156 Tricks with Ozzy Wright
Ozzy Wright
[00:00:00]
[00:01:00]
Chris: So, um, here we are with a swell season radio. We have, um, an amazing guest from, uh, Australia today, Ozzy Wright. Um, he's an artist, a surfer, and a musician, um, all around creative. And, uh, we're very excited to have him on the show. So, without further ado, let's get [00:02:00] into these questions. Uh, thanks for being with us.
Uh, Ozzy.
Ozzy: No worries. Thanks for having me.
Chris: So, um, kind of gave you the spiel before we jumped on here, but, um, wanna kind of start off with a few questions about kind of how you carved out your existence, kind of where you exist in the surf world, and how it led to a pretty successful, long lasting art career. Um, so we're gonna start off basically with, um. How did you go from being surfer into just making art and surfing at the same time with the welcome team and stuff like that?
Ozzy: Um, it's just sort of like, I mean, I was, I guess I'm just, oh my God. No.
Chris: us. Come on.
Ozzy: Fuck. I just snapped my computer screen.
Chris: No, you didn't. Did you?
Ozzy: Yeah, it's heavy. It's gone all black, but it, I guess it's still working so
Chris: I still see your, your face kind of. [00:03:00] You're there.
Ozzy: That's a disaster. Oh, well, I guess I, hopefully they can fix it. We've got like 60 surf movies on this computer. Oh, they'll be able
Chris: Oh, no,
Ozzy: All the shit will still be on there. Sorry, I was just banging a coffee. Um,
Chris: that's cool.
Ozzy: oh, bummer. Yeah, I guess I was just, um, my whole life, my whole childhood, I always loved drawing and painting and I never stopped. And so like the very first surf, but I got, I painted it and every single one since then, basically, you know, I've drawn on everything and, and I just love surfing as a young kid and I guess.
I was just rocking around town on everything I had was painted and it sort of, yeah, led me to having a, making it a career, which I never saw coming or didn't, you know, it wasn't a thing. That wasn't even a possibility, I didn't think so, yeah, I was just, you know, really lucky to find Volcom and for them to see value in what I do.
And, um, yeah, stoked still going.
Chris: [00:04:00] Yeah. Yeah. I think you're a little bit older than I am, but when I was a kid surfing and skating, there was never really a, um, a path to a creative career outlined for me. But then I started hanging out. At the alleged gallery and hang, you know, the whole New York skate scene. And I was like, holy shit. Ed Templeton skates amazing.
But he can, you know, he paints and he photographs and there's like, this whole world opened up to me. Did you have any influences like that as a, as a kid?
Ozzy: Um, what did I, I mean, there was definitely all my friends at school loved drawing. It was kind of like what we're all into surf, sort of surfing and making art, just, which was cool, but, um, I don't really, yeah, there wasn't really anyone doing that in surfing, but I guess, uh, yeah, once I remember discovering that those guys like the skate scene and. Um, you know, I was really excited by that. I was always a huge fan of Ed's work and gone [00:05:00] and just, you know, I mean, like first I guess it started with, there was a company in Australia called Mambo that employed heaps of really great artists and all their clothes were covered in art and they made hilarious ads and it was really just full on art.
Like they, they didn't really, they did sponsor a few surfers, but it was mainly artists. So, and it was a surf company. It was huge in the eighties in Australia, and that was a massive influence for me. And then as I got older and sort of discovered the whole American sort of thing and media became available, like magazines and Thrasher or whatever, then I was influenced by all the, um, skateboarding culture for sure.
Chris: Yeah, so you were checking out like Barry McGee and Claire Rojas and that whole scene
Ozzy: Yeah, I remember when all that sort of started, but I mean you, there wasn't much access to anything. Sort of sort of see like the odd, tiny photo in a magazine or something that I would like look at in the news agency. You know, it was so different. So different, you know, from what was available to influence you.
Like you just, if it wasn't in your local area, or maybe [00:06:00] you'd see, you know, something in a, in a bag. But I also was lucky enough to start traveling at a young age through surfing. So I think I went to California for the first time when I was 16 on like a school surfing trip. And then I signed up with Volcan at 19.
So from then on I was sort of, um, you know, I got to travel a lot and see what was going on around the world.
Chris: Mm-hmm.
Ozzy: Because you know, before the internet you sort of had no idea what was happening besides in your own little tiny area.
Chris: That's a good point. I I, I feel like I, when I went to London for the first time, the internet was kind of a, a thing. You signed onto and wrote a couple emails or like catch up with your parents maybe. But it wasn't what it is today where you could just search for anything and everything.
Ozzy: I didn't get an email address or the even an internet connection till I was about, I was pretty old. I was like 33 I think. I didn't get a mobile phone until I was same age.
