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Talk Story with Shane Dorian E-mail
Shand-Dorian1.jpgThe Life and Times of S. Dorian
By Daniel Ikaika Ito

Kona’s Shane Patrick Dorian is a huge fan of Def Jam CEO/New Jersey Nets owner/hip-hop icon, Jay-Z. “I love Jay-Z,” says Shane-O. “He’s pretty tight.” Dorian’s biographical surf video is named The Blueprint, which gave mad props to Young Hova’s sixth album. Right now, Dorian is bumping Kingdom Come, Jay’s latest album. The lyrics off the track 30 Something share similarities with Shane-O’s life:

“Thirty is the new 20 n!@#$/ I'm so hot still/Better broad better au-to-mo-bile/
bet a yard, nah bet a hundred mill then/ by the songs end/I probably start another trend/
I know everything you wan do/I did all that by the age of 21 by 22/ I had that brand new Ac Coupe/I guess you can say that my legend just begun…”

Like the Jigga Man, 34-year-old Shane Dorian is still crushing it in his respective industry. Despite leaving the “Dream Tour” years ago, Shane is calling the shots on his career and is still one of Billabong’s top riders. And the guy hasn’t lost any of his smooth style either. The regular-foot cherry picks what surf trips he goes on now, charging legendary big-wave sessions around the world on his own terms.

When Shane’s not charging huge Chopes he’s a boatman on Tavarua for two months and a daddy year-round. In 2006, Shane’s wife Lisa gave birth to Jackson, the Dorian’s first son. It’s possible that fathering a child and leaving the ‘CT may dull a pro’s surfing, but Shane-O’s wave riding and coolness is at an all time high. Big or small, he’s surfing better than ever.

FSM kicked it with Dorian at the Billabong House during the Monster Energy Pipeline Pro to talk about killing pigs, reading about teenage wizards and what a Tom Curren Slurper is. He may not be the same 20-something ‘CT surfer with the tilted hat (as he is immortalized in Taylor Steele videos) but Shane’s still cooler than the other side of the pillow.

“I might just be gettin' nicer /Them young boys ain't ready for real/ Thirty is the new 20 n!@#$/ I'm so hot still.”—Jay-Z


FSM: You’ve had a busy 2006 with your son being born and pulling in to triple overhead barrels. What have you been up to lately?

shane-dorian2.jpg SD: I’ve been a dad. I got a young son and have luckily spent a lot of time at home. Been doing quite a bit of surf trips this past year. Went to Tahiti, Fiji, Chile and Bali, some great stuff goin’ on.

FSM: Most people would think that spending a lot of time at home would affect your game. How do you think your surfing has progressed since you left the ‘CT?

SD: I feel like I’m surfing a lot better now than when I was competing, because when you’re on tour, you’re in a different place every week. When I was on tour, my whole mindset was to adapt to the criteria and try and catch the best waves, do the most turns and be in the most critical position. Now I don’t have any rules to follow, and I can surf the way I want. Go as fast as I want and do one big turn instead of four medium turns, which suits my style a lot better.

FSM: So the ‘CT didn’t let you surf your way?

SD: The surfing criteria for pro contests suits some people’s surfing, guys who do the best. Like Kelly [Slater], Andy [Irons], Parko, Mick Fanning and those guys are able to rise up and surf their absolute best. I’ve seen Kelly surf his best in contests. Guys like Andy just elevate their game. I was never able to turn on and surf my absolute best in heats. I had a lot of fun surfing competitively, but I feel like I can surf my absolute best now that I’m not on tour. Now, if I get injured I don’t have to worry about missing an event. It’s worked out well for me.

FSM: We all know riding big waves can cause serious injury. Is paddling into big waves or towing in more gratifying?

