THE FOLD

JA

CK

WH

IT

EF

IE

LD

What was it like growing up in

St. Ives and surfing? St. Ives is

great for a kid, loads of people

doing different things, surfing

and art are the main two that

seem to dominate our town, its

pretty easy going and there is a

close community.

When did you get your first

board? How old when you started

surfing? My first board was a

6ft pipedreams surfboard; it was

funny. I spray painted the whole

thing and slapped stickers all

over it. I think I was 10.

Besides surfing what occupies

your time creatively? I like

to have quite a few things on

the go, but I’m yet to become

remotely good at any of them.

I take a lot of photos, I enjoy

it, and its rad to do when I’m

traveling. I do a bit of painting

and little videos, but I think

s I’m gonna get into these

things loads more in the next

12 months, just because I have

always done them but haven’t put

time into it. And just surfing

all the time gets boring. Oh and

I’m shit at guitar.

What people are you stoked on

at the moment in surfing/music/

whatever? Music wise I listen

to a lot of psych and low-fi. I

like Ty Segall, Crystal Syphon,

Swell Maps, White Fence then

other stuff like, Yardbirds,

Sonic Youth, The Fall, Jesus and

Mary chain, but anyone shredding

really. Surfing wise I don’t care

that much on who’s doing the

biggest snap turn or whatever.

Just if they’re doing something

rad and fun to watch, then I get

stoked. As long as it is actually

them and they haven’t fabricated

their image because its trendy

at the minute. I get stoked off

anyone being true to what they

enjoy, if that makes any sense?

What is the oddest place you’ve

ever surfed? Don’t know, there

are some fucking weird places at

home we surf every so often, like

little coves that only work for 13

minutes. I surfed a couple of weird

sessions in Indo too.

Favourite wave? Home or away?

Its going to have to be my local

beach Porthmeor when its 1ft windy

offshore. Quite crowded (laughs) na

it gets fun. A few waves in Cali

are fun, and France.

What board are you currently

riding? A couple of short things

5’5 a 5’4 and a piece of foam,

I’ve got a couple of different

boards being made for summer.

How do you find fitting in to the

international surf scene being

from UK/Cornwall? I’m not sure,

I mean I don’t have anything to

do with the UK surf industry

anymore, and there’s not a lot

going on in it that interests

me, so I don’t know a lot about

it. But the UK surfing level

has gone up loads, a bunch of

my friends are UK pro surfers

and they shred, but outside of

comps and surfing, the UK stuff

is pretty boring. Not taking

anything away from the surfers,

I have full respect for them,

they are surfing well. Yeah but

its definitely not for me. I feel

myself and my close friends fit

in better when we travel, none of

our sponsors have much to do with

the UK. So when I get to travel

and meet guys from Cali and

Australia that are into the same

shit as me, it’s nice.

What are your feelings about the

current state of the surf scene?

Apart from the actual surfing

standard, the UK surf scene

is the same as it always has

been pretty much. I think a

few guys have put a creative

side to it like Mickey Smith’s

videos and photos, and a select

few companies expanding their

creative minds, that stuff’s rad.

The rest still seems the same old

UK scene, feeding off its self

and not letting in anything new.

Just surfing as a sport, surf

surf surf, there is no character

or flavour. I think it’s just a

sport to them, like football or

anything else. I am not sure if

its because most UK surfers just

don’t enjoy things outside sport

like music, art or photography,

and think its lame, who knows

maybe that’s why it will always

be the same scene.

“It would be nice for

kids to see that there

is more to surfing than

contests and dubstep”

What do you see as your personal

role within surfing? What mark

would you like to make within

surfing? I don’t really have

any goals and I have no role in

surfing really, it would be nice

for kids or anyone to see that

there is more to surfing than

contests and dubstep, that would

be nice.

What are you planning next? I’m

going to be young for a while,

and do things I enjoy.

Find jack at

hypnoticpocket.com