drift, perspectives in surfing

Interview: Ed Fladung
Photos and Video: Rick Malwitz and friends

Rick Malwitz is a Brooklyn, NY based surfer and self-taught shaper, who makes surfboards under his own label. Malwitz’s shapes give nods to classic surfboard shapes but gone are the bright colored tints, inlays, pin lines and racy/classic/deconstructed shredder logos. His surfboards are clean and minimal with muted color ways, wet-sand finishes and graced with a perfectly placed and minimally sized logo that looks like it could have been designed by Alexander Girard, Seymour Chwast or Milton Glaser. Nice Modernists: Rick is your man.
You can contact Rick Malwitz via his website: malwitzsurfboards.com

Ed:  When did you start surfing?
Rick: I grew up land-locked in Pennsylvania, but every summer my family would spend two weeks in Ocean City, NJ.  I would stay in the water for the entire vacation, body boarding or just floating around, and it was always a huge bummer when it was time to go home.  One summer, an older cousin of mine started surfing.  It looked like fun, so I took a lesson and was hooked instantly.  I think I was 13.  On that same trip, I bought a $125 used Stewart Twin fin and cracked the nose off in the shore break the very next day!  I stayed in PA for high school and college, so I really only got to surf a week or two a year at best during those years.  It wasn’t until I was out of college that I started to (and eventually needed to) surf regularly.  I moved to Philly, which put me an hour’s drive away from the ocean.  Finally, I could surf on weekends and even take dawn patrol sessions during the week.  It wasn’t ideal, but it was definitely an improvement!

Ed: How did you learn to shape surfboards? Did you learn under anyone?
Rick: I started shaping in Philly, in 2004.  While I was able to surf more often, it wasn’t enough.  When you’re 60 miles from the ocean, you can’t just go out for a couple of waves—it’s a process, and there’s often more driving than surfing.  I had all this energy to surf and needed to focus it somewhere. Plus, I really wanted a better understanding of different kinds of board shapes and what they do. I’ve always loved building things and working with my hands, so it just made sense.  To get started, I found a lot of good resources online, but mainly, I used Swaylocks.com. I’ve met so many great people through that site (pro and backyard alike) and it’s an amazing resource for anyone who wants to learn.  It’s definitely an overwhelming process at first.  I became (still am) obsessed with it, and it’s a huge commitment in terms of time and money.  I got all the fundamentals down from reading, built a ridiculous shaping room with plastic walls in my basement, and went for it.  So really, I’m self- taught.  I’ve never had another shaper walk me through anything.  It’s just been hours and hours of reading, constantly thinking about the process, and planning how things might work or look.  I have an insane level of patience with it.  I’ve learned to just take things slow, and allow myself to learn from each board I make.

Ed: What shapers are you looking to for inspiration?
Rick: To name a few, I’d say Greg Griffin, the Campbell Brothers, and Rich Pavel. I look to these guys because they each have their own style and outlook towards their shaping. They have all contributed so much theory and make beautifully crafted boards. They definitely stand out in my mind. But really, I can draw inspiration from any shaper. Every time I’m in a surf shop, I spend a while just feeling the boards. I try to memorize how the rails feel in my hands or how quickly my hands come together sliding up the curve of the nose.  It helps so much.

Ed: What materials are you using?
Rick: I’ve mostly been using EPS foam and Epoxy resin, mainly because my work has been so close to home (in the basement), and polyester resin is not an option.  Here in Brooklyn, I’m in a commercial space, so I started switching things up a bit.  I really don’t have a preference. All materials have their goods and bads. I just enjoy the process, so whatever I have available to use is fine by me. For glassing, I’ve been trying out new materials like bamboo cloth, and different woods—balsa, basswood, poplar, and cork. I also have wooden boards in the works, hollow and composite.

Ed: Are there any surfboards you work on that are functional for specific breaks in your area?
Rick: Overall the shapes I like are usually a bit different than the ones in the shops. I feel that here in NY/NJ it really helps to have a bit more foam and overall width. Most of my boards have been for beginner to intermediate surfers who can use a little help from the board to catch waves. I usually try and push size to get the wave count higher. There is definitely a distinction of proper boards for each of the four seasons here, so it’s great to be able to shape all kinds of boards for different local conditions.