Chris: That's funny.
Ozzy: I was a really late adopter of technology. [00:07:00] I.
Chris: That's good. And um, when you were 16 and you went over to California, you were, you were surfing competitively then, right?
Ozzy: Yeah, this, this was for a, um, school, sort of like a school competition and, um, all the high schools would sort of, I don't know, send some surfers over. It was, and it was, but it was awesome. So we just went with a bunch of school teachers and we got to like go to high schools in America and it was really fun.
I remember I stayed at Gavin BeIN's house and.
Chris: Huh.
Ozzy: Surfing with Gavin. It was crazy.
Chris: That's amazing. And then, um. At what point in this sort of surfing career that you were, you know, starting to do, did you decide that you weren't gonna, you know, compete
Ozzy: Um,
Chris: kind of like your own thing?
Ozzy: it was probably when I was about, I was sort of doing the wqs for a few years, but I never went full on at it and I never really, I don't know. was never like, I'm gonna try and [00:08:00] make the tour. I never really, I wasn't that great at com competing and then I guess at a certain age, I don't know, the Vol Vulcan was just sort of happy for me just to, to surf and, you know, do art shows and contribute little films and things like that.
And that just suited me so much more. So I was pretty, pretty, uh, at a young age, I sort of stopped competing really.
Chris: Yeah. And how did you convince them of that? Or did they come to you with that? So I think there's a lot of young people out there that like, you know, they look at the world toward like, that's definitely not how I'm gonna, you know, live my life. But there's other ways to kind of be adjacent to it.
Ozzy: yeah, it was sort of just, it wasn't like a really a spoken thing. It was sort of just agra, like I was, you know, I'd still go in the odd competition or. But it was sort of like, you know, it was like, am I gonna spend however much money, like to try and travel and go to every competition you need? You know, it's like expensive. [00:09:00] But then I'd be like, more like, I'll just spend the summer in California and, you know, or go to Bali for six weeks, or, you know, instead of go, you know, to 30 countries for one week at a time. I was sort of like, oh, I'm not into that.
Chris: yeah. Yeah.
Ozzy: I mean, it was fun. I did a couple of European legs of the wqs and it was so fun.
I loved it.
Chris: There's some fun waves over there. You know, the uk, like that's a fun little tour
Ozzy: was just awesome, you know, mainly just the socializing was just the best, like a hundred surfers going over all these towns in Europe and just going wild. Pretty fun.
Chris: Yep. So when it comes to your art practice now, um. Are you in the studio? Do you work from home? How are you kind of producing?
Ozzy: I work from home. I, I, I just, I'll show you this, is, I make these giant sewings a lot of the time lately [00:10:00] and um, I have a nice big desk over there
Chris: Mm-hmm.
Ozzy: and yeah, I just have all this floor space. I'm so lucky I've got this big house and got this acre of grass, so I have plenty of room and I'm nice deck. I just work at home.
Yeah, on the floor. And um, you know, even, I don't know. Now I do lots of graphics and stuff. I just do it on my computer half the time. I just do that in bed.
Chris: hmm, that's good.
Ozzy: That's fine.
Chris: So, so how do you find inspiration for the work that you're, you're making these days? Do you like, you know, do. Like, obviously you have these like punk rock sort of roots, the way you surf and everything's kind of informed, you know, it has an aesthetic to it. Do you, do you find that your surfing informs your work?
Do you find that, you know, music is tied to how you do things? Like what do you think.
Ozzy: [00:11:00] Um. Yeah, just sort of, I don't even know. Um, probably lots of different places find inspiration things that are happening in my life. Um, that one I just showed you was like three girls angry at me with weapons. That was when there was a bunch of girls were mad at me. But, um, and then like a lot of them are people that I love.
Like the one behind me is one of my good mates who's a Samoan, and he's, um, you know, so I like to, I like to do sort of portraits of my friends or, or just little scenes that I think of. And a lot of it's, a lot of the time I just sort of think of comes from words or. I'll write a song and then I'll do a painting about that, or I'll do a painting and write a song about that.
You know, it all sort of, I don't know, all over the place
Chris: And are you still producing music with Goons? Do
Ozzy: Gues of Doom. We still sort of do the odd gig. [00:12:00] Um, we haven't made an album for a few years, but we, we kind of wanted to make another one. But, you know, everyone's sort of got families and jobs and,
Chris: Kids.
Ozzy: it sort of seems harder and harder to find the time. But, you know, we did a gig about two months ago that was fun.
It's, it's like, you know, we've kind of been in the band for about 20 years and we're just like, we've been friends since primary school. So it's really more about just getting together and, you know, continuing our friendship more than the music now, like when we don't have that much time. But it's been fun 'cause everyone writes their own songs at home and brings 'em to the band.
