So do you think the gower surf scene has changed from when you first started to now? 

It was very cool back then. You'd go to the reefs and everyone would rip. Everyone. Whereas now there are a lot of new people getting into the sport. Back then there wasn't a surf school, you literally just got a board and you paddled out. You know you had to buy magazines to learn about surfing.

Not like all the youtube videos or surf cams out there these days..

Nope, you’d be ringing up PJ’s, you’d call him up 6 times a day, it was flat and it would still be flat by your 6th call. My mum used to go mental at our phone bill.. 

Do you have any shapers that you look up to? 

Loads. John Purton (JP) is a great shaper, I worked with John for a long time. After wave graffiti finished, I went off to Central America for a few months. I spoke to my mum while I was there, she said, “Johns been in touch, there's a job for you, glassing down at Beachbeat Surfboards for Chops Lascelles. Do you want it?” so I came home and the next day I was on my way to Cornwall. I stayed there for 6 years. I probably did close to a thousand boards ghost shaping for him, he taught me a lot. 

Did you always know you wanted to do this for the rest of your life then? 

It was always in the back of my mind that at some point I wanted my own factory. After 6 years working with Beachbeat my brother called me, he said“do you fancy setting up a factory?”. At that point, I was done with Chop, it was a good time for me. I am super grateful for everything I learnt down there. But yeah, we started in Crofty in 2002 before setting up the factory here in 2018. 

How long do your custom boards take?

One month. This is what we are trying to push, the customs, so that you're getting the right board for you. Like back in the old days, you would go see a local shaper and build up a sort of relationship. It’s so important to know the customer, the way they surf. But I'm creating loads of boards for stock at the moment too, it's much better for people to be able to see these things in person. With the online thing it's all very appealing, but you hear these horror stories. People get their boards and it's not actually what they want. You can't know till you see it in person.

What's the process like, do you use cnc? 

We use the cnc machine, it's great for large quantities and keeping continuity through the models. (takes me to a rack of cut foam boards) See, these were off the cnc. There's still an amount of shaping to do, but the actual first cut of the board; the rocker line, the foam placement, and the concaves mean that we get that consistency with every board. Which then gets finished off by hand, drawing in the tail and redoing the nose and such.They really cut a big chunk out of the process.   

Do you see your line of work as making tools or making art? 

Tools. Absolutely. Tools for riding waves. We have done display boards, we did a contract with Hollister in the old factory, my brother and I, we did 80 boards for them. They were glassed and sprayed without fins, just pumping them out. They just had to look like a surfboard, you weren’t really shaping boards to ride. 

Do you have any advice that you would give to your younger self? 

Haha do I get into it ! I think a lot of people would say the same thing, I got cursed by that thing with three fins made out of foam. It's a blessing and a curse, financially it hasn't been great, but as far as life experiences go, I've got to travel all over the world. I spent a year of my life in Indonesia, I would have never travelled to these amazing places and ridden these amazing waves if I had done things differently. There's been highs and lows, but I wouldn't change a thing. 

If you could ride only one board for the rest of your life, which would you pick? 

If you'd asked me this ten years ago it would be a different answer, probably some 6 '0 short board. But for the rest of my life.. One board I've got is this magic 8’6 mini longboard, single fin. There's just something about it. I always have fun on that board.