So he was charging Pipe?
Yeah, he was tearing it up. He kind of reminds me of André when he was younger, but a little smaller. He might even be better than André was, I'm not sure, André was pretty damn good.
Memorable Hawaiian sessions - there were a lot of good Pipeline days. Weather patterns 'laninhs' meant swells were not as massive; smaller swells in Hawaii is good because smaller swells to them is like 10-12 foot, that's perfect for Pipe. There were a lot of those swells and seeing everyone out there is always pretty cool, and hanging out.
No Friends films seemed to awaken the younger generation in the water, from in front of the lens with the riders, to behind the lens with the work on production and it seemed to have an effect - in Australia with the Tension series and in Europe with Mickey Smith's Redefyned series. I think part of the inspiration stemmed from that prison riot you guys cooked up, when you were all made of plasticene. How do you view this new breed and how do you feel to know you inspired them?
I think it's amazing, it's great that everyone is just adding their own flavour and style.
And healthy competition is good, right?
Sure, and I think it's great that everyone's being able to show their view, and how they perceive things, y'know? Thinks can only get better because we're all bringing parts of our lives into it.
Lots of different productions appealing to a wider range of people?
Yeah, I think it's good there are more productions being made every year, as it helps people become aware, to think that No Friends may have helped inspire people is really cool and it feels good.
No Friends seemed to steer clear of visiting Europe. Is it the food, the weather or organisation stopping you? Have you ever thought of making a No Friends Europe?
I think the neglect of Europe has been more of a timing issue for us because we have scheduling and getting all the riders together can be easier in some cases than others. To make a trip happen, I want to make sure that at least some of the very best riders can be there like Spencer, J Hubbard, Lackey or Roach, Hardy or Mitch; but these guys have hectic schedules.
But it's something you would like to do?
We've talked about coming to Ireland and the UK for years. I say I'm going to go each year, it doesn't always work out like that but I definitely appreciate all the support that everyone's given us out there. We're not avoiding coming over and we definitely want to make it happen sometime. Each year we see better footage and it helps us get more inspired, so keep finding crazy waves.
Ah, and let you know about them? Okay, cool, haha. Your symbol has become a bridge for many people into new friendships, waves and experiences. Wherever you are in the world, if you see someone in a NF t-shirt you can generally always approach that person and there is a connection of types. In my time travelling I've made some good friends on the strength of that symbol. How do you feel about the part you play in the bodyboarding community?
For me, I think we're just sitting in our own little world here. I mean, we appreciate what's happening, but we don't see all the day to day stuff, like how the culture is evolving. People tell us of their experiences and that's cool for sure.
I think you're the first to create that though?
Yeah, I guess it's because the industry is kind of small and I think most bodyboarders tend to be humble people and because they get shit from surfers their whole lives, you feel you can tolerate that and not give in; I think you are a stronger person and you can handle different social scenes.
You mean, by us being a minority you have understanding of other minorities?
Yeah, I mean I've thought I'd love to be a pro surfer and get paid a million dollars a year but at the same time there's no way in hell I'd wanna be a pro surfer because I know a lot of them and they're not even happy at all and some don't have that much respect whilst travelling and are sheltered people in some respects.
I would be just satisfied to see that a youngster who has the dream of being a top 40 bodyboarder be able to make a career out of our sport. I'm looking for changes like the ones that happened with surfing, what's your view?
I think it's heading in that direction, just in the fact that our brand has been going nine years - when we started it was pretty hard to stay afloat, but we didn't take any money out of the business, we just had our dream that we could work here like we're doing right now.
Is there room for another label such as yourselves in the industry at the present? In the UK labels like v-vid, Serotonin and Prone have provided for the sponge contingent. If you could offer one nugget to perhaps help someone become a successful business animal?
I think there's money to be made out there, I think it's all about what kind of people you are and how you wanna market your brand. If you want to start a business you just have to work as hard as you can every single day and be willing to sacrifice and get as many people as you can to help out with their knowledge and ideas.
Manny (Vegas): You need an understanding of the customer because the customer has to realise that Billabong and Quiksilver are not putting back into bodyboarding. The customer has to believe in and support the companies that are behind it [bodyboarding]. It's going to take the people who know to tell those supporting Quik and co., you're a bodyboarder, do you know what's happening to your money? But you could have the coolest label out there; if nobody knows about what it is you're doing there's no point in it.
So let's all wise up now. Just finally, any dates for up and coming pictures and when we'll see premiers?
The dates will be around May/June, still to be confirmed, but around then for NF 9.
Do you have a name?
We're actually deciding that this week. We've got that and then we're putting out a Mitch Rawlins vid.
That's been in the works a while now?
Yeah, we've been collecting footage for two years now. We were due to bring it out earlier but we had production issues. But it's exciting as we haven't used any of his footage for two years. We've just been saving it all up.
I've been waiting with bated breath and I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to watch. Thanks Ross, Manny, this is Jonny Roberts for ThreeSixty at the No Friends HQ in San Diego California… |
