Interview with Renaud Cardinal

2 in a row!
Drift posted yesterday my interview with Renaud Cardinal of UWL Surfboards. Full feature on main page that came out really good.

Thank you Renaud, Thomas and Elsa. And a special thanks to Howard, Drift editor/founder for the continuous support.

You can read the full interview at Drift Surfing Europe (main page features) or directly at http://www.driftsurfing.eu/surf_article.php?id=1894

photos by Elsa Girault

Interview with Robin Kegel

Drift Surfing Europe just posted my interview with Robin Kegel of Gato Heroi.

"RR: Some say you’re shaping the future of longboarding, some that your logs are too weird and hard too hard to ride, what’s the truth?



Well, it’s a muddied perspective. I mean, look at the traditional longboarding death and resurgence led by Joel Tudor. Personally I think classic longboarding has no future – just as shortboarding has no future. I’ll explain.
When a surfer is ready to take off and is moves to walk (and pose) there’s no wave function or setup dynamic. Just as shortboarding experienced decades ago, when the approach was to engage only in the end zone of the wave, to boost tricks.
Modern surfing incorporates the full use of waves and functional direction change, harnessing power and poise. Pivot fin logs and concave noseriders don’t allow themselves to be set on the rail properly. They rely on drag. There’s no future in that, the best one can do on those is get a controlled noseride or dropknee cutback. It comes down to design =function = style."

Read the full interview at http://www.driftsurfing.eu/index.php/archives/7937
photos by Elsa Girault

Sean Mattison interview for Drift

Drift just put out my interview with Sean Mattison.
Sean has been a good friend, always supportive and willing to share info and some of his huge knowledge about surfboard design.
I think the interview came out quite nice and it's worth reading.
(click the image or link below to view it)

http://www.driftsurfing.eu/surf_article.php?id=1888

Jeff interview for Drift

Drift just posted a short interview I did with Jeff Mccallum about his trip to France, his new models and the collab with Joel Tudor.

You can read it HERE

Gone Fishing - DJ Kane Interview

Gone fishing

It’s a big leap from a backporch in Florida to a shaping bay at Moonlight, but under Rich Pavel’s tutelage, DJ Kane has made the transition. Famous for his performance fish, on a recent trip to Portugal he explained the origins of the Swordfish, and why he’ll never be cruising on a hull…

You're originally from Florida, where it can’t have been hard to lay your hands on a board – why did you start shaping?
Growing up in Florida, you have one surfboard that you basically ride in whatever conditions the ocean throws at you. When I was about 14, there was a big resurgence in old boards – Channel Islands had just started making their singlefins and people were starting to look back towards fish. I didn’t know anyone who had one, and I couldn’t afford to buy one, so I decided to make them myself. My parents have always been super supportive of everything I've done, whether it was sports, or schooling, or surfing. I was really fortunate – they were cool enough to let me take over their back porch and ruin it with resin and paint and track foam dust into the house. When I go back home nowadays it's cool to see my old workplace all cleaned up and nice.

What about that first board? Did it work well?
My first board was a copy of 5’8 BAT shortboard that I was riding at the time. It turned out alright. Looked sort of symmetrical. I’m not sure how it rode, actually, because I sold it to a friend before it was finished so I could make another. I came home after school in my 9th-grade year and shaped them for hours and hours. Then I convinced my mom to loan me some money to buy tools and fibreglass and stuff. The next summer I worked as a labourer for a friend’s construction company to pay her back.

A few years later you moved to California. Did Florida not offer as many opportunities for a shaper?
California is the epicentre of the surfboard industry. I decided to move here a few months before I graduated high school. Sure, I could have stayed in Florida and shaped boards – my parents would probably been happier with that – but I had an opportunity to go, and a place to stay, and seeing that I had already been out here a couple of times and seen the guys at Moonlight do their thing, it was a no-brainer. So I filled my truck with all my stuff and drove across the country a week after I graduated high school.

Where did you start?
I didn’t have any work for the first month after I moved here; I just surfed and rode around with my roommate learning all the different spots and poking my head in all the different factories. My first job was at Global Glassing – quality control and finishing boards. Shortly after I was working at Moonlight as well, going to Moonlight in the mornings and Global later. It was really cool to be working on boards for some of the biggest names in the world. Everything was new and fresh. The industry was booming and Global was making 100-125 boards a week, so I was very busy. Moonlight has never been about numbers, more about putting out one-of-a-kind beautiful boards.

