // 42 SUPER TASTE // 46 HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES // 48 LIAM ANNIS PHOTO FEATURE // 52 PSYCHIC MIGRATIONS // 56

THE ART OF KRISTEN LIU-WONG // 62 MAX BARRERA // 68 FISHER HEVERLY // 74 EL NINO // 80 ED TEMPLETON: COMMON SIDE EFFECTS // 84 PSYCHIC MIGRATIONS WORLD PREMIERE // 86 DRAGON HQ: OPEN HOUSE // 88 STILL SALTY 2015 // 90 HANNI EL KHATIB // 92 MUSIC REVIEWS // 93 GROMS // 94

Artist : Kristen Liu-Wong


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PHOTO - DEAN BRADLEY

Editor-in-Chief nick kalionzes nick@blisssmag.com

Editor joey marshall joey@blisssmag.com

Creative DirectoR mark paul deren : madsteez madsteez@madsteez.com

assistant editor delon isaacs delon@blisssmag.com

EDITOR AT LARGE liz rice mcCray liz@blisssmag.com

SNOW EDITOR jon francis jon@blisssmag.com

MUSIC EDITOR max ritter max@blisssmag.com

advertising ads@blisssmag.com

contributing Photographers Jason Kenworthy, Dominic Petruzzi, Daniel Russo, Toby Ogden, Tom Carey, Brian Beilmann, Jack Coleman, Andrew Mapstone, Adam Moran, Dave Nelson, Pat Eichstaedt, Julien Lecorps, Ryan Boyes, Zach Hooper, Tim Peare, Michael Lallande, Bob Plumb, Peter Morning, Bryce Kanights, Arto Sarri, Anthony Acosta, Cameron Strand, Brian Fick, Deville Nunns, Gage Thompson, Derek Bahn, Tom Cozad, Robbie Crawford, Ryan Donahue, Joe Foster, Sean Sullivan, Delon Isaacs

contributors Willie Marshall, Daniel Russo, Jason Arnold, Greg Escalante, Nathan Spoor, Tom Carey, Travis Millard, David Choe, Kai Garcia, Mickey Neilsen, Peter Townend, Hamilton Endo, Tawnya Schultz, Mike Murciano, Geoff Shively, Casey Holland, Steve Stratton, Robbie Sell, Andrew Miller, Pat Towersey, Raul Montoya, Ian Dodge, Richie Olivares, Eric Meyers, Kelly Shannon, JP Olson BL!SSS Magazine

october 2015

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Disclaimer: Although all best efforts are made to avoid the same, we reserve the right to publish unintentional mistakes and/or factual errors which may occur on a monthly basis. No responsibility is assumed by the publishers for unsolicited materials/articles/letters/ advertising and all submissions will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright and/or appropriate licensing purposes subject to Blisss’ right to edit and comment editorially. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine reflect the opinions of their respective authors and are not necessarily those of the publisher or the editorial team. Blisss Magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any advertising matter which may reflect negatively on the integrity of the magazine. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form [print or electronic] without prior written consent from the publisher.

Art: Kristen Liu-Wong If your favorite shop isn’t receiving BL!SSS Magazine please contact info@blisssmag.com


see the film on nixon.com


mission belts It’s always comforting investing in brands that invest their profits in charity and the sanctity of those less fortunate, and that’s why we buy Mission Belts. Partnered with Kiva, every dollar from every belt goes towards fighting hunger and poverty worldwide through a process of micro-lending. Other than Mission Belts involvement with charity, their products are made to last a lifetime and are constructed with a new integrated system free of holes that will always fit. Yes, that’s right, finally a belt that will grow old with you, a belt that will be there to support you and your pants through whatever life’s ups and downs bring your way.

kelsey brookes psychedelic space Kelsey Brookes, a bio-chemist who can get barreled surfing, is without a question one our most favorite science nerds out there, which made buying his new book Psychedelic Space a no-brainer. As Kelsey’s first monograph, Psychedelic Space embodies all of the artists’ current work as well as a broad variety of printing techniques and special additions, paying homage to Brookes nontraditional artistic journey. This 216-page glow-in-the-dark covered book looks so good on our bookshelf and is a complete beautiful eyesore of colors and detail. Get yours and trip out to this today!

nixon x star wars Finally a collaboration that’s got Darth Vader shakin’ in his space boots. For the highly anticipated release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, Nixon has teamed up with Lucas Films to create a limited-edition collection of accessories that celebrates various characters of one of the best cinematic franchises ever created. Part one of this collection is available now, online at nixon.com and includes a curated assortment of Stormtrooper and Imperial Pilot inspired watches, accessories and a limited edition Darth Vader timepiece. May the force be with your wrist (and your wallets) as you embark on some of the best watches ever crafted in this galaxy!

fantasy grudge hurley phantom big sleeps Launching this past month, Hurley released the Hurley Phantom X Big Sleeps. Sleep, who was raised on the Los Angeles graffiti code of survival “The Placa,” has urban artistic roots that run deep. Eventually, Sleeps’ renowned urban scrawl led him to the parlor, where he continues to build his reputation as one of the world’s most respected tattoo artists. Bringing his unique and recognizable style to the water, the Hurley Block Party Big Sleeps Boardshort features a sprawled graffiti piece in the signature Block Party 19” length for maximum performance and style. 26

With the NFL season in full swing I can’t help but see hundreds upon hundreds of fantasy football league commercials explaining how you can be the next millionaire. Well, the trend continues as Fantasy Grudge is now live and in full swing. It’s kinda like fantasy football but for surfing; play contests against your friends, colleagues or Internet strangers and take their money. All you have to do is beat them in total heat scores, full competitions, group pools, etc. and collect. It’s pretty simple and makes watching the comps online twice as interesting. Plus, it’s masterminded by friend/surfer Wesley DeSouza, so be sure to check it out at fantasygrudge.com.



aluminati skateboards: the anyway New this month, Aluminati Skateboards presents The Anyway freestyle cruiser series. Getting from point A to point B has never been this easy, and you’ve never looked this good doing it. Available in five different graphics, The Anyway bought as a complete includes 5.25” or 3.25” trucks and 52mm, 99A Aluminati Wheels. Cruise around town effortlessly, impressing others with your nonchalant no-complies and ollies today.

sanuk asphalt collection The happiest shoe company around, Sanuk, has launched a new collection that has us all excited. The Asphalt Collection is a fresh new line of shoes with an unbelievably comfy fit. This collection pays homage to the classic plimsole look – it’s a low-profile style that everyone can rock. A must-have for every shoe collection, the good folks at Sanuk laced the whole office up with the Guide TX and we haven’t taken them off since. Head over to you local shop to pick up a pair and make your feet happy today.

poler x pendleton If you haven’t figured it out yet, Poler Stuff has some of sweetest camping gear out there. From wearable knapsacks to tents, ponchos, towels, and even mini coolers that are perfect for a six-pack, they’ve got it all. And what do you do when you have it all? You collaborate with the finest 150-yearold, privately owned, luxury wool-company out there, Pendleton. That’s right, latest to the ever-growing lists of must-haves, Poler is dropping the Poler x Pendleton collection this month. Native-American inspired and everything you’d ever want from Poler, it’ll be available at polerstuff.com, so style yourself out today.

help nepal

stance x thrills multi pack Palm Trees and Street Machines and The Uncommon Thread recently gave birth to a beautiful set of international foot babies, launching one of the best sock collaborations we’ve seen to date. Available now, the Stance x Thrills Multi Pack features floral silhouettes socks against gritty backdrops, all on Stance’s high-quality knit. You don’t have to be a biker boy/babe to enjoy this collaboration but you do have to be a badass, so get on over to favorite local retailer and snag a pair today. 28

The boys from Roark were in Nepal in November 2014 on an inspiration trip, shooting their campaign and soaking up all Nepal had to offer. When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in April of 2015 the Roark crew mobilized. Four days later and Roark’s own Ryan Sirianni departed with longtime friend and founder of Waves for Water, Jon Rose, for Kathmandu to help provide clean water to the millions in need. So far over 4,000 filters have been deployed in Nepal by the team to date. Roark has created this special graphic available on both a T-Shirt and a water bottle outfitted by Mizu. 100% of the profits from both the “Help Nepal” T-Shirt and Mizu bottle will be donated to their “Help Nepal” fundraiser they’ve set up through Waves for Water. Their goal is to raise $100K to deploy more water filters throughout Nepal. Please join Roark’s efforts and learn more at roark.com.





