"Anyone can fucking make a bat-wing-quad-swallow-tail wood keel…"
Yesterday afternoon, I was seated at a cafe specialising in splendid organic dishes on Bali’s Bukit peninsula. I generally prefer a Spanish paella to modern fusion, but the beggar cannot be the chooser as they say, particularly in these parts.
Across the small wooden table was the surfboard shaper Matt Biolos. He is a great character whom I’ve written about many times and who, earlier, had ridden a six-eight channel with tenderness and freedom in six-foot waves. (In contrast, my campaign, on a five-nine, was comedic.)
Shortly after being served, he leant over the organic avocado-and-quinoa burrito filling my plate and swiped my 2013 issue of What Youth (#4, Creed McTaggart cover).
“I’ve got a story in this,” he said.
The story, actually too short to be a story if we’re to be frank, more like a three-paragraph muse, was a riff on why the pro surfer board is…everything… to a shaper.
I enjoyed the piece so much I asked Matt to reprise and expand on the idea.
“The high-performance surfboard is the most elevated form of the craft,” Matt says. “There’s no fucking doubt in my mind that the ultra-light, white, high-performance, fall-apart, minimalist pro surfer board was and always will be the highest form of surfboard manufacturing. Why? Because of the scrutiny and the detail needed to please the most discerning customer that can possibly ride a surfboard. And that’s a pro athlete.”
To the trend for resin-tint cutie pie sleds he says, “Anyone can fucking make a resin tint. And anyone can make a bat-wing-quad-swallow-tail wood keel. Spend some time and do it. It’s bitchin’. (But) it’s a hobby.”
Listen to the seven-minute audio interview here.
Also, for completeness, I ride all kinds of boards, in all kinds of waves; foot in my mouth: I take back my comment about the fish being better than the v3 rocket; they’re both good; rocket being more versatile. I got caught up in the emotion of it all.
Yup, I did it in the comments above; that’s the beauty of the Internet – you can think out loud, and say ridiculous things, like, Biolos is a kook, or, Biolos is the best shaper in the world. I’m sure he’s not a kook and I’m also sure he’s not the best shaper in the world, but, maybe sometimes he’s a kook? And maybe sometimes he’s the best shaper in the world?
matts right
Epic timing for Stab to release this video of Droid and his self shaped bat-wing… http://stabmag.com/stabcine…
I can’t seem to take this guy seriously when he compares Andino to Formula 1 drivers, not to mention comparing him to Toledo and Fanning.
Also saying “it’s like arts and crafts class”, “most are shit”, “fluff”, “bored” to then saying it’s fine, cool in the most patronising/despising tone possible. On to spit “fuckings” galore when referring to any shaper that doesn’t shape boards for competitive purposes. That for me is the real issue I have with his whole speech. Competitive surfing could disappear tomorrow from the face of the Earth that 99% of the world’s surfers would still be having fun riding those “cute little surfboards” or whatever. He nails it when he refers to envying those lesser shapers saying “that must be fun”… Yes Matt it’s supposed to be fun, that’s the whole point of surfing for the majority of us and with that one you lost my respect and possibly lost my business as well, unless someone pops one of your boards under my feet and I find it fun. But believe me I’ll try really hard to “fucking” hate it!
World’s best shaper… who?
So the monster under Biolos’s bed is a hipster with a planer?
You want a wamburger with them cries boy? Wheeeeeew!
Burch’s shapes would more accurately be called “storage unit shapes” since I believe he makes his boards in one. Could be wrong.
way better than shipping container shapes. and Burch rips, would rip on Mayhems too, like Droid finally accepted
I’ll hold off on buying that resin tint …Lost Bean Bag I had my eye on.
Seems like He’s stating the obvious. Why does he sound so pissed off?
He makes a lot of good points in this rant, however the point he seems to be missing is most guys who surf can’t feel those minute differences in volume and foil. Those same average guys would probably spend their hard earned cash on something more aesthetically pleasing since it really doesn’t matter to them. Throw in some instagram mystique, a little resin tint, and an edit of some unkempt trustafarian going real fast and real straight at rincon on one of your boards and blamo, lost is losing sales.
I think the problem is surfers who eat in organic cafes and would buy a burrito a hemisphere away from Mexico
burritos are not from Mexico
And next you’ll tell me that what we think is Chinese food was actually invented in New York, rolls aren’t real sushi, yada yada yada. The vast majority of people still identify burritos as Mexican. However, you’re completely missing the point that someone in Bali is eating in the same kind of annoying cafe that they could go to in LA or Portland. Its like going to France and eating at McDonalds
ever been to TJ’s down Poppys lane? does a killer taco
McDonalds in France is delicious.
Not many will understand the point here. Being that the hardest customer to shape for is the tour level guy. It requires a level of attention to detail that the masses would never notice. Guys like Hayden have it good as they found a way to offshore a very average product and make a killing. Matt just needs to change his business model.
He is right of course, the pro model board is the equivalent of a F1 car! Of course a F1 car is fucking useless to most people!
Imagine going on a surf trip with an F1 car and not even making it past that ledge on your driveway…
Similar feelings here: he’s pretty much a kook. For one, I have his v3 rocket and my “two crows” quad fish is 100 times better (I’m gonna sell that v3 piece of crap). Also, he should narrow his comments to the subject he is speaking to: pro surfers on world class short board waves. There is more to surfing than his “I wanna be a pro” shortboards, i.e., Joel Tudor, Mike Stewart’s body surfing, Dewey Weber single fins, etc. Bottom line: Biolos is always talking smack about other shapers/styles of surfing, which makes Biolos a total kook.
Webers..LOL
“High performance shortboards. . LOL.” That’s what Nat Young would say if someone laughed about his model, the SKI. I’m playing devils advocate, that’s all. I love high perfs too.
does biolos have a chin?
Technically yes, visually no…
“particularly in these parts”
yes, because Bali is so expensive… 😀
This guy is so pleased with himself. He really thinks he has arrived cause he’s the IT shaper to the stars for the moment. Look back 40-50 years ago, how many of those shapers that made boards for pros do people care about now? How many Stretch quads do you see in the mags?
There will come a time when nobody calls the Great Matt Biolos for his two cents.
He fails to acknowledge all the people whose surfing has been drastically held back and/or just flat out gave up on surfing trying to emulate the pros and make those things work–far more than the elite few hoisting trophies.
so its his fault that newbies try to skip to the end of the line and ride a pro-board? come on man. i bet Matt cares a lot about guys like Brewer, Rusty, Merrick but now “alternative” shapers are getting more money than true craftsmen are making because marketing is more important than substance. these are the best boards in the world right now. most guys are paying for them and can ride whatever they want, its not coincidence that 5 shapers are making the boards for most of the top 200 guys in the world.
He’s the one holding up the boards he makes for pros to ride in contests as the ultimate standard of a good board. Is a race car the best car to commute to work and run errands?
‘True craftsman’? what are you, the president of the shaper’s guild?
You both basing your arguments on ‘the top guys’…yaddyyaddyya. What if you don’t buy into that whole world view that the mags and WSL define the surfing experience (which the majority of the world’s surfers don’t)? The argument falls apart.
oh, i completely agree that the average joe should not be what Julian rides, but that’s not really the point. you can run errands on a garage shape. for good waves though? and why pay top dollar to be part of a guy’s learning process. these are the most discerning customers, no one’s saying they’re the average customer. but it also makes sense to me that even newbies would value the experience that these craftsmen bring to the table, especially when it doesn’t even come with a premium price.
Maybe Biolos is actually making medinas phone board!!! I really hope so