“I’m Just Trying To Rep New Zealand As Hard As I Can”

“I’m doin’ great, mate, but I’m not gonna look at your stupid site. I’m pregnant with my 6th kid. I can’t be doing dumb shit like that,” came the reply when I texted trying to get ahold of Luke Griffin. Strange. Out of character. A medical miracle.

Turns out, I’d been misled — gifted the wrong number. The real Luke Griffin, on the other hand, is insightful, pleasant, interesting, and not remotely pregnant. But he did recently give birth to something worth a damn: CLYDE STREET, his new surf film.

“I’m trying to incorporate New Zealand a little bit more in the film, which is kind of sick. I feel like not many cool films or clips are coming out of New Zealand. So I’m just trying to rep NZ as hard as I can.”

Luke chalks up the lack of Kiwi exports in surfing to the industry being in the gutter. He reckons most of the guys who could’ve made a dime off their talent back in the day are now grinding away at regular jobs — the more profitable choice.

The other problem? Exposure. New Zealand’s stuck in the shadow of Australia, especially when it comes to surfing being seen as a viable career path.

“I back people wanting to get good jobs, but I feel like there’s a lot of untapped potential back home,” says Luke. “I want to show the kids coming out that there’s actually a possibility to do what you want to do. I’m not saying I’m the guy or anything, but every time I go home, I try to see all the groms and hype them up and see what they’ve been up to.”

“It’s really easy to get inspired over here in Aus,” he continues. “At any given surf at Snapper you’re gonna see Mick and Joel and God knows who else out there — world champions are surfing with you. But when you’re at home, there’s no one really to look up to.”

Clyde Street is the latest offering from Luke Griffin’s ever-growing list of self-produced surf films — following Champagne Sorbet and Ironically Hot, each one reviving the long-form, long-boards, long boardies approach.

“I want to show a different side of surfing, something that people might be like, ‘Whoa, I want to be hanging out with my mates and surfing for the love of surfing, rather than than watch that (undisclosed mechanical surfing event in the Middle East).”

At one time in his life, not too long ago, he’d thrown a surfing career out and pursued graphic design instead — giving himself to studying it for two years. Then one day, a pulse in his gut told him to drop it all, move to Australia, and surf.

“I like just had this weird feeling that I needed to come to Australia. And just try to surf more. I never thought I would make a living out of it, but it would have just been in the back of my mind if I didn’t come over and just like enjoy this country and just film and just see what happens.”

That decision has earned its keep. With Rip Curl and Former supporting him through the years, now backed by always do what you should do — a name that matches a kid who trusted his gut and now stands solid in the proof of it.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luke Griffin (@lukegrifo)

Luke’s got a foot in both surf films and graphic design these days, but the real jolt to his career came when he whipped up Caity Simmers’ infamous finals day tees. He picks up the story: 

“I got this message from Caity’s manager while I was in Bali, and I was about to head to Desert Point where there’s no reception. He says, ‘Hey bro, O’Neill needs some graphics in the next two weeks — can you do it?’ I was like, ‘Fuck, this is amazing.’

“I got the brief, started working on it, and was scrambling to get the files sent. On the deadline day, I paid some sketchy Indo guy for Wi-Fi, and he gave me like 500 megs to send it. Got it sent, and they were like, ‘Sweet, that’s mental. We’ll get it printed.’

“Looking back, I wish I had more time to refine it, but the response was amazing. People were hyped, and it was so cool seeing people like Steph and Macy wearing it — some of my favourite surfers. It was surreal watching the live broadcast and seeing groms walking around wearing the shirt. Then Caity won, and all her little minions were wearing it, and I was like, ‘Fuck, that’s so sick.’ If only they knew it was made on one bar of Wi-Fi, and I was literally finishing it on WhatsApp with five minutes to spare before the internet cut out.”