Written by Pedro Ramos
The frenzied race to the bottom of internet content and the narrowed focus of contest judging criteria have arguable homogenised what comes to mind when the words ‘professional surfer’ are said out loud.
However, the fact the thruster design has remained fundamentally unchanged forever three decades has allowed a younger generation of surfers to appreciate and discover some of the most iconic surfing ever performed on three rudders. Top of the list for many of those seeking inspiration in the rearview mirror is Brenden ‘Margo’ Margieson.
Much of Brenden Margieson’s recent resurgence can be attributed to his good friend and longtime collaborator, Justin Gane, who’s responsible for the lauded public service of archiving and redistributing prime surfing from an era that was, for better or for worse, free of social media.
During his heyday, Margo was an unassuming and fairly enigmatic character in Jack McCoy’s movies. Unlike co-stars such as Occy, Sunny, Luke Egan, Shane Dorian, and Ross Williams, his parts weren’t supplemented with ASP tour appearances, inevitably leaving the audience craving more of the stylish, knock-kneed, narrow-stance, natural-footer.
Margo’s, unrelenting, top-to-bottom, power approach didn’t distinguish between a two-foot morsel and a solid, 10-foot face. Margo would paddle out at uncrowded, maxing Haleiwa to throw a 7’2’’ around like the toothpick he’d used to pluck at the remnants of his Hawaiian plate-lunch. Notably, the approach at sketchy, super-sized Haleiwa was no different to his attack on a D’Bah rip bowl.
Big Brenden’s style and influence are unquestionably evident in the body English of surfers like Andy, Parko, and Rasta, who were, coincidentally, his contemporaries at the Billabong stable. One might even trace this lineage to a younger generation of surfers, including Creed McTaggart and Jai Glindeman, both providing current and ample evidence of the enduring legacy of stylish, sure-footed Australian point-break surfing.
As a photo-shoot stand-in for travelling pros, Margo accidentally carved out a niche unparalleled in the 90s (save for Frankie Oberholzer across the Indian Ocean). His friendly persona and fondness for the rail also helped make the average surfer’s life a lot more meaningful. We couldn’t pretend to be Kelly, but we sure could try to be Margo when we leaned into a turn.
At 51-years-of-age, Margo finds himself —once again — appealing to a generation of surfers who might never see their personal tastes reflected on screens bringing them the umpteenth incarnation of the air reverse: impressive until it’s not. Who would have thought that all it would take to get us out of a deep zombie scroll was an unbroken, searing rail gouge?
Tracks spoke to Margo about his origin story as a professional freesurfer, the harsh transition from sponsored pro to office worker, hitting rock-bottom, and coming back stronger than ever.
Where’s home for you at the moment?
I live just south of Coffs Harbor, between Sydney and the Gold Coast. I live on an acreage about 20 minutes from the ocean, in a little humble country town. I have the best of both worlds, enjoying the surfing lifestyle but then getting a break and doing the complete opposite by going inland and enjoying that as well.
And you grew up in Byron Bay?
I grew up in Byron Bay, I was there from primary school all the way through to my high school years. When I was about 22 I moved to the Gold Coast, but all my dreams happened to me in that crazy little town.
How did the professional freesurfer gig come about?
It wasn’t such a common path in the 90s. It just happened organically. I got picked up by Billabong at a very young age. Well, for this day and age I wasn’t that young, I was like 19.At the time, everyone on the team was on tour and they needed someone to get wetsuit shots in summer and boardshort shots in winter. There was no one around to do that kind of stuff and I was sort of marketable at the time. It wasn’t really freesurfing, they were more after a guy that was available to get product shots when the best guys were away. But then, all of a sudden, Jack McCoy needed me on video shoots because he realised I could surf well too. I wouldn’t say I was the first freesurfer, but all of a sudden I had this career as someone who didn’t need to do contests to make the company known. I was the right kid at the right time who fell into this new category known as freesurfing.
You were consecutively voted (in 1998and 1999) Best Free surfer in The World by the entire Top 44. That must’ve meant something.
Australian Surfing Life did a peer poll, and I got so much credit from the Top 44. It was pretty cool to know that I was respected by the best guys in the world at the time, and I guess they thought I was as good as they were? It’s just what the magazine said, I’m just going with what they said!
Did you ever feel pressure to keep your sponsors happy and remain employed, or was it just as easy as going surfing?
Honestly, in the early days — early to mid 20s — I was very blasé about it all. Everything just happened and fell at my feet. It happened without me realising it was happening. I was just being me and I felt I couldn’t put a foot wrong for the first couple years. It all happened very quickly. But when I realised that I was making good money from it and chose to get married, that’s when I started to feel pressure and had to become a responsible adult.
Could you talk about your relationship with Justin Gane and what role his recent Instagram clips played in your newfound fandom?
Justin Gane was someone I shot with since I was 22 or 23, so he’s accumulated years of footage. The resurgence of Pulse was definitely a massive contribution to where I am today. He brought back all that archive footage and showed the world that surfing from the 90s – when it’s done on the water, not in the air – is still very relevant. I think if you’ve got good style and can lay your board on rail very well, it just doesn’t go out of fashion. It feels weird talking about myself like that, but I think that’s why people still like to see me surf.
Some of the surfing he posts might be on par or even better than some rail surfing we’re seeing nowadays.
I’m not gonna lie, sometimes I look back and I feel that way. And it’s not just me, so many guys from that era say the same thing. I think the surfboards allowed you to do more of that surfing back then. They were a bit narrower, thinner, and a lot knifier.
What kind of boards were you riding back then?
