Ozzie Wright interview
HUCK caught up with Aussie surf star Ozzie Wright to talk art, punk rock and the revolution of the scene.
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A change is brewing and Aussie surf star Ozzie Wright can smell it in the air. He may have dallied with the competitive world in the past and taken aerial surfing to dynamic new heights but the 33-year-old now spends his days tapping into his artistic side. The pirate-obsessed DIYer divides his time between art, his punk rock band Goons Of Doom and surfing – usually with his two-year-old son Rocky River in tow.
And despite being a pretty disorganised, mobile-phoneless, work-alone dude, Ozzie has notched up some impressive commissions including a brand new line of tees for Santa Cruz, designs for Volcom, and a new exhibition at the Nine Lives Gallery in Brisbane.
An old Volcom ad once said ‘Ozzie Wrong does not belong’ so HUCK caught up with the punk rock pundit to find out why.
HUCK: Can you tell me a bit about how you got into surfing?
Ozzie Wright: Well, my father was a surfer and I grew up right next to the beach so I’ve been a surfer since before I can remember. I grew up in Narrabeen [a suburb of Sydney] and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve got a son now and when I took him into the water, he loved it instantly. He’s not even two yet... When you see people riding surfboards it’s like a dream. At first, I used to ride a foam surfboard lying down and I loved that for years and then I eventually got into standing up on it. It’s a way of life [...] I love nature and every wave you catch is like a fun park. You get to like fly across them and jump up into the air. It’s a dream: it’s a miracle.
When did you get into art and punk rock?
I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, I never quit that. That’s been another thing I’ve done since before I can remember and punk rock, well, I’ve always loved music. My dad played bass in a really cool band and they were like a sixties punk band with harmonica. You know, a really kind of challenging sound...
What’s the music scene like in Narrabeen?
There are a few bands. Surfing is big but generally the surfing crowd in Narrabeen are pretty bread-and-butter, like ‘surfing’s the sport’. Narrabeen’s a legendary surfing beach, it’s one of the most famous in Australia. It’s produced all kinds of world champions... But there’s no venues and it’s pretty desolate as far as rock 'n' roll goes. The city of Sydney is only a 40 minute drive away so we do most of our gigs there.
What bands were you into growing up?
Initially, I was into Bob Dylan and Crowded House. I was also into whatever folk music my parents were playing and they had pretty good taste so I was lucky. Then I got into grunge. I was a teenager during the nineties so I liked grunge music like Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Hole and all that. And now I’m really in to indie-folk punk music. I like Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman from Modern Lovers is like my favourite singer. The next album you buy should be Jonathan Richman, he’s the best. He’s just really fun and it’ll make you happy every time you listen to it.
Do you think there are similarities between all the things you love?
Definitely. They're just about doing something creative that can fill your spirit with joy [...] That’s the common thread; it’s just a fun thing that requires only you. Well, the band requires more people than art or surfing because they're really solo things. The band is the closest to a company I'll ever get in.
How do you feel about the surf scene? A lot of surfers can be kind of 'jockish'...
Yeah, that’s a shame. But you know what, there’s a full on revolution amongst surfing ranks. The kids, they’re so awesome and there are so many new bands amongst all the surfers. It’s revived and it’s awesome. There’s so much good stuff going on now. When I was coming up reading the surf mags, it was all hippies in the nude talking about like music and art and then it turned into this professional thing where people would just try to crank money out of it, which happened for a long time and it was a fad. It helped me in a way because I was a point of difference, now there are so many kids that are just awesome, you know? And so many go in different directions. I’m stoked at where surfing is at now.
Do you get on with competitive surfers?
The fact is when you’re surfing one little peak and there’s some guys out, it’s like the alpha male takes over all the way. But my thing’s always been that alpha males can sit out there and get all the waves they want. I used to just sit inside of them, not as far out, and take all the small waves. They might catch like ten waves and I’ll catch a hundred. Everyone will be like, ‘woah you just got a hundred waves and big shot only caught ten. He got the big best waves but in your hundred, you did way more than he did in his ten’. So you can beat them. I’m not into alpha male macho shit. That’s boring for me.
Does that get you down?
Ah, you just ignore it. That’s life right, that’s just living. I don’t care. I just do my thing and I get more than enough good vibes out of that.
Do you think surfing is kind of behind skateboarding and snowboarding in terms of board graphics?
Well, you know surfing used to be like that. In the seventies, there was crazy psychedelic airbrushing going on and that was before skateboards even happened [...] It kind of went away for a while but I think if you really researched it, I think the art of surfing has always been up there. Every skateboard has got a print on the bottom but you can’t screenprint surfboards. Well, you can but it’s different. Every single one’s handmade and it’s up to the individual to paint them or ask for artwork and so it’s gonna cost you more.
Can you tell me a bit about your surfboard designs?
The first one I ever got I chose because it was yellow and pink and I thought ‘that’s the best one because all the others are white’[...] Some years, I get 30 new surfboards, I always manage to draw something on every single one.
Your latest collaboration with Santa Cruz features your trademark pirate theme. What is it you like about them?
I like the idea of individualism. Pirates were do-it-yourself people, you know? They were like ‘we need some money’ so they went and took it. But I’m not advocating thievery!
Why don't you have a mobile phone?
It's not a protest against modern ways or anything, that’s just the way I am. I’m unorganised! I like it that way.
Why did you call your son Rocky River?
I don’t know, I think he named himself, man. I just had to call him it. It wasn’t something I thought of but it’s a really good thing so I’m glad I listened.
Is community important to you?
Yeah, I’m interested in community definitely. I care about the place and the people. I want to make them happy whenever I have the chance. It’s a pretty good community in Narrabeen. The beach scene here is really nice because all the guys bring up the kids. They look after them and the old guys teach the young guys so that they can kind of come up and do what the old guys did.
Is it supportive?
Yeah it is. It’s hard to get in there but once you’re in there, it’s real supportive. Surfing’s the same, there’s so many people trying to come up that some of them may struggle a bit but if you get in, you’re in forever. If you really want to be there, you’ll be there.
Look out for Ozzy's further collaborations with Santa Cruz, coming soon.
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