Watch Now: Zeke Lau In Views From Bali

Zeke Lau is a gent that deserves your attention. After you watch what’s floating above this bit of text you’ll get it. The cat’s been, as much as it pains me to say, “grinding” it out on the QS. Last winter he was a few heats shy of qualification and it’s a shame, high energy surfing of this caliber is what the tour’s lacking. “Last year I had an all out shocker,” he tells me. “I needed to make two more heats at Sunset. But that’s usually how it happens. If you need something at Sunset it won’t transpire. If you don’t need anything, you’ll surf the best contest of your life,” he laughs. And, if you try to recall, like us you’ll be hard placed to pin down his last edit… which is what makes this particular dose of power combinations menthol-fresh. 

Under a crisp Balinese lip and into that familiar, yet always changing vision. Photo: Laserwolf

So, Mr Lau made his way over to Bali to surf the Mad Hueys, Komune QS 1000 at Keramas. As did Bruce Irons, Joel Parkinson and Taj Burrow. And, the wave quality trampled that of Rio like a god-damn marching band. “It’s weird how the lower level contests have the best waves,” he says. “It was sick, all those guys bailed on Brazil to do the comp. They were running expression sessions. There were times were it was just me, Dingo, Parko, Taj and Bruce trading waves. The waves are never that good on the QS, so I was stoked. We were all joking around saying we’re going to start doing the 1000’s tour. Did you see the event at Lances Right?” he asks. “I was baffled! Guys were getting tens every wave. It was just barreling all the way through. Imagine if you had the world’s best out there.”

Tail high kicks so sharp they’ll burn your sinuses. Photo: Laserwolf

Zeke hit Bali with a few goals in mind: surf some heats, get some clips, relax and have a good time. Naturally, he hit up Betet ‘Da Guy’ Merta. “I called Betet. He had a villa and let me stay for free. If you want to do anything in Bali, he knows everyone. He’s got all the spots dialed and has access for you to do literally whatever you want. He really is Da Guy. He’s operating at 100 miles per hour all day through the night. The comp was the sickest; it’s a rager. Everyone just chills in the pool while a DJ spins and watches the heats. If it was a 6000 it’d be absolutely mental.” 

“My goal is to make the tour this year,” says Mr Lau. “I’m hungry, if there’s a spot I’ll take it!” Photo: Laserwolf

“With this clip I just wanted to create something that would amp people up,” he continues. So he threw in a cracker soundtrack, from Rihanna to Public Enemy, the beats kick. We watched and bobbed our heads. The kid’s a mix bag of leaps, carves and as is consistent with Hawaiian bred surfers, slices a tube with a silver knife. “I wanted to do something different. Surfing for points can get dull. I want to take this style of surfing into competition. I feel the tour’s lacking that ‘wow’ factor, except for guys like John and Filipe. I want to see guys blow the back off it every time.”

Legs like tree trunks, deep rooted in foam is the key to Zeke’s energy. Photo: Bosko

“I didn’t put a lot of airs in the clip,” he says. “It seems a lot of edits are someone pumping down the line and doing a single air. Which don’t get me wrong I do too. But I’ve been watching old surf movies and get super psyched on seeing the whole wave. While I was in Bali, I was watching Momentum: Under The Influence and getting pumped on Andy’s and Mick’s parts. It was all combinations, they were doing airs, getting barreled then coming out into huge turns. That’s what I wanted to do.”