Opening the Door on the Quiet Revolution
Posted on October 31, 2008 @ 11:14 AM
Words and photos by: Simon Buck
One of the pioneering brothers talks about all things Bonzer, one of the most influential board designs in surfing history.
“There’s a line in a Talking Heads song that goes, ‘Never for money, always for love.’ That says it all really.” In a single sentence Malcolm Campbell has just encapsulated the whole ethos he and his brother Duncan have been working by for the past 37 years. The song he’s just referred to is “This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)”, and for over an hour ‘the place’ has been the bar at a Newquay surf lodge where the softly spoken, unassuming Californian has been holding every ounce of my attention.
From stories about the nascent days of Bonzer production in early 1970s California to explaining the technical elements behind the complex design’s performance, I’m starting to suffer from information overload. The tape is running out and at any minute my Costcutter biro will dry up. Trying to process the sheer volume of information has been an intense process, but there’s a reason why this exercise has been anything but a chore. Malcolm’s passion and enthusiasm for his craft and his drive to actively evolve surfing through his work is contagious to the point of being toxic. He doesn’t do this by shouting loudly about what he and Duncan have done – and, indeed, continue to do – for the surf industry. That wouldn’t be his style, obvious to anyone who has ever met him. Instead, he prefers to work away quietly on developing and improving on the established Campbell Brothers designs, most notably the Bonzer 5.
The sons of Jack and Gloria Campbell, Malcolm and Duncan grew up with their sister Ann in Oxnard, California during one of those golden eras of surfing. Jack was a huge influence in the young brothers’ early shaping days. A photographer by profession, dad was also interested in engineering and design, especially relating to marine and aircraft. With his knowledge of hull and wing construction, he suggested the boys apply some of the principles of hydro- and aerodynamics to their surfboard shapes. This led to the development of two of the most significant innovations in board design, which most surfers today take for granted: the three-fin setup and single-to-double concaves.
Today, there’s no doubt that Bonzers have a number of high-profile devotees. Many are professionals who ride them recreationally, outside of their ‘day job’, during times when eagle-eyed sponsors will be less sensitive. Taylor Knox, Rob Machado and Dan Malloy are three well-known names who openly endorse the merits of Malcolm’s creations. Taylor is a great ambassador for the Campbell Brothers’ creations and has been riding Bonzers recreationally for years.
“Because of the way they handle, there’s less to think about in setting up for each turn or worrying about them breaking out or losing power. That means I can concentrate more on what I want to do and put all my focus and energy into the moves. For me that really suits my style of surfing. They’re fast boards, and I love the drive and power they produce without losing any of the freedom of a thruster.”
Rob Machado is another who believes the addition of Bonzers to his quiver is only a good thing. “I was stuck riding thrusters on the tour, but when I left it opened up avenues of surfing I’d always wanted to explore. I had a Bonzer built but didn’t ride it for maybe a year or two. Then I decided to take it on a trip to Chile. I rode it on the long left points, the perfect environment to test it, and I really got to appreciate it. I feel Bonzers are the perfect combination of the benefits of the speed of a single-fin with the edge holding and turning of a thruster.”
Both these surfers have obvious admiration and respect for Malcolm and Duncan; the words ‘generous’, ‘giving’, ‘humble’ and ‘great guys’ are often repeated. Dan Malloy sums it up simply: “We’ve never been paid a dime to ride Malcolm’s boards, yet we still ride them all pretty often. The only reason that I can imagine this would be is that they are great surfboards.”
Simon: You started shaping surfboards when you were in your early teens living at home. How did your family background influence your approach to what you were trying to achieve?
Malcolm: My mom was an artist and a painter, and my dad was a photojournalist. Basically, we came out of a creative family environment. Growing up in that environment helped us become individuals. That’s where it comes from, individual thinkers – artistically, creatively, politically. When we made that first three-fin Bonzer in 1970, that first bottom-turn was so dramatically different than anything else we’d ridden or made that we immediately realised this was something worth pursuing. That turn changed our lives because [up till then] we were kids making surfboards and having fun with it.
And that inspired you to think about it more seriously?
Yeah. The further we pursued it, the more we realised this was an opportunity to contribute to surfing, which meant so much to us at the time. We were just kids learning to surf, learning to shape and build boards.
So although shaping eventually became a way to pay the bills, it’s as much, if not more, about making a difference?
It’s all about reciprocal maintenance. Surfing provides so much joy – it’s our means of expression in terms of art and philosophy – but it’s really about giving something back to surfing. As far as our lives go, there has been no separation between working and our philosophy of life. All my best friends come from our involvement in surfing – my wife, hence our kids, everything.
By regarding what you do as your art, and by the very fact that most art conveys a message, is there a specific message you’re trying to put across in your work?
Yes. It’s that all of us, as people, are not who we are but what we actually do. Since we have some degree of notoriety, surfing has become our vehicle to communicate with a wider community. Whether it’s directly through making the best possible surfboards or using it as a platform to speak about things that we really care about.
Is it difficult to combine work with the responsibility of consistently delivering the message?
Shaping surfboards is my job, and it’s my obligation to shape the best surfboards that I can. It’s also my responsibility to educate myself in as many areas as possible in order to be able to contribute toward a more peaceful and just society. That’s the fundamental aspect of what Duncan and I are about. In that regard, I sign ‘Peace’ on every board and have being doing so since around 1972. Not in a trivial ‘Peace, man!’ way.
Is there a danger that the message could be misconstrued, projecting an image of the Campbell’s as ancient hippy shapers living in the past?
That could be perceived, but I would say to them that every surfboard we make is, in a sense, a prayer or a salutation for peace. Every time someone looks at that there’s the possibility that within their mind they will spend that instant thinking, “What are they talking about?” or “What do they mean?” It’s a small thing, but over time it can magnify.
It’s obviously something you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about?
Well, we can say that we want to make the world a better place, but how are we going to do it? There’s not a whole lot in a physical, big sense that one person can do, but if a lot of people can be focused on things in their immediate sphere, this can produce a better ‘consciousness environment’. We are activists at heart, and we sincerely want to make the world a better place. At the very minimum we try to make our lives an expression of our philosophies and ideals. Within the work sphere, Duncan does this with Cafe Haleiwa and with the Bonzer Front surf shop along with his daughter Megan. I do it through shaping surfboards, and now that my kids are grown up I hope to expand my activities a bit. All you can do is the best you can do. That’s a small thing we put forward; it’s the idea of no separation. There is no separation between our surfboards and our philosophy, the way we live our lives, and the way we try to interact with society.
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