1. Active Ride Shop, Repeater - $19.99, activerideshop.com 2. Billabong, Looped - $26.95, billabong.com 3. Depactus, Rough - $28, depactus.com 4. Ezekiel, ­Scout - $46, ezekielusa.com 5. Hurley, One and Only Dri-Fit - $35, hurley.com 6. Neff, Steezy Bart - $38, neffheadwear.com 7. Lira, Herman - $30, liraclothing.com 8. Volcom, Say When - $30, volcom.com 9. Quiksilver, Surf Trip - $32, quiksilver.com 10. RVCA, MF - $34, rvca.com 11. Vans, Classic - $26, vans.com 12. Roark, Blazin’ Trails - $30, roark.com 13. Captain Fin Co., Boltz - $34, captainfin.com 14. Nixon, Warp Long Sleeve Crew - $40, nixon.com 15. Cutlass, Highway - $28, cutlasscabana.com 32



Interview: Liz Rice McCray We must say your oil paintings are amazing; the technique is remarkable. How long have you both been painting? Thank you kindly. I’ve been painting my whole life. My parents were both artists and raised me with a paintbrush in hand. However, I’ve only taken up oil painting a year and a half ago. My husband is new to oils. I started teaching him a few months back. He’s around the 20 painting mark. He’s picked it up incredibly quick. Oda is a fast learner. Where do you find your subjects? Is there any self-portraiture in your work? I prefer to use my own reference, so I take a lot of my own photos. Since I’m a hermit living in the middle of nowhere, it leaves few opportunities to shoot people. So I usually use the same few subjects repeatedly. Easiest thing to do is just photograph ourselves, so yes, there’s been quite a number of self-portraits. I also use my little sister Maya quite often. She is such a great sport with the shoots, letting me poke her eyes and cloud them with black dust, staying submerged under water; she’s a great model. I’m thankful she’s so easy going with it all. What’s the dynamic between you and your husband regarding art? Most of your paintings are collaborations these days; will you tell us about the artistic relationship? We are doing more and more collaborations,

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yes. Our whole relationship is pretty much founded on art. We met through art, connected through art, fell in love through art… We disagree on things, like any couple does, but art is where we become “one.” We are always on the same page when it comes to art. Art is the soul’s countenance. So I guess you could say our artistic relationship is where our souls come together to speak one message, one voice.

a piece that resonates enough with viewers in order to make a living that is also a piece that feeds our souls and resonates with who we are as artists, and not letting art become something we dread. It can be tricky to find a subject or concept that feeds us as well as our audience and potential collectors. Then, executing it as such in a fluid way that conveys our messages. We’re still trying to find the perfect balance.

We assume you share a studio... how is it to share a studio with your husband? Yes we do share a studio. Well, we live in a very modest-sized country home. There is not much space so we gave up the living room to work as our studio. Before my husband, I was very weary about letting anyone in my studio space, let alone work with me. I love my solitude and my studio is like my temple. So it was very different when he moved up here and started working alongside me. I warned him of my ways (assuming it would create some conflict) but I was pleasantly surprised. His presence seemed to make the space that much better. And when we finally created a piece together the energy was even better. I was hooked, so was he. So we just haven’t really stopped collaborating since. What I thought would be a matter of compromise wound up to be something wonderful.

Kit, where are you from? Where is Oda from? I’m from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Oda is from all over, haha. He was born in South Carolina but moved around the States a fair bit. Before moving here, he had settled down in Florida.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as artists? I think the biggest struggle is finding the balance between painting what we want to paint and what we have to paint – creating

Where are you both living now? Tell us about your location. We are currently living in the rural FrenchCanadian-Ontarian countryside in a teenytiny, quiet town called Curran. It’s 10 minutes up the road from the farm I grew up on, in between Ottawa and Montreal. How did you meet? We met on Instagram. I was searching the #artnerd and saw a design identical to one I had just completed. My sister was giving him hell and when I saw the time stamp I realized he posted his two weeks before mine. He couldn’t have ripped me off. Then I thought he must think I stole his work! We creeped each others page and started following one another. And then he said we should do a collaboration sometime... We

exchanged info, and while discussing our future collab we hit it off, fell in love, and the rest is history! I’m curious to what percentage of your time is devoted to your artwork? What fills the rest of your time? Pretty much 100% of our waking days are devoted to our artwork. If we aren’t painting, we are editing, doing emails, messages, tending to social media, varnishing, photo shoots for future pieces, photo shoots of the final pieces, PR, making frames for our work, building crates to ship them, prepping for upcoming exhibits and of course, interviews. We don’t take any days off unless we are forced to when life gets in the way. From the moment we wake, until we sleep, we are devoted to our artwork. Do you have any upcoming projects? We have many. We have a long list of shows coming up, including a solo show, some videos, some podcasts, and I recently took on private lessons. Where can people check out your art? It can be found all over. Our work has reached many countries now, with exhibitions worldwide. We keep the websites up to date with upcoming shows, www. kitkingart.com and www.odaking.com. But if you just want to check it out online, I post often on my Instagram (@kit_king), and Facebook (facebook.com/Kit.King.Art), or you can just type us into the ol’ Google machine.



Interview: Chantal deFelice Great sea adventures require strength and courage but they also demand sensitivity and intuition. The bold colors and graceful lines in Julie Goldstein’s large woodblock prints and textile collages reflect this balance between masculinity and femininity, as do her methods of choice. She creates her works both with power tools by cutting and carving into wood and with a sewing machine or needle and thread, stitching together soft scraps of fabric. Your work is motivated and informed by your personal experiences, but do you also see it as a “call to action” for girls and women to engage with the ocean who might otherwise be intimidated or discouraged? As much as my work is about personal experience and storytelling, it is about women: camaraderie of women, pioneers,

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women that I know and stories that have been passed down to me. My work retells these stories and often plays on the alter ego of women in contrast to the day-to-day reality of each personality. I have been documenting and drawing women in different cultures and often portray them surfing, swimming, rowing and riding dirt bikes. My characters are strong, independent, fearless, nurturing, and I often times draw them as mothers or pregnant. I want women to feel connected, empowered and relate to the stories that I tell and images that I create about women and about the sea. Each piece tells a story that I hope instills empowerment and meaning to the “true self.” You’ve shown your work around the world. What does it mean for you to be showing in the Expression Session 3 group show, curated by Will Pennartz at Artists Republic Gallery

in Laguna Beach? My first gallery exhibition was with Will Pennartz at The Surf Gallery in 2006. My works have since then been shown alongside Andy Davis, Thomas Campbell, Wolfgang Bloch and Alex Weinstein, to name a few. These amazing men have become my friends. We talk art, concepts, surf, family and life. All of our works have evolved uniquely since the closing of The Surf Gallery. I am excited and honored to exhibit with this talented crew of artists and to work with Will Pennartz. It is going to be an amazing exhibition! Please tell us about any exciting current or upcoming projects that you are involved in! Last summer I launched my brand SWMwithme. It is a collaboration brand that connects fashion to my artwork and allows me to collaborate with designers and artists to create beautiful products. Right now I am working with

Axxe Wetsuits in Japan and designing a line of wetsuits for women. I am also collaborating with “The Seea.” We plan on launching our bag this holiday. Simultaneously, I am designing a new collection for SWM; it will launch next summer along with a new body of work that will be exhibited at Artists Republic Gallery! Stay tuned! View Julie’s art on display alongside works by Thomas Campbell, Jeff Canham, Andy Davis, Andrew Holder, Michael Leon, Geoff McFetridge, Tyler Warren, and Alex Weinstein in EXPRESSION SESSION 3 at Artists Republic Gallery, 1175 S Pacific Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA. Opening reception is Saturday, October 3rd from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the show runs from October 3rd to November 15.



