Gra Murdoch: Riding a White Horse
He rode into town on a proud, white stallion, but he was no stranger to these parts. Hell no, Gra Murdoch has worked in the surf media for over a quarter of a century. He's a grizzled veteran on the cemetery side of forty, and he's also the man at the helm of publishing nonpareil, White Horses. Swellnet recently sidled up for a chat.
Swellnet: How old are you, Gra?
Gra Murdoch: 46
What about surfing ability? If you were on the One World Rankings, what rank would you be?
Rank is a fitting adjective I reckon. That’ll do. Rank.
How long have you worked at Morrison Media?
Erm… Twenty five years. I’m one of those people who get itchy feet and are never content to stay in their comfort zone for long.
I was offered the job a few months shy of graduating from my three year RMIT design course. Peter Morrison phoned and asked me if I could start immediately, I replied that I wanted to finish my studies, he told me he could see into the Burleigh lineup from the ASL office window and that sealed the deal. Bugger the degree!
Who was on the cover of the first issue of ASL you worked on?
First mag up was the ASL photo annual. A Jeff Hornbaker shot of Tom Carroll at G-land. Colour wise, compared to the ads of the time, my editorial palette was fairly mellow.
Random design question! David Carson: brilliant designer or needs to drink from the cup of subtlety?
Personally I believe that when design is about the designer, everyone kinda loses. I reckon that great design is almost unnoticeable, because it’s seduced the viewer into engaging with the actual content.
But it’s worth noting also that David Carson lives in supreme comfort on the beachfront in the Bahamas, while I drive a last-century Hyundai, so clearly there’s room for the look-at-moi school of design. Rrrreowww!
You began your career working with graphics and imagery, but you've moved into words. They're two different means of communicating and they straddle the left brain, right brain divide. How are you pulling all this off, Gra?
That’s an interesting question. For me the words and the visuals have always commanded simultaneous thinking. They’re kinda like lyrics and melody. I’ve always approached design through the prism of the message and content.
As far as transitioning from design to editorial, I absorbed a lot working with editors like Derek Rielly, Tim Baker, Nick Carroll, Andrew Farrell, Bruce Channon on ALB and others, and always wrote bits and pieces of flavour into the mix. It’s always been very collaborative, so for me that line between designing and editing’s been blurred from the word go.
So do you think in pictures or words?
Oh god, I’m gonna sound like such a cock, but I think in terms of impact, reaction and time. I really reckon mags are kinda musical, like an album: you’ve got quiet and loud, you can speed up and slow down. It’s also a sequence: you can’t make a page or spread or article in isolation, you need to make it considering the pages ahead and behind. Kinda like sequencing tracks on an album. One of the big things is recognising when you have great material in your hands and how to do it justice.
Apologies to any Swellnet readers who have just vomited onto their keyboards...
I can’t help also comparing the creative principles of publishing to the act of surfing itself. For me the best media executions have a lot in common with good surfing. It looks effortless, there’s no unnecessary wiggles or flourishes or affectation, and no fucking-folded-arm-shrug claims. It’s powerful, it’s not hurried, it’s creative but not gimmicky. It’s modest and sympathetic to the natural forces. And it’s powerful. When you witness or engage with great surfing you feel uplifted for a while. That’s kinda what I try to do with White Horses.
As much as I hate to say it, images are the oil of the internet; they're quick to produce, easy to copy, and they keep the hungry punters happy. Are we losing good writers?
I get so many photographers hit me up and their work is fan bloody tastic. It breaks my heart that so much great creative energy is sent my way and I can’t really do much with it – I’m not gonna publish their gear online as I’ve got no budget for that and I believe in paying. The healthiest path for starting out photographers is to know that the process is the reward. Clichéd I know, but truly love the act, just appreciate that you’re able to get down to the beach to capture that sunrise or whatever. From that pure place, other successes may or may not happen, but they’ll just be a bonus if they do.
There are limited editorial opportunities and an exploding number of photographers with excellent gear, so the equation is tough on a commercial front. There’s a lot of sameness in the folios I get sent, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t beautiful.
I don’t think we’re losing good writers out of this, to finally get to your question. I think maybe there’s even more writing being pinged around the place than before. There’s no shortage of good writers out there. I think in general though, the social media thing has unleashed a massive wave of narcissism and that could be damaging developing writers. Most writing is about observation: I liken it to driving at night with the interior light on. You can’t see shit out there on the road if your own space is illuminated.
