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.
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He’s very punchable
The guy surfs ok and makes a good flick, nothing super special or breaking new ground but its watchable.
Contrived style… just looks like another marketing strategy .
Yep for sure the new new machado rasta campaign in the making , revised for the next generation.
His lines are unique and very good but the soul arch shit loses me. It’s conspicuous consumption of soul. It’s a shame though because his surfing stands on its own.
I really enjoyed his last thing at that point break. Looking forward to this.
Some of the “Hand Jive” is dated for my taste. Love his forward movement and lines he was drawing on the yellow board. Totally locked into the board moving under foot on the big J-Bay sequences. That kind of surfing fires me up these days. All my boards collecting need be donate to those kids and catalyze the “African Storm”.. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
the coolest would be the spiral coiled leashes a la boogie board elbow leashes! honestly, you’re a unicorn of sorts here and an amazing story teller: start yourself a brand of rad spiral leahes!!!!!!
Sup, Val mid lengthers and soft toppers need to fasten their leash round their neck.
Mikey’s actual SURFING and the verbiose of the New Yorker article (hmmm, a medium, funded by advert funds, for better [BeachGrit] or worse [_____]) are quite disparate. He rips and I appreciate watching him do so. He may; or may not, be a rad dude. Not mine to judge. Clearly an aesthetic of commercial lust thrusting from the loins of post-collapse surf-industrial-complex-vacuousness has enshrouded his image as presented to us. The verbiosity and corpo-value-signal washing suffices at a level far lower than his actual surfing. So I’ll tip my cap to Mikey yet wag my finger at the paradigm in which we all experience each other.
That is the most difficult paragraph to make sense out of that I’ve ever read. Kind of like it though.
It’s a bit long, Tom.
maybe artisanal braided leashes
i can’t wait to see idiots at my local try to copy this…but end up looking like they are moving through molasses in January
Yep. I got secondhand embarrassment watching him on the tour. I’ve warmed to him now.
I didnt think I’d like this but it was pretty good. The musician stuff especially. Mikey’s style is fun to watch, but I can’t help feeling it is a bit contrived.
Cool editing camera work, smooth style, I like vans as a company but seems a little too timely.
I’m calling out that first board; an absolute dog. Makes super smooth, hollow waves look choppy and slow.
The white twinny? He was permanently really far forward on it but shit those were some
Sections he made
He stole the drag paddle arm move from me…I do it heaps better
His arms move like he’s trying to dodge a Covid vaccination shot.
Africa is the Bomb!!
BLM crew should return to the mother country and leave ol whitey to blow each others heads off. Meanwhile they’re Gettin pitted with Mick Febs and zero racist pale face in dey grill
Duh!!
I guess you should go back to England as well. Some sick waves in Cornwall I hear.
Of course I should
It’s the king of all countries
But I’m stuck in this shit hole called Straya.
It’s a dump but no flights out, its hell on earth literally.
Cheer up and just check your shoes for funnel webs every morning. Gabby is gonna rip the crap out of Narrabeen in a few days.
Il just struggle thru somehow.
This morning when I woke up with the sunlight bouncing off the water, it nearly blinded me.
Fuk you Straya!!
I don’t have any negative thoughts about people of color but the message of inequality has pervaded every aspect of the media to be honest. Starting to feel like a lot, so I get it. Didn’t really see it in this vid though.
It’s by design.
Forced narratives abound
Humans doin their thang.
Theyre very tricky.
https://youtu.be/d4R_p-qG0wQ
I don’t think you need to believe in any conspiracy stuff bex, but if you get pulled over by the cops you’re dealing with a Walmart employee with a glock instead of a bar code reader. Never resist, fight it in court. You fight with cops you’re gonna get shot. Doesn’t matter what color you are.
Yeah If only the mopes could work that out.
Had cops point a twelve gauge shotgun at my face as well as a pistol. If I struggled I’d be dead, They’re as scared as you and want to go home at the end of the day. Every shooting I can think of was somebody resisting arrest.
Maybe we can crowd fund you outta here? Plenty of willing donors I’m sure
Thanks Buddy
Go hard and often
Mate, I love how I can give you endless amounts of shit and you don’t take it personally. You can’t leave … you’re an aussie at heart!
He’ll be on top of the world when he get’s gabby’s autograph.
Dee why point is the back up.
Hopefully I’ll watch from my bedroom window and whistle him up for some caiparinhas, maybe do some wife swapping.
Once in a lifetime chance to hook up with two chicks at once while watching gabby surf .
The salty taste of Gabe’s “essence” on your wife’s breath…
It’s a gift
I’d fuk you up in person of course
Just joking willy
A friendly wrestle maybe?
“King of all countries” lol You don’t know shit about England or you would never make that statement. Hahaha. I never know if you serious or not. Crazy mofo
It’s the crowning jewel of modern existence.
Tell me where is better and ill try not to laugh
Also you’ll get a more authentic Pakistani experience in Birmingham than Lahore or Karachi.
There are good Chinese restaurants in London. Not sure about authentic compared to stopping by a villagers house in China to eat dinner.
re:
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
“why don’t you go back to bloody England?!?”\
hahaha…
We do, often. It’s awesome!!
right on, man, right on, happy travels to you…
this, below, is too funny, ‘Eddie G’, he ain’t goin’ back to Africa!
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
hahaha…
He shouldn’t knock it without trying it
Where did the style go the year he was on the CT?
I was looking forward to some high-lines at Supers, instead we got the same comp surfing in his heats as every other recently qualified QS surfer.
He was never likely to make the cutoff, could have gone down in legendary fashion riding twin fins and doing the one footed floaters as seen above.
He looked like a lanky grom on his year on tour, no power, I’m so glad he is riding twins and bonzers, that’s where he shines
Problem is the wsl judges only give so many points for style, they wanna see heaps of manurevers
They actually give zero points for style.
Even though Kelly Slater can be a pain in the arse, i’m still triggered they gave him a 3 (or something) for that wave at pipe where he fell off in the barrel and still made it. Wankers.
Knowing the WSL, they wouldn’t recognize this as good surfing and he’d be off tour just like when he tried to comply but this is sooo much more interesting than the crap they currently reward. It’ll never happen but I’d love to see someone have the stones to surf like this (or anything different) on tour.