So there's, there's no shortage of material. Um, but yeah, we just sorta, it's just basically a bit of fun.
Chris: That's awesome. And, um, I feel like there's like a congruent vein running through, like the way you surf the music you guys play, the art you make, you know what you say. They're all kind of intertwined.
Ozzy: I think, [00:13:00] yeah, I would say so. In a way. I feel like, yeah, I don't know. I, I reckon, I mean, I try and sort of. Keep a lot of sort of fun and spontaneity and Yeah. I like, I don't wanna take it all too seriously, even though like, it does mean a lot to me. Like, you know, like I'm right into it all. Especially, you know, surfing and art.
I mean, I'm mad about music, listening to music all day. Yeah. It's just, I don't know, just sort of, I wanna enjoy it and have fun with it and just, I don't know. I love it.
Chris: You are playing with it. You're having fun with it, right?
Ozzy: Yeah. Fun. Yeah, playful and hopefully creative. And, you know, I want to keep it fresh and keep challenging myself to, to sort of, you know, like I wanna do things that I'm, like, I impress myself or make myself happy.
And then I, it gives me heaps of energy and, you know, it's a full on reason to live really. It's like, you know, if you're doing art that you [00:14:00] love or surfing good, you ne nothing feels better. Like you just feel great. And then that just sort of. Turns into a good life, I think.
Chris: Yeah, for sure. Um, and balancing all of that with like, you have a family now, you got kids, right? They're, you're saying you're shipping 'em off to school this morning?
Ozzy: Yeah. Um,
Chris: The
Ozzy: yeah, I got two kids. My son's 17, he just went to tafe, so he is almost, you know, he's got his license and everything, so he's going pretty good. And my daughter's 11. And, um, she's sort of mainly at her mom's house, but she spends a couple days here and yeah, it's, it's awesome. I love them.
It's
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: I've got a little skate studio set up too, you said, was that, you said your kids were
Chris: Yeah, my kids are skating in here. Like I'm in a, um, the dungeon, my basement with a bunch of boards, but it's, the kids have skateboards down here and they rip around. They have like swings and stuff set up so they could actually hang on [00:15:00] and, you know, knock around. It's fun.
Ozzy: Sick. Yeah.
Chris: But my kids are young. My kids, you know, like four, six, and seven.
Ozzy: okay. Uh, awesome. No, it's
Chris: in the thick of it, you know.
Ozzy: Yeah. That's, that's such, that's the best time ever. I love it. Love,
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: raising the kids.
Chris: It's, it's hard to get in the water these days, but it's, you know, when I do, I'm usually just pushing them into waves versus me having fun. So,
Ozzy: I've got my daughter into a lot of waves. Yesterday I was sick. She was. She was rearing. I was so stoked.
Chris: yeah,
Ozzy: so skinny though. She gets freezing cold straight away.
Chris: they all do. You got a little wetsuit on, right?
Ozzy: Yeah, she got a wetsuit still cold.
Chris: But, um, so. We mentioned Barney and people like that before, that you know, that you've worked with through Volcom or like, who are your main influences you think artistically? Like, if you think about like, different artists and like, I have a few ideas who you might be looking at.
You know, we could go through 'em, but like who, who, who's kind of like,
Ozzy: Um,
Chris: you the most you think throughout the years?
Ozzy: I mean, I [00:16:00] remember like, I guess how old would I have been when I saw the movie Basquiat, when that movie came out? I was probably about 19 or something.
Chris: The Julian Schnabel film
Ozzy: Yeah, that one. So that was a hu I feel like that in everyone that saw that was just like, oh, like, you know, that was just such a great film and I wasn't familiar with Basquiat's work at all until I saw that movie.
And that fully just went, oh my God. You know, I feel like everyone just was like, everyone who saw that was like, he's the best. And he was my favorite artist for years. And so that was a huge inspiration. But then, you know, it's just sort of, now with Instagram I see like hundreds of artists that I love all the time.
It's like millions and, um, I don't know. It's, yeah, it's awesome. It's almost too much. You're like, whoa, I wish I didn't see all this. You know,
Chris: It is overwhelming sometimes, right?
Ozzy: me. It can be just like if you, if you go down the rabbit hole and you're just like, whoa, look at this, look at this. But, you know, there's so many great, incredible artists doing work that I just love.
And you know, sometimes you think, oh, why do I bother? Like, I can't compete with this. But, but then when you do [00:17:00] something that you impressed by, you know, you, when you're proud of something, it's such a good feeling. So you gotta keep. Keep trying.
Chris: Yeah, for sure. Um.
