September: BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS!

I've had a couple of messages recently from people asking for copies of the book in time for Christmas.
Be sure to email me directly:
michaelfordham@gmail.com
And I will hit you back and get books out to you before the holidays kick in! In the meantime, enjoy the seascape taken from a recent, lonely, icey surf at my favourite part of North Devon.

The Do Lectures

Back in September I was honoured and humbled to be invited to speak at The Do Lectures, which was organised by Dave and his team from HOWIES. Amid the beautiful people and the beautiful setting Alastair McIntosh summed up for me the importance of sticking with what you believe in, in everything you do. Dave and the crew at Howies were instrumental in enabling the September Project to be. Please take 30 minutes out of your day, listen to Alistair's talk and be inspired.

Call for California submissions.

After putting the September Project on ice while we finished the Book of Surfing, we're now ready to start the process of putting together edition 2: The California edition. We're putting out a call for California-related submissions from writers, artists, photographers, illustrators, film makers, songwriters: anyone who has an opinion about the star-spangled Golden State and who happens to surf. A select crew from all over the world will then travel to California over a period of a month, and we'll publish a beautiful little piece of printed matter out of the words and pictures that arise. If you're having trouble getting hold of Edition 1 of the September Project, get in touch, let me know and I'll make sure you get one in your hands. In the meantime see the electronic version by simply clicking on the animation on the top right of the blog.
Email submissions/questions and other comments to Michael Fordham at Gmail dot com.

The story of my life...

...toy cameras and delayed print jobs. After lots of shenanigans, the behemoth-like 'killer guide to surf culture' is due back from press and for launch of June 16. Party at the Sandsifter at the back of Godrevy in Cornwall June 19. Couple of bands, couple of DJs, and some choice poison. Should be a laugh. Watch this space for more details and tasters. It's been a long and winding road to get to this point, but it will have been worth it. It's the most entertaining book on surf culture published to date. But I would say that, wouldn't I? Available to preorder through all the usual suspects. Buy one for every member of your family. God I'm a mercenary git.

Listen man, Brian Wilson can do no wrong

I don't care. I love him, and I think this is probably the greatest rap track ever recorded. Thanks to Nick Offer for the art, and to HUCK for the scout.

Beaneath the pavement, the beach!

It was forty years ago today. In Paris, during May 1968, a revolution of the imagination was underway. Students rallied for the workers of the world to be realistic by demanding the impossible. They made up killer slogans and even better posters. They chugged on Gaulois and lobbed cobblestones at coppers. It was so much fun, the workers came out to play with them. The French government and the economy was brought to its knees, and for a few fleeting moments it looked like the funkiest overthrow of a regime in history was about to happen. Then, according to who you ask, either the Communists sold out the revolution (again) by negotiating a deal for extra pay between the government and the workers at the Renault factories, or the rebellion dissipated when the college summer holidays started. I prefer the latter. Who knows, some of the kids may have gone surfing. Either way, for a brief moment, the landlocked, beret-rocking intellectuals of freedom realised where true liberty was to be found.
Beneath the pavement, they realised, lay the beach!

Is accordian music the future of the surf sound?

According to Mr Simon Skelton, purveyor of fine. locally crafted surfboards in North Devon's Braunton, it just might be. Mr Skelton is a renowned fetishist of all things woodsy, English and obscure and known to rip on a Bellyboard. I dropped into his shop Gulf Stream, said hello and was treated to a series of quaint renditions of squeezbox ditties. Support your local accordianist.

The primary element of my dawn patrol.

A fitful sleep, an anticipated alarm call and a low rev chequered flag beating the shipping forecast. Dull murmurings from Bush House teasing out the fact that I live on a Celtic archipelago and that I have five coastlines to choose from. Who wants to be a local?

Knostiness

More Monochrome from the Newport neo-troglodyte.

The Inaugural Duke

Classic footage including Hynson, August, Noll, Buzzy Trent, Wally Froiseth and others narrated by Bruce Brown. Classic and rare Dora interview too. You can see the Dark Knight trying to be as obscure as possible. And not quite making it.

