The Wire by Firewire Surfboards

Latest Episodes:

Ep. #23 - Drinking Beers with Taylor Jensen: your new 3X World Longboard Champion Dec 20, 2017

Show notes

Taylor Jensen has just become the WSL's World Longboard Champion for the third time. A huge accomplishment for a huge human. At 6'4 200-something he's called 'The Big Predator" by Firewire teammate and longboarding legend Wingnut - and Taylor has more than one legend in his life - his father in law is Australian legend Nat Young who won three Australian titles in 66', 67' and 69'. So championships run in the family. In threes. But in spite of his competitive nature and successful run when it comes to the contest side of surfing, he's not scared of jersey-less sessions, and experimenting with multiple styles of longboard and varied styles of shortboard as well. For example, the Slater Designs Omni which you'll see in the show notes for this episode. Regarding variety in his sessions, he shares; "I think that the different feelings you can get from all different kinds of boards is an amazing thing. It's so rare in any sort of sport." He continues that "In baseball, you have a bat and a ball and that's it. That's your game. but in surfing, you can have a different board for every condition. Every time it changes you can have something different. You ride what fits the surf. That's how you get the most enjoyment out of every single session." Sounds good to us.

ep. # 22 - Sustainable Surf's Michael Stewart talks ECOBOARDS and raising 17k on Kickstarter for The Deep Blue Bag Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

By partnering with Mafia Backpacks in San Francisco and renowned designer Yves Bahar, Michael Stewart was able to build the Deep Blue Bag out of repurposed kite sails, boat sailes, and climbing rope from Yosemite. In the process, he pulled off what many would like to pull off on Kickstarter - complete funding for his Deep Blue Bag project, allowing him to bring Deep Blue Bags to the masses next year. But there is a lot more to Michael Stewart than designing surf friendly and environmentally minded accessories. At Sustainable surf, he and his partner Kevin Whilden manage The ECOBOARD Project, a third party 'eco-label' for surfboards that are made with a measurably reduced carbon footprint when compared to more traditional materials and production methods. Sustainable Surf also helps SUGA make yoga mats out of used wetsuits. They make sandals out of tires and fishing nets in collaboration with Indo Sole. They have even partnered with the city of Malibu to turn styrofoam waste into surfboard blanks and collaborated with brands like Rip Curl to eliminate over 90% of the waste at events like the Rip Curl Search San Francisco. All this and more in this brand new episode.

ep. #21 - Mark Price and Dan Mann talk Trash. Dec 08, 2017

Show notes

Over the past couple months, some of the most popular videos we've released have featured zero surfing. Shocking. Why? Because we're a surfboard company. And surfing is what we do. It's the reason we exist. And the most reasonable thing to assume is that surf videos would be the most popular videos we release. But it hasn't been the case over the past couple months. Instead, our most popular videos have shown the way we turn trash into paving stones, and the way Dan Mann turns trash into surfboards. Together these two videos combined for nearly 200,000 views on Instagram during the two week period they were released. This excited us because environmental sustainability is front and center at Firewire, and if our audience is as excited by it as we are, then that means more sustainability for everyone. More actions towards a healthy planet. Higher awareness of the environmental crisis. More people doing more than standing on the sidelines as climates change, species die, and the fate of our ocean becomes more uncertain. With these two videos in our rearview, Dan Mann and Mark Price hopped onto this episode of The Wire Podcast to talk about both Firewire's paver program and Dan Mann's interest in building things from trash. It's a fun episode that covers much, and we think you'll enjoy it.

ep. #20 - Inside the WSL with Graham Stapelberg Nov 30, 2017

Show notes

The details behind technical catastrophes, nearly stolen prize money, Graham's relationship with Andy Irons, and what the WSL might do with wave pools. Plus way more. Graham was an executive at Billabong for more than 10 years. And before that, he was the CEO of the ASP - remember that? The ASP? It's what the world tour used to be before it became the WSL. Graham has been a part of professional surfing since its inception and today he has one of the most intense and exciting jobs in all of surfing at the WSL, overseeing more than 180 events a year. This episode was recorded at the WSL North American offices in Huntington Beach during the U.S. Open of Surfing.

ep. #19 - Dan Mann Stole a Shaping Bay. And he's surfing through Spain and Nicaragua with Rafa Gomez. Nov 21, 2017

Show notes

When Dan Mann was a kid, he built an illegal shaping bay in the most precarious of places - a military base on an island south of San Diego, CA. The story is hilarious, and he's on The Wire today to share it alongside Rafa Gomez. Rafa runs Firewire Surfboards in Southern Spain, but he also spends three months of the year in Nicaragua where he owns a business. Rafa is a textbook example of aligning work with surfing and we're always happy when he visits us here in California. This episode also covers much about boards and fins, specifically the Spitfire, Dominator, Chumlee and Unibrow. We hope you enjoy this episode. And we hope you go surfing when it finishes.

