Surfer Life

 Johnny “John Boy” Mateu isn’t your standard surfer. He’s like so many other surfers we share the water with on weekends. He’s a weekend warrior who shares his passion for wave-riding with his passion for shredding concrete. The generation of surf inspired Z-Boys from Venice Beach, CA are Johnny’s role-models, and he has taken his talent for skateboarding and translated that quite effectively into surfing.                     Johnny has surf stories, skate stories and life experiences more gnarly than many I’ve heard. He stays soulful while still embracing the culture of searching and destroying. At the same time in his work he has found a quieter side, tooling leather for a living with his pit-bull at his side. Johnny’s not the surfer who watches the swell forecasts like most I’ve interviewed, but when I hear him describe what others might call a mediocre ride as one of the most influential moments in his life, you know his love for catching waves runs deep.