(...)

Podem ler a entrevista completa no site da Drift
You can read the full interview at Drift Website

English version: http://www.driftsurfing.eu/?p=1970

Versaõ Portuguesa: http://www.driftsurfing.eu/?p=1986

Thanks DJ

Mccallum Interview

- You started working in the surfboard business packing boards for Christenson. Was it the start or shaping was already on your mind?
For sure, from the very beginning, even before Chris I wanted to shape. I just didn't have access to the means necessary. But once I got into Chris' place It was on, shaping really consumed my life, I lost a lot of sleep thinking about boards. But it's hard to get the opportunities I had, I was really lucky. So I try a help out people who are into it when I can trying to share the stoke.

- Christenson was a big influence in the kind of surfboards you do now?
Yeah, he was a big influence, just from the fact that I learned so much from him. I got into his place right when he started the alternative thing, and all I rode was alternative boards so I fit well in there. I learned a lot from Chris, and it has been a big part of what I create. But when I moved on to do my own thing, my influences began to spread more and more, and still are today.


- You're from San Diego, home of the Fish design and you only shape "alternative" surfboards, but not any Fish? Why? Just not your thing or you just want to go beyond that?
I was into Fishes for a little bit, and made some I really liked, But once I was over it, I never looked back, I guess they aren't my thing, but that came from wanting something better. I think being taller 6'3" I was riding bigger fishes, around 5'10", but I believe for traditional fish to work as they are designed or how I want them to work they need to be small like 5'6" and under. That's where the Quagg came from. I learned how to surf on single fin eggs, and then transitioned to fishes, but felt the parallel rails would gag and not be as fluid, So I went back to the egg it was gonna be a single fin but I had been reading about quads and went for it. So I made a 5'10" and the thing was insane. Everyone that rode it wanted one. It wasn't ever shaped that well, but the idea worked so I knew they would only get better.

- Since you did your first Mini-Simmons it became a pretty common design. How did you came up with that and do you think it's just hype or the design really works?
The first Mini Simmons was Casper, It was shaped by Joe Baguess for RK, and they'll tell you that they each came up with it. But I saw that one and did some research on Bob Simmons and decided to make my idea of the Simmons so I made the second one ever. Casper was painted all white so I made mine all Black, which fit well, since I got so much shit for making those boards in the beginning cause those guys were claiming it as theirs. When in reality it is a Simmons Design that has been resurrected. So mine was the Black Sheep of the Simmons which I kind of like. Now that so many people are making and riding them I think its rad. It’s even better to see the variations people are coming up with. I think the design works really well, but they are the type of board you have to commit to, to get what you want out of them. But they are for real, for sure.

- You say about some of the New B model "designed for the ultimate performance while not a shortboard". Do you think you've pushed your designs to the limit?
The New B, is a relatively new design for me, in the last year I've been refining it to get it there as far as performance. The deck design and rail design allows you to ride a smaller yet thinner board than your standard alternative board and still maintain all the paddle. Yet the thinness of and progressive rail keeps the performance. I was doing it for a long time, but have now refined it, I always knew it worked but now I understand how and why, and how far I can push it without loosing anything.


-You're not only a great shaper but also a great glasser known for the quality and attention for detail. Do you still glass a lot of boards yourself or you prefer to concentrate on shaping now?
Right now I'm concentrating on shaping, but all my boards are glassed under my roof. I have built a small team that share the passion for the details, and are amazingly skilled. But I still enjoy getting in the resin. I'm gonna start a solo series when I will do every step from start to finish. I still do 90% of all the resin color on my boards.

-Shaping or Surfing? What comes first? And what board do you usually ride on your daily sessions?
It use to be surfing, but in the last few years shaping has becoming more of a priority, I still check the waves everyday but pick my days better. I enjoy the big days the most, so Try and get my work done when it’s small so when the waves are pumping I can be on it. But this season was really small so I've been spending more time freediving, and spearfishing.


-What are your expectations about Europe? Do you think the European surfer is much different from the US ones?
I expect Europe to be rad, I think the European Surfers has a better understanding of what they want and what they appreciate. I'm looking forward to getting some boards over there and getting people stoked.

Thanks Jeff!!