ep. #18 - The Marketing Mind behind Volcom - Troy Eckert and his partner at Kozm, Derek Sabori Nov 17, 2017

Show notes

Troy Eckert was the marketing mind behind Volcom for 20 years. He was the first employee at Volcom and retired young in 2010. Derek Sabori was a surf industry outsider who joined Volcom in 96' and worked his way up to Vice President of Global Sustainability before leaving in 2015. These two guys were hugely successful as surfers inside Volcom, and they say much of their wins both personally and professionally have come from yoga, which they are now representing through KOZM - a yoga-inspired clothing line for men, made fair with care. This episode covers a ton about surfing, yoga, Volcom and KOZM, and it's one of our favorite episodes so far.

The Wire ep. #17 - Daniel 'Tomo' Thomson Oct 13, 2017

Show notes

Today on The Wire we're joined by Daniel 'Tomo' Thomson, who you already know as the designing mind behind The Sci-Fi, The Omni, The SKX and many more surfboards, like The EVO, which after several years is still one of the most popular boards at surf shops around the world. This conversation was recorded during the Hurley Trestles Pro in September and it covers many things. Like the low point in Daniel's life that inspired him to set the path that has led to his current position as one of the world's most well known and respected surfboard designers. He discusses the difference between working with Kelly Slater and Stu Kennedy. He also shares the backwards approach to designing surfboards for big waves and why it works so well, and much more. Enjoy.

The Wire ep. #16 - Geoff Clawson left Facebook and Instagram for Birdwell Beach Britches Sep 01, 2017

Show notes

You're flying westward towards the ocean above Orange County, moments before landing at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, and there you see it. Out the window. Painted on top of a factory roof big enough to take in clearly from your seat on American Airlines. It is Birdie. Wearing his Birdwells. He is the iconic mascot of Birdwell Beach Britches, and he is the X that marks the spot on Birdwell's HQ, only visible from airplane or helicopter. Birdwell is the longest running advertiser in SURFER Magazine because they're one of the longest running board short manufacturers on earth. In fact, they were one of the first companies to sell boardshorts commercially; specifically tailored to the needs of surfers, as still evidenced today by the wax pocket on each pair, designed to hold an entire bar of wax. It's design elements like this along with the easy to notice label on Birdwell's high waisted trims that make these shorts some of the most recognizable articles of surf wear in lineups today, even among surfers who don't wear them. After a storied history, Birdwell is today owned by an unexpected group of surfers from Facebook and Instagram. They grew up surfing and today shepherd the board short maker from a rich past towards a future horizon, at the same address that Birdwell has called home for decades. C.E.O. Geoff Clawson joins us on today's episode of The Wire Podcast to discuss what life is like as a surfer at Facebook and Instagram, what made Birdwell Beach Britches seem like such an exciting company to own, and how he carefully balances product innovation with paying homage to Birdwell's traditions. We also cover much more. Enjoy!

The Wire ep. #15 - Kelly Slater Aug 25, 2017

Show notes

This episode is an hour and a half of hanging with Kelly Slater in his San Clemente home alongside Action The Dog. We talk about The Gamma (his new surfboard), golfing with Bill Murray, and the difference between finding yourself stranded on an island with Eddie Vedder vs. Jimmy Buffet. We also dig into the details behind Kelly's role at Outerknown, what life was like when he was sponsored by Quiksilver, and previously unheard stories about his friends Dane Reynolds and Bob Hurley. We also go on a lot of fun and unexpected tangents such as cryogenically freezing yourself on accident (don't do it), the curiosity of brain traumas, the social habits of dogs vs. humans, and what it's like to make deep changes in your diet, life habits and more If you enjoy this episode, you can rate it 5 stars on iTunes.

The Wire ep. #14 - Blank Spaces Bother Jess Lambert (she's one of our favorite surfboard artists). Aug 04, 2017

Show notes

Jess Lambert meditates calmly on what others might find tedious. She's known around her home in Byron Bay, Australia as someone who can spend as much as 10 to 30 hours drawing intricate lines on surfboards that interweave to create the enchanting aesthetic you can see in the show notes for this episode at firewiresurfboards.com/the-wire. Since drawing on her first surfboard in 2014 she has created over 50 pieces in total that have have been sent to clients across Australia, the U.K., China and more. But her art on Timbertek and LFT boards from designers like Daniel Thomson and Dan Mann doesn't just hang on the wall in clients homes and offices. Jess often has her work coated when finished, so that clients can slide it across the water on waves, and not just show it off to friends. Enjoy this episode.

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