Wednesday, May 13, 2009   12 Comments

This is a profile from the latest 09, see it on the web

I first met Steve Morris in 1997. I was the sales manager for NZ Surf Mag and he was just starting to peddle his wares as a surfboard shaper. He came over to the NZSM offices to present his advert artwork; a hand drawn logo - a simple SM in an oval. What struck me about this wet behind ears grub was his enthusiasm for his craft… in both ways; the craft of being a shaper and the craft he was shaping. There was a halcyon period were all the Mud Bay crew had a SM shape under foot, and he was making serious in-roads into the Piha posse. Morris Surfboards was fast becoming the tour’de’force of shaping in Auckland.



He was passionate about shaping then, during, and now - 12 years on, this time me driving away from his home in Red Beach it was clear that fire is still very much alive. In fact this quote from the dictaphone pretty much sums it up “ I couldn’t imagine NOT shaping now… I mean… I just couldn’t imagine not shaping boards for my brother Phil, TK and our friends - it’s just incomprehensible.”

You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone that’s got a bad word to say about SM, the clause “ohhh he’s a lovely guy” gets used A LOT when you mention the initials SM - he is just that. Prophetically, the term “Nice guys finish last” could also be inserted here too; Steve has had a couple of real shithouse years. Which is why this interview is here, you may well read on and conclude that there’s no way one good dude could have so much shit shovelled on him…like he says himself “At one stage I was going how many feet does God have?! How many times can he kick me!” …but it all, hand clasped on chest, has happened to SM.

Back to the start.

Steve started shaping out of his oldies Orewa house when he was 15, he continued backyard shaping for a few years, ending p with access to a shaping bay in Dairy Flat where the boards really started looking OK – “but not, really, and that’s when I really decided to take on the world.” laughingly interjects SM. “And that’s when I started advertising with you.  I went on to work for Tsunami in Kumeu, Troy Hirst and I were there and then it went bad.

Troy asked me what I’m going to do, basically neither of us had a job. So in 2002 I set up in Woodruff Ave off Henderson Valley Rd. At the height of production JUST me and Troy did 35 boards in a week - that was like the week before Christmas 2006 - it was crazy.”

And then the wheels fell off.

SM takes it up “ohhh I don’t think the wheels fell off so much as I didn’t really look after myself properly. I got seriously sick 3 times in Henderson and I didn’t give myself time to get better – every time I got sort of better I threw myself back into work. The first time I got really sick was from a holiday in Rarotonga. I got that same fish poisoning that Lana Cocroft got. I couldn’t drink coke, coffee or alcohol for over a year, the only thing I could drink was herbal teas because my nervous system was so fucked. I only found out what was wrong with me 2 years after the illness, it was a parasite from some fish I’d eaten. That first illness – and not allowing myself to recover from it, contributed to the other times I got seriously sick. I was just too run down.

Then the landlord put the rent up 25%, I worked out I’d have to complete another 3 boards every week just to pay the increase, just to keep us where we were before the increase. I had to be doing 9 boards minimum a week just to keep in the black - and I was like ‘I can’t do that - I’m already killing myself.’ So that was Hendo done. I decided to move up to Mangawhai and shape up there ‘cos that would be a way better environment to shape and live, and my mum and dad were already up there. I thought it would be a great place for my newborn son Akira to grow up, with the beach and school right there. But it just got harder and harder so I had to face reality and get a real job.”

SM was disillusioned, broken, and broke. His relationship with Akira’s mum wasn’t working so he was now in the gun for child support as well. His dream career was all but dead. To his absolute credit he’d decided to do the right thing by his creditors, he could’ve easily done the common thing and liquidated, not SM, he wore the 20G+ debt and started paying everyone back as he could.

Steve got a full time job as a sale rep for High Modulas who are Fibreglass wholesalers, Steve was still in the game, albeit somewhat from the sidelines, things were settling down and looking up.

And then he head butted Te Arai.

“I was in a heat for an Orewa Long Board comp, it was seriously knee-height bro… Anyway, I did a floater and face slammed straight onto the sand. I came up in a daze and somehow got out of the water. I rested a bit then went out again - I was totally on auto pilot. The boys were like ‘what the fuck are you doing back out here, look at your head, you’re bleeding everywhere.’ I made the semis but I was fucked … the drive home was so slow; it was like I was sooooo stoned. I slept for 18 hours… then went to hospital. The doctor sent me straight to the serious concussion unit, where I failed all their tests! They were like ‘you’ve been trampled by the All Blacks front row boy, you’re not going anywhere.”

Steve was forced to work half days up until last Christmas, with serious memory loss and 4 dead front teeth - the injury has cost him over 15G. “I’d drive down roads I’ve driven heaps to see clients and I’d take a left instead of a right, like…how’d I end up here? It was so frustrating. The ACC were fucked, because I had no fillings and had perfect teeth but hadn’t been to the dentist for regular check ups [because I didn’t need to go] they would only cover a portion of the dental repairs… it’s cost me thousands and it’s seriously affected how fast I could’ve paid my creditors, I would’ve been debt free by last Christmas if I hadn’t head butted Te Arai.

And still he rises.

The happiest, beamingest dial throughout the 09 Hyundai Long-board Tour was SM. He was hanging with his brother Phil and his flatmate Tomas Kibblewhite, all of them were competing on fresh SM shapes and TK was the ratings leader for the majority of the circuit. At Sandy Bay both Phil and TK made the final after a stonking semi where the fullas combo’d the other 2 surfers. Results aside, Steve was obviously having fun and really soaking up the camaraderie… and the free Coronas for that matter.

He works his full time job with Hi Mod, I get the feeling he kind’ve enjoys it and takes pride in his work ethic. He’s set up the best shaping bay he’s ever had - the house he and TK rent was chosen for its convertible garage-workshop-shaping bay area. When he talks about plans to shape his eyes are lit with that fire from 97… although he’s not quite sure how his shaping will continue, there’s no doubt it will. The Dictaphone is full; full of heavy stories, some of which won’t be printed, all of which are told with much laughter.

This interview is a main feature in the new 09 Magazine, the hardcopy version is freely given in all surf shops throughout Auckland, and is available as a free to view page flip on www.ridersanonymous.com .



 

   

   

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