Interview & Photo: Delon Isaacs What initially got Mr. Peters into shaping surfboards? Did you grow up with mentors or did you battle through a long field of self-taught trial and error? I was always the surf-obsessed grommet, and when I was in school and having to find my first job I wanted it to be something to do with surfing. I ended up working for a ding repair guy and that was the start of it. This led me to working for Luke Short (LSD). I was basically the shop grom (shit kicker) sweeping the floors, doing deliveries and ding repairs. This was back when Ozzie Wright and Richie Lovett rode for Luke, so every time they were in I’d be trying to talk to them and checking out their boards. Luke was the guy I wanted to be like; funny thing was when he offered to teach me, I said, “Nah, you just do it.” Sean Wilde, who worked in the same factory as Luke, showed me most of what I know. I also become good friends with Steve Zoeller, Simon Anderson’s old business partner and glasser. Steve was the guy that glassed that first thruster! He has really helped me a lot along the way. I was shown a reasonable amount, but I also had to figure out a lot for myself. Like most shapers, you develop your own techniques and designs. From New South Wales, Australia, to life on the Newport Shores, what’s the transition been like for you moving your shaping business to California? Moving the business here was a slow process and not what I originally intended on doing,

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that’s just what happened. A lot of my team is here, so naturally a lot of people were seeing their boards and so the demand grew fast. We definitely get better waves in Aus but it’s almost like living in a sleepy country town, even though I live pretty close to the city. I think I slotted-in here pretty well and I’ve got a good crew of friends which makes it easier. I’m loving the culture here; it is quite different to what I originally thought. There is just so much more to do, plenty of gigs to see, etc. There is also a lot of big and strange personalities around; I’ve seen some strange shit. I’m having a really good time and I’m surfing everyday so I’m happy. Some Aussie beer would go down great right now, though. Describe where you shape out of here in California. What’s your love/hate relationship with Newport Beach/Costa Mesa? I’m shaping out of a new space called “Forgotten Surplus” in Costa Mesa just opposite of Hurley. It’s a place I’ve opened up with another shaper Tanner Prairie. It’s got a really cool vibe and some interesting neighbors. I love the amount of creative people that Costa Mesa seems to produce and attract. It’s a real eye-opener for someone like myself. I hate black ball, seriously, what’s the deal? The fact you guys sell Fosters! We don’t even drink Fosters nor can we even buy it from our local liquor store at home! Who is a part of this Panda Team that you shape for? What surfers do you love shaping for and watching surf? What

makes a good surfer in the eye of the Panda? The Panda Team officially consists of Ford Archbold, Colin Moran, Brendan Gibbons, Parker Cohn, and Shane Borland. I also shape a lot of boards for CJ Hobgood and Andrew Doheny. Andrew and I have been working on something and are releasing a new model together very soon, which is exciting. I like shaping for all of these guys; some are harder than others and some really push me. Ford, for example, rides different stuff all the time, like ‘80s-style shortboards, and it forces me to go outside my comfort zone to come up with new things. It’s also taught me and helped me come up with new designs. Guys like CJ are very picky and everything has to be spot on, so it is really helping me to refine and develop better high-performance boards. I love seeing anyone ripping on my boards. I definitely would have to say Colin is my favorite to watch – he has such a smooth style. Is Metal Jimmy making any royalties off of the Panda ‘Doinker’ Model? Are you afraid that he’s going to bug you about this now after this interview? Hahaha, no but I’m sure he would be happy with a coupe of High Life’s. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Do you have any magical templates that you haven’t given up on since day one? If so, describe the board and the name of this model. Hell, go through its entire logistics. The board that has stood out and stayed relevant for the last 10 years is the B2.

I’ve been working on it since the start, just making slight tweaks every now and then. It’s the board I shaped for Julian in the Stab “In The Dark” contest. I feel like I could use this template and make it work for any conditions. It’s a nice flowing outline, no hips and bumps, pretty balanced, but it’s the rocker and contour that really make the B2. It has a straight single concave for instant speed and drive and a consistent rocker throughout. It surfs really well top to bottom and can handle anything from shoulder-high beach breaks to double-overhead grinding barrels in Indo. What’s Forgotten Surplus all about? So for the last 12 months Tanner Prairie and myself have been slowly setting up a new space, and Forgotten Surplus is the name of the place. It’s a creative space where we shape, hangout, and customers can come and gawk at our boards. We will be holding events here every few months that will include art shows, live music and collaborations with other shapers. We will also release limited edition runs of Forgotten Surplus Boards that will be designs Tanner and myself collaborate on together. It will be stuff we don’t normally do. Really, it’s just a cool place to come check out. What’s to come for Panda Surfboards in the near future? For Panda, I just want to work with better surfers to keep developing my shapes and artworks. Over the next six months I have a few exciting projects coming up, so keep an eye on our Instagram for these.



Interview: Liz Rice McCray

I’m one of a million artists.

This month was a blur, so our “Mural of the Month” is somewhat fitting... The underwater sensation depicted in this mural and the feeling of not seeing straight was the original attraction to this piece. Thank you to TASSO for taking the time to answer our questions, and thanks to Jutta for the translation.

How did this mural come about? Who asked you to paint it? Ten years ago I initiated the street art event IBUg. It was not meant for the usual styles, graffiti murals or concept images. The idea was to give those urban artists a playground who do not just use the spray can but include the surrounding areas. For my part, I use the IBUg to try out something new instead of painting photorealistic pictures. This year I handed my initial work area over to a colleague and was then offered this wall by the organization manager of the IBUg.

Does this mural have a name? If yes, what and why? I’ve called this picture “UWA-IBUg.“ The letters UWA are short for “under water.“ The name continues a series of self-portraits on canvas, beginning in 2006 with “UWA-Werewolf,“ followed by “UWA-Goblin” in 2008, later by “UWADublin” in Ireland and several portraits of a woman titled “Wackel-Zück.” The letters IBUg refer to the fact that this piece was created during an event called IBUg. Who are you? Will you tell us a little background info about yourself?

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Where is the mural located? Will you tell us a little about the area and neighborhood? The mural can be seen on the outer facade of the “Old Coffee Roastery” in Plauen, a middle-sized town in the east of Germany, well-known for Plauen Lace. The building, a former factory, has been partly restored and is used today for youth and cultural events.

Will you tell us about your creative process with this mural? To keep it short – I already took the photo a year ago with a view to sometime paint it on canvas. I worked fairly rough at the motif for circa six days, about 50 hours, only to partly destroy it myself in front of an audience on the last day of the event. The slogan of this performance was “Street Art is Temporary,” because until now the buildings hosting the IBUg used to be demolished shortly after having been used by artists, so that you only had that one weekend to look at the works created there. I wanted to continue this tradition by making it impossible for later viewers to look at the mural and take photos of it in its original unsoiled state, which is similar to what happens to urban art in public spaces. Do you have any upcoming projects you can share with us, or any more walls for which to keep our eyes open? I don’t believe in creating some kind of artistic trademark by constantly repeating motifs in my work. For me,

that would be incredibly boring, even if it seems to be quite fashionable at the moment. I did a TASSO-piece this year, for instance, which was tarred and feathered and also featured two plucked chickens. I painted two huge batman characters on a wall, where you can now take a photo of yourself squatting between the outspread wings of a bat. I love murals that interact with the viewer and I’m going to do more projects like that in future. And I have some different things in store too: For October 3rd we have planned an “old-school-meeting,” where everybody agreed to paint ‘80s-style. As I was a goth in the ‘80s I’m going to do a beautiful, black inappropriate piece, gothstyle. Where can people check out more of your art? For TASSO, the artist, check www.ta55o.de. For commissioned work on facades check www.tasso-fassaden.de. And of course the IBUg at www.ibug-art.com and my old crew Ma’Claim on www.maclaim.com. You can always view up-to-date work on the TASSO Facebook page.


