Surfers on the Proust: Luke Griffin

A few weeks back I headed down to Oceanside to link up with Ian Crane to interview him about his trip to Morocco that was cut short due to his broken foot. Crane showed up with a friend named “Griffo.” Griffo was quiet at first, but once he got going he seemed to be filled with a ridiculous amounts of energy and good vibes.

The three of us surfed together and Crane was looking back to his normal self post-injury and Griffo was absolutely tearing apart the running left-handers that rolled through. We almost didn’t get a chance to chat in the lineup because he was catching wave after wave, hunting around on the inside between sets, seagull mode. His style stood out to me immediately. He had a casual demeanor between his maneuvers and then exploded off of any section that came his way. It seemed like he must watch a lot of Craig Anderson.

We finally got to talking after the surf and I learned that his name was actually Luke Griffin and he grew up in New Zealand and now lives on the Gold Coast of Australia near Kirra. Luke surfs as much as he can and does a bit of graphic design to help pay some of the bills. He even threw us a couple of new designs that you might see soon on some new Inherent Bummer merch.

We put “Griffo” through the Proust Questionnaire to break the ice. Read below.—Brandon Guilmette

by Griffo

by Griffo

What is your idea of perfect happiness? 

Waking up sunrise, going for a surf at a local break with all my buddies and then coming back and probably partying or something and then having a chick lined up and go party and then go see her. Perfect Then drinks and then get tubed again. 

What's your greatest fear? 

Probably something to do with snakes or some shit. I think that's my greatest fear. 

What is a trait you most deplore in yourself? 

I think I've got low functioning ADHD, so I always want to do shit and I feel like I need to chill out a bit. That's probably one thing, but at the same time, that could be a good thing. I dunno, but yeah.

What's a trait you most deplore in others? 

Not being kind to people. It's not hard to say hello and see how they're going and see what they're up to. Just casual chat. I dunno. I feel like people these days are just so on their path that they never want to just talk to someone or even just say hello. I dunno.

Which living person do you most admire? 

Well probably my dad cool. I like my dad. He's a real legend. My brothers. And then in the surfing world, I'd probably say Dane is sick. He has gone from being a comp surfer to the best free surfer ever and now is a family dude that's running a company. I just reckon that's sick what he's doing.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Probably drinking matcha lattes every day. I can't drink coffee, so every day I just have macha two or three. Maybe two, which is bad. That's probably a hundred dollars a week, but oh, maybe not a hundred, maybe $70 a week, which is fucked, but it's good. Bit of coconut milk and maple syrup. 

What is your current state of mind? 

Yeah, I think I'm driven at the moment and happy. I'm stoked where I am at the moment in life. Traveling, hanging out with cool people like Crane and just meeting new faces. I'm pretty content at the moment, but I'm also driven to the point that I want to film and get clips and I just want to prove to people that I can surf. Yeah. That's what I want to do. My current state of mind is driven, I think. 

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

I think being a dude and trying to be all that manly and shit, maybe that's one that I'm kind of overrated and I reckon it's kind of lame. I don't know if it is a virtue, but what you wear and shit. People say, I got earrings and all that shit, and then people, that's not a manly kind of thing. You've got weird tattoos and shit. I don't know.

On what occasion do you lie? 

Probably when the surf is pumping. You just got out, your mate run into you and goes, “How's the surf?” And maybe he's either at work or, I dunno, didn't go out that morning because fuck, he was stuck with the girlfriend or something. And I would lie because I would say it's way better than it is so that he or she is rattled because I got good waves and they didn't, even though it might not have been too hot. Just to be that guy. I reckon that's so good. My brother does that to me all the time. I reckon. He's like, “Yeah, it was pumping! Surf is so good!” And I check the camera, I'm like, “Dude, it's two-foot.”Yeah, I reckon that's a good one.

What do you dislike most about your appearance? 

I look way younger than I actually am. Everyone's like, “Oh, you're just finishing school. What year are you at school?” I'm like, I've been out of school for three or four years now. Fuck. Give me a break. It's so annoying. It's like even just family members are like, “Oh, so what? Are you still at school?” I'm like, “No, I'm fucking on the other side of the world living my life. Give me a break.” I dunno. That's one thing for sure. I hate that. I look like a fucking 12 year old still, and that happens with chicks too. They're like, “Oh, so how old are you?” It's like, Oh, I'm actually 22.” And they're like, '“Oh, no way. I'm 18. I thought you were the same age.” I was like, “Oh fuck.”

Which living person do you most despise? 

I don't really want to hate people. I feel like hating people is shit.

What is a quality that you most like in a man? 

Being respectful and having nice manners and stuff. Just to people. Like I said before, it's not hard to just be respectful to others and say your mom or your family or your girlfriend. Just something like that, I reckon. Yeah. 

What's a quality that you most like in a woman? 

Probably being someone you can chat to and they're nice as well, and they're not up themselves. They've got good communication skills, I would say. Something like that. So you can actually have a good talk with them or, I dunno, they're willing to talk to you. I feel like a lot of girls nowadays are so in their heads. It's not hard. It's not like I'm trying to get into bed with you. I just want to chat.  

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Out of it.” It's like a New Zealand term. I told Crane this. It's like saying that's weird or something. Out of it. That's out of it. Yeah, that's probably one thing.  

What or who is the greatest love of your life? 

Surfing is definitely and obviously the greatest love of my life. A really nice burrito is the love of my life [laughs]. Oh, Margo Robbie's so hot. Margo or Madison Beer. One of those two. Those two are like, if you like a blonde it's Margo Robbie, and then a brunette it’s Madison Beer. Those two chicks. Yeah. Love of my life for sure. 