Ozzy: But yeah, Barney, for years there was a big inspiration. Um, it was so, it was so cool that I got to spend so much time with him.
He was just hilarious, funniest, most fun loving person. Just like big open mind, talk to everybody that walked past him. Constantly drawing, like at that point, a lot of the Vulcan trips we had, like Ben Bra and Barney. Gavin be, and where every, every one of us was really into drawing. We, it was pretty classic.
We'd go on a surf trip, we'd just be surfing all day. Then everyone would just be drawing all, you know, in, in between surfs, and it was pretty awesome.
Chris: That must have been a great time. What, what years was that? That was probably like late nineties,
Ozzy: Yeah. Well, it would've been, yeah, late nineties and then all early two thousands for sure.
Chris: Yeah, I remember watching those guys [00:18:00] surfing like, um, and Barnard would just be like, hucking, these heirs not giving a shit. If he landed it just like doing, like you reminded me like Fletcher and those guys just kind like, they just didn't give a shit. They were having fun, you know?
Ozzy: Yeah,
Chris: And they would occasionally like stuck, you know, stick it.
And it was great. But it was, it was, I don't know. I feel like there was a creative. Thread there, um, that I saw continue in your surfing when I looked at like earlier stuff. Um,
Ozzy: Yeah, it
Chris: that sort of creativity to it. You're like, you don't care, right?
Ozzy: yeah, it was raw. It was real raw. I think it was like, you know, it wasn't, and it wasn't like now when everyone's getting everything filmed and dissecting everything, it was sort of like, you know, we would just go out to California and surf for the whole summer and with those guys, or they'd come to Australia or whatever.
But you know, it wasn't like. Everything was on film and it was real serious and we're trying to make a part. It was like, you know, maybe they'd film, you know, one once a month or whatever, like it was, you know, it was just, it
Chris: It was a [00:19:00] big deal to be on film.
Ozzy: Yeah. Like if someone was gonna film, it was like, whoa, sick. Okay.
Gotta really, you know, try hard now,
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: you know? And yeah, especially vol. 'cause they would use actual film, so they would only film like one surf every now and then, and you had to kind of try and rip every wave up.
Chris: Yeah. Yeah. So when you're producing art Now in Australia, I've never been there. Um, I've bounced between London, New York, you know, Los Angeles. There's art scenes there. Like what is the art scene like in Australia for you guys?
Ozzy: Um, like where I'm close to Byron Bay, there was, when I first got here, I've been here for about 12 years I think now. There was quite a few little art shows happening in a couple of galleries, but right now there's. My friend just opened one, so there's a new little gallery in town and he just did a group show, uh, last week, which was cool, but I don't know.
It's sort of Australia. It's, we don't have the huge population of, you know, Europe or [00:20:00] America, so it's, I don't know, it's probably harder to find an audience or make a living out of it. I think, but you know, there's a lot of really great artists here and everyone seems to, you know, everyone
Chris: It's probably a bunch of New York artists that would say the opposite. There's too many artists and fucking too many people, you know,
Ozzy: I wonder. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's
Chris: what is the name of the gallery that he opened?
Ozzy: Um, it's called the Crawford Gallery. It's, it's my mate, Justin Crawford. He's the son of Peter Crawford, the legendary surf photographer from the seventies.
Chris: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Ozzy: Um, so yeah, he just did a group show and it was pretty awesome. He had some photos by his dad and that was cool.
Chris: Who else is in the show besides you?
Ozzy: there was friends, Steve Goro, um, Marc O'Neal, Brody Jackson, all just the Austral guys. Um, yeah, it was cool. [00:21:00] Few more
Chris: One of the artists from Australia that I knew, you know, going way back was Sean Gladwell. You're familiar with his work.
Ozzy: I don't think so. No.
Chris: He did a couple like, you know, time-based piece videos of people. He was like. Basically got a skateboard spinning in a circle in Slowmo with like a storm coming in. He, you know, big time in like the Tate Modern, I think, you know, there are some good guys down there.
But, um, I find it interesting that your work wound up in London at the, uh, the Truman Brewery and like, how did that come about?
Ozzy: I wonder if this is, I'm like not a hundred percent sure on what show you're talking about, but
Chris: We are talking almost 20 years ago.
Ozzy: Yeah. Well, there was, there was me and a few friends started like a denim company and we were making jeans. At the time it was called Subie and. We kind of, there was like, London Fashion Week was going on, and we [00:22:00] went and rented a house over there and just went over there and made heaps of art and sort of stuck it all up in this show, in this, um, oh, I mean, I'm, I'm pretty sure that must be the, the show you're talking about
Chris: Must have been.
Ozzy: must have been.
