SPURNED BY HIS GIRL, Oz WRIGHT FLYS TO PERU TO EXORCISE HIS DEMONS...
INTERVIEW BY VAUGHAN DEAD PHOTOS BY TOM CAREY
VAUGHAN DEAD: How did you find yourself in Peru?
OZ WRIGHT: Well, it was either burn down my house because my girlfriend hated me and I was so depressed or go to Peru with a bunch of cocaine-addicted Californian Americans. I ended up going with the latter.
VD: How long does it take to get to Peru?
OZ: It's a fucking long way, mate. Unfortunately I had to spend a week in California doing photos for the Volcom catalogues so I was staying in the Skatehouse at Costa Mesa which was covered in shithouse art and reeked of cigarettes from when we'd (The Goons) stayed there eight months earlier. It was fucking horrible.
VD: Did you watch any movies on the plane?
OZ: About 20 movies, all starring Heath Ledger.
VD: Was one of them Brokeback Mountain?
OZ: Yeah! One of them was BroJcebact Mountain but I turned it off after about 10 minutes.
VD: You're not homophobe are you?
OZ: Not at all, I was just fucking bored out of my mind.
VD: Too many mano-a-mano sex scenes?
OZ: Nah, nowhere near enough.
VD: With whom did you go to Peru with?
OZ: Mike Morrisey, the original, surf, skate, snowboard, skimboard freak from Laguna Beach, Orange County. He's the punkest kid in the world. The biggest punk since Christian Fletcher. And Mike Guarino, a surfer/skater from New Jersey who used to be called Fartgrom. He was super famous on the East Coast because he was really good at doing those suck farts, where you get on your knees and pull air into your guts through your arse then fart it back out. I mean we all do them in our rooms and shit but he did them in public so that's how he got that nickname. Anyway, he relocated to the West Coast and has been rolling with Volcom forever so he came down too. Actually we had a stopover in Mexico City and Mikey got so blind drunk they weren't gonna let him on the plane. Luckily I had a banjo and I was sober so I managed to convince the airline to let us all on. And then Nate Tyler came too and he's a really good surfer. He shreds.
VD: How was it when you got off the plane in Peru?
OZ: It was snowing a fucking blizzard but it was dusty and dry as anywhere in the world at the same time. It's the home of Machu Picchu one of the most amazing and beautiful tourist attractions in the world and a place we didn't go anywhere near the whole time we were there. I think the only water in the whole country comes from rivers that run out of the Andes. Down ' on the coast it's rained one centimetre in the last 10 years. A lot of the houses don't even have roofs. It was a pretty strange place but it was sick.
VD: Is it really the land of the long lefthander or is all that just a myth?
OZ: No, it's the land of the long left for sure. Chicama is the longest left. I think you can surf that for over five kays but we didn't go there either. It's fat, I think. But there are some set-ups over there, really good sand bottom points that get incredible. I know cause I saw footage of them.
VD: How was it when you guys were there?
OZ: Uuuuuummmm... (sigh) Yeah it was ok. We got a lot of pretty fat waist-to-head- high surf and we went to few places that were really fun but the best spot was just packed with locals so it was hard to get waves. It was in this little tourist town that was just like Byron Bay. It was a sick wave but it was frustrating.
VD: Did everyone enjoy surfing over there?
OZ: It's always good to go somewhere new and surf new places. We were surfing a lot, except for Morrisey. I think he went for two surfs the whole time.
VD: Why?
OZ: That's just him. He's a cool cat. He didn't want to burn out on surfing, he wanted to burn out on marijuana.
VD: How are the Peruvian people?
OZ: They're really, really friendly people. They're hot blooded latinos. They're really great people and... they're... fucken psychos out in the surf (laughs)! On land they're your best friend and then as soon as they get in the water they get so passionate and psyched for waves they'll paddle inside you at 400 miles an hour. It's almost impossible to get waves. That's how it is though, that's how they do it.
VD: What was the soundtrack of the trip, who was in control of the pod?
OZ: No pod, I had my fucking banjo, dude (laughs). I strummed it the whole time until I strummed everyone up the wall. I was strumming it as loud as I could when everyone was wasted in Mexico City airport except me. They were impressed for a while but then they sobered up and ah...
VD: What songs were you playing over there?
OZ: I Love to Get High and a stripped back version of Dead Barbie and The Ghost.
VD: Nothing from your solo album, I Got Kicked Outta Heaven Cause They Didn't Like My Teeth?
OZ: Nah it was pre-solo album. I did that when I got home. Actually I'm ready to record my second album now. I've got five songs for it.
VD: Fuck, you cunt, I haven't had time to pick up a guitar for weeks.
OZ: Yeah, and I got an album of love songs coming out too (hee hee hee)! VD: What you been listening to aside from yourself?
OZ: Daniel Johnston and Kimya Dawson. Every person who comes to my house I burn one of those artists CDs for them to take away. I'm kinda promoting them in Australia.
VD: Bit cool to be into those guys isn't it?
OZ: Why, cause they're cool?
VD: I dunno what I'm talking about actually. I fucken love those guys.
OZ: Yeah that's right, fuck off mate.
VD: So who else?
OZ: Beehive and the Barracudas got a big run last year but my all-time favourites would be Iggy Pop and The Cure. The Libertines of course would be completely up there. The Japanese Motors, I fucken love them and the Gingers. Mmmmmmmmnnn, the Gingers.