C A M R ICH A R DS EV IL TWIN


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Stanley LS Knit | Holiday Cropped Pant



Photography: Dominic Petruzzi @dominicpetruzzi Model: Kaylen @kaylenalyssa Agency: Osbrink Hair & Makeup: Olivia Taddeo @mua_olivia_

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Words: Bob Costas Photos: Servais (*unless noted) The contest began in overhead, pumping surf. Some were saying it was the best Lowers they’d seen all summer long, and they definitely weren’t blowing smoke. But then the flawless Lowers slowed a bit, and the final day of competition was a bit slow. And it’s hard having a contest start with such a bang and then end in lackluster conditions. However, when you compare this year’s Hurley Pro to others in the past, there was no shortage, whatsoever, in the way of fireworks. The early rounds of competition were golden examples of how much sheer talent lives on the World Tour right now. As usual, the Lowers right was the star, but here not all of the forehand surfers thrived. Instead, it was backhand players like Wiggolly Dantas, Miguel Pupo, Nat Young, Matt Wilkinson, Adrian Buchan and Freddy P who really stole the show. The trick, and maybe their advantage, was shown in the way they were able to time their vertical attacks on the face, at times, on the rebuilding right-hand walls. Freddy P was the story of the first part of the event. After nailing a 10-point ride, backing up a high score and clearly taking the lead, Freddy began trying to burn his fellow competitors. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Freddy had made a spur-of-the-moment decision to retire the night before in the following day’s heat. Freddy’s interference attempts failed and he walked away with the win, was charioted up the beach and draped in a Hawaiian flag by loved ones. All in all it was a pretty damn cool way to go out, and it took a moment for all of us to really digest and realize what was happening. So, back to the other highlights of the event. Felipe Toledo had the maneuver of the event for a single, massive air that had people hollering like crazy. Gabriel Medina and Nat Young got in a little scuffle of a paddle battle that Medina ended up winning. Oh yes, Kelly Slater did a kickflip 48


Mick Fanning


Adriano de Souza :: Photo: Delon Isaacs

Filipe Toledo

Gabriel Medina

Nola Wilson (Julian’s mom)

rodeo where he fell down but then got back up, and it left people wondering why he only got a 4.17. Yes, they were genuinely puzzled as to why he FELL DOWN, then got back up and was awarded a midrange score for a few midrange turns. C’mon, folks! 10 equals perfect. Fall down and get back up equals… You fell, start over. Anyways, the ASP had to explain themselves, the comments sections on all websites blew up, and in the meantime the contest went on.


Joel Parkinson :: Photo: Delon Isaacs Kelly Slater

Sebastian Zietz Filipe Toledo

There is also a title race going on, if anyone is interested. This contest offered a whole lot of opportunity for shakeups in the rankings, but it seemed like every time someone had a turn at taking the ratings lead they’d falter. Not Mick Fanning, though. Mick is the man for obvious reasons. If he claims a title again this year I think we’ll all collectively cry and vote him President of the Planet. Mick ended up taking a very ferocious Adriano de Souza down in the finals. The waves weren’t as good as the first couple days, but it was still a great event. Now, Mick is in first, Adriano second and Felipe in third, but it really is anybody’s game. Bring on the European leg!


Brian Reid : B.S Tailslide 52


In a world where iPhone photos and Instagram filters are somehow acceptable as skateboard photography, it’s refreshing to see some people out there doing it the old fashioned way. Liam’s photos have come a long way, from high school photo class to college and ultimately published photos. With a great mentor and a cast of characters to shoot with from the Boston area, as well as the un-professionals at RAW, there will be much more to come. – Chris Rice Skateboarding and photography go handin-hand in my life. I began skateboarding and ultimately taking photos around the same time, back in sixth grade. Fastforward a few years, and now I attend college in Boston, Massachusetts. The core skate scene here in Boston makes it easy for me to miss a class and go shoot/skate, and I’m grateful for that. I do not leave to go skate without my camera bag – I just can’t anymore. If you’re a photographer you can definitely relate. That one time you just don’t bring the camera something sick ends up happening. My desire to compose photographs of skateboarding is the driving force in my life – literally the driving force. It gives my friends and I the motivation to travel to other big cities, taking trips to skate new spots and experiencing the world. God bless skateboarding! – Liam Annis


Brian Delaney : Ollie Up B.S Nose blunt Brian Delaney

Boston, MA

Will Mazzari : Varial Heel Brian Reid : F.S Ollie

Jon McParland : B.S Tailslide


Jon McParland : F.S 5050

Brian Reid : F.S Smith

Nick Rudzinski : F.S Nose blunt

Aidan Chenard

Jon McParland

Benny Will : Nose Grind Kickflip

Brian Reid : F.S Smith


Nate Tyler : Frame Grab Ryan Thomas : Ryan Craig

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Photo: Tom Carey


A Veeco Film Production Directed By Ryan Thomas Raw, creative energy and progressive action defined Volcom’s first feature surf film, Stoney Baloney. With its gritty blend of 16mm film footage, psycho soundtrack and eclectic lineup of surfers, the film captured and compressed the Volcom vibe into a new, more organic sort of surf movie. That was 20 years ago. In the two decades since, many memorable films have followed: Magna Plasm, Computer Body, The Bruce Movie, Creepy Fingers, BS! and more, with each film building on the brand’s legacy of original, artistic output. With a team currently comprised of some of surfing’s most capable and compelling characters, Volcom spent the last year at work on their latest surf feature, Psychic Migrations. Directed by award-winning filmmaker and longtime Volcom veteran Ryan Thomas, Psychic Migrations represents both the current state of modern surfing and the evolution of the Volcom films’ aesthetic. Shot on location in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, South America, Australia, and Indonesia, the global scope of the film is matched by an international cast of surfers that includes Dusty Payne, Mitch Coleborn, Yago Dora, Nate Tyler, Carlos Muñoz, Ryan Burch, Andrew Doheny, Parker Coffin, Alex Gray, Balaram Stack, Mike Gleason, Miguel Tudela, Joan Duru, Imai Devault, Tom Dosland, Gavin Beschen, Ozzie Wright and Kelly Slater. Yes, lots of places, loads of people; Thomas calls the edit crunch a “huge challenge.” Nonetheless, with deadlines looming, he stepped away from the editing bay to answer some questions about the film.

Photo: Ryan Craig

What was your approach to Psychic Migrations? I wanted to do something with this film that I haven’t done yet with a Volcom surf film. All the previous Volcom surf films I’ve made – The Bruce Movie, Creepy Fingers, and BS! – had interviews threading through the length of each film. The interviews carried the viewer from one section to the next. Psychic Migrations won’t have any interviews. It will be a visual trip from section to section. It will get called Scratch Miscellaneous, and other early Volcom classics, but the overall tone of Psychic will be its own thing. So this movie is more about the locations than the personalities? At the end of the day, Psychic Migrations is a surf film and individual personality will be expressed in the way each person surfs, but it’s not a film where each surfer has a single section to themselves made from a compilation of their best clips. Each section of the film is based on a travel location with a proportionate amount of cinematic attention placed on the landscapes and details of those places.


Ozzie Wright : Frame Grab

Nate Tyler :: Photo: Tom Carey

Ryan Burch :: Photo: Bielmann

Carlos Muniz :: Photo: Ryan Craig

How do you pull the feeling out of these locations, and how much of it happens on the go? A lot of it is on the go, for sure. If you don’t have your camera ready, you’ll miss something that will never happen again, or a scenic you’ll never come across again on the trip. My favorite trips are the ones where you have the time to settle into a location long enough to just soak it up. It’s nice having the time to find the thing about the place that inspires you, make mental notes and then decide what to shoot to wrap around the surfing, rather than shooting everything that comes your way from the get go without a calculated visual plan in your head. There’s a balance to strike between those two shooting methods on any trip. You don’t want to miss gold because you were too attached to a plan and you don’t want to drive yourself crazy overshooting either.

Photo: Ryan Thomas


Mitch Coleborn :: Photo: Tom Carey

Balaram Stack :: Photo: Ryan Chachi


Yago Dora :: Photo: Tom Carey

Andrew Doheny :: Photo: Tom Carey


Photo: Tom Carey

Ozzie Wright :: Photo: Tom Carey

Photo: Tom Carey

Photo: Ryan Thomas

Ozzie Wright : Frame Grab

The film title and the teaser are sort of trippy. Would you say it’s a psychedelic surf movie? Nature is the psychedelic factor in this film. I think nature is the most psychedelic thing there is. All you have to do is take a close look at it. I’m not interested in a manufactured psychedelia of swirling colors and cheesy video effects. I’m into tapping into a simple, subtle form of trippy-ness by traveling through textures of nature in this film.

Balaram Stack :: Photo: Ryan Chachi

How hard is it to condense all of the footage you have gathered into a 45-minute film? It’s tough, yeah. With there being so much surfing to pack into a short time, and feeling like I owe it to the surfers to get all their best clips in the movie, I think the hardest thing is to edit it in a way that shows how the guys actually surf. How they surf between maneuvers is where a lot of the Yago Dora :: Photo: Tom Carey

individual style is. It’s so hard when I have a clip that shows a simple, stylerevealing, groovy moment, and because of limited space on the timeline, I’m forced to either keep the groovy moment at the expense of another big maneuver not making it into the edit, or killing the groovy moment to add the big one at the risk of the edit starting to feel like more of a highlight reel rather than a fuller portrayal of someone’s surfing. It’s a huge challenge. What’s your goal with this movie? I want surfers to be pumped on the action. If they feel inspired on another level that has nothing to do with surfing after they watch the film, I’ll feel like it was a job well done. For more information about Psychic Migrations, click to http://www.volcom.com/psychicmigrations.