So yeah, it was basically just asked going there and we just did it. It was almost like, I don't know, like, you know, my friends that we're doing the company with. Had friends and I don't know, we just organized it and went over there and did it. It was really fun.
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: was sick. We were in our early twenties, you know, in London, didn't know anything, and just made a bunch of art.
Stuck it up, had a party, heaps of people came. It was like, whoa, this is sick. It
Chris: Yeah. That's kind like that's what you want to do right
Ozzy: Yeah. And we were just going to like, you know, I remember we bought heaps of records, like old crap records and just liquid paper drawings on top of the records. Was sick was, it was pretty pumped. And we just, yeah, we were photocopying huge things and painting on [00:23:00] the photocopies and it was just awesome.
Chris: Yeah. I actually recall that you're right.
Ozzy: Mm. And we were just, you know, it was like, it was cool 'cause it was a whole group of us, it was probably eight of us all staying in a tiny apartment and we were just, you know, making as much crap as we could and sticking it all over this Yeah. Place it was, it was cool.
Chris: Yeah. So Chris Kaufman, who couldn't be here, asked me to kind of dive into your process. Like he was very interested in the, um, the, almost like quilting, the, the textile work you're doing. When did that start?
Ozzy: Um, in 2019 I started doing that, so pretty recent, but it, it came from when I was younger, I used to make lots of collages just out of. Blank pieces of colorful, um, cardboard or like thin sort of cardboard. I used to love just cutting up the flat. You know, I used to love flat block colors and instead of trying to paint them or draw them, it was nice just to have a piece of paper and cut it out and sort [00:24:00] of, you know, do them.
And I did lots of them. And then I sort of was think, I was like, how can I make these bigger? 'cause you're pretty limited on how. Larger can go.
Chris: Mm-hmm.
Ozzy: And from a young age I wanted to get a sewing machine and get fabric and sew it all together. But it took me like, I swear I'd been thinking about it for 20 years.
And then I finally, one day I was at Spotlight and I saw sewing machines for sale and they were at half price and that was a hundred dollars for a sewing machine. I was like, oh, I'm gonna do it. And bought finally, you know, started. And yeah, I got so into it. Uh, at first I was just like, oh, it's like Photoshop, like you just press the button and bang, you've got all this red.
And then like, even though you had to actually cut the shape out and then sew it together, I was just sewing as fast as I could. And yet in 2019 when I did it, I must have, I sewed so much. Like I just was, I was so into it. I covered a lot of ground and I love the way that you could just fold it up. 'cause you know, I love making big work.
But if you're working on a canvas.
Chris: Mm-hmm.
Ozzy: It's so hard to, like, you've gotta look after this giant canvas and stretch it and just such a burden to [00:25:00] own it and move it. And you know, with the sewings you can just fold them up. Tiny, put 'em in. Like then I, I did a show in 2019 in London and I took like the whole thing in my carry on, just folded up tight and then just got there and, you know. Just busted it out on, on, covered the whole gallery and this, you know, I was like, whoa, this is such a good, versatile sort of medium. And also like if someone buys something and outside the world, it's really easy to ship it.
Chris: Yeah, for sure. I never thought about coming from Australia. That would be like a reason to work in that
Ozzy: and I, I love the shapes you can get just with, I don't know, the scissors. And it's funny for some reason, like I'm left-handed for everything, but for some reason when I cut, I use my right hand. So. And all the sewing things I do, I cut out right-handed and I don't draw 'em first or anything, so it's just like, I don't know, they have a nice ni naive kind of thing about 'em that I like.
Chris: Yeah, I'm a left-handed person as well, and I feel like certain things I just like, I'm a regular foot, I'm left-handed, like, you [00:26:00] know,
Ozzy: Mm-hmm.
Chris: and then like I play hockey as I'm a right-handed person. I play ping pong with my left hand, like, you know, the whole thing.
Ozzy: Yeah, it's um,
Chris: of all over the, it's a
Ozzy: over.
Chris: mixed bag.
It's
Ozzy: Yeah, I'm, I'm a bit like that too.
Chris: But, um, where did you show in 2019 in London?
Ozzy: Um, it was, oh God, what was it called? Shit, I can't remember. It was sort of like, like UL organized it and I was sort of to launch like a little. Clothing collab We did, but I, what it was called, but it was really cool. We had a band and it had like a movie, cinema, so I got to put on surf movies and um, and just covered the whole thing in Sewings and it was kind of like two story.
I don't know what it was a great little venue. Can't remember what it was called though.
Chris: What part of town
Ozzy: Jeez.
Chris: I live there, so let you know.
Ozzy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't even know. I can't remember. I'm, I don't know [00:27:00] London very well,
Chris: Yeah, it's a fun town for
Ozzy: it's so fun. I loved it. It was awesome. Yeah. I wanna go, I wanna hang out there a bit more.
