STARDUST
THE COSMIC REALITY OF DYLAN WILCOXEN
As discussed with Matt Biolos
By Matt George
In this conversation, maestro shaper Matt Biolos opens up about his singular relationship with team member and young Mentawai Phenom Dylan Wilcoxen. And why he feels that surfers like Dylan provide essential meaning to our sport.
Matt Biolos: I first saw Dylan surf in the Mentawai in the Fall of 2020. He was probably eleven years old. And what immediately struck me was, regardless of his provenance, you know, that he grew up at the Kandui Resort in front of flawless waves, was that Dylan seemed to be touched by that rare, innate, raw natural talent that is hard to find in any sport. That un-planned, un-coached, natural ability, free from thought or pre-meditation. Which I don’t see often in my world today, not with all the parents involved and the intense coaching and training that is going on. But I have seen Dylan’s kind of talent before. Like I once saw it in Chris Ward and Curren and guys like Bruce Irons and Dane Reynolds. I mean I spent a lot of time with Wardo and Bruce when they were teens and for me, on the close-up, Dylan’s was the first time I had seen that same unique brand of surfing in over 25 years. That control of the body and the wave in a thoughtless, unplanned, untrained, uncoached manner.
- I think Dylan, because of his almost oddness, I think there is a real privacy to his surfing. It can almost be mistaken for an aloofness. Maybe because it comes so easy for guys like him. Like a Curren, you know? Just all spontaneity and an ungodly natural talent. These kind of guys have that magical physical control over their bodies without forcing anything. They just get it. So the benefit to all of us is that this brand of skill is really entertaining to watch. It’s magnetic.It keeps the concept of style alive. That untouchable, beautiful thing known as a great, memorable style. It inspires all of us to try and have a bit of style and that is something surfing has to have or we have nothing.
-You can call it a blessing that surfers like Dylan have received but there is no doubt that it really just comes from within them. The stardust inside them. You cannot train it or unlock it. It’s just there or not. It just comes from the sky or the DNA or something. And win or lose you can still make a a great career out of this kind of surfing. You can have a good career without competition, of course. Because people want to see this kind of surfing. They will always want to see it. This supernatural surfing. The magic of it.
-I haven’t put all that much effort into Dylan design wise. Because with a guy like that you don’t have to. But I’ve been around him since he was eleven years old, travelled with him everywhere and he stays with us sometimes, he’s always welcome. But going from eleven to sixteen years old, it’s not like I am really designing specific boards around Dylan’s specific ability. I mean, like Curren, Dylan can surf anything and make it look like the right board. Design wise it’s more about maintaining him on cutting edge boards appropriate for his size and growth. Just keep him on appropriate sized boards that the best in the world are riding. It’s also great that he has a feeling for alternative boards. It keeps surfers like him fresh. We throw him fishes or Cheyne Horan Zappers or Modern twins and he just goes out and rips on them with no warm-up at all. He just gets it. That thing. That relationship between a surfer, a board and a wave.
-You know Dylan’s father and he have goals together. Dylan wants to be a competitive surfer, wants to be on the world tour. Whether or not that happens is up to Dylan. But these young surfers have to realize what a hard road it is. It does require training, it does require coaching, it does require strategy and holding back from time to time. But you want to be careful to keep the magic. Like Curren did. Because competition surfing today requires surfing with pre-thought and Dylan is just so damn good at surfing without any thought.
- What kind of wave would I want to see Dylan surf that I have not already? That is a great question. Hmmm, J-Bay? No, a little too slow motion for Dylan, he thrives in the hectic. I was thinking rifles, but I have already seen him there. I just spent time with him surfing good Snapper and he just lit it up. He got better waves than anyone in the water, because Mick just sat out the back in front of the rocks and took the bombs that could kill you. But Dylan just stayed busy and got wave after wave after wave and just figured out the crowd and made Snapper look actually ridable on a public day. I also think it would be great to see what Dylan could do at Skeleton Bay. Or maybe Sunset beach on a gun if everybody started taking off outside again. That would be interesting.