At the peak of my career — throughout the 90s until the early 2000s — I was on Maurice Coles. From when I was 20 until about 33, I pretty much only rode 6’4’’s. I never went any shorter. My shortboards were 6’4’’ x 19’’x 2 ½’’. Maybe once or twice I went down to 6’3’’, but I never dared going down to 6’1’’or 6’0’’. That was unheard of! It’s funny how much that has changed, but my shortboards are still 6’4’’s! I’ve tried a few twin fins and different boards that were smaller but they just felt too short.
Whose surfing did you look up to?
Tom Curren, Occy, Martin Potter and Tom Carroll were probably my biggest influences. I loved Curren’s style and Occy’s power.
Were you ever self-conscious of your style and how you looked on a wave?
No, I never really thought about that. I’ve always tried 110% when I surfed and I didn’t even care. I didn’t even know what I looked like. I just wanted to come off the bottom hard on a wave and come off the top hard, I just wanted to push my boards as hard as I could. But I always remember my father saying, “Brenden, you’ve got a unique style”. He didn’t coach me or anything, but I guess it still gave me self-confidence. I still try to surf that way, but it’s hard when you’re a bit older.
You went through some hardships when your pro career ended. I was wondering if you could talk about which challenges were the hardest to overcome?
It was hard being in the spotlight and all of a sudden not being in the spotlight anymore. It felt lonely, I felt a little abandoned. All I knew was surfing, I was living an amazing life that came to an abrupt end all of a sudden. It was very difficult to adapt into what the future would bring. I always knew that would happen, but when reality hit, it hit hard. It was difficult, it was tough, but I had to get through that. Surfing was good to me and I had a living from it, but then I had a failed marriage and had to start from scratch. But it was a blessing in disguise really because I had to start life again. I was labouring, I had to do all sorts of jobs, and all of a sudden I was working at the [Coolangatta] airport, but that was enough to get me back on my feet. You gotta do what you have to do to survive, to live, especially if you are single. It was a big reality check but I’m proud of myself fordoing what I had to do to be where I am today.
What do you think are the fundamental differences between the time when you were a professional surfer and your son Micah’s current experience of it?
I wanted it so bad. I lived and dreamed of being the best surfer in the world. Those were my dreams and goals. It somehow fell into place for me. I wish Micah all the very best for his dreams to come true. It’s all about blood, sweat and tears, but it seems such a difficult time right now to become an inspiring young professional surfer. You’ve got to have a lot of luck, financial backing, you have to have so many things going for you. There’s so many people doing it now, way more than back in the day. I tell Micah that at the end of the day it’s about having fun, it’s about not following what other people are doing, and not letting people tell you what to do. I think to make it in this day and age you’ve got to be an individual and follow your true heart. You don’t have to copy anyone else. Be true to yourself and if it happens, it happens, because you don’t have to change anything when you’re being you.
Is there anyone in particular you enjoy watching surfing nowadays? Can you see some of yourself in any younger surfers? I definitely see a bit of myself in my son’s surfing. I see him and I see photos of me and I go, “Oh my god, that’s like a spitting image of me back in the early days”. There’s so many different surfers out there, but I love what Nathan Florence does. I’ve seen the Russell Bierke movie, and I really enjoy watching how much these guys are pushing the limits of big wave and big slab surfing. I like Yago Dora’s aerial surfing for such a big, tall guy, and John John’s rail game. Actually, I’d have to name like 15 surfers!
There’s footage of a solo session you had at big, chunky Rockpile rights on a really big board. I can’t help but think a 10-year-old John John might’ve been taking notes behind the bushes and ending up laying similar tracks on his6’2’’ Ghost many years later…
I think that board was actually over eightfeet, but I doubt he was (laughs).
You’ve parted ways with your long-time sponsor Billabong, and entering your 50s, you’ve just signed deals with Album and Florence.
The relationship I had with Billabong was incredible, they gave me so much support over the years, and there’s nothing negative I could point out about them. Album picked me up just over a year ago. They’ve been incredible as well. They just told me, “This is what we want to do, let’s do it”, and made things happen straight away. With Florence, they’re happy to look after me for a year and just see what that leads to.
Does this surprise you in an industry that has historically focused mostly on youth?
It seems like there’s a market out there for an age group between 45 and 55 who want quality products, and I guess they can relate to me. Surfing is so massive now and they’re catering to a market of people that are willing to spend a bit of money, and I guess I resonate with that sort of market. Here I am at 51, and I find myself in the right place at the right time again. I’ve got a new lease on my surfing. I’ve been loving my surfing for the last couple years, and all of a sudden, this weird social media thing came up and I’ve sort of tagged along with it. People have filmed me in the right place at the right time, and things sort of snow-balled.
Do you feel more prepared now if this attention comes to an end for the second time around?
Yes, 100%! This is just a little icing on the cake, a weird little bonus thing, it’s good fun. I’ve worked hard for a lot of years and learned a lot about myself, so I’m just going to enjoy this experience whether it lasts until tomorrow, six months, a year, or five years. I do have another job, I study a little bit of ecology, and I’m in a really good place. I’ve learned from my past experiences and I’ve got good support from my wife and my children.
It’s hard to dissociate you from that Teddy bear logo. You’re now riding Albums and even have your own board model. How would you compare your working process with Matt Parker to that of Maurice Cole?
They both have different personalities, very different spectrums I’d say. They both have the same desire and artistic drive to create the perfect surfboard, and experiment with surfboard design without getting stuck on that one-dimensional design.
I’ve been lucky to work with two very creative shapers. The relationship I had with Maurice Cole was phenomenal, he was almost like a father figure, he’s been there for me through thick and thin. An absolute gentleman and a lovely guy who supported my decisions and the direction I was headed with my career.
Matt Parker is similar, in that he’s very creative and listens to feedback, whether positive or negative. He won’t go too crazy with different bottom curves but will tinker around with different outlines and rails. We’ve worked on a couple of models, and it’s been a very exciting and positive project so far.