VD: Who's your favourite Ginger? Chelsea, Etta or Nellie?
OZ: Oooooooooooooooohhh, you fuckwit, that question should be illegal. Ummmmn, you know what? I love them all, they're the raddest girls ever, I seriously recommend everyone check out their shit. Not literally their shit, although they'd probably let you, but at least their website or myspace or CD or whatever.
VD: Any highlights from the trip?
OZ: The whole thing was a highlight. Got to hang out with good guys and have a really good time, surf fun waves, have a few beers. Learned a lot of stuff that I've forgotten already. Saw a lot of billboards of Sofia Mulanovich.
VD: She a big star in Peru?
OZ: Huge! She's got massive billboards about 400 foot high all over the country. She's bigger than Layne Beachley. We were hanging with her brother Mafias Mulanovich and he's a sick surfer too.
VD: Hey, didn't you have a run in with (censored) once?
OZ: I dropped in on her when she was surfing in a heat and she told me to fuck off, is that the one you're talking about?
VD: No, I mean the one with Snake.
OZ: Oh yeah. I was sitting with Snake in France and I said something like, 'Holy shit! I can't believe (censored) rooted (censored). Ew! What was he thinking?' And Snake's got this expression on his face like it's his birthday but he's not allowed to tell anyone and he whispers, "Behind you." I turned around and sure enough there she was. I didn't say anything. I just got up and went and sat in the car. It was pretty embarrassing but it was so long ago I doubt she'd remember. I'm nobody and she's won six world titles so I look like the idiot. You're getting all these stories out of me while I'm happy - aren't ya?
VD: Yeah. I said to Ronnie and Sam the other day, I'm never interviewing Oz again unless he's head over heels in love, the cunt will say anything! Heeheeheeheeheeheehee!
VD: What sort of swell direction is best for Peru, what's the geographical accessibility and wave potential of the coastline? Do you know anything about that stuff?
OZ: What the fuck? I don't know shit abut that shit (laughs). It gets big swells, I know that and uh... Oh, you know what it looks like? The home of he sand people in Star Wars. All the people are covered in white dust with little black eyeholes.
VD: How many times did you watch Star Wars growing up?
OZ: About 400.1 was so bummed my name wasn't Luke. VD: I was so bummed my name wasn't Chewy, especially now that I'm going bald, a bit of extra hair would have come in handy.
OZ: Yeah, that's true you are running a bit dry up there.
VD: Fuck you.
OZ: You're welcome.
VD: Is Peru a worthy surftrip or are you better off chilling in Ball for a week?
OZ: Depends how many times you've been to Bali, I guess. It's always good to go somewhere new and if you can hook up with a legendary local guy like Luigi, he was so hospitable and he showed us a great time and hooked us up with three meals a day and the food is fucking sick, by the way...
VD: Describe it.
OZ: They got raw fish cooked in prune juice for a start.
VD: Is the food better than America?
OZ: Fucken oath! I don't like hamburgers. I don't like fries. I don't like governments that tell the children lies. But, yeah, the surf is sick. There's beach breaks, reef breaks, points... it's definitely worthy. There're waves over there that are like Kirra. The waves are amazing.
VD: You were saying a while back you're not really psyched on surf shots anymore, you prefer footage. So why do a photo trip?
OZ: I love surf photos of other guys. I just hate them of me because I don't put enough work into it. People have different ideas of what a good surf photo is and if I don't agree with the shots they pick it kinda bums me out a little. It's like when someone shows you a photo and says "Here's a good one of you" and all you can think is, "What are you thinking, I look like a fucking idiot."
VD: So what makes a good surf photo?
OZ: Depends mate! It depends on, all kinds of things. That's a fucking lame question.
VD: Well, you have been laming out a bit lately. Although I did see a good alley-oop shot of you in a Japanese mag the other day
OZ: See that's what I mean, I hate that shot. It's shit. It's crap. I don't think it was very good at all. But I did do a giant backside air-reverse yesterday and Eli saw it and I made it with ease (laughs). It looked good cause there was no-one shooting (laughs). Hey, Justin Crawford just rocked up with all these pirate photos we did today that we're gonna use for a Stab ad in December. Me and Matty Woo and Eli and Scotty Fang went down to Little Narrabeen and shot a whole bunch of shit for this idea I had. It's called "LIVE BY THE BEACH DIE BY THE BEACH" and I'm looking at them right now and they're fucking sick. We got shotguns and everything. Woo! They're bullshit I'm looking at them through a lupe right now.
VD: So what's the plan, cunt? OZ: I go to Tavarua tomorrow for a Volcom trip and then I'm gonna get home and make Live By the Beach Die by the Beach into a movie. I was gonna do The Chron of Chron to follow up Doped Youth but the fucking thing might have to take a back seat cause I've been talking about it for three years and still haven't started it. We'll whack that on the cover of Stab in 2040. Meanwhile the new movie will be about a bunch of surf pirates who live in the dunes in Sydney and eat bushrats and go fishing a lot. VD: And what about this kickflip we've heard so much about?
OZ: Dude, the board is on the way from the boys at Santa Cruz and PCS have given me rubber fins so I don't slice my feet off. It'll be done in less than two months.
VD: Stay tuned to Stab magazine for the results?
OZ: Totally bro.
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Reply #1 on : Sun June 29, 2008, 12:41:56