Chris: Did you get to surf in the UK at all?
Ozzy: No, I've literally surfed once in the UK my whole life. I went in one heat at New Key for 20 minutes and that was it.
Chris: Oh geez.
Ozzy: Did
Chris: not gonna way to really that fun. Yeah. I surfed all the time, but like we're more in like Cornwall in that, that zone.
Ozzy: yeah. Does it get pretty good?
Chris: Yeah. It gets really good. Super tidal.
Ozzy: Yeah, big tides. I remember that.
Chris: so like you'll be looking at this weird rock structure that you were surfing over six hours earlier and Notre, and it's just bone dry, you
Ozzy: yeah, yeah. I remember that. Crazy big tides and like you
Chris: of cool in that way.
Ozzy: when the tide was going out. I felt you had to run to get in the water. It was like,
Chris: Yeah. Yeah. Aggressive, really aggressive.
Ozzy: yeah.
Chris: But, uh, it's fun. It's kinda like Northern Ireland the same thing, but I feel like for some reason England, it's more exaggerated. I don't know why,
Ozzy: [00:28:00] Hmm.
Chris: but, um, yeah, man, and then when it comes to the, um, like Volcom, they have, for me, I feel like they've always been a bit more creative than a lot of the other brands Have they always been really supportive when it comes to this stuff?
They're like, Hey, like, you know.
Ozzy: I almost feel like really, like it was almost like a, um. It was almost like an art school for me. Volcom, like when I first went to the States, every employee, it seemed to me that every one of them had a band. They all made art. They all surfed and skated. Like it was just like, they were so sort of multi-dimensional.
All the people that were, you know, attracted to that company. There was a guy, Ethan Anderson, I feel like it all stemmed from him really? And bully, like he loves painting. They all just, you know, everyone was just like, yep, I'll try that, I'll try that. Everyone would just throw up, you know, was not scared to just have a crack at anything.
Like whether it be music, painting, surfing, skating, you know, and they, I guess they were [00:29:00] the first surf skate snow brands. So, so, um,
Chris: I think they were,
Ozzy: Yeah,
Chris: yeah.
Ozzy: they were.
Chris: like back in the day, like in New York, we had Zoo York. That was kind of like the surf skate. You remember those guys? Yeah. They were
Ozzy: Yeah, that was cool.
Chris: But,
Ozzy: so that was really, um, yeah, it was like almost going to art school. I felt like going there. I was like, wow, this, these guys are amazing. It was really inspirational,
Chris: yeah.
Ozzy: know, it was my whole twenties too, when I spent a lot of time, you know, with them.
Chris: yeah.
Ozzy: Mm. It was cool.
Chris: when you're, when you're thinking, like we were talking earlier about, um. Like the alleged gallery and Barry McGee and Ed Templeton, that whole skate scene. Do, do you, do you think there ever might be a moment where a similar thing emerges out of the surf world? Or is it just completely,
Ozzy: I think it all, I think they're [00:30:00] already sort of, I definitely, I feel like.
Chris: there's like the Ashley Bickerton of the world, there's, you know.
Ozzy: Yeah. Um, Alex knows, and I think now there's lots of, the young guys are all heaps of the young surfers have gotten, you know, rock bands together and making art like I think it's in a really good place now. There's so many creative young surfers.
Chris: Any sticking out to you?
Ozzy: Yeah, for sure. I
Chris: Name a few 'cause I'll interview him. Who do
Ozzy: yeah. Well I got my friend Noah Dean. He is just. He's a really good musician and like one of the most radical surfers in the world easily. And then there's Creed, MCT, TAGT, and, um, Al Nost, um, little Droid. He was, he is, he is gone. A bit mysterious at the moment, but he made a sick album and he does great art. Uh, the, for me, there's, yeah, there's lots of guys doing good art and making good music in surfing. It's cool, it's awesome.
Chris: I'm [00:31:00] always kind of coming at it from like a, like a weird blue chip looking thing where I'm like, oh, we have, you know, Ashley Bickerton, Raymond Petty Bone, we have Tripoli Gallery who like shows some kind of, you know, you know, trip or No
Ozzy: Yeah, I do. I met him, um, he, he was out here recently,
Chris: really.
Ozzy: I met him. Yeah, he was cool.
Chris: And he's got a little bit of that, you know, like he's a gallerist. He owns a gallery on the east end of Long Island, but you know, all of his, you know, patrons come from New York. The right people like Cindy Sherman hangs out there and
Ozzy: Yeah. Right. Yeah. He, he seemed like he was, um, onto it.
Chris: Yeah, I think he's friends with the whole Schnabel crew too out there. So
Ozzy: Yeah. Right. Yeah. I've actually, actually sent him a couple of things for a group show. He did?