SD: Paddling into big waves is much more gratifying to me. I like to take the drop. I like the initial part of the wave where you’re like, ‘Oh s!@#, is this wave gonna break on my head? Do I start paddling now? Am I gonna get cleaned? Am I gonna go over the falls?’ That fear is what makes big wave surfing a ton of fun. I find myself getting bored of tow surfing, even in pretty big waves. I don’t really have fun tow surfing unless it’s the biggest day of the year at Jaws or huge Teahupo‘o. It has to be super intense to be exciting. I went surfing at Hale‘iwa and it was 12 to 15 feet, which is relatively small for tow surfing, but I was on my 8’3” and it was a blast. I was scared the whole time. It was exciting, and it’s just a lot of fun for me to paddle.

FSM: You’re a classic dude, Dorian, but don’t you like the ease of towing and skipping the carnage?

SD: Towing is really just a lazy man’s way of surfing, unless it’s so big or so gnarly you can’t paddle it. When the waves get like 6 to 8 feet, I know so many people who start gassing up the ski and it’s just bizarre. I get it. It’s a lot of fun. You can ride a little board and there are definitely a lot of pros to it. I think a lot of times they don’t want to paddle, they don’t want to get cleaned up or they don’t want to get beat. All that stuff is what makes surfing so fun. It’s the difference between some guy who likes the outdoors, grabs his bow and spends a day outdoors hunting— as opposed to someone sitting at their desk on huntdear.com.


FSM: Speaking of hunting, Big Island Surf’s Kevin Akiyama told us you’re stoked on pig hunting. How did you get into it?

SD: I moved to the country basically. My neighbor is into bow hunting. I started shooting the target, and we have wild boars that hang around the house. It was like osmosis. My neighbor had extra tree stands and an extra bow, so I went with him a couple times. It’s exciting and fun. It’s weird, you don’t know unless you hunt. It’s like explaining surfing to someone who doesn’t surf. I give meat to all my friends and family. I make dinner with the stuff that I hunt. I get to spend a lot of time outdoors, like surfing.

FSM: A lot of animal lovers don’t realize that hunting is beneficial to Hawai‘i’s ecosystem. Why do you think it’s important to hunt feral pigs?

SD: Pigs are really just a nuisance. They tear up people’s crops and stuff. But, pigs are really cool animals. They’re really smart. I like just checking them out because they’re kinda nuts. It’s really addicting, like surfing.

FSM: Before you were known for hunting boars, you were always a big-wave hunter. Since you’ve been charging for so long, has surfing small waves lost some of its appeal?

SD: I like surfing all kinds of waves. When the waves are super big and Teahupo‘o is super perfect, and you’re all excited to get a 20-foot barrel, that’s all great and nothing can beat that. But I love going surfing at beach breaks on a little shortboard. I love it when John Carper shapes me a knifey, little shortboard and I’m in Oz, and I just wanna punt some airs. I wanna surf all day. I’m addicted to surfing. I love it.

FSM: We understand that your addiction even drove you to Fiji as a boatman, working at Tavarua for the last couple of years. How has the experience paid off?

SD: A boatman on Tavarua is very well paid. Our pay comes whenever the waves get good. We get to surf as long as we want. The typical guest who comes to Tavarua is a guy who loves to surf. But a lot of time they’re professionals, like a lawyer from California who surfs on the weekends. When the waves get good, Restaurants will be a little overhead and perfect, so all the guests surf Restaurants. Then it’s just me and the other boatmen at 10-foot, flawless Cloudbreak. Those sessions happen all the time and that’s our pay. It’s the best job in the world as far as I’m concerned.

FSM: Aside from your work as a pro surfer and boatman, how would you rate your full-time job as a dad?

SD: I had to cut back on the all night partying. I’m only down to five all-nighters a week now [laughing]. No, I’m kidding. It’s changed my life. I’m a mellow guy anyway, so being at home and hanging around the house with him isn’t boring for me. My life is a lot of work now, but it’s fun.

FSM: Since you’re a father now you must have to think twice about dangerous situations. Do you charge any less now that you have your son, Jackson?