-I think it would be amazing to get Rip Curl to get their sh*t together with Dylan and do some really radical stuff with him, some creative projects. And maybe get him to travel with guys like Mason Ho. Just to really uncork Dylan and see what he could do.
-More than thinking about a future for Dylan I think more about his perspective. We have developed a really great relationship with his family and the business they have and the extended family with all the lost boys in the Mentawai and my son River and Dylan are close. Its just a very organic set-up. It’s healthy and natural and family oriented. A very enjoyable experience as opposed to my hectic pro surfing involvement and my hectic business, but at the same time it still includes this gifted, world class surfer in our midst.
-So whatever path Dylan ends up taking, I am all in. And right now I am supporting he and his fathers dreams of Dylan being on the CT. But if that doesn’t work out and he doesn’t become a world tour surfer, no one in the world is in better position to dominate the most fertile surfing grounds on the planet. The Mentawai. He lives at Kandui Resort, with the greatest surf literally in his front yard. And he just owns the surf. He has had his own Jetski and boats since he could barely walk. And he just tears around surfing perfect waves. And his brand of surfing in his perfect waves will always be in demand. And his dream situation out there will always capture everybody’s imagination. And it can always be documented in a beautiful way. That is something our world will always need. So I am not concerned about Dylan’s future at all. I just hope he keep doing his magic thing, win or lose. He can have my boards as long as he wants them.
- The overall situation with Dylan reminds me a little bit of the past. If I would have been a 50 year old man overseeing the Chris Ward experiment back in the day. When that went down with us Wardo was fifteen, sixteen yeras old and Mike Reola and I were only twenty five and we didn’t know what the f*ck we were doing. Just winging it with Wardo. And now that I am grown-up with some responsibility and with kids of my own its almost like a second chance to be involved with a prodigy and to help him grow. I really wish Dylan and his surfing the best. Like I said, with guys like Dylan, with his natural relationship with the ocean, I really don’t worry about him. We are just lucky to have him around. In many ways, surfers like Dylan are the reason why the rest of us love surfing. And isn’t that enough?
By Matt George
In this conversation, maestro shaper Matt Biolos opens up about his singular relationship with team member and young Mentawai Phenom Dylan Wilcoxen. And why he feels that surfers like Dylan provide essential meaning to our sport.
Matt Biolos: I first saw Dylan surf in the Mentawai in the Fall of 2020. He was probably eleven years old. And what immediately struck me was, regardless of his provenance, you know, that he grew up at the Kandui Resort in front of flawless waves, was that Dylan seemed to be touched by that rare, innate, raw natural talent that is hard to find in any sport. That un-planned, un-coached, natural ability, free from thought or pre-meditation. Which I don’t see often in my world today, not with all the parents involved and the intense coaching and training that is going on. But I have seen Dylan’s kind of talent before. Like I once saw it in Chris Ward and Curren and guys like Bruce Irons and Dane Reynolds. I mean I spent a lot of time with Wardo and Bruce when they were teens and for me, on the close-up, Dylan’s was the first time I had seen that same unique brand of surfing in over 25 years. That control of the body and the wave in a thoughtless, unplanned, untrained, uncoached manner.
- I think Dylan, because of his almost oddness, I think there is a real privacy to his surfing. It can almost be mistaken for an aloofness. Maybe because it comes so easy for guys like him. Like a Curren, you know? Just all spontaneity and an ungodly natural talent. These kind of guys have that magical physical control over their bodies without forcing anything. They just get it. So the benefit to all of us is that this brand of skill is really entertaining to watch. It’s magnetic.It keeps the concept of style alive. That untouchable, beautiful thing known as a great, memorable style. It inspires all of us to try and have a bit of style and that is something surfing has to have or we have nothing.
-You can call it a blessing that surfers like Dylan have received but there is no doubt that it really just comes from within them. The stardust inside them. You cannot train it or unlock it. It’s just there or not. It just comes from the sky or the DNA or something. And win or lose you can still make a a great career out of this kind of surfing. You can have a good career without competition, of course. Because people want to see this kind of surfing. They will always want to see it. This supernatural surfing. The magic of it.
