To The Thief Of Magic Sam: Nat Young Left You A Message

SW: You wake up one morning to realise the voice of Gerry Lopez is narrating your life. Describe your day?
BY: Smooth as. I think you’d have to do something pretty lefthand orientated. That’s a pretty tough one… (turns to Nat) What would you do Dad?
NY: We’d have to exercise the kundalini.
BY: Never get your kundalini in a tangle, keep things smooth. And hurry slowly, that’s the goods hey. Lopez is a smooth cat.

You’re the editor of the New York Times, what’s tomorrow’s headline?
NY: Man Eats Shark!
BY: You should be doing this with my Dad hey. “Mick Fanning eats Shark!” But I think he’d have to eat the whole thing. Work from the kundalini forward.

You can only ride one board for the rest of your life. What’s it to be?
BY: That’s a loaded question. I’d have to go with a Ryan Burchie 5’3’’ twin keel fish. Because you could ride 100 foot waves if you wanted to or you could go shred a knee high point. You could travel everywhere with that one board.

You get stuck in a lift with Malcolm Turnbull. Got anything to say to the PM?
BY: More skateparks. I have no political agenda. I wouldn’t know what else to say.

One wave at Kelly’s wave pool or one super solid high five with a mate that makes that hella crispy ‘shwack’ noise?
BY: I’d have to go for one wave. I do love a good snap when you nail a high five, but I’m gonna have to go for one wave on Slaytrons wavepool. With the subtext “please Kelly give me one wave.”

Which number is better? 12 or 37?
BY: 12. It’s just got a better ring to it.

You never learned to surf or skate, describe your life now?
NY: Terrible.
BY: Completely cooked! Riding motos, heaps of tats, gold grill, living in Grafton with my wife Josie. Holy shit!

You can teleport to surf any session in any surf movie in history. Which do you choose and why?
BY: I’d go back to Noosa Heads ’69, from the Bob Evans film High on a Cool Wave. It’s all time. Bobby Macca and my Dad at Tea Trees and it’s just dreamtime country. And National Park as good as Noosa gets with just five of the boys on logs destroying. And I’d ride Magic Sam, the board that was stolen off my Dad at the world contest in San Diego.
NY: Give it back!

Tattoo of a butterfly on your lower back or a barbed wire arm band?
BY: Butterfly on my back because barbed wire is abrasive and you just wouldn’t want that wrapping around your arm. Butterflies are pretty gentle. Less Grafton related. Chicks in Byron froth on butterflies.

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