Again, apologies to Swellnet’s viewers who cleaned up the spew off their keyboard only to vom again.
When did you first come up with the idea of White Horses?
I guess it’s grown over time, an increasing sense that there wasn’t a mag out there for me. One of the early stirrings was tagging along on an ASL on-location trip up past Gnarloo. The trip and resulting magazine was epic, but I noticed that when the talent - Pottz, Taj, Pancho, RCJ and Maurice Cole from memory - were in front of the camera, or having a dictaphone in their face, they’d kinda lapse into pro-speak, give you the spiel. And I noticed that we mag crew kinda did the same. It felt a bit contrived, like we were playing out our roles. Being out on that beautiful desert edge showed us all up a bit.
But then, at night, around the fire, we’d all relax into being regular humans and the stories and their natural, real selves would reveal and it’d all just be so much more authentic. We’d ignore most of it because it didn’t fit the template of a regular surf mag. It struck me as an opportunity.
Would I be right to say White Horses is a print version of the 'user-generated content' idea so prevalent online?
Yes and no. 'User-generated content' implies trading on people’s desires to be seen and heard, so they give you stuff for nothing other than inclusion and recognition. Which is fine, but, y’know, Horsies costs 20 bucks a pop so it’s gotta be a special product. So even though I get sent lots of gear by enthusiastic young crew who’d be stoked just to see their work published, their name credited, and not get paid a cent. I won’t do that. I have to chase some crew up to pay ‘em. I have to reject about 90 percent of what is submitted. And I’m shit at saying no.
But I know what you mean, Horsies does feel like user-generated content because a lot of the content comes from the readership – everyday people, families, living on the coast and surfing. People are seeing what’s in the mag and coming forward with their own stories and suggestions and ideas.
It’s one of the things I love most about the Horse. Take the shaper’s section, 4 x 4, for instance. I love having a backyard shaper right next to, say, Mark Richards. Both given the same respect, the same opportunity to say whatever they want about some boards that are close to their heart.
The downside is the limited opportunity to publish people’s gear. Horsies is four issues a year, it’s mixed in with other work duties so it’s not a full time thing – though it could so easily be. I wonder about taking the excess, user-generated material online, but I just don’t have the time and to be honest, maybe it would just add to the noise out there.
Speaking of which, that was another key catalyst for the Horse. Four odd years ago I dipped into the world of some surf site message boards both here and in the States, and there was so much bile and aggression. I’d come away from reading some of the horrible anonymous gear and feel physically sick and really bummed. So I thought if I got the chance, I’d make a mag that lived at the complete opposite end of the scale. Something you came away with feeling uplifted.
On the issue of design and layout, you're really moving away from a magazine look toward something more austere and enduring. Do you consider White Horses more book than magazine?
Yeah, it’s funny. When I got stuck into the mag I was rubbing my hands together thinking I was gonna design the living shit out of it, but I’ve always gravitated to a clean look anyway, and for me a very quiet design approach puts the ball back in the content’s court. ‘Design’ is often a distraction from material that‘s lacking.
And as tempting as it is to go to town with the design, it would kinda be a bit “look at what I’ve made!”
It’s not just the design that’s very stripped back, there’s almost no editorial voice present in the mag. There’s no editor’s intro, captions are limited to a dozen words, tops. There aren’t introductions to the articles, and as much as possible the stories are told first person by the subject. There are no Question and Answer interviews. I’ll take answers and knit them into a first person narrative. I really want to make the mag belong to the stories, the subjects, the contributors, the readers and the sea itself.
So once an issue has been read, where should it reside: on the shelf alongside 'proper' books, or in a pile in the corner of the shed?
Whatever ya want. It was your lobby. Give it to a mate I reckon.
Has there been a particular surprise – something you weren't expecting – since the launch of White Horses?
Epic question. I honestly didn’t think I’d connect and become friends with so many amazing contributors. And the stoke of when good work comes in. It’s epic.
I absolutely expected that it would resonate with the audience I had in mind, but I still get a thrill every day when I get an email from someone saying, finally, this is the mag they always wanted.
Likewise, has there been a disappointment, something you were hoping might happen but didn't?
