{"id":7945,"date":"2010-05-01T15:10:08","date_gmt":"2010-05-01T15:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=7945"},"modified":"2022-06-07T22:18:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T05:18:44","slug":"matt-archbold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/matt-archbold\/","title":{"rendered":"MATT ARCHBOLD"},"content":{"rendered":"

INTERVIEW BY DIBI FLETCHER<\/strong>
\nINTRODUCTION BY DIBI FLETCHER<\/strong>
\nPHOTOS BY HERBIE FLETCHER<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have known Matt since he was a teenager and thought, at that time, that fame fit him like a thrift store suit. He was consistently MIA and probably would have been a lot happier being a mechanic by trade, and a surfer for fun, but the surf industry had other plans, and he did check at retail. A couple of decades later and I think Archy is pretty stoked with his choice of being a surfer. He\u2019s out of the spotlight\u2019s glare, living and surfing the dream…<\/p>\n

\n

“I JUST LOVE SURFING AND I APPRECIATE IT. I\u2019M NOT TRYING TO TAKE FROM IT. I\u2019M TRYING TO GIVE TO IT MORE.”<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hey, Matt.<\/strong>
\nDibi, how are you?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m good. How are you? Are you ready to answer some questions?<\/strong>
\nYeah. Always.<\/p>\n

[Laughs] Your career in surfing has spanned a couple of decades. What do you think has changed the most?<\/strong>
\nGee whiz. That\u2019s a good question. Surfing has changed. On the professional side, it would be the money, and how much guys get paid these days. Also, the type of surfing has changed.<\/p>\n

What do you mean by that? Is it their style or ability to catch certain waves or access?<\/strong>
\nI would say it\u2019s the style that has changed the most.<\/p>\n

Do you mean aerials and tube riding?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d say there is a lot more tricks these days like aerials, instead of style. A lot more guys are just spinning all around and doing all sorts of aerial type stuff, which is cool, but 20 years ago it was not like that.<\/p>\n

Yeah. It was just the butt wiggle to the beach, right?<\/strong>
\n[Laughs] Yeah. It\u2019s a lot different. Back then, only a few people were doing aerials, and now everyone is doing aerials. I can\u2019t keep up with it all.<\/p>\n

What do you think the key to your long-term popularity has been?<\/strong>
\n[Laughs] Geez. I don\u2019t know. That\u2019s a good question. I\u2019m just a nice guy, I guess.<\/p>\n

There you go. That\u2019s perfect. Do you consider surfing a sport?<\/strong>
\nNo. I don\u2019t. To me, it\u2019s a way of life. It\u2019s my life. I got introduced to it and it\u2019s been my life forever.<\/p>\n

Yep. There was a documentary about your life, Built For Speed, which came out in 2008. What did you learn about yourself from the experience?<\/strong>
\nI learned that I was kind of out of control. I realized that I better watch myself and think about my future a little bit. I kind of went along not caring about what happened the next day. Then I decided I better think about that more, but I didn\u2019t for a couple of more years, or a lot more years\u2026 [Laughs]<\/p>\n

So in your early years you weren\u2019t paying much attention. Are you paying more attention now?<\/strong>
\nYeah. I\u2019m paying way more attention. I\u2019m older now and I\u2019ve got to think, \u201cOkay. How much longer is this going to last?\u201d Now I try to plan things out. My wife helps me a lot because she\u2019s a planner. I\u2019m not a planner.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a chick thing, just so you know.<\/strong>
\n[Laughs] Yes. Exactly. What would we do? Guys are like, \u201cDuh. Let\u2019s go surf. We don\u2019t have any money, but we have a surfboard. That\u2019s all we need.\u201d I don\u2019t know if Herbie told you, but we\u2019re going to have a new member of the family soon.<\/p>\n

Congratulations! Do you know if it\u2019s a boy or girl?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a girl.<\/p>\n

Oh, that\u2019s really nice. Okay, your son Ford is almost 19 and here you are having another baby. Are you going to be a different parent this time?<\/strong>
\nI think I\u2019m going to be around more. I think I won\u2019t be as lenient. I\u2019m older now, so I\u2019m a little bit more relaxed and I know what to do and what not to do. I won\u2019t let her get away with as much.<\/p>\n

Boundaries are good. When you look back at your early years with all of the drugs and alcohol, was there something that stands out as a turning point?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t think there\u2019s one thing that stands out. I think I just got sick of always having to make a comeback. Not so much make a comeback, but get healthy again. I was sick of that shit. I just grew up. It took me awhile. I think I finally got it in my head that it just wasn\u2019t cool anymore.<\/p>\n

You know what Christian said? He said, \u201cIt got so boring.\u201d<\/strong>
\n[Laughs] It does. He\u2019s right. It\u2019s like, \u201cOkay. We\u2019ve done everything you can possibly do. Let\u2019s do something new so we can stay healthy. That\u2019s new.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a new high.<\/strong>
\nLet\u2019s figure out what\u2019s going on around us, instead of never knowing.<\/p>\n

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #67 BY CLICKING HERE…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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