What is freedom? It’s a nice idea, but does it actually exist? By its own definition, freedom is the ability to make your own decisions, run your own race – take your own liberties, but is there room for such freedom in modern society? Surfing is the perfect example. It’s a sport, an activity; an expression of freedom, but whilst the surfing dream does still exist, there will always be a cost. You pay for your boards right? Those trunks you wear weren’t free were they? How much do you shell out for a two-hour parking spot at the beach?
Professional freesurfers are the ones we look to for a brief glimpse of a life where the only thing that matters is going surfing, traveling and getting paid to do it, surely this is the true definition of freedom.
Craig Anderson is one of those freesurfers. He travels, surfs, doesn’t worry about contest results AND gets paid to do it. Dream, right? It may seem that way, but there are downsides to the dream. It’s not like Craig’s whining about it, but there are certainly some harsh realities that lie beneath freesurfing’s shiny veneer.
Below Ando discusses those realities and why professional freesurfing can wear a price tag.
Do you feel like there’s pressure on you to be ‘different’ in order to further your career?
“You definitely have to be unique in a way to go anywhere. There are a lot of amazing surfers out there, but the ones who are successful are the ones who can tell a story with what they do and the way they live or the way they’ve been brought up. But I’ve always just done the same thing and surfed the same way. Growing up, my Dad always wanted me to compete and I was into it a little bit, but I’m pretty grateful that freesurfing has given me an avenue to not be a labourer I guess (laughs). If you look at all the past and present freesurfers, they’re all multi talented.”
A lot of freesurfers use blogs to build a following and get all arty, not you?
“Yeah, I’ve never really been into all that stuff, like I appreciate good music and good art and I love looking at it and listening to it, but I’ve never really tried to draw a picture or sing a song (laughs). That’s not my avenue at all. You’ve always got to be on the ball with things and approach surfing differently though, but I just do what I do.”
What do you want to do?
“I just want to have fun and see the world, grow as a person, become worldly and learn a lot.”
As a freesurfer does it allow you do that?
“Yeah, it definitely does, but there is still a commercial reality really, like you still have to go on trips for magazines and stuff and people always want to know what you’re doing. Sometimes it would feel pretty good to kind of run away into the jungle and not have to answer to companies or the media, but you know that’s part of your job.”
Do you see it as a job?
“I kinda do, yeah. Because of those demands, especially the last few months it’s become pretty demanding. It’s fun, I really enjoy doing it, but it’s kinda like there’s always a camera pointed at you or someone wanting to know what you’re up to or what’s next, it’s pretty demanding, but you know freesurfing is kind of supposed to be the polar opposite of that.”
What sort of trips would you like to do?
“I guess I’d just like to see guys like Rasta and Ozzie and Tom Curren and my favourite surfers do more trips. Imagine seeing Tom Curren at Jeffreys Bay or something. It’s weird, it seems like there’s a demand for freesurfers, but there’s so few.”
What question do you think is most asked of you?
“I guess about my style or what I think of style or that kind of gay shit.”
What do you hate being asked the most?
“Probably about style and what I think style entails, why do I surf the way that I surf or who influenced my style, or about Rob Machado. You surf how you surf. You can’t change that.”
So as long as you’re not working on a building site you’re happy?
“Yeah, pretty much. I do like seeing how other people do things. Like, how other freesurfers do things; I get inspiration from everywhere and do what feels natural, like the way I surf or the clothes I wear. It’s just whatever feels normal to me. It doesn’t necessarily mean it would be normal to someone else.”
You’re into a bunch of different boards?
“In the last couple of months I’ve been having so much fun riding different boards. If the waves look fun and the wind is good for airs, I love taking out my short board and trying to stomp a big air or get a good clip or a photo or something, but then if it’s glassy and two foot I love trying to cheater-five my single fin and get tubed the whole wave or something. Nothing is original anymore, so if you do something you enjoy, people kinda go ‘ah someone did that five years ago, you’re trying to copy them’, but surfing is at an age now where everything has pretty much been done before. With freesurfing it feels like you’ve got a limited lifespan, because you can be in the spotlight and then all of a sudden, people have seen that shot, or that clip so you’ve got to almost reinvent yourself and your approach a bit to keep people interested.”
Do you feel like the web-based content almost shortens your career?
“Yeah, I mean it’s cool that you can go and click on a blog and see what all your favourite surfers are doing, but I think it’s a lot of hard work to maintain a good blog. I mean I don’t think it will die out, but I think people appreciate it if you take time out to go somewhere different or do something different, they appreciate if it’s not on a website a week later. With all the magazines and stuff, everyone seems to be going online, I think people still like having that hard cover in front of them that you can really appreciate and look at and read and pick it up any time if there’s a story in there that you liked, whereas the internet, it’s like you click on it once and then next week it’s gone.”
Do you get bummed on surfing?
“I’ve gone through a couple of stages with my surfing where I’ve been pretty unhappy and not having fun and just thought about it and had a good look at everything and then just realised why I surf. Because you go on those trips with guys that are amazing surfers and it’s like demanding and it’s not very enjoyable. To make the cut in a good movie these days it’s like you’ve gotta be doing something special, no one cares about little air reverses or anything so it kind of takes a little bit of fun out of surfing when there’s that pressure. But if you look at a lot of the successful freesurfers, they all have a good time and they love surfing and love doing what they do, which is cool. It’s the world tour now that looks like a tough gig.”