Way to go out on a bummer, Stu! Well I believed we’d have had a bit more traction with advertising partners by now. I mean, we’ve got an audience who are completely in love with the title, and who by shelling out 20 clams for the mag have demonstrated they’re the right people for advertisers to connect with.
We’ll never want more than a handful of ads to pay the print bill and the contributors really. But – same with deciding not to go online – I’m not gonna start selling classifieds and discounting and all that.
People pay 20 bucks for this mag and I’m not gonna give ‘em anything less than something worth every cent. I’d rather pack up my bat and ball and go home than compromise the Horse past a certain point. I see no point in making a surf mag like the others. That’s a waste of effort.
Tell ya, it’s a challenge to keep the bar high, mate. And to be honest I do believe there are one or two things I published in the most recent issue that I probably wouldn’t have run in the first issue. I’m acknowledging that publicly so I don’t let myself off the hook.
I’m wrestling with issue eight right now and, shit, I get wracked with doubt, which is as it should be. The moment I get comfortable doing White Horses I should probably pull the pin, hey.
The latest issue of White Horses is on newstands now. It can also be purchased online.
Comments
25 years in the one job?
.. he should get out more
Big congrats to the team at White Horses for a top shelf product. Recently subscribed, and cant wait for the goodness to arrive each time it goes to print.
Graham Murdoch looks like THAT??!!
"If the wind changes direction your face will be stuck like that forever." - Graham's Mum, May 1985
"He's a grizzled veteran on the cemetery side of forty". :-)
Your writing is really going well Stu, this is a finely crafted piece of work. Congrats.
Gra is obviously a thinker. Loved these lines:
" I liken it to driving at night with the interior light on. You can’t see shit out there on the road if your own space is illuminated."
" I get wracked with doubt, which is as it should be."
Exactly Gra, As Bertrand Russell once said, ' The trouble with this world is that the ignorant are cocksure, and the intelligent are full of doubt.'
That is as it should be.
Cheers B&F. I also thought that first quote by Gra was wonderful.
Gotta also agree, that first quote is enlightening!
It's the only surf mag worth reading. Some of the pieces in there still resonate with me 6 months to a year after reading. Think it is time I subscribed.
What a great interview and what a great subject. I've read a few issues of WH and enjoyed each one (I really should subscribe). Interesting that Gra mentions the seed of was planted many years ago because White Horses is an idea whose time has come.
For whatever reason (social media, the internet, ageing surf population) the surf industry facade has been removed, the result an uncoupling of 'surfing' from the 'surf industry'. All well and good, but surfers still want to communicate and talk story, and this is world to which WH has strode (galloped? cantered?)
I like that there's a fixed, considered ethos behind White Horses and I wish Gra and his team all the best.
Signed a once bitter surfer.
Thanks for the encouragement crew. Hey I'd like to point out that the other ratbag in the portrait on the home page is my boss, mentor and mate Peter Morrison, without whom Horsies would never be.
And geez, boxright, nicely put mate!
Gra, I'll be subscribing after I get back from holidays, and looking for any issues while away.
I'd subscribe now but don't want more packages coming while I'm away. Sounds very much like the sort of surf mag a grown up could enjoy, been waiting a long time for such a beast.
I would like to add my praise for the literary sunshine cast by the White Horses mag. Could I ask a few favours from these esteemed authors however? Unless you are American, please dont use the offensive adverb 'talk' in front of 'story'. Ie, talk story. Its ridiculous. We have legropes or leggies in Australia, not leashes. Boardies not trunks. I cant recall White horses using these misguided terms but have noted lately in the lesser mags that they really stink up the text.
Hem stret. Consider the advice heeded... otheries to look out for are 'sidewalk' instead of 'footpath', 'store' instead of 'shop', and last but certainly not effin' least, 'couple days' instead of 'coupla days'... (Funny though, there's more seppo gear in the horse than I would have imagined – not that there's a shitload – but there's some good crew. Anyway hem-stret, thanks for the reminder mate.
Hemi,
Next you'll be telling Gra it's 'yr', '2morrow' and 'm8'. Tsk tsk...
Personally, I have no problem with Americanisms. Language, society and culture is always in flux, there was never a time in the past that met our current sentimental ideals. If it is an American based story, use the terms freely. One world peeps!
You say to-may-to, I say to-mar-to.
And we all say globalization.