SD: I’ve been wondering if being a father is going to interfere or change the way I think about surfing. I’m curious to see if it’s going to change the way I am in big waves. I haven’t had a whole lot of chances to surf big waves since I’ve been a father. I hope it does because my family is definitely the most important thing in my life. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m a little more conservative, but I think that’ll be a good thing. I don’t want to be a 40 or 50-year-old guy charging big waves and trying to keep up with the young bucks. I think extreme big-wave riding is a young guy sport, and it fits the bill for me. I might not be interested in it in a few years.

FSM: How important is style to you?

SD: Style is hard to define, but it’s the way you do things. It can look good or it can look bad, and it’s still style. I think some people have kind of an ugly style, but look cool. Like Christian Fletcher, who has kind of a rowdy style with a wide, cowboy-ghetto stance, but I think he surfs rad and punk. I don’t wanna surf fugly. The style that appeals to me is like Bruce Irons, he surfs like he’s not trying to have good style, it seems like it’s natural and he wants to go big. The thing I really like about Bruce is you never know what he’s going to do next, and that appeals to me.

FSM: Aside from Bruce, who are some of the guys who influenced your style as a grom?

SD: I was pretty much a Tom Curren slurper growing up. His style really appealed to me because he was real graceful and had a ton of power. He surfed with a lot of finesse and made things look easy.

FSM: You’ve got the smooth steez like Curren, but you guys might differ in your musical tastes because of the age gap. What is in heavy rotation on your Ipod?

SD: I’m kind of a hip-hop junkie. When I’m at home, I listen to a lot of different music, but if I have my Ipod on it’s usually hip-hop. Jay-Z. Lil Wayne. It sounds really funny, but I’m into hip-hop music for sure.

FSM: What’s your favorite Jay-Z album?

SD: Right now, my favorite Jay-Z album is his latest one, Kingdom Come. It’s all new to me and fresh. Everyone always likes to say this one’s a classic, this one’s not. But all of his albums, at the time, were sick. I think this one is better than the last one and the last one was better than The Blueprint.

FSM: So when you’re bumping Jigga Man and looking for some quality reading material, what are you reading?

SD: I’m super into US Weekly and stuff like that [laughs]. No, not really. I like Harry Potter. I can’t wait for the next Harry Potter to come out. I read a ton of books and then go a year and not read a book. I love that book, Into Thin Air. There’s another book that’s the Ernest Shackleton story, The Endurance, that’s one of my favorites. I read a lot of kid’s books to my son, a lot of Dr. Seuss, that’s his favorite.

FSM: Your keiki contest has been going strong for 12 years now. How does it affect Kona kids’ lives?

SD: It’s something that’s a lot of fun to do, and I think the kids really look forward to it. The kids come down and enjoy a day at the beach with their families and friends. Rob Machado, Kelly Slater, Andy Irons guys come down. It’s fun for the kids from Kona to see world-class surfers surf their break. It’s pretty cool.

FSM: It’s also pretty cool that there are rewards for being a bookworm at your contest.

SD: We have a minimum grade point average of 2.25 required to enter the competition. It’s not to exclude people. Some get the wrong idea. It’s not to exclude those who aren’t doing well in school. It’s to give kids an incentive to go to school and do their homework. We give kids awards and extra prizes and acknowledge their effort throughout the school year.

FSM: Not only does your keiki contest seem to produce academic ambition, but it also seems to produce good surfers. Who do you think are the next crop of rippers from Kona?

SD: We got Casey Brown, who’s a real strong goofy-foot. We got Tonino Benson, who’s also a great goofy-foot and Torrey Meister, who’s really, really coming on now. Two years ago they were just rats at Banyans surfing in our event, and now they have big contracts and are traveling the world doing the tour. Since Conan [Hayes] and me, there haven’t been any real strong kids making a push. It’s really neat to see. [PAU]

Caption: “I'm young enough to know the right car to buy/ Yet grown enough not to put rims on it/ I got that six-deuce with curtains so you can't see me and I didn't even have to put tints on it/I don't got the bright watch/ I got the right watch / I don't buy out the bar/ I bought the night spot …” –Jay-Z
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