Homage to Woody Brown

Been out the loop for over a month because of deadlines for the next book, and also because of the sad loss of my mother Patricia Anne Fordham. Sadly, first post back is a last post for inspirational surfer of spectacular longevity and energy Woody Brown. One of the originals, Woody was still surfing into his nineties and is one of the true elders of the tribe. Rest In Peace Mr Brown.

Coltrane Time

I'm fascinated by the relationship between music and surfing. This clip of John Coltrane from 1960 performing one of his classic interpretations of Rodgers and Hammerstein's anthemic 'My Favourite Things' (from the musical 'The Sound of Music') is a really rare glimpse into one of the most creative moments in sixties music. Forget the Beatles, dude. The interplay between order and chaos, rhythm and randomness, tone and dissonance, reminds me of a visceral, elemental surf session.

Coltrane is on the strangely 'eastern' sounding Soprano sax, repeating the signature theme over and over again and rinsing it out of almost every possible connotation. Elvin Jones is a master of polyrhythmic undertones on drums. Jimmy Garrisson grooves under the radar on bass, McCoy Tyner accentuates the flight of the melody on the piano and Eric Dolphy flies like a bird over the whole concoction on flute. All through the sixties, Coltrane's various bands would practice this tune for hours on end, and in one show in Japan, apparently played a whole uninterrupted three hour set based on this tune. Coltrane was trying to tease out some essential truth in the heart of the music by drawing all these rhythms and harmonies together and unifying them within the simple, beautiful melodic structure written by Rodgers & Hammerstein. There's something about the way that a surfer draws a line through the apparently chaotic forces of nature that is parallel to Coltrane's solo line through the orchestration.

Longer Still

I recently stumbled again upon this clip from Jbrother's film Longer. In my humble opinion it is still one of the most beautiful longboard sequences on film. The film maker performed a subtle stroke of genius by choosing Errol Garner's Misty as the soundtrack to JT's offbeat flow. Joel, meanwhile is an alchemist. As demonstrated here he can turn any wave he rides, even little sectiony peelers like this, into pure gold. That's the beauty of classical style as exemplified by Mr Tudor. Under his feet functional flow can assume the status of high culture. Dig. Eight to the bar.

Dig Spam, Live Spam, Eat Spam

Researching all things Hawaiian this afternoon, I came across this wonderful online homage to the noble canned spiced ham, which is very popular in the islands. I'm getting peckish just looking at the can. MMMMMM, let's go surfin'!

Iced Pintail

I left my beloved pintail out in the yard the other night. I woke to a deep frost and this pleasing effect. Would look nice as a kind of acid-wash effect or something. Any experts out there able to recreate the iced pintail?

This may not be the place to betray my Essex soulboy roots, but this makes me smile in the same way that surfing makes me smile, and I wanted to share it. She's the coolest dread centre of a jazz-funk storm, and though it's from 1982, she wouldn't look out of place in a Shoreditch ravery right here, right now. I love this tune and I don't care. I might even use it in a surf sequence soon.

A closer look at the first edition

Here is a closer look at the texture of the first edition of the September Project. Stay tuned for news of the second edition.

John Isaac's Cornish Right

An elusive right hand point break on the North Coast of Cornwall. When it's on, you'll find a selection of stylists taking advantage of a long, smooth Cornish slide. These images from a behobbled John Isaac fresh from last week's pulse.

Alex & The Dolphins

Organic, textured subversion from the artist who's working on the film he's calling 'Displacement', exploring the hydrodynamic possibilities of displacement hulls and long black coats. I always found goths irritating. Manchester and all that. A buddy of mine I was travelling with in Australia in 1986 used to play a Joy Division tape over and over again. Ruined it for me. I was an east London soul boy in the mid eighties, and I preferred Luther Vandross and the Gap Band. Strangely, I kind of dig the trenchcoat stuff these days.

