Meet: Necro, A New Japanese-Inspired Tailpad Joint

Japanese themes, big blocks and a tailpad designed to help you elevate. NecroSurf is a new grip joint from filmmaker Luke Farquhar and co. A few years ago, eyewear was the category in which to launch a start up, but in light of Octopus, Dreded, and now Necro, it seems that grip is the hottest game in town. Below, we peel back the layers of the latest name on the hardware scene…

Like eyewear a few years ago and bikini brands with Instamodels, tail pad companies are the start-up du jour recently. Discuss.
Luke: Except for AstroDeck, there’s not much else in our opinion to choose from. Maybe I should clarify: there is too much of what we didn’t want. A lot of others seem to think the more “tech” they make it the more people will want to use. Not me. Simple works for us. Flat and grippy, with a big kicker. The kicker has a string groove in it so you can tuck your string under it. And I’ve always wanted my tail pad to be right on the tail block so you can jam your foot back there when going for airs. We also used a single square routed surface (not square on square). This gives you more ease with foot movement when you need it. Note: I hate diamond groove patterns. They look terrible and feel worse. If you don’t know, it’s quite expensive to set up custom mould patterns like we’ve done but we know what we wanted it to be and it turned out just right. 

“Simple works for us. Flat, grippy with a big kicker.”

What did you grow up surfing in terms of tailpads? I was stuck on Bruce’s AstroDeck model for years, then a few Wardo models. I used to cut them up and customise them. I even tried a “K” grip once. That was the worst grip ever made. It rashed my knee up so bad that it got infected and I had to go to the hospital and get my knee drained! Our grips don’t rash.

What inspired these pads and the Necro biz? Lack of options, to start. Surfing has lost a lot of the things I personally loved about it, including the brands and all the marketing that goes with it. Reiss and I met years ago and always wanted to combine our jobs together. We both really liked the same surfers growing up and were into the sort of ride-fast-do-one-huge-air kinda style. Deck grips for us were as important as the surfboard itself. 

What kind of surfers do you see using them? From Ratboy to Fanno. Anyone who wants a real surf grip, that looks good too. Every little Johnny can do airs but can he do shit in his own style? Thats what I like to see and, yeah, any kid out there doing that hit us for some. #necrosurf

“The kicker has a string groove in it so you can tuck your string under it. I’ve always wanted my tail pad to be right on the tail block so you can jam your foot back there when going for airs.”

How much are they? Sixty-six Australian dollars. 

Sustainability is massive for startup businesses. Is this part of your strategy? You don’t need to make a big song and dance about it. I’m not about fucking up the earth but, it’s deck grip that don’t hurt the environment, which can only be a good thing. It’s for surfers who want to do airs. We got the grips to help you fly.

Tell us about the Japanese inspo. Our sugar daddy is a Japanese biker heavy. Yakuza sorta looking, I think, but who really knows. Real nice. Met him in a Tokyo nightclub for the second time. Apparently, we surfed together that day and he said he liked my style.

What else can you tell us about the brand? We have skull wax in red, white and black. I thought surf wax would be way cooler if it came in a skull shape. It’s good shit too.

Skull shaped surf wax? Sure, why not.

You dig what you’re seeing here? Flick over to NecroSurf.com