SURERMAG.COM ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

SURFERMAG.COM: So it's a full on learning process all the time?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Yea. Especially when I go to Japan. I go there quite a bit and when I do, I get to see everything, stuff from Australia, and stuff from all over the world. Over there I love going into surf shops to see what everyone is doing. You have to. Some guys are really stubborn and think that what works for them should work for everybody and you can't have that attitude. If you can see what other guys are doing, you can apply it to what you're doing, and blend it somewhere in the middle.

SURFERMAG.COM: And your approach to the business aspect of shaping, what is that like?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Right now I'm not a production guy. I'm still doing 98% of my boards by hand. I'll do an occasional run off the machine here and there but right now I'm just trying to take baby steps. With all the Surftech stuff going on, and computer this and computer that, I have to market myself as a shaper cause if I don't, if I try to keep up with the race, it's gonna just go right by me. So I have a good little clientele and a feel like my market is the passionate surfer. Those are the people I want buying my boards. I don't want the guy that wants to save twenty bucks or wants it in two weeks. I have a pretty long wait for my boards and every one of them is done by me. I don't have any ghost shapers, all my boards come with a letter of authenticity that states I shaped it and no one else did. I sign each one and it has a serial number and it comes attached to every board and I think that helps to market my boards and helps to separate me from other people. And, I have a bunch of people that ride my boards. Brad [Gerlach] is a good friend and he is great for feed back, and Keith Malloy just ordered a longboard the other day, and Dan Malloy gets fishes and stuff from me. But I can't afford to pay some kid to go on the WQS and ride my boards. I've done that before, I've done the full-page ads in Surfer, and all that stuff. But I can't compete with what is going on right now; with the way people are doing things. My whole focus is just looking down the line at the light at the end of the tunnel and seeing how I can build longevity.

SURFERMAG.COM: We touched before on how you learned a lot from the older generation of shapers and have built on what they taught you. I know that you have some younger guys working for you in your shop, learning to shape and build boards, and stuff like that. Is this important to you...to teach younger guys some of the stuff you have learned along the way...to share what you've learned, and pass on information in the same way you had others pass it on to you?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Yea, it is as long as they respect it. The guys I have totally respect it, and I can trust them. But with shapers, you have to watch it. You really have to be careful of who you teach and who you let watch you, cause you never know what could happen. It's a big industry but it's a small industry. If I see someone with focus, I really enjoy that. But I only have five employees and everyone stays busy and it's a well-manicured little machine. This place isn't that big but it functions and it flows. Everyone here gets along. Running a surfboard factory is like running a band. Everyone has to click and keep the beat going, cause once a beat is missing everything gets screwed up.

SURFERMAG.COM: So you shape it all pretty much, from fish, to shortboards, to longboards, to guns. Is it important for you to be a really versatile shaper?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: I love it and I think it's especially important now with all the traditional stuff coming back. Plus, it keeps me busy. If I were just shaping shortboards, my whole marketing strategy would be completely different. But, me being as versatile as I am, the way I have it set up is just pretty automatic. I'm lucky and I've paid my dues, but now it flows. And I'm stoked that I get to make fish for pro guys and shortboards for pro guys. And my guns, because I got to work with Brewer for a long time, I make those for Brad Gerlach and Myles Padaca and a bunch of others. Same with the longboards. I've had some top longboard guys ride my boards so I'm just stoked that people are starting to recognize my work.

SURFERMAG.COM: So the stand up paddleboards that you're making for Brad, is this just another step in understanding how to build all types of surfboards, or did something in particular pique that interest?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Well, Brad is getting into training for all that tow-in stuff, so he was like "hey those look pretty fun, you think you can make those?" And I said "sure," but I'm not trying to make a market for them or anything. They take like a day each to get done. But yea, I'm gonna get into it and it'll be fun to learn about those. I mean, I do balsa boards too. I just try to do it all.

SURFERMAG.COM: And lastly, what is it like when a guy picks a board up and is really pumped on it, or when you see someone after they've ridden a board you made for them and you get that really positive feed back, what kind of feeling is that for you?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Gosh, how do I describe it? You get kind of a feeling of completion. You know you worked hard and it's very rewarding. It brings a lot of satisfaction. But you know you get both ends of it too. Sometimes you'll know you went off making a board for a guy and they'll bitch cause the color is a shade off or something like that. So it all balances out, but yea, for the most part it's nothing but a really good feeling. That feeling keeps you going and gets you to that next board for sure. But, because of the diversity of my work, and because I do the traditional shapes, I feel like I get to be in touch with people who are a little more on the passionate side. They're just a whole different kind of surfer so the feedback I get from them definitely stokes me out. One other thing I wanted to add is that I'm big into the history of surfing. I have a collection of old magazines and I'm always looking at old shapes and reading up on them, and old shapers. I have a stack of videos from the 60's and 70's that I'm always watching.

SURFERMAG.COM: So you draw a lot of inspiration from history?

CHRIS CHRISTENSON: Yea. You have to look at the way things were, and what brought you to where you are. None of us would be here without those guys; they're the one that laid it all down for us. All we are, really, are just a bunch of followers.