Reverb Central

Dick Dale was an absolute mofo on that Fender. He created the surf sound, and despite the surfsploitation that came after his hits of the early 1960s, it sounds as ruff today as it did over forty years ago. Take a look at Reverb Central, surf music archivist Phil Dirt's site, for everything you ever wanted to know about a heavily influential genre of surfin' art. I would have loved to have been present at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Newport Beach on a hot sweaty summer night in 1960. Killer.

Everything is connected by fluidity

Heartstoppingly brilliant contemporary painting inspired by the ocean and the earth. The September Project is all about how the planet inspires this kind of creativity.

What is surfing?

Big question. And a really simple one too. Every surfer has their own answer. Here's one perspective.

Paulownia

Interesting plant Paulownia. In the right conditions, it can grow incredibly quickly and yield timber that has a light, fibrous quality yet maintains its strength. The big challenge these days is to find sustainable materials from which to build boards that work, that last and that still look beautiful.

Friction free

If surfing's 'retro' movement is played out and has become part of the ebb and flow of contemporary things, then we're all very lucky. With creative minds like Tom Wegener creating finless Alaia boards in Noosa for a new generation of surfers looking for an unsullied experience, and people like Derek Hynd promoting the disapearance of the fin as a return to the roots of wave-riding, there's never been a more interesting time to be a surfer. I'll be sticking to my skegs for the forseeable, but take a look at Loose-Fit's nice new site for more inspiration and great pictures of these ancient Hawaiian designs being ridden. Jon and the guys import boards from Mr Wegener himself, as well as Paulownia blanks. More on Paulownia wood later.

Tom Curren

Came across this handmade footage of classic-era Curren. Dig the radical flow in the slop, and the hi-line double pump down the line in the juicy stuff. Dig also the black beauty board and the dayglo panelled spring suits. Curren surfs twenty years ago in a way that would make any WCT surfer today proud. It was truly radical in the eighties. Would love to be able to understand Brazilian Portuguese too.

John Isaac

John Isaac is a Kentish gadget-botherer, procurer of tales and can convince by his presence like no other man on earth. He was the front man for Revolver, the much maligned surf shop that was a proper surfshop and is now sadly passed. For a brief couple of summers, Revolver was the beating heart of a group of friends and a focal point of a lot of good stuff in Cornwall that hasn't since had a centre. The place was like a beautiful lotus flower in the rancid pool that is Newquay. If you were there, then you'll dig what I am saying. Since Revolver's passing John has been having babies, taking pictures, becoming a bit obsessed with odd cameras, English belly boards and tweed whilst purveying fine, often strange custom orders for the discerning resin fetishists of England. He's a pilgrim good and true and his rancid bay births some cool sticks (including a 10-0 pintail speed shape of mine in British Racing Green that flies when it's juicy). We eagerly await the resurrection of the shop. With a little help from his friends, he can make it happen.

Ross Holden

Ross Holden is an old friend and collaborator from way back. I commissioned him to do loads of illustration for adrenalin magazine back in the day. During the invasion of Iraq he started making mandalas from grabbed images of the media. The images grouped together, in geometric form (sometimes horrific images, sometimes challenging images), by the alchemy of the art process, were changed into something intriguing and beautiful. Now he's been commissioned by everyone from Transport For London to KIA cars to put these things together. Tibetan buddhists spend meticulous hours, days, weeks constructing mandalas, these incredibly intricate patterns from coloured sand as a process of meditation. They aim for a kind of stillness-in-movement of mind and body whilst constructing them, before wiping them away with an instantaneous sweep of the hand. Impermanence. In a way, surfers draw lines on waves that celebrate their fleeting form before they disappear forever on the shore. Mandala. Good name for a surfboard label.

Mandala

There's something about pictures of short fat quad-finned beauties like M.Caro's Mandala shapes that brings out the consumer in me. I wonder if they'd work eight feet long, 3 3/8 thick with a 16 inch blunt double end? Answers on a postcard please...

Giacometti

Nice site from MOMA in NYC on Giacometti.

The mighty Thor

Thor Jonsson is one of the most committed surfers and photographers I have ever met. We hooked up in London around five years ago, when he was just back from three months feral in Madagascar. He had the eye of the tiger alright. This image (used as header) of Sam Bleakley during our Ireland trip reminds me of a Giacometti sculpture. It's typical of Thor's unique eye.
One wave. One man. Existential alone-ness in a watery universe. A huge talent.