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: Yeah.
Chris: Were you in it?
Ozzy: Um, yeah, I was in it.
Chris: Really, I didn't know that.
Ozzy: Yep.
Chris: I was out there about a year ago and we were talking about your work, and he's like, man, I'd like to get more of his [00:32:00] work on the state side. I was like, yeah, I think it's a good idea. So
Ozzy: Yeah, we should, should hit him up. Tell him I'd love to do a show over there. Big sewing
Chris: be amazing.
Ozzy: It'd be sick or anywhere. Any other things you have in mind too? I'd love to get out there.
Chris: Amazing.
Ozzy: Mm-hmm.
Chris: So. I'm rattling through these because unfortunately, like I said, Chris couldn't be here. He like just did a, um, a residency like at the tip of Montauk. Have you ever been out there?
Ozzy: I've been to Montauk. I dunno whereabouts I was though. It's been a while.
Chris: Yeah, but he's got a couple of questions. I felt bad. He's like, man. Um, what was he rattling off? He's very much like into the process, just like, kinda like how you come up with this stuff. And I agree. Like it's kind of, when I look at it, it looks very rough and deliberately haphazard, if that makes sense.
So like I think of artists like [00:33:00] Mike Kelly and I think of, you know, who is it? Um, Robert Nava, who, like, he has work over at um,
Ozzy: Oh, I've seen his work and it reminded, I feel like I went through a phase where I was making stuff that that really reminded me of. I was like, well, I, I, I used to do stuff that reminded me of that.
Chris: Right. Yeah. So like,
Ozzy: Just like kind of raw and just.
Chris: yeah, so like even like an Albert Olin, you know, like those kind of people. And I was just kind of
Ozzy: Yeah.
Chris: when. Like when you come down to it, like even like Dan Comey makes like, um, like bubblegum paintings and stuff like that. Like he's kind of from that whole crew, from the blue, beautiful losers and stuff. Do, do you find yourself in that vein, do you find it kind of, not like teenage angst, but just kind of having that, you know,
Ozzy: I
Chris: just grit, like how would you describe it?
Like when you're.
Ozzy: I, I would, but I, I [00:34:00] think that's sort of like some of my favorite work that I make sort of comes from that mood or emotion, you know, like, or when I'm on the road and I don't have anything and it's just like, make something outta whatever you find. Um, you know, when you just sort of have an idea and you have to get it out there in whatever way rather than other times, you know?
But like, 'cause I've always loved drawing. So like, I would sit there with a, you know, a pencil and draw a tree like, or, you know, try and draw my friend's faces. Like, I actually, like, that's always been something I've enjoyed doing. But then, you know, it's not, that's not necessarily the work that I'm like the most proud of or anything.
It's just like, it's just like. It's almost like an exercise that I just like to do is just, you know, draw. But yeah, when it comes to making actual artwork that I like, yeah. I think it's more when it comes from that raw, angry sort of mode or it doesn't have to be angry sometimes full of full of love or whatever.
Just emotional. Yeah.
Chris: you mentioned something there where it's kinda like, like working with what you have in front of you, which reminds [00:35:00] me of, you know, more poetic things being said about skateboarding and stuff like that, about like, you just find a, a shitty curb and you make the best of it and have some fun with it.
Like, and when I look at the work, I kind of think it's in that realm. Like, you know, you might have some of this stuff lying around.
Ozzy: Yeah, totally. And that, that reminds me, I feel like my whole self career tour has come from like. I grew up at a real crappy, like closeout beach break basically, and like learned to really make the most of just whatever shit was on offer. I feel like, you know what I mean, like I've, I can just like, like all my friends will laugh.
Like I could check the surf and it can look so shit, and I'll be like, oh my God, look at that one. Like, it's like we're out there like, you know, like pretty happy to just do, make do with whatever the hell's there. And you know.
Chris: You are preaching of the choir there. I grew up in Long Island, so you know, just surfing whatever wind blown slop we had,
Ozzy: Yeah, you're still sucked. It's good. It's a good way to [00:36:00] be.
Chris: Yeah. But you know, that's, I think that's an interesting way to look at, it's just kind of, you know, the playfulness, like sitting in the back of a car, going down a bumpy road and trying to draw your friend's face.
Like that's, that's, you know, that's fun. So.
Ozzy: then like, you know, a good idea, you know, made with a rock on a bit of scratchy paper, like to me is worth like way more than like a beautiful canvas with a perfect set of paints and sitting there in a studio, you know what I mean? It's like that, you know, I'd prefer just the good ideas that are exciting.
