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“It seems like none of the groms know f$*#&@! anything about the past.”   Photo: Rodrigo Donoso

Words: Garrett Cortese

Alliance Wake: How important is it to you to be a well-rounded rider? Do you think more riders should focus on that?

BP: It’s not that it’s important to me, it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. I think it’s also more of a way to keep myself sane with f$*#&@! wakeboarding. (laughs) Last week I hated boat riding, I was burned out on it for some reason and I wasn’t riding very good, so it’s good to have a happy medium and do other things. If boat riding’s not fun then I’ll go hit rails for a week or two. Winching… well winching is never fun (laughs), but it’s worth the effort! So doing all of those isn’t really important to me in terms of how I ride, it just keeps wakeboarding fun for me and keeps the dream alive. I’d rather keep having fun with it than have to keep looking at it as a business decision. If you’re not having fun there’s no point in doing it anymore.

 

AW: What do you think of riders who focus on just one thing, are they gonna drive themselves insane? There are park riders growing up now who’ve never been on a wakeboard boat.

BP: I think cable parks are the sickest right now. I, like a lot of guys, grew up skateboarding and going to skate parks, and the coolest thing about the cable park is that skate park vibe. Some cable parks f$*#&@! suck though – there are just a bunch of kooks spewing bullshit talk on the dock. (laughs) But parks like VIP out in California – those guys have a rad vibe out there; they’re getting more people involved and interacting with each other and pushing each other. You’re getting to see different people at different cable parks, and that’s a good thing. I think it’s rad that there are kids who have never ridden boat, it shows the sport is growing.

 

AW: What do you think of the current state of wakeboarding contests? What would you change?

BP: The biggest bummer for me this year was that a lot of the big events that really pushed the sport weren’t around: Rising High, Wake of Steel, Wake the Line… These were all next-level events that I felt were really progressing the sport the most, but they seem to have fizzled out. Hopefully they come back. As for boat events I don’t do them much, but I’ve done a couple this year. I feel like the World Series stops are doing a good job getting riders more involved and putting up bigger prize money. Ultimately that’s what boat riding needs for a contest – more worldwide stops to showcase the sport rather than a pro tour just based in the States. But I never do any good at those f$*#&@! things so I don’t know why I care! (laughs)

 

AW: What do you think of the current state of wakeboarding videos? What are your thoughts on all the web videos being produced?

BP: Videos are a tough thing to figure out these days. They’re not like they used to be (a few full length videos coming out each year), the web has changed things. Drop the Gun was so sick though. The Shredtown boys put so much hard work into that thing and it paid off in the end – they won awards and Rider of the Year – I think I’ve watched it six or seven times. But we see more web edits and individual sections made for the web, like Beyond Perception. That was sick, too. Raph and Jonathan (Ferguson) have their vibe figured out. I put out a full length section last year too, and it’s a lot of work. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of filmers out there anymore that can afford to take the time to make a rad section for the web because there isn’t any money in it.

What bothers me the most though is kids posting everything right away rather than hanging onto it – especially if it’s something insane. I know social media has changed things and they can stoke out their sponsors by posting stuff, but I wish they knew the quality and value of what they were doing and worked a little harder to put out a full length part with those hammers in it. I don’t know if some of the younger guys just don’t get it, or if they think it’s the easiest way to get known in our sport now, but in my opinion it would be a lot cooler to see them putting the hard work in and putting out full length sections. I don’t think they realize that once they blast a trick out on social media it’s gone a day or two later.

 

AW:What do you think about Real Wake and combining video parts with a contest?

BP: I think it’s rad that Real Wake is giving the riders and filmers the budgets to make something sick. But the biggest thing about Real Wake to me is having it shown all over the world to people who don’t know much about wakeboarding. Inside the sport we all know what those guys are capable of and what their riding looks like, but for other industries to get to see that and see how gnarly and cool wakeboarding is – that’s huge. Hopefully that helps wakeboarding become more well known and gets positive attention from other industries and companies.

 

AW: It’s hard enough to make it as a pro in wakeboarding already, is it any harder or easier as an Aussie?

BP: I think in some ways it’s easier, but in other ways it’s also harder. It can be easier to get some sponsors because you’re not competing against all the big names that ride for all the big companies based in the States. In Australia you can get hooked up with a distributor and start getting sponsored that way. But in the same respect if you really want to make it as a pro and make a living you’re going to have to move to the States for at least part of the year and it can be hard to get noticed – even by companies you technically already ride for. (laughs) I remember when I first came to Orlando – I’d just turned 19. I was pretty well known in the Aussie scene: I’d had cover shots and ads and stuff like that, but when I got here I was a nobody. I felt like a grom again that had to start at square one. I think going downtown helped a lot. (laughs) You gotta get in the mix (with other pros) and create memories! (laughs)

 

AW: What gets you stoked about wakeboarding?

BP: Just having fun still. I’ve been living with JD since I came back from Australia in the spring and we have a good crew out here. JD has his G23 juiced – the wake is insane – it’s so fun to ride. Just doing a f$*#&@! method wake-to-wake is amazing. I think the day I’m not having fun anymore is probably the day I’ll hang the towel up and go do something else. But at this point I think I’ve got a lot left and I’m still having tons of fun. I’m just stoked on the whole lifestyle and getting paid a little bit. It’s not a ton, but it’s enough to eat and enjoy life.

 

AW: It’s better than a kick in the nuts?

BP: (laughing) Eh, it’s probably about even at the moment.

 

AW: What gets you pissed off about wakeboarding?

BP: I just think it’s funny and annoying how much kids claim these days with tricks, or they put it out like it’s the hardest f$*#&@! thing around. But if they look back Parks probably did that shit f$*#&@! ten years ago! (laughs) So many kids don’t look back at the history of wakeboarding or know anything about it. I have kids come up to me and if I talk about Byerly they’re like, “Oh, Byerly Boards? The company is named after a guy?” It’s crazy how little some kids know. I guess the older guys grew up with less information, so you wanted to seek it out and learn more. Now there’s so much crap everywhere all over the Internet you get your fix and move on and nobody learns the history, it kind of sucks. It seems like none of the groms know f$*#&@! anything about the past.

And if there isn’t room for me to say anything else, just look back at Henshaw’s “No Filter” and note that Brenton Priestley agrees. (laughs)