-I haven’t put all that much effort into Dylan design wise. Because with a guy like that you don’t have to. But I’ve been around him since he was eleven years old, travelled with him everywhere and he stays with us sometimes, he’s always welcome. But going from eleven to sixteen years old, it’s not like I am really designing specific boards around Dylan’s specific ability. I mean, like Curren, Dylan can surf anything and make it look like the right board. Design wise it’s more about maintaining him on cutting edge boards appropriate for his size and growth. Just keep him on appropriate sized boards that the best in the world are riding. It’s also great that he has a feeling for alternative boards. It keeps surfers like him fresh. We throw him fishes or Cheyne Horan Zappers or Modern twins and he just goes out and rips on them with no warm-up at all. He just gets it. That thing. That relationship between a surfer, a board and a wave.
-You know Dylan’s father and he have goals together. Dylan wants to be a competitive surfer, wants to be on the world tour. Whether or not that happens is up to Dylan. But these young surfers have to realize what a hard road it is. It does require training, it does require coaching, it does require strategy and holding back from time to time. But you want to be careful to keep the magic. Like Curren did. Because competition surfing today requires surfing with pre-thought and Dylan is just so damn good at surfing without any thought.
- What kind of wave would I want to see Dylan surf that I have not already? That is a great question. Hmmm, J-Bay? No, a little too slow motion for Dylan, he thrives in the hectic. I was thinking rifles, but I have already seen him there. I just spent time with him surfing good Snapper and he just lit it up. He got better waves than anyone in the water, because Mick just sat out the back in front of the rocks and took the bombs that could kill you. But Dylan just stayed busy and got wave after wave after wave and just figured out the crowd and made Snapper look actually ridable on a public day. I also think it would be great to see what Dylan could do at Skeleton Bay. Or maybe Sunset beach on a gun if everybody started taking off outside again. That would be interesting.
-I think it would be amazing to get Rip Curl to get their sh*t together with Dylan and do some really radical stuff with him, some creative projects. And maybe get him to travel with guys like Mason Ho. Just to really uncork Dylan and see what he could do.
-More than thinking about a future for Dylan I think more about his perspective. We have developed a really great relationship with his family and the business they have and the extended family with all the lost boys in the Mentawai and my son River and Dylan are close. Its just a very organic set-up. It’s healthy and natural and family oriented. A very enjoyable experience as opposed to my hectic pro surfing involvement and my hectic business, but at the same time it still includes this gifted, world class surfer in our midst.
-So whatever path Dylan ends up taking, I am all in. And right now I am supporting he and his fathers dreams of Dylan being on the CT. But if that doesn’t work out and he doesn’t become a world tour surfer, no one in the world is in better position to dominate the most fertile surfing grounds on the planet. The Mentawai. He lives at Kandui Resort, with the greatest surf literally in his front yard. And he just owns the surf. He has had his own Jetski and boats since he could barely walk. And he just tears around surfing perfect waves. And his brand of surfing in his perfect waves will always be in demand. And his dream situation out there will always capture everybody’s imagination. And it can always be documented in a beautiful way. That is something our world will always need. So I am not concerned about Dylan’s future at all. I just hope he keep doing his magic thing, win or lose. He can have my boards as long as he wants them.
- The overall situation with Dylan reminds me a little bit of the past. If I would have been a 50 year old man overseeing the Chris Ward experiment back in the day. When that went down with us Wardo was fifteen, sixteen yeras old and Mike Reola and I were only twenty five and we didn’t know what the f*ck we were doing. Just winging it with Wardo. And now that I am grown-up with some responsibility and with kids of my own its almost like a second chance to be involved with a prodigy and to help him grow. I really wish Dylan and his surfing the best. Like I said, with guys like Dylan, with his natural relationship with the ocean, I really don’t worry about him. We are just lucky to have him around. In many ways, surfers like Dylan are the reason why the rest of us love surfing. And isn’t that enough?
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