It
Chris: Yeah. Yeah. I think that DIY quality though comes from like the surfing world. Like, you know, you're, you're a couple years my senior, but I remember just back days being like, you just had to work with what you had, bad waves, whatever, you know, and it wasn't even cool, like, I don't know how, it wasn't Australia, but like, you know, I used to get like picked on for surfing.
Ozzy: Yeah, right.
Chris: different there. Like you guys, it was like a national sport. I [00:37:00] think so.
Ozzy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It would, I guess in New York, 'cause it's sort of, I mean, in Australia you've got this yellow, beautiful white sand, crystal clear water and perfect. You know what I mean? It's like, not necessarily perfect waves, but pretty good. So like
Chris: A lot better than here.
Ozzy: Yeah, well the beach is a huge part of beach culture is definitely, you know, where I grew up, Northern beaches of Sydney, big part of it.
Chris: Yeah. The, um, music influences, you know, with the goons of Doom, like who do you, obviously it has like some sort of like punk background, but like who do you, who were you guys listening to back in the day to get that going?
Ozzy: Um, um, back in the day, I guess it was sort of a big scene of just sort of. Shitty rock and roll bands on the northern beach is where we grew up.
Chris: Yeah.
Ozzy: Um, in particular, one beach I used to surf, sort of long reef. There was so many bands, like all the, I don't know, everyone [00:38:00] sort of had a sort of crappy rock bands that were funny and they would dress up and I think there was a lot of characters around there.
And it was sort of a part of, you know, the, the culture of the beach I was from. And that was probably a bit of it. And then. I don't know. Well, the, just the people in my band, like we, we sort of all went to primary school together. And then I remember I bought my first, I bought a house at a pretty young age and we all moved in together and it was like, you know, we just started playing instruments and it was real.
We did two, two of our guitarists were pretty good already. And then me and Cowboy on the drums and bass had literally just picked it up and we just were like, you know. Instantly started doing gigs and it was terrible, but eventually we got all right. But it was, yeah, really more about just having fun than, than trying to sort of be anything.
Chris: Yeah, just showing up and having fun.
Ozzy: Just having fun. Yeah.
Chris: Uh, it reminded me of, um, when I heard Goons of Doom, I was cracking up 'cause it kind of felt like [00:39:00] something familiar, kind of in a playful way. And I was like, uh, they've been around for a long time. And then it reminded me of other artists that make music, you know, adjacent to their art careers.
Like, um, Martin Creed,
Ozzy: Oh
Chris: like, yeah, yeah. Like you should check, I dunno if you know, do you know him or no?
Ozzy: No, I don't.
Chris: guy. Martin Creed, even like Mark, mark Leki has a band
Ozzy: Okay.
Chris: he, you know, his whole art career is based on like, you know, club kids in like the early nineties in London. And he, he had, he had a band called Jack The Jack very much, you know, adjacent to his very successful art career.
But like, funny, you know, like, and fun
Ozzy: Yeah. Another outlet.
Chris: Yeah, kinda like Martin Creed when he, like, he'll make music, but it's very minimalistic. He won the Turner Prize by literally, um, having the lights go on and off like that was his artwork in a gallery
Ozzy: That's awesome.
Chris: Classic, right? Like, yeah. Just fucking everyone's like, is that it?
Like, that's it. The [00:40:00] whole, the whole gallery's empty lights are going on. They're going off. That's it. And, um, he won a giant prize for that. But you know, his, his music is similar to it, if that makes sense. Like, you know, I'll have to send you some, but, um,
Ozzy: Yeah, that.
Chris: I already kind of put you in the, the, the realm of those guys.
Um, but yeah, I think when it comes to like, you know, we're, we're getting to the end here, but like, I think it would be inspiring if you could just kind of talk to how, you know, young creatives could kind of carve out, like obviously everyone has to do their own thing, but to. Understand that there are different outlets through surfing and art.
Like, you know, you did it in your own way and it's possible. Like, was it, was it considered or was it kind of like you, you know, be honest if you want to, was just fucking, did you just kind of fall into it, like ask backwards or did you, you know, like how did, did you.
Ozzy: Um, I basically, I just feel like I've just sort of done what I've always done since I was little [00:41:00] and I don't know, just. Yeah. Somehow, I guess if you just, if you like, really love doing something and you, you'd do it enough. I, I think it comes from like genuinely enjoying what you do. Like if you genuinely love it, somebody else might give them the same feeling and so then it can have value and you can, you know, continue.
Chris: You think people are receptive to that, that earnest sort of,
Ozzy: I think that has to be it. I don't really know, but you know what I mean? I think, I think it has to be, there has to be some sort of genuine feeling behind it for it to go anywhere, I'd say. I don't know.
Chris: yeah.
Ozzy: you reckon?