An Underground European Talent You Should Know

It’s odd how quickly you make assumptions about a new face in surfing, whether you first encounter them in the water, on social feeds, in magazines, or elsewhere. 

There’s a moment when they seem like the proverbial dog having its proverbial day, much as they did in the days of the “unidentified” caption, offset-printed on coated paper.

The first time I saw the stocky, powerful, composed natural footer obliterating a righthand pointbreak, his flow like a hog bristle brush spreading oil over primed Belgian linen, I had no idea who he was. He was, by some distance, the best surfer out there, somehow finding more waves than anyone else and picking up scraps from under a staunch local pack.

I assumed he was one of those characters who show up somewhere alone, surf exceptionally well, then vanish from the scene as soon as they’ve changed back into their civilian clothes. 

Later, I saw him walk up to Guilherme Martins, who had been documenting the session. I would come to learn that the two had been collaborating for some years.

In September, Guilherme invited Issam to the place where a handful of underslept Stab employees were staying during the Quiksilver Festival. Issam arrived with his own lunch, some burger or wrap, I can’t remember too well. He didn’t strike me as a dessert man, but he had brought a very regal cake, raspberries arranged symmetrically across the top layer, possibly with tweezers. It came in a plastic box with a gold coloured base and a transparent, removable lid. The French take their cake seriously.

He finished it while Guilherme tried to sync his gaming PC with the Airbnb’s curved television. Once the technical difficulties had been skirted, Guilherme ordered everyone to sit down and formally introduced Issam, along with the short film he had starred in and edited himself.

Touching Grass does a fine job of introducing Issam, as well as the range and quality of his surfing, to an audience that might not otherwise get to see much of it, let alone share a righthand pointbreak with him.

And, hold on until the very end for some all time Honey Smacks.