6 things Mitch Crews digs about living LA

Interview by Jake Howard

“I’ve gone full fuckin’ Hollywood Los Angeles surfer guy,” says Mitch Crews. It wasn’t too long ago Crewsy was living free and easy on the Gold Coast of Australia, but lured by his Hawaiian gal, world longboard champ Kelia Moniz, he recently pulled up stakes and relocated to L.A.’s South Bay. (He also admits he’s always wanted to spend a year living in the States.) Life in L.A. can be overwhelming at first. Mitch is always good for a chuckle. We had to ask how it’s all working out. When we put it to him to list what he’s learned to love about L.A. he promptly answered, “Ah, there’s so many sick things I don’t know how to summarise it into one sick thing.” A little prodding later, here’s his top six:

1. I’ve learned to love the access to endless opportunities. Living in L.A., anything I could ever want is right there. As a regular human being, I can go to cool bars. I can see pretty much any band I want. I can go and see famous people. I can go to art shows. I can go shoot guns. I can do anything. There’s so much stuff to do. I can drive out to the desert. I could go to Vegas. The fact that I have some cool opportunities to do some really crazy shit, it’s exciting.

2. Uber and taxis are all-time. I’ve also learned to love public transportation. L.A. doesn’t have the best public transportation system, and I believe New York and other big cities have a good organization when it comes to that. The fact that you can jump on a train is pretty cool. So I have a good appreciation for that after living here — and because L.A. doesn’t really have that. Uber and taxis are the way to go, and that’s always fun. Sometimes you don’t know where you’re going to end up.

3. The surfers around L.A. are not eggy, cranky people. They’re super welcoming, and super psyched, and super stoked to meet new kinda people. Obviously there are the kookiest surfers you can imagine. They’ve got their longboard sticking out of their convertible or whatever, that’s really here, but they’re kooks and have never really surfed a day in their life. The real core surfers here, the community here, especially here in the South Bay, have been really welcoming. They’re really passionate about surfing and are all supportive of one another. I respect that highly. I rarely paddle out and get frowns like, ‘Ah fuck, this little pro’s out here again.’ They’re super interested to hear about your shit.

4. I’ve been enjoying meeting lots of different people in coffee shops. There’s people of all shapes and sizes here. From millionaires, to weird hipsters, to fuckin’ basketball players. You never know who’s going to walk into the coffee shop down the street. Tending to be an obnoxiously loud Australian leads to some random conversations here and there. There’s as many people in L.A. as there is in all of Australia, so it’s really cool to meet all these crazy people. I haven’t really met any celebrities, but I see Blake Griffin around, a few baseball players and shit, even a few random rich dudes from around here. It’s like, ‘Hey, fuck, I’ve got this crazy idea…” I enjoy meeting these nuts people.

5. The right rip bowl of El Porto, I love it. When the tide’s going out, it’s running across the beach, maybe waist high. I’ve got a flat little board. It’s my Snapper for now.

6. I just got home from Mexico after a little four-day strike. I love having a big international airport only 10 minutes from my front door. I can be anywhere in the world in the drop of a hat.

And here he is, again in Mexico, thoroughly enjoying the close proximity. Photo: Kelia Moniz