A dish best served cold etc.
(Editor’s note: Two years ago, The New Yorker ran a very good story by Jamie Brisick called, “Surfing in the Age of the Omnipresent Camera”, which described Mikey February’s surfing thus, “His hand jive, soul arches, and toreador-like flourishes play to the camera in a way that breaks the spell of the itinerant surfer in far-flung solitude. His style is as self-conscious as the duck-face selfie.”)
Damn if Mikey February doesn’t have one of the most carefree, effortless styles of any surfer anywhere. More serenity and nonchalance on a short board than most longboarders could ever dream of.
Minimum adjustments to maximum effect. Speed generated from nowhere. That weird little flick forward of the back foot he does like he’s tapping a reverb pedal.
Lovely stuff.
Mikey fronts Sonic Souvenirs, a series by Vans described in the blurb as “portraits that take us on an exploration of art, music and surfing.”
Fair play if that’s a put off. Sounds a bit Venice Beach gallery exhibition.
But no.
In this first episode Mikey is accompanied on his travels by Durban veteran and musical sage Madala Kunene. The combination of the two talents is sublime, possibly the best marriage of music and surfing ever. Magnificent shots of East and West coast South Africa combined with delicate acoustic licks and raw drum recordings.
Watch it while your stuck in traffic or crammed into a subway train. Hood up. Headphones in. Transcendent viewing. Roll on future episodes.
