Oscar Langburne isn’t your average 21-year-old surfer. While his long blonde locks indicate your stereotypical surfer boy image, he is far from it. His style both in and out of the water is unique and that translates into anything he gets his hands on – whether that be a new board, his guitar or his most recent edit.
‘How are things on the west coast? Part 1’ is a compilation from the Australian’s recent trip to Central America where he feasts on the wave delights of countries like El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama taking on wedgy sandbars, empty slabs and long right-hand points.
His surfing in the edit is laid-back and stylish yet methodical and calculated. He shows shades of a young Occy or in comparison to a modern day goofy-footer, he surfs with a Craig Anderson-esque style. However, it would be unfair to relate him directly to any particular surfer, as he is very much his own person.
“I’ve never tried to replicate anyone directly,” said Langburne as he chats to me over the phone while taking some down time in between trips at his home in Newcastle NSW.
“Subconsciously I may have tried to copy certain styles. I’ve always loved that timeless classic approach that people like Occy, Curren, Machado, Margo and Gerry Lopez always had. I’ve just always liked to take my time when surfing a wave. Instead of bouncing to a section or doing flicky turns, I prefer clean lines or doing a long drawn out cutback. Where people might try two or three turns, I’m going to take my time and just do one.”
In addition to his unique approach on the wave, the music which accompanies the edit is not what you’d expect of a 21-year-old. The current generation of younger surfers will often pair their clips with the latest hip-hop songs or a hit from their favourite up and coming Indie band.
Part one of Oscar’s Central American venture is paired with songs from rock bands such as Interpol, Pixies and Cat Power.
“With the music stuff, it’s all the tunes and bands that my parents played to me while I was growing up. As I’ve got older I’ve read and listened to more music that is similar to their taste and it’s what I’ve always liked. Through the destroy racism t-shirt I did with RVCA I developed some friendships with various people in the music industry and have kept in contact with them since. Chan of Catpower actually invited me to stay in Miami with her which was rad fun and she’s always checking in on me and Paul from Interpol, I’ve hung out a bit with him too.
“All the music in the edit was my choice and I was given permission by the artists to use those songs. I’m pretty particular with how an edit should be put together. I guess I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I’m trying to do something different with my edits. It’s not just wannabe punk songs and the same type of pace of music through the entire edit.”
Oscar often spends a lot of time in Indo and Central America wasn’t originally on his radar but he ended up spending two months travelling through Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
“I’ve been friends with Paul Banks for a few years now and he introduced me to a mate in Panama who invited me to come and stay. My last few video parts have been in Indo and I kind of wanted to do something a little different. The waves weren’t too crazy but we got little windows of swell where we could get a bunch of filming done.
“It was great to showcase a variety of waves. That right hand point in El Salvador was my favourite, you could do like five turns and take your time with it. The crowd was pretty relaxed too.
“The slab in the edit was in Nicaragua. That was kinda sketchy, there was no one out there and we were scratching our head as to why that was. It looked surfable from the beach but it was hard to tell. When we got out there it was tricky to know where to sit but I managed to get a few and it ended up being a sick session.”
Given Oscar’s style, you’d be forgiven for thinking he only rides alternative craft but he is happy to experiment with anything, with a helping hand from his shaper Chris Christenson.
“Christenson is perfect because he does a bit of everything. For the trip, I took a couple normal shortboards and a few twinnies. I pick what to ride based on my mood at the time. If I want to just cruise I’ll take the twinnies out. It’s also dependent on the conditions.”
Considering Oscar’s laidback style and cruisy attitude, I asked him if he had any advice for younger surfers who aren’t sure what route to explore. His answer was simple:
“Just surf for fun, do it because you love surfing and for no other reason. You see a lot of kids burn out and lose the love of it because it’s all about results and training. I just got so lucky that I happened to meet people that cared about me and want to see me do well and it’s just sort of rolled.”
For now, Langburne is getting ready to head back to Bali to work on another upcoming video project. He will also be dropping part two of his Central American venture in the coming months.