Review in Huck magazine

Huck is a great, ambitious little magazine. Constructed by Vince Medeiros, Danny Miller, Rob Longworth and a dedicated creative crew in London's Shoreditch, it draws the worlds of surf, skate and snow together beautifully. Real 21st century take on one of the truly global cultures. Published in four languages. Nice review by Vince himself. Check it out.

Greenough: variable rail profile

It's worth taking the time to listen to George tell us about why the surf matt is his favourite wave riding vehicle.

Memories of an easy sliding summer

On a cold, wet stormy day here in the crux of England and Wales with an overhead swell running and a skirt-lifting southwesterly to go with it, it's nice to remember an easy sliding summer. This little memory from September project film maker Chris Mannell, music by Mr Radford.

Nick Radford

Nick Radford is one of my favourite illustrators. He's also a talented musician, a knowledgable jazz head and a stylish surfer. One of the good souls. I first met him over in Ireland a couple of years ago and have worked with him a lot since then. There's tons of his illustrations in the forthcoming book. This is his rendering of Alan Stokes, Tyler Hatzikian and Dane Peterson from the first edition of September.

A-Side Displacement

Ross & Alex at A-Side are great designers and good friends whose studio is nestled above a little surfshop in the middle of Falmouth in Cornwall. I worked with them on the first edition of September, as well a new book that's due to hit the streets this summer. Stay tuned for details on that. The guys have a fetish for stubby little surfboards, and Ross has this lazy, crooked legged but flowing style. Alex is obsessed with MP, and has been known to hand-jive his way through the pocket nicely. Does he surf like MP? Well, he's got those long, MP-like arms, at least. The boys came back from California recently with a strangely foiled displacement hull. Interesting. It's all about the rail, baby.

Superb animation

By Laguna Beach animator John Lamb from 1974. Really captures the tube-focussed vibe of the era, though there's an air in there too. Not even Larry Bertlemann could have been pulling airs in '74.

howies

Howies is a cool little company (that's getting bigger by the moment). They make great, high quality clothes in the wild west of Wales. They're good people and they have collaborated closely with us on the September project. Their seasonal catalogue is a thing of beauty, and I have written a couple of pieces for them. Check them out.

the september project

This is a little notebook that I'm going to use to communicate to the worldwide crew involved in the little green book, and anyone who's interested in getting involved. For those of you who don't know about it, the september project is a series of books made by a global community of writers, artists, photographers, film makers and friends who happen to surf.

Each year we'll explore a corner of the surfing planet, write a few words, make a few images, and publish them in a beautiful little book. The ambition is to capture the beauty and the richness of not only riding waves in a particular area, but the diverse experience a surf trip entails. The idea is that each book will be infused with the essence of a time, a place and a surfing moment. We want to capture the incredible blessings surfers are bestowed by the ocean, and have chosen to do this in the permanent, tangible form of print.

The books are printed and bound using 100% sustainable materials and non-toxic inks based on vegetable matter, just down the road from where I live in the west of England. So, hopefully, the process leaves as little trace as possible. We published the first book just before Christmas 2007, based on a month long sojourn to the West coast of Ireland. I'll post some images for you to see. I have very few left, but if anyone is interested in scoring a first edition, get in touch, and I'll try to get a copy to you, wherever you happen to be. Alternatively Howies and Loose Fit surf shop have a few left too, I believe. The edition features contributions from Tara Darby, Kieron Black, Thor Jonsson, John Eldridge, Dan Crockett, Easky Britton, Mickey Smith, Sandow Birk, Jamie Brisick, John Isaac, Tyler Hatzikian, Dane Peterson, Jimi Newitt, Peter James Field, Spencer Murphy, Sam Bleakley, Jamie Bott, Chris Mannell, Nick Radford and Helen Gilchrist.

The next edition will be out in November 2008. Watch out for news of cast and content soon. with love