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Interview: Liz Rice McCray Interviewing Kristen Liu-Wong was insightful. Her responses and words of honesty were much appreciated with her matter-of-fact reflection to her subjects and her inner workings. Kristen’s personality in all ways evokes her art, with her characters drawn from life experience and literal depictions of events based on her inner narrative. Her distinctive palette of neon, pastel colors acts as a safety blanket of candy-coated sweetness, which allows the viewer the comfort to take a deeper look at what is really going on in Liu-Wong art. The heavy patterning with layers of violence, gore, and sex has a humorous subtext that threads through her work. “I guess I’m most fascinated with sex, death, and violence, like everyone else,” Liu-Wong says. “What interests me particularly about sex though, is not only its humor but also how it can be such an isolating action.” Kristen Liu-Wong is a Los Angeles-based artist originally from San Francisco who studied Illustration at Pratt Institute. Thank you, Kristen Liu. We really enjoyed interviewing you and hopefully we will meet in person someday. Make sure to read the interview and enjoy more of her artwork at www.kristenliuart.com. Let’s start from the beginning and your childhood ambition. Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood and your original attraction to art? I was born and raised in San Francisco. My mom was a single parent who raised me and my sister with our grandmother’s help. Since she was a textile major and is an elementary art teacher, she made sure we were at different museums and the library every week. So I’ve always been exposed to art and encouraged to completely indulge any interest I’ve had in it.


San Francisco is where you were raised, but where do you consider home: San Francisco, Brooklyn, LA, or none of the above? Well, I just moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn after six years living there, so I’m still pretty attached to Brooklyn. It was the first place I was really on my own and I’ll always appreciate the independence it helped to foster in me. Hopefully, LA can become a home to me as well, but if it doesn’t I guess I’ll move on somewhere else at the end of the lease. Would you call yourself a “multimedia artist?” How would you explain your art forms, and what materials do you mainly work with? I enjoy working in multiple mediums, but when I hear “multimedia artist” I think of someone who does artsy videos they show at the MoMA on a loop, or someone who does giant installations. So no, I don’t think I’m a multimedia artist. I typically do drawings or paintings though I really enjoy crafts also, so I do silly little sculptures or tacky things

my inner narratives. I always hated doing selfportraits in school! Your painting “Bushwick Nightlife” with “hipsters” vomiting candy-colored balls delights me... Maybe because it feels like a humorous take on some nights I have had in Bushwick. If you had to pick, what would you say you are most fascinated with, subject-wise? That painting is a surprisingly literal depiction of the party I went to that inspired it! I guess I’m most fascinated with sex, death, and violence, like everyone else. What interests me particularly about sex though, is not only its humor but also how it can be such an isolating action. Sometimes when you’re having sex, you couldn’t possibly feel any more alone and that really interests me. What is too much? Is there a line not to cross even when candy-coated? How do you know when to stop, and do you feel like you have ever created something that has just gone a little too far for the viewer? My gauge for if something is too much is if I shudder

with glitter and jars when I have spare time. I love printmaking but haven’t really done any since graduation, since I’m poor and lazy and I don’t feel like commuting to facilities. When I paint, I like to use acrylic and acrylic gouache on wood-panels, which I then coat in resin. If I’m drawing I’ll use a micron or a Faber-Castell for line work and anything with a color I like for the rest of the drawing: copics, highlighters, brush pens, gel pens, etcetera. Do you have recurring characters in your art? If so, do you have a favorite character to paint? All of the faces of my people are pretty similar; I just vary hair, skin and eye color. I prefer to use these generalized figures because my paintings are often about someone or something specific, and by using these people templates I can give them anonymity. Any self-portraiture in your artwork? I don’t like to paint myself but I do enjoy painting about myself. So you won’t see any character that specifically looks like me, but many paintings reflect

from thinking about spending hours painting it. I need to look at what I’m doing for a really long time – if it’s so gross that I can’t do that then I probably shouldn’t paint it because then it would feel insincere. I never want to depict something just for the sake of vulgarity and shock value, but I’m also not going to censor myself because some people might get offended. And I’ve noticed that with any painting of mine that is more explicit than one of my still-life pieces or something, I tend to lose some followers but I figure I have a NSFW warning and people can immediately see what my art is like, so if you don’t like seeing sex and blood then yep, you’re following the wrong person. What do you think is most misunderstood about your artwork? Well, sometimes I worry that people might think I’m glorifying violence because I depict it so often but that isn’t the case at all. I’m fascinated by our ability as humans to be incredibly violent – I’ve had experiences with violence and if I chose to hide from the unpleasantness of ourselves as humans, I would be making work that bored me.




What does your family think of your art? My mom and sister have been really supportive of my work! Even though I know my mom is sometimes uncomfortable with how explicit my content can get, she’s an art teacher so I don’t think she really cares. Some of my other family members are more conservative but I barely see them so whatever. What kind of art do you like? This is going to sound like a cop-out but I like all sorts! I love American folk art, especially at the moment; you can see that the flat perspectives and pattern making has had a HUGE influence on me. Lucien Freud and Alex Katz are my two favorite portrait painters. I’ve got to say, there are also so many great living artists out there. I’ve really been appreciating my peers’ work, especially since graduation. And I know life, art, everything, is a competition, but I’ve only met other artists who have been really supportive so that’s been the best thing about getting into the working world.

If you were not an artist, what do you think you would be? I’d probably be a librarian or a dog walker. What is the worst question that you have ever been asked regarding your art (hopefully it’s not one of mine)? “Why don’t you just do it on the computer?” How about, NO! One of my favorite questions to ask (not to be morbid)... When it’s all said and done, how would you like your art to be remembered? Damn, I’d just be grateful to be remembered at all! But if my work is to be remembered, I’d want it to be thought of as authentic and I’d hope that it could still provoke thought from future audiences, even if it is from a stuffier time. Do you have any upcoming projects you can share with us? Yeah, I’ve got some things cooking! Upcoming group

So when you are not creating art, what do you do in your free time? What do you enjoy? I love to read. I love watching TV – all sorts too. They’ve been re-airing the Civil War, which is great because I’m the hugest Ken Burns groupie, but I’m also a big fan of trashy reality TV shows. I’ve been trying to explore my surroundings more too, which is especially relevant since I’m in a new city. Maybe I should get into hiking now that I live in Southern California. How would you identify your personality if you were to leave the artist element out of it? Is that possible? Hmmm… this is always difficult to answer without sounding like a total douche. I’m pretty cynical and gloomy in general, definitely a low-energy person. But then again, I appreciate a good fart joke. And I love puppies and cute things. So I guess I’m like a surly adult baby.

show at the Luggage Store Gallery, which is great because it will be my first show in San Francisco. And next year I’m soooo excited because I’m gonna be doing a two-person show with Michelle Guintu at New Image Art. I’ve also signed up to do a flipbook show at Grumpy Bert in Brooklyn, which will be interesting because I haven’t done any sort of animation since school. I’m going to be releasing some prints soon with Strange Cessation and Sideshow Printing, and I hope to make some little cheap drawings for everyone out there with a budget. I’m really trying to hustle and focus on art since I don’t have a studio job anymore. Where can people check out more of your artwork? My official site is kristenliuart.com but for updates and stuff find me on tumblr and Instagram – @kliuwong. Thanks so much! Thank you so much. We really enjoyed interviewing you and hope to run into you in LA. Please stay in touch.


Photos & Interview Jeffrey (Moustache) Beard Age: 33 Sponsors: Vans, Ace Trucks, Cripta Wheels, Zarape Skateboards, Fresharmy and Levismx Where are you from? Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. What was it like coming from Mexico City to Los Angeles to skate? It’s two different worlds. In Mexico the spots are more photogenic and there are a lot more colors, but it can be tough to skate. In Los Angeles the spots are a little less rough to skate – they are perfect. And of course the culture is different. Skating was born in Los Angeles and in Mexico it’s just now becoming a more popular culture. What do your friends back home think LA is like? Do they look at you differently for moving here? I’ve never felt them look at me any different. They always want to know what are the best spots around here to skate, asking about shows like music and art. How often do you go back to Mexico? I’m always back and forth. Mexico is my home. I love to keep my presence there; that’s where everything started for me. My place in LA is like a skate house. We always have the best of skaters from Mexico coming through to stay and skate and film everyday. I try to keep a strong connection with Mexico, and U.S. skateboarding is a big family. We have chatted a bit here and there about the contests in Mexico. How is it going there to compete and how is it different from here in the U.S.? I like to compete both here and there. The vibe when I’m in Mexico is amazing. I get to skate with my close friends and the fans are some of the best in the world. Here in the U.S. I feel there are so many talented skaters that it inspires me to learn new tricks and skate better.