Ed: Your boards are refreshingly clean, almost minimal and your logo is wicked. How did you develop your aesthetics?
Rick: With my boards, I focus on the overall flow with clean lines and try to visualize the water flowing under and around them. My shapes might be a little more rounded off with small hints of harder angles. Mostly, I just start shaping and my style works its way out. You can see it in all of my boards for sure. I take time to design each one individually, and I don’t reuse any templates. This lets me make a true, custom board every time and it also allows me to experiment a lot. Color is pretty important to me, too, and I mix all of my colors by hand. I tend to do muted, clayish, earth tones. It just seems to be more natural to me for them to compliment their environment. My logo was designed by an amazing illustrator here in Brooklyn, Jim Datz (neitherfishnorfowl.com). I felt it was clean and simple but also totally different.  In a way, kinda like my shapes, so it fits nicely.  It’s hard to say what my style is. I’ve just been doing what feels right and natural to me.

Ed: You mention on your blog, several times, that your grandfather foils wooden fins. I’m assuming he is an accomplished carpenter, how did he get into making fins? Does he help you with the wooden construction boards you’ve been making?
Rick: I grew up watching my grandfather (Pop) work in the wood shop in his basement. He’d let me make cuts for him or show me how something works. I learned so much. He makes anything from grandfather clocks or little sailboats to intricate lath art paintings. I’ve always be amazed at what he does. He just seems to love making things. Everyone has a Pop original piece. I happen to have one here on my desk. He’s taken a huge interest in my shaping. Constantly asking when I’m going to make a wood board. So I sent him my design plans for a hollow board and he went to work. He built me the inner framing and the final board came out so nice. Later I sent him a quad set and he came back a couple weeks later with 5 full sets of all different patterns and wood types. They are beautiful. I look at them everyday. He designed jigs to precut bevels into the fins before foiling, which saves a lot of time. He took me through his whole process and walked me through making a couple fins, just like when I was 8 years old. I just dropped off a keel set and thruster set for him. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with. It’s not easy to explain Pop. His sense of humor is off the charts and he’s the best grandfather one could ask for.

Ed:  You tried to open a shared-resources shaping room and briefly offered assisted shape-your-own-board lessons, it sounded very interesting and conceptually outside the box, what happened?
Rick: S.Y.O.B. - It would have been great and so many people flooded my email once I got the word out. But, I was trying to make it affordable, while still matching my costs, which unfortunately, keep going up.  I shape for pure enjoyment. It’s an escape for me, a very similar feeling to surfing, and I didn’t want the stress of S.Y.O.B. to change that.  It’s really not about making money (though I certainly wouldn’t mind it some day) but at the same time, it needs to be worthwhile.  It didn’t work out, but I haven’t given up hope.  Maybe someday!

Ed: You are also very pro-active in the NY Surfrider chapter and promoting clean water issues, how did you get involved?
Rick: Joining and donating to Surfrider is great, but I wanted to do more. So I put together a custom board raffle and made it available online to the entire US. The deal was the raffle would end once I raised $2,000, all of which went to Surfrider.  It took 12 days! The money from each donation went to their own chapter and if they weren’t members or needed a renewal Surfrider, was kind enough to hook them up. It felt so good that for the cost and labor of one of my boards, I was able to raise $2,000 so easily.  I plan on doing more fundraisers for sure, and my next one will be even better. It’s called Kindlines, and it’s an art show and auction to benefit Surfaid International.  The event will take place in September 2009 in NYC.  I wanted to raise money for Surfaid in a creative, fun way that would celebrate surf culture and art.  When I started asking artists within the surf community if they would be interested in donating a painting for the event, the response was overwhelming.  In the end, I selected 25 artists to participate, some of whom are pretty well-known!  I hand-shaped and bamboo-glassed canvases, each resembling a cross-section of a surfboard, and distributed these to the artists.  The rules are simple: any medium, any style, any surf-related theme.  In September, these 25 original works of art will be featured at a gallery in NYC, and an online auction will follow.  The auction will be open to anyone, and I think it will be a great way to collect original art from some of the most brilliant surf artists out there.  100% of the proceeds go to Surfaid.  So please, check out  Kindlines (www.kindlines.com)I already have a couple of canvases back, and they are insane!

Ed: Last words?

Rick: I find it amazing how so many people have supported me. Strangers giving their money and trust so that I can continue to learn this craft (and shape them a board in the process).  I’m very grateful and humbled. This really is pure enjoyment for me.  Someday I would love to make it more of a full-time gig. But for now, I’m just happy to be able to be making my custom handmade boards, even if it’s only one or two a month. I’m always sad to see them go. Riding my own boards is amazing, but to watch someone else catch a good wave on one is completely unreal. I like to think that for every swell that comes through, at least one of my boards is the water. That makes me happy.

Ed: Incidentally, Rick Malwitz is also a talented broadcast designer and animator, see what this talented guy does, when he’s not in the shaping bay.