Matt Biolos, a sensible, grown up man from California, sits down and talks about love.

On why we love surfboards:
Surfboards are the only individual, one of a kind, hand-made pieces of sporting equipment left in this world.

Sure, I am very passionate about snowboarding and there are a lot of skiers and skaters out there and those are massive great sports…but the equipment is all basically production line product. 5,000 snowboard models that are identical. Skate's the same.

But surfboards, every single one of them, are an individually thought out craft that either the surfer adapts to or the board adapts to the surfer. Surfboards are very unique and organic in the world of sports. Like a handmade saddle on a horse. The horse and rider must come together or they will both fail.

On why we fall in love with our surfboards:
I think if all the elements come together and you have a great session in good waves and you’re in synch and you have negotiated the crowds and the conditions and all the difficulties it takes to have a great surf session, and if that great board allows you to surf at the best of your given ability…then you are going to be in love with that board. As deeply as you might with a woman or even a child.

I know the boards I keep are the ones where I can remember my most rewarding surfs. In a bad year you might have two surfs like that. In a good year after spending a lot of money traveling the world and trying real hard, you might get five good sessions.

Those boards I do not sell. I keep those for myself. They’re like family.

On the surfboard as a piece of art:
Yes. I can evenly defend that. Shaping itself is an art. Hand shaping with a planer is a sculpting art. I mean, I traveled the world with a planer, making art wherever I went. I then made the transition to CAD design open mindedly. I think that is an art too, no question. There is no denying that CAD designing is an artform, just like recording music or mixing music or producing it.

And as far as the art on a surfboard goes, it is a second layer of art. No other piece of sports equipment has that. I have done lots of art whether it was on the foam or with paint pens, or doing resin work, which is having a great resurgence. It’s beautiful, it celebrates the individual and it trumpets the fact that surfboards are art and worthy of their own applied art.

If it weren’t for the artistic side of surfboard building, I think surfboards would just turn into another piece of sports equipment. The powers that be are trying as hard as they can to turn surfboards into just another imported container full of product. But the fact that individual surfers can walk in and order custom surfboards with personal specs, anywhere in the world, with airbrush, resin work, paint pens, do-it-yourself artwork, anything…that is the saving grace of our whole industry. The backbone of the entire industry is the ability to build custom surfboards for individuals. And we are building these boards to such exacting specifications for each individual…it’s a miracle we even get it done. But in the end, surfboards will always be miracles that perform miracles.

On surfers using the term 'magic board':
Yes. Without one doubt. I work with the top surfers in the world and every damn one of them uses the term magic board. I also work with hundreds of average surfers and they all use the term magic board. It’s a rare thing. And I think this is what brings us back to your first question, that it is the experience on the board that makes it a magic board.

Look at the words we use to describe our surfboards. Surfboards are mystical.

On what is good or bad about paddle-in surfboards:
I think what is good is the mental capacity of the paddle-in athletes. The best thing about paddle-in is the people. The boards? The volume and the length match the size of the giant waves…and I do not shape a lot of the paddle-ins, so I do not want to point a finger at the guys that shape in that realm, but I think the boards are generally too flat. I think you could get away with more tail rocker. The entries are good but the boards are a little too straight from what I have observed. A little too flat.

These young guys are so fit and their minds are tight and they are going out there and doing things like what Shane Dorian is doing, paddling into 60 foot waves, but the bottom line is…watch what Ross Clarke-Jones is doing on his tow boards. He is fifty-something and he is ripping these giant waves, carving and climbing and dropping. The paddle guys are just basically trying to survive them.

So now that we realise that the human body can do it, there is a lot of room for more high performance for paddle-in surfing. And I think it has to do with curves. I am not that deep into that world but, like, I talk to Mike Parsons a lot and he says, “Yeah, sure, curves…but you gotta understand that there are lives at stake with paddle-in surfing, and the flat rockers, yeah you can’t do a square bottom turns, and carve and that… but if we don’t have the speed on the drop that can avoid that avalanche…we are going to die”.

So I guess I am just saying there is still a lot of room for design breakthroughs in paddle in big wave surfing.

On which surfer that he shapes for that really 'gets' his boards:
I don’t think I would exist in this world as who I am if it wasn’t for Chris Ward. I mean he is just such a polarised, radical character and at his core you will find one of the most pure surfers that has ever walked the planet. I think over the course of my thirty year career, I think he is the closest thing to perfection on a wave as I have ever seen. I think Chris operates on a level of perfection when he takes off on a wave that is undeniable. In both spirit and technique.

To be fair, when it comes to refinement, I must say my dependable muse has been Kolohe Andino. When it comes to refinement of design and professionalism.

But Chris Ward, surfers like that only come around once in a lifetime.

On the trend of surfboard models:
If you look back at the 50’s and 60’s it was all about models. David Nuuhiwa Featherweight, the John Peck, The Performer, the Da Cat, Phil Edwards - I love that era. I came up in Capistrano Beach and I used to see these Gods, these legends walking the streets of our town and walking around filling our world. I always thought it was cool.

And then when I grew up in the 80’s and skateboarding was all about models. So for me, about 1983, I started diversifying my mind and giving my surfboards model names. You know, cool little catchy names because I had done my homework and I’d studied the Surfers Journal and I came from the world of Thrasher magazine. And I thought it was cool to start naming the boards. I mean, I was just some dirtbag kid and I never wanted to trumpet my name, so I made a synonym called Mayhem and my first models were like, “Speed Demon” and the “Round Nose Fish” you know, creative ways to create some fun and get the juices flowing.

As the 90’s arrived, it caught on and I am not taking any credit for it, but I think the whole model movement became something great. An identifying quotient that you could identify with. That magic model. And it made it a lot easier for everybody to get the board that they wanted.

Now, on the other hand, the only thing negative about it is the disposable hero concept, where the first question is “what are the new models this year?” We don’t want last year’s model we want this year’s new model. So now, to be honest, I am looking at the automotive industry and looking at the Mustang or any of the other classic American car models and they may have many variations over the years, but the romance and spirit and the name of the model remains the same. So now, you have equity in these models and they are not just disposable one-offs for the season. Now they can become part of our culture. Our psyche. So maybe I’ll stop disposing of the model names and just update them. Because that is actually a more natural feeling.

On beauty:
Think about it. Surfboards are beautiful pieces of sporting equipment that we take to the most beautiful places in the world. And we paddle out and they, and us, are constantly surrounded by beauty. And that’s what makes surfing and surfboards so special.

//MATT GEORGE