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Airwalk Fakie


Lip Slide

Who do you like skating with? I love to skate with my friends to have fun, but when I want to film a clip I like to just skate with a filmer and the photographer. Who is your favorite skater to watch and why? Grant Taylor and Brandon Westgate. They skate everything, they are real and not trying to imitate anyone else. They have their own natural style. What have you been working on lately?

Nose Blunt Tranfer Nose Grind

I have been traveling and working on footage for two video parts, as well as working on my pro models for boards and wheels. I have also been saving up to start a skate clothing company based in Mexico. Can you go a little more in depth about that? That’s something I’ve felt is the next step in my career. I like clothing so I think it’s the perfect way to fuse what I like between that and skating, so I can make a Mexican brand to support the new generation of skaters. I just want to show


B.S Boneless

that there are a lot of rippers with talent and style. Do you have any upcoming trips planned? Yeah, I’m going China and Panama this year. I want to focus a little more in Central America. I just came back from Guatemala and I realized that skateboarding is growing very fast there.

What type of spots do you like to normally skate? I like to be complete and skate every spot, but I definitely enjoy to skate pools and ditches. I also like to skate Venice Beach and Lafayette Plaza so I can complement my pool and street. I also like to skate the mini at the Brooklyn Projects. B.S Flip


F.S Crail

Feeble


Melon

Describe a typical day for you? What goes on in your daily routine? I usually start my day early with a protein smoothie and a morning workout. Then I shower up and have some coffee, a bagel, and hit up the Lafayette Plaza for a warmup session. From there, I decide where to skate and get some photos and clips of the day. Come back home, shower up and cook dinner and enjoy movies, books or music.

Ollie

When you aren’t skating what types of things do you like to do to stay busy? I like to go see art and music shows. I love LA for that – there is always something to do. I also have made it a point to take care of my body, so on my free time I like to go hiking and exercise. I am a big fan of watching movies as well.


Outer Banks Enigma Words: Jock Serong Photos: Steve Baccon (*unless noted) Fisher Heverly is an enigma. The last time I saw him he was weaving his way down a narrow cliff track on the remote northern coast of Western Australia, headed for a dangerous, heaving lefthander that was pouring in from the expanses of the Indian Ocean and throwing itself violently at a rockshelf. We’d been surfing the area for over a week – Fisher and his Depactus stablemates Matt Meola, Mark Healy and local charger Ry Craike, trading waves in a building swell, a gang of marauding goofyfooters in a land of barreling lefts. But of all those waves, this one was the thickest, the fastest and the meanest. Two hours from any kind of civilization, marked only by a slowing rusting pickup truck abandoned on the clifftop, this was not a place for the tentative. Which is why you can read a little of Fisher Heverly’s character from the fact that he was up before dawn, quietly assessing quiver options and screwing in fins while the waves did their utmost to shake the boulders loose a hundred feet below us. I watched him that morning for something approaching five hours. I stood on the escarpment, sat for a while halfway down, caught some shade in a cave and swam in a rockpool. And all the while, Fisher caught barrel after barrel after barrel. Occasionally the ocean would catch him on the inside after he’d kicked out from one, and he’d get rolled a few times on the edge of the unforgiving shelf, but that minor violence aside, he never lost a takeoff and never shirked a drop. Nor did he ever claim a barrel. He was totally absorbed in what he was doing, and doing it flawlessly; he was locked in a physical and mental zone that could only be described as mesmerizing. What’s doubly surprising about such a display is that Fisher shows no outward signs of the necessary intensity. To surf hurricane swells in the Atlantic, to surf Pipe successfully, to surf this evil, gurgling cliff country left, takes a certain amount of mongrel. But no amount of journalistic prodding would reveal it. He is polite to shopkeepers, he smiles at small children and he’s reluctant to talk about himself. That being the case, it’s necessary to do a little digging around. Fisher grew up in Emerald Isle, a small fishing and tourist town on Bogue Banks, North Carolina. The island is just a narrow strip of beach about 25 miles long, separated from the mainland by the waters of Bogue Sound, joined to the rest of America by two slender causeways. The south-facing coast is one long, even beach, devoid of rivermouths, rock points or anything at all to interrupt the flow of sand. There must be an infinite number of peaks along this stretch. You get the impression that the Crystal Coast is a place apart in many ways, a small community with the ocean at its heart, a place that trembles every hurricane season with both anticipation and fear. Fisher’s family have a long history there: his grandfather, Kenneth “Chief” Heverly, was a veteran of the U.S. Army who served with the 82nd Airborne after World War II. Fishing reports in the North Carolina newspapers as far back as 1968 feature Ken talking about the day’s catch in Bogue Sound. Ken passed away in 2009 but his wife Libby remains as matriarch of the clan, a former mayor and mother to the four boys - Kennie, David, Carl and Roy - who’ve between them built an empire on surfing and fishing the local waters. 74

“I just try and go with what seems r ight and focus on the day at hand.”


Photo: Tom Carey


“Where I was raised is considered the Southern Outer Banks,” Fisher explains. “But the northern islands are really what people are usually talking about when they say the Outer Banks. If you look at a map you can see Emerald Isle is blocked from all north and northeast swells. Those are generally the biggest swells, so I end up driving the five-hour trek to Hatteras Island. Hatteras gets really crowded with traveling surfers but every now and then you get a day with just your close friends and perfect beach break barrels – that’s always pretty special.” Fisher grew up in this culture, alongside his older brother Hunter. Both were athletic enough that other sports threatened for a while to claim their talents. “Fisher was a great wrestler too,” says his father Roy. “But he gave it up for surfing. He and Hunter were both state champions in middle school. We supported their choice to step away from wrestling. Would you spend a weekend in the gym or at the beach?”

A streak of sibling rivalry might have been fuelling the brothers’ rise as surfers, too. “I was pretty serious about being better than my older brother Hunter,” says Fisher. “Though he was definitely a little more athletic than me and surfing came a bit easier to him, I remember always being pissed if he landed something before me or was surfing better in general. I would always be the last one out because I could never really be satisfied with my surfing.” Roy traveled frequently with the boys as their surfing developed: to Mexico, Hawaii, California, up and down the East Coast. “Fisher was always a charger,” he says, “even as a kid. I took him to Hawaii when he was young, took him to Pipe. The swell came up while we were out there and we paddled in. Fisher stayed out there and a big set - I mean big - broke on his head. It scared me to death. He popped up in the channel: it’d broken right in front of him. He would’ve been less than 15. He just kept going.”

Before long, the quiet grom from the Outer Banks started to stack up some serious competitive results: NSSA East Coast Champion, and Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) East Coast Champion, then a slot as captain and number-one seed on Team USA in the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing titles. Quiksilver signed him up in June 2009 as an 18-year-old. By 2011, he’d taken a second to Rob Machado at the Reef Sweetwater Pro. Alongside the Geiselman brothers, people were starting to talk again about East Coasters having a place on the world stage. The future looked golden. But the question always hovered in the background: was Fisher Heverly truly a competitive beast, or a barrel pig, or a technically-exquisite all-round freesurfer? The lack of any obvious weakness made it hard to clearly see his strengths. Which brings us back to the idea of Fisher Heverly as enigma. When asked directly, he struggles to explain what it is inside himself that’s invisible to the

outside world, that hidden fire. “I’d say overall I try to stay on a pretty even keel,” he says. “My only real worries are not being able to get up and do the things I love to do. I know I’m lucky to be able to surf as a ‘job’ and I just want to take advantage of that and see how far I can take it. The most stressed I get is when the ocean’s flat for three or four days, which sounds shallow or whatever but I just really appreciate what I have. I can’t control things that happen in life other than what I’m doing, so that’s all I try and control.” “I think Fisher’s the perfect fit for the Depactus team,” states dear friend and North Carolina’s other great surfing export, Ben Bourgeois. “Yes, he‘s different to those guys, (Meola’s from Maui, Healy from Oahu and Craike from Western Australia), but there’s that common thread of the fishing/ hunting/surfing thing. He’s still young too – there’s plenty of room for a late push that goes a long way. He definitely has something underneath all those layers of mellowness.”