No dramas, if youre an American talk like a Yankee, dress like one too. If we talk of globalisation etc, I much prefer the old countries flavour, ie, English style. Its pompous you could say, but I just think its way more classy. Waynes world or Monty Python? all just opinions or sentiment I guess. If we discussing style and language, or discourse, I think it is criminal most aussies dont know a single phrase in aboriginal. Panamuna penunga, I think is an attempt at 'Ocean tribe'. one important point but off subject in this area, in WW2 some of our military communications were done in aboriginal language, of which could not be decoded as far as I know. Hope your having a good day ladies and gents, with a good wave or a good surf mag in reach.
Stu - there's nothing new about globalisation, the "English" language is testament to that.
Hem-street - Interesting factoid about Aboriginal language being used in WWII
!!
Good to read this - surfing and a surf mag having the same goal:
"Speaking of which, that was another key catalyst for the Horse. Four odd years ago I dipped into the world of some surf site message boards both here and in the States, and there was so much bile and aggression. I’d come away from reading some of the horrible anonymous gear and feel physically sick and really bummed. So I thought if I got the chance, I’d make a mag that lived at the complete opposite end of the scale. Something you came away with feeling uplifted."
Cheers Gra, good points in reference to the aussie vernacular. Wellymon, no, I wont. The mags imagery compliment the high standard of the wordsmiths too.
Thanks very much for making the effort to put out such a quality publication mr Murdoch. Much appreciated. Great reading.
G'day. Thanks for the positive comments about the mag all, really appreciated. Just a quick note on some of the comments above about vernacular... I reckon diversity is always healthy, so it's probably good for language in general if words reflect regions. This is why Horsies will always try to at least sound 'strayan, and resist Americanisms. Scottish inflections, however, will probably find easy passage. (Jokes)
Och aye the noo, gra. ye'll nae be usin that James Kelman piece then.
Well said Gra, globalisation does not have to mean the end of regional distinctions in language and culture, as you mentioned diversity is always healthy. In fact as the world increasingly becomes more complex diversity becomes more important, there are too many facets of our lives that have become homogenised to the point that we really couldnt cope if our situations changed dramatically.
I would like to see a diversity of language, such as some bilingual pieces eg. Japanese and English; French and English; Chinese and English; First People's Dialects; and English; Norwegian and English. There are people who can read and write in more than English. In this way you could have cross-cultural converstions in interesting ways. I didn't think White Horses was aiming to be parochial or simply 'Aussie'. The publication - stories and images - could travel in curious ways then, ending up on new shores and in front of different eyes. Who knows where it would end up and who would participate. It could be enlightening and fun. Some authors may be willing to submit such work pre-prepared, if asked or they knew this was possible. And this would enable them to participate and share their ideas and stories with their friends etc. It's always nice to be able to be read in your own language as well as English. I guess, space is at a premium and costly. But a few short pieces (two pages)?
I should add, I have a few copies I traveled with (through China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc.) and crew have been interested in the publication.
I agree with Cliff there, bilingual articles would be cool. I think the mag could thus acknowledge that surfing is a great medium to expose ourselves to other nationalities and other ways of living life outside of our own.
Having said that, Australian surfing language should also be championed to ensure our own language is maintained intact, free of Americanisms - i don't "go surf", I go for a surf. Sometimes I surf on my backhand. I use a leggie. I ride my skatie on the footpath. I eat bikkies, sit on the lounge and I wear boardies, thongs and sunnies.
The latest issue of White Horses (Issue 8) is out and worth a mention here for its quality. I got the first few issues of WH and was well impressed, however I felt subsequent issues didn't maintain the same quality. A quick flick through Issue 8 got me excited, and after a few sessions on the lounge I haven't been let down.
Gra ....and the Art of Urinal Advertising.
After many years of submitting articles to all manner of surfing media outlets which were always rejected, White Horses publication and it's editor gave me the chance to see one of my stories in print.
That opportunity gave me the impetous to keep going. It was a pivotal moment because I realised that I was not a bad writer. It was just that even though I surfed and my love of surfing inspires my writings, there was just no place for me in surfing media.
The reason for that is because I believe that pro-surfing and the high performance, corporate end of the surfing stick is the least interesting aspect to the surfing spectrum. Professional people who are doing what they love for financial renumeration/profit/fame are overblown in this life, they have been covered to death.
