Not A Stab Podcast: Corey Graham Talks EAST, Faith, And Weed Demons

For the backstory on our selection of Rasta, click here. For the backstory on our selection of the boards, click here. You can watch Episode Two here, Episode Three, and Episode Four here

This week on the podcast, there’s no blabber from Buck, no crippling gambling advice from Mikey to bankrupt your weekend. 

Instead, we’re tearing into Horses Mouth podcast, hosted by John Teague — a back-alley gem of long, winding conversations with artists, surfers, activists, and the kind of misfits you don’t meet twice. Raw, dust-covered radio from a time before attention spans were devoured by the devil in our pockets.

The show casts a wide net, but it’s Torquay-heavy — featuring Surf Coast icons like Ella Sweeney, Xavier Huxtable, Maurice Cole, and Mick Sowry. The latest episode is an hour-and-a-half chat with EAST finalist and alt-board heavyweight, Corey Graham. Corey’s the man behind Rasta’s sparrow-quad, a board named after the bird because of it’s speed and ability to suddenly shift direction whenever it damn well pleases.

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Corey begins the conversation by reminiscing on a three-year battle with a busted shoulder that left him barely able to surf or work. Instead of popping pills, he turned to ganja to numb the pain, a choice that came with its own mess: some days it helped, others it dragged him deeper into it. 

“I was getting treatment after treatment, and nothing was working, so I was smoking way too much pot to kill the pain,” Corey says. “Then I saw a photo of myself and barely recognised the guy in it. Just a fat galoot, mate. That day, I looked at myself and thought: Fuck that. That’s not who I am.” And just like that, he turned things around. Later, he had an epiphany about a new surfboard innovation: Birkenstock tech.

“People don’t belong on the decks of surfboards,” Corey says, letting the thought hang. “Everything’s considered — the outlines, the concave, every detail — except the person riding the board. Why aren’t we catered to on the deck? For Rasta, I built an arch in the middle for foot support, with a cradle for the heel and toe. Essentially, I tried to shape a pair of Birkenstocks right onto the deck.”

The future is in footwear. 

The conversation weaves back and forth, but what really cuts through is Corey’s on-again, off-again dance with faith and the heavy shadow of his late father, a man whose influence still grips his work. 

Well worth your time.