Seq: Tom Carey


Fisher himself won’t be drawn on what the future holds. “I don’t try and make huge plans or anything,” he says. “I just try and go with what seems right and focus on the day at hand.” Depactus co-director and former world number two, Luke Egan, has said elsewhere that one of the reasons the label picked up Fisher was the pressure from East Coast retailers like Surf City’s Mike Barden, who backed the kid absolutely. It was equally noticeable in compiling this profile that people wanted very much to speak for him: from his dad Roy (“He’s a standout wherever he goes. He’s got his own style, for sure.”), to contemporary and rival Brett Barley (“Anything I can do. I just want to help the bloke out.”), to seasoned professional Ben Bourgeois (“I’m so glad you’re calling me asking about him, and that people are recognizing him. He’s got all the support in the world on this coast.”). If raw talent, persistence and the goodwill of others count for anything, we’ll be hearing a lot more of Fisher Heverly.


Marc Frank Montoya @ ground zero, Donner Pass. Possibly one of the best shred spots on earth, if there’s snow.

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˜ Words: Jon Francis Photos: Sullivan Strangely, scientists have chosen to label these large special weather events that only seem to occur every 10-15 years in the pacific, El Nino, which translates in English as “the boy” or “child.” But by now, after years of droughts and fires in the southwest and on top of hypedup predictions of “it’s gonna be good this year” and “there’s no way it can get worse then last year,” I’m pretty sure that everyone is hoping for this winter to be more like El Niño Grande, or more like a man-child winter, rather than a little boy. If you compare the most recent Farmers Almanac for the 2015/2016 winter, which predicts a dry and warm southwest again, to the above average water temps and the reversed trade winds in the Pacific, which typically set up the weather event named El Niño, you will probably just get confused, let down, and expect another hot dry winter with a lack of rain and snow. Although weather patterns have become so unpredictable over the years and it seems to only get worse each winter, this year there are finally true signs of the first El Niño winter since 1997. Recently we have seen an influx of exotic sharks, sting rays, abnormal amounts of red crabs washing up on the beaches of SoCal, 75degree water and a record number of named storms developing in the central Pacific, which has finally given us a real reason to get excited about the potential of experiencing winter once again. These dry conditions have not only hurt our snow industry in California and the southwest, but they’re actually slowing down our entire business and have major impacts on the economy as a whole in our mountain communities that rely on snow in the winter to draw tourism and stimulate the economies in resort towns. Some may argue the direct affects humans are contributing to global warming, some may say it’s due to the 20-year weather cycles the earth naturally goes through, but it seems pretty obvious to me that humans are contributing directly to climate change. Yes, the earth goes through natural weather cycles and patterns, and yes, the 1960s and ‘70s were dry and warm while the ‘80s and ‘90s seemed to be much wetter and cooler years, but the bottom line is if we don’t do something now these patterns will only get worse, and it only seems intelligent that we treat our planet with care and respect its


John Rodosky – not mad about El Niño.

Nick Pooch - He grew up in Tahoe, so if it El Ninos a bunch, def call him if you go up there, he’s got spots in South Lake.


Broc Waring is trying to find El Nino, but that cloud of snow makes it hard to see.

Curtis Woodman is another Tahoe local, who’s so good at El Nino he can make bluebird pow days.

It’s a snowplow, rich people will drive these if it goes full El Nino.

capabilities. I can personally recall in detail the 1997 El Niño and I can only pray to Mother Nature that she provides epic surf and deep snow all winter and that she follows this year up with another few years of good snow to turn things around. Most of us live for these conditions, and it’s hard to imagine another few years of dry, warm winters. Our souls, our businesses, Jake Lawlor our industrymaking and our entire a split economy isboard, relyingbecause on El Niño to finally come through this boots just won’t cutwe it are year. Stay positive, trips the beyond duefor and I’mto hoping store. this is the year.

Ross Baker grew up with the El Nino in Tahoe, which is where he learned to jump off of absolutely anything and trust in bottomless pow.


Ed Templeton’s current exhibition at the Huntington Beach Art Center is an expansive survey of the artist’s work from the last several years to the present day. The show features some of his most iconic pictures, paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces spread throughout the space in Templeton’s dynamic installation style. Dominating the show are his Teenage Kissers, The Seconds Pass, Wires Across Huntington Beach Series, which is an ongoing look into his backyard’s beach culture and suburban sprawl. At the opening on September 12th, visitors stood in line for the show duration to get Ed’s drawings and musings scrawled across all sorts of ephemera, while listing to live music from bands

Freckles and Travesura. Those in attendance were an amazing cross section of art world aficionados to newbie fans and local skate groms to pro skate elites. Dead Bear Club hosted a ‘Zine Fair and there was food catered by Seabirds Kitchen. Beverages were provided by PBR and all was made possible with support from RVCA. Common Side Effects will be on view from now to November 7th and also includes works from photographers Deanna Templeton, Nolan Hall, Grant Hatfield, Devin Briggs and Soncho Williams.

Photos: Delon Isaacs 1. Grant Hatfield, Ed Templeton, Deanna Templeton, Nolan Hall, Soncho Williams, Devin Briggs 2. Huntington Beach Art Center 3. Ed Templeton frames and sculptures 4. Ed Templeton figurine 5. Ethan and Pat Tenore with Ed 6. Toy Machine enthusiast 7. Freckles band 8. Friendly Faces 9. Travesura 10. Thomas Campbell & Ed Templeton 11. Joker Shop Rats 12. Alex & Clint Woodside

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RILEY HAWK OVERCROOK A C T I V E R I D E S H O P. C O M


The World Premiere of Volcom’s newest surf movie, Psychic Migrations, took over Edwards Big Newport 6 Theater on the night of September 17th in Newport Beach, and the night included the full cast of surfers from the movie, celebrities, media, and moviegoers alike. As the sun was slowing setting over Newport Beach, VIP guests and surf fans from all over began showing up to see what this premiere had to offer. The pink carpet (yes, pink, not red) blanketed the entrance to the theater, as announcer-extraordinaire Chris Cote kicked off the Periscope live show at 6:45 p.m. with none other than Mr. Richard Woolcott, giving us some background into past Volcom movies and what we could expect of Psychic Migrations. When it was edging closer to start time for the movie, everyone crammed in the three theaters, which were all at max capacity, to catch the start of the movie as director Ryan Thomas introduced the film in the main theater. And it also just so happened to be RT’s birthday, and Richard Woolcott and the entire theatre sang Happy Birthday in unison right before the feature started.

When the lights dimmed, all in attendance melted into their oversized, leatherrecliner seats and all eyes were fixed to the big screen. A Psychic Migration it was, as RT’s cinematography brought us around the world to enjoy some of the best, most future-forward surfing that the Volcom surf team had to offer. All we can say is that it was another homerun for the Veeco Productions team and another must-have for every surf aficionado’s video library. As the credits rolled, everyone exited the theater and walked next door to Muldoon’s to enjoy some good company, good music, and great stories from the movie. It was another great night brought to us from our family at Volcom, and if you missed it you’re just gonna have to find a copy for yourself to understand what we’re talking about.

Photos: @lukeforgay, @rich_landos, @shredcorn, @chasenewsom 1. Edwards Big Newport 6 Theater – ground zero for the Psychic Migrations world premiere 2. Psychic Migrations cast & crew 3. Selfie time with Alex Grey, Chris Cote & Kelly Slater 4. Kelly Slater 5. All eyes on the big screen 6. Richie, Jack, Yago & his lady friend 7. Remy, Ryan & Butch 8. If you’re in this photo, you’re in the film – way to go dudes 9. Immegart embracing director RT while Wooley and entire theater sing Happy Birthday 10. Mitch Coleborn, Chris Cote, Carlos Muñoz & Parker Coffin 11. Coco Ho & Elena Hight 12. The Steris groms

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#HEYBUDLETSPARTY

WE JUST PRINT THE SH&T! / ERIK@AMPERLITHO.COM / 760.213.4008 910 17TH ST. COSTA MESA, CA 92627


Dragon had its annual HQ party this year during the Hurley Pro at Trestles. When you get a lot of the traveling WSL surf team in town, like World #2 Mick Fanning, World #3 Owen Wright, and Ace Buchan, it is good to mix it up with the Dragon crew, key retailers, snowboarders, and media friends. This year, Cut Snake was on hand bringing the sounds, with Paul Fisher and Leigh Sedley orchestrating the beats. Food and drinks were flowing and no one left hungry or thirsty.