Underneath all that premeditated hype are so many true, interesting stories about folks who sacrifice everything just to catch a few waves. I always felt that there must be some place in the surfing media landscape for stories like these, that surely I was'nt the only one who felt that.
I will be forever grateful to White Horses for giving me the encouragement to continue to dig around for those most obscure and interesting of characters & their stories.
Just to add, a few years ago, my sister bought a copy of White Horses when one of my articles was published. She continues to buy them to this day and she does'nt surf.
"Four odd years ago I dipped into the world of some surf site message boards both here and in the States, and there was so much bile and aggression. I’d come away from reading some of the horrible anonymous gear and feel physically sick and really bummed. So I thought if I got the chance, I’d make a mag that lived at the complete opposite end of the scale. Something you came away with feeling uplifted."
Cue Herc.
"I think in general though, the social media thing has unleashed a massive wave of narcissism and that could be damaging developing writers. Most writing is about observation: I liken it to driving at night with the interior light on. You can’t see shit out there on the road if your own space is illuminated."
Reckon this statement of Gra's deserves to be cut and pasted then wrapped in quotation marks for us to ponder and admire.
Um, I like it. It reminded of Sal Paradise & Dean Moriarty's illuminated road adventures careering through the dark, American night, but then...but then...
I mean, driving at night AND observing? Huh? Wouldn't ya see more driving during the day? Or better still, not driving but sitting on a bus, say, a Greyhound bus? Or the Indian Pacific? Hitching??
"Four odd years ago I dipped into the world of some surf site message boards both here and in the States, and there was so much bile and aggression. I’d come away from reading some of the horrible anonymous gear and feel physically sick and really bummed. So I thought if I got the chance, I’d make a mag that lived at the complete opposite end of the scale. Something you came away with feeling uplifted."
Cue Herc.'
Yeh, coops, but, like an upliftin' epic, the big fella, herc, laboured on and prevailed. Blax'll do that to you. And the gym. And the meditatin'. They came at me from all sides, swarms of em. Not like off the net, or on the cliff, or in the water. Faaark, never heard a squeak out of em, or never saw one of 'em there.
Seeing legends rip and get pitted off there nuts on twinnies in bombs was me worst crime though. Plus the references had 'em hooded up, and klu kluxin'.
Don't know about all these writin' rules and games. Good 'ol wild colonial britters getting their own way again, calling the shots. Reminds me of those fucking cookin' shows. FFS. How hard is it to eat a fucking egg? Or twenty. Who needs the chubby fuckers?
Not so sure about that.....autobiography, memoir, personal accounts like the Gospels have been with us since day dot, regardless of social media.
Good writing is good writing at the end of the day. Personally I find that dry New Yorker style where the writer is supposed to be invisible far less appealing. It's a matter of taste in the end.
The far greater crime is to write without having anything to say, without having lived anything worth writing about. Thats the far greater problem for the vast majority of surf writing past and present.
I still want to hear about your two MOB experiences Freeride, they sound like they're potentially worth hearing about.
Is that like the Mafia? Which one/s??
Haha, I'm talking about man overboard.
Some pretty primal emotions coming out in experiences like that.
Great interview Stu
The quote "It’s one of the things I love most about the Horse. Take the shaper’s section, 4 x 4, for instance. I love having a backyard shaper right next to, say, Mark Richards. Both given the same respect, the same opportunity to say whatever they want about some boards that are close to their heart." is so true with this Mag!
I have been interviewed twice with WH on what we are doing with alternative materials, with mainstream media we don't even get a look in (apart from Swellnet).. well done to Gra for pushing the soul back into surf mags!
“FAREWELL, with LOVE, GRATITUDE and STOKE”
https://whitehorses.com.au/
Epic issue Gra, happy journeys!
Yeah basix
What you said
Was the best mag ever
My sister tried to renew my subscription for my xmas present but was told they had shut up shop. Instead they sent me one of the last copies of a large hard cover book called Adventures in light by Ted Grambeau. Unreal coffee table book. Cheers.
old-dog: https://www.swellnet.com/news/talking-heads/2018/03/01/shooting-breeze-t...
(total respect for White Horses no. 47 being the wrap up, Gra&team, means the time is right.
...never trusted TV shows that end on 10 seasons, or an acronym that spells a word.)
Hey thanks for the kind words fellas. Means the world!