When and where were you happiest? 

Probably what I said, when you're surfing with all your buddies, you've gone for either a trip around home in New Zealand, there's full packed car. There's three cars, convoying to a spot, and we've got a filmer on the beach and we're just chilling, hanging, talking, shit. That's the happiest moments for sure.

Which talent would you most like to have? 

Something with music, probably like a drummer or something. I want to learn how to play the drums real well, but I feel like it's such an annoying thing because being a neighbor and just hearing drums go would be so brutal. But being a drummer would be sick. I'd love to be able to do that. 

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? 

I would love to be a pro surfer or maybe change from being a person that doesn't get paid to someone that does get paid [laughs]. Nah, I don't know. Maybe. Sponsors. Let me know if you want to fucking throw some money at me. I'm kidding.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? 

Greatest achievement would probably be just getting out of New Zealand because New Zealand's so small and it's such a sick place, but I feel like people get trapped, so getting out of New Zealand and seeing the world is my greatest achievement for sure. Going to live in Australia was the best decision I've ever made, and traveling here in the States right now is pretty sick. Just to see the world. A lot of my mates are at home, at uni still just grinding away. Yeah, they're going to get a good degree and stuff in fucking business or some shit, but they might not see the world later on. I reckon just getting out of New Zealand was the sickest achievement, the best achievement I've ever done, for sure. 

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? 

Probably like a real sick big eagle or something like that so you can be kind of the king of the bird species so you can go kill rats and shit. I reckon flying's the coolest thing ever. Or I would come back as a lion, because Griffin, my last name, is an eagle and a lion or some shit, so one of those would be sick. 

Where would you most like to live? 

Probably where I'm right now, the Gold Coast is sick. If I could live in some tropical island and it's just like, well, anywhere where my mates are, if I have five of my best buddies or three of my best buddies, wherever they are, I want to be, so yeah. 

What is your most treasured possession? 

Probably, whoa, this one's hard. Maybe just my surfboards and stuff. I don't know if that's, I want say something sick, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Clothing is really cool, having cool clothes and shoes. Shoes too. Fuck, maybe surfboards, probably, yeah. I just love getting new boards and looking after them and stuff. New sprays and new stickers and I don't know. It's pretty rad. 

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? 

Lowest depth, hitting your head at Kirra and sitting in a room for four months, maybe not four months, but it was like three months. Had to go to hospital and shit. That was probably the lowest point of my life, for sure.

What is your favorite occupation? 

Probably something in design, so I'm trying to design shit at the moment. That'd be really cool. Film is really sick. Something in that kind of thing, or being a pro surfer would be pretty fucking cool. Waking up in the morning and just going to surf and film. That's pretty sick, but I dunno, I want to do something. Working for yourself, basically. If I could work for myself, that's what I want to do. Yeah, one of those three things. 

by Griffo

by Griffo

What is your most marked characteristic? 

Probably being stoked all the time. Being happy and shit. That's probably the coolest characteristic I've got, but in saying that, it sounds really weird, so yeah.

What do you most value in your friends? 

Just being open and talking and just being happy and, yeah. Always be there and shit. If you want to call them, if you had a sick day and they're stoked for you, they're not kind of like, “Oh, cool, bro.” Just shit like that. You can call in on your lowest lows and the highest of highs kind of thing. 

Who are your favorite writers? 

I don't really read books, which is fucked. Fuck. My mom's going to hide me for this article. That's all right.

Doctors Suess is pretty sick! [laughs] That's fucking funny.

Who's your favorite hero of fiction? 

Spider-Man. I reckon Spider-Man would be pretty cool. You are kind of flying, but you can also, or Ironman because you can fly as well and you're real wealthy and shit. I dunno, that'd be one of those two. Probably more Spider-Man than Ironman I reckon. Spider-Man's sick. 

What historical figure do you most identify with? 

Albert Einstein. Being super smart would be insane. You're the smartest person in the room and you roll up and you can fact check everybody. I don't know. That would be sick.

Who's your heroes in real life? 

My parents. My brothers are cool. I love my brothers and my family. As for heroes I would put Dane, and this is off topic, but Evan Mock is pretty cool, I reckon. He's one of my heroes for sure. How he, I dunno, he just looks sick. He was this steezy and sick skater and I dunno. And he surfs, which is even cooler style and shit.

What are your favorite names?

Jude is a sick name and Jude is sick for a chick. Yasmin is a sick name. Yeah, those two names I've always thought are pretty cool.

What is it that you most dislike?

Holy fuck, bad waves or probably just back to the thing that someone just can't be a nice person. I feel like I just hate angry people. Yeah, angry people can fuck off. What are you angry about? Change your lifestyle and shit if you're that angry.

What is your greatest regret?

Holy shit. What do I regret the most? I'm kind of hype where I'm at at the moment. All my fucking things have led me to this point. Yeah, I don't think I'm regretting anything.

How would you like to die?

Whoa, this is fucked up. I'm trying to toss between doing something sick and you're surfing or doing something really cool and hitting your head and just that's you and it's white out, or you're sitting around your family and knowing you're about to die in a hospital bed, but I feel like that'd be fucking miserable. So maybe doing a, I don't want to say it because I don't want to jinx myself. Maybe you like a, what's a good way to go out? Quick and easy. Quick and easy. Yeah.

What is your motto?

Smile. It's easy. I don't know, just smile like it's not fucking hard. Yeah, that's a good one. There you go.