The highlight of the evening was having a lot of the young surf crew and shop kids getting to meet some of the top Dragon surfers face to face. The retailers from Hansen’s, Surfride, Tilly’s, Hanger 94, Catalyst, Identity, BC and Jacks were in attendance, enjoying the atmosphere and mingling. Also, a few East Coast retailers came with the Hurley crew, including LG from WRV, Garrett from Sunrise Surf Shop, and James from Brave New World. It was another great industry event where everyone left with big smiles, full bellies and fond memories.

1. Dragon Team having a good time at Dragon Block Party 2. Dragon’s Kyle, Cisco, Mick & Dave 3. Head judge Richie Porta & the official WSL judging staff 4. Cut Snake & Paul Fisher with Rob Machado & wife Sophie 5. Block Party 6. Dragon athletes debate who’s taller – Taylor Clark or Owen Wright 7. Zoe Neilsen & Mick Fanning 8. Party mode with Dragon’s Anthony Clark, Tilly’s Carrie Rae Jennings, Dragon’s Jon Finger, Anthony Manfredi and Trisha Andrada, and Paul and Elizabeth Durant of SoCal Boardshop 9. Retailers and reps running amuck

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Words: Spencer Pirdy The first annual Donavon Frankenreiter Still Salty surf contest and concert presented by Subaru went down on a bluebird Sunday this past month at Salt Creek in Dana Point. Now, I’m not the biggest Salt Creek fan ever, but on this particular day it was extremely hard not to be. Upon arriving down at the point there were still plenty of head-high, south swell lines peeling in for competitors. The event truly is a family affair with ages for all divisions, and there were even a few curveballs thrown in there to spice things up. For instance, in the first heat of the event all competitors had to ride Catch Surf Beaters, which proved to be equally difficult and fun. The later rounds allowed surfers to ride whatever equipment they wanted. When you were exhausted and famished from surfing you could post up on the beach, eat a PieNot Aussie meat pie and listen to some colorful commentary from GT and Donavon. By the final rounds the tide had dropped and competitors were connecting through all the way to the beach. Joel

Parkinson and Laura Enever dropped in unannounced to do some judging and to present awards. Standouts included Tyler Stanaland, Sam Orozco and many other underground rippers. At 4 o’clock the event finished and everyone made their way up to the lawn. It was there that the award ceremony was held. As the winners were announced the lawn began to fill up in front of the concert stage. Then, Matt Costa opened up with some sultry lullabies that eased people into the evening followed by G Love jamming a few at sunset, with the event finishing on a high note with Donavon rocking through to the end. At one point there were approximately 3,000 people on the lawn, all happy and loving every bit of Still Salty. The day was as close to perfect as it gets. It was the ideal blend of beautiful weather, waves and music all with a community vibe that left everyone feeling pretty lucky to be apart of the event. It’ll be hard to beat the first annual Donavon Frankenreiter Still Salty contest and concert, but we’ll be back to one-up ourselves next year!

Photos: Pat Stacy 1. Squig ripped his way to his first divisional win, congrats Squig! 2. They saved the best for last and Donavon did not disappoint. 3. Squig and his spoils. 4. 25-34 winner Tyler Stanaland was a standout all day. 5. Loyal Kenworthy – one of BL!SSS’ biggest supporters 6. Event host Donavon Frankenreiter 7. Family man and esteemed photog Jason Kenworthy laying down a slash. 8. Matt Costa 9. Everyone was getting waves. 10. The push-in division 11. Bella Kenworthy 12. Micah “That’s a real nice backside” Byrne

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Interview: Max Ritter Photo: Nick Walker Jamie Strong and Nate Nelson met while working together in marketing and music supervision at the hip-hop staple record label Stones Throw. Wanting to delve more into their own taste and creativity, the two joined forces with then Huff brand creative director Hanni El Khatib to form Innovative Leisure Records in 2010. First started as a singles, self-funded passion project, the label has rapidly grown to a diverse roster of quality artists and releases. We had some fun asking IL [Innovative Leisure] a few questions about their operations. Where is the IL HQ and how many people work there? We are in Glassell Park, which is just south of Eagle Rock, known for the Verdugo Bar and the Glassell Park Pool. There are five to six fulltime staffers and we contract out for non full-time stuff. How many artists and releases has the label grown to since its inception?

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Not including videos, singles and remixes, we’re at release IL2038, which will be the 38th Long Player (Full-Length Album). The active roster is at about 16 artists. How do you guys discover your artists, and what makes you decide something is a good fit for IL? One thing I like about the label is it is musically very diverse. When we first started, we envisioned a label whose releases wouldn’t be genre focused, as our tastes in music are stylistically across the board. When looking at artists, it’s typically about how good the sound and aesthetic is regardless of what genre it maintains. From your experience, how much has the industry changed? What does an Indy label have to do to be profitable these days? A lot of changes have happened since we started out in the music industry (around 2000). At that time, CD sales were the main source of recorded music revenue. For better or worse,

that’s fallen quite substantially while downloads/streaming/ synch revenue has risen. Also, digital marketing has grown while traditional marketing outlets (print, TV & radio) have shrunk. That really helped us with the Rhye release, as we were able to capitalize on the affordable “viral” phenomenon early on in the album campaign. The revenue in the industry has decreased but so have the costs associated with putting out records. Although physical vinyl seems to be trending back some, how much has licensing and touring/merch outgrown physical and digital sales, and what is your approach to existing in current music market situation? Partly touched on this above, but I don’t think our approach has really changed that much to be honest. It’s more so just embracing certain facets of the business a bit more, whether it’s streaming to merch. What are IL’s favorite five record labels of all time? That’s a tough one, but we’re

definitely inspired by the entire Beggars Group Operation (XL, 4AD, Matador, Rough Trade), Blue Note, Stones Throw, Sub Pop, Domino, Warp, Mo Wax, Verve, Prelude, Solar, Motown… and the list goes on and on. Top five is way too hard. What are some recent and upcoming releases we should check out or get excited about? We just put out new releases from Gossamer, De Lux, Superhumanoids, Korey Dane and the first half of 2016 will see new albums from this Parisian Psych Band - Wall of Death (produced by Hanni El Khatib), Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band (second release recorded in a field in Northern Thailand), Nick Waterhouse, Classixx and BADBADNOTGOOD. Thanks, dudes! You can learn more about Innovative Leisure Records and hear some good stuff by visiting http//www. innovativeleisure.net! Follow them on Instagram at @ innovativeleisure.


Review: Max Ritter

Syl Johnson The Complete Twinight Singles Numero Group

Various Artists Daptone Gold II Daptone

More soul… It’s a phase, sorry. No that’s not SEAL dude, it’s SYL… Johnson! This is a double LP re-issue release of the pioneer ‘60s soul-singer compiling all of his 45 single releases from his tenure at Twinight Records. Some hammers here. Looking good, Syl.

The first Daptone Gold compilation is a regular on the record player at our place, so this is a definite purchase. The second go-around is another double LP that includes 16 of the Daptone soul labels greatest hits from throughout their 13-year history with some other rarities and unreleased cuts.

Kurt Vile B’lieve I’m Goin Down Matador

Ryan Adams 1989 Pax Am

Instant Classic?

Literally covers Taylor Swift’s entire album 1989 and makes it surprisingly friendly for human beings that are not 12- to 16-year-old girls.

The Growlers – Beach Goth Party The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA Saturday, October 25th, 2014

Review & Photo: Max Ritter

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Cockroach-ing yawl. Last year’s Beach Goth Party was a pretty mental time, so be sure to catch this year’s extravaganza October 24th & 25th at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA. This year’s headliners includes The Growlers, Grimes, Die Antwoord, Mac Demarco, Julian Casablancas +The Voidz, FIDLAR, Ghost, The Drums, Juicy J, Warpaint and so many more. Hosted By Tom Green and Parliament Funkadelic. Be there!


Age: 13 Hometown: Encinitas, CA Sponsors: McGills Skate Shop Favorite Skaters: Bucky Lasek, Danny Way & Jake Brown Photo: Ortiz

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Axis

photo

series

SYMMETRICAL SHAPE | DROP THROUGH | ERGONOMIC PUSH P : Matt Smith




RIGHT : FISHER HEVERLY LEFT : MARK HEALEY --DEPACTUS MIDSHIP PUFFY




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