Lloyd Cole Interview

How’s life Lloyd?

Yeah life’s pretty good. Off to Newquay on my brothers stag do this weekend cant wait, after that I’m going to Bali for a few weeks and then the Europeans straight after that.

How’s the summer been, have you been surfing lots or snowed under with work?

It’s been good, did that trip to France with you, and scored some amazing waves.

The surf at home this summer hasn’t been great, we’ve had waves but generally onshore 3ft, but its Wales you know, the winds have been wrong for the good spots but we’ve had waves.

How was that trip? Were you surprised we scored decent barrels in France in July?

Yeah scored, it was really quiet which was weird, and La Graviere was pumping. A bit of a shock to the system going from 2-3ft Langland to 6ft heavy grinding barrels. I got home and I’m sure I had whip lash I went over the falls that many times, but it was good, I got into the swing of things in the end and really enjoyed it.

How’s work been?

Works been all right, I work with my Dad so its not to bad, so I get to go surfing and stuff, as long as the works looked after.

Yeah you seem to be quite the business man, first running Sand Bar ( Swansea boozer he ran with his brother James) and now a family run storage business, called ‘Store It Wales’, sounds like a lot of work to me?

Ha, yeah it’s ok. My Dad is really laid back, he’s happy for us to surf. There are five boys and one girl so we’re a big family, only three of us work for my Dad though.

Tell me about the Sand Bar.

My brother and me ran it for about two, three years, great times, partying, drinking, and surfing. But we sold the lease and moved on before we became alcoholics really.

You must have some cracking stories about some of the boys misbehaving in your pub?

Yeah, there was kind of a dungeon bar downstairs that was kind of our hang out, the LSD boys. There were many of nights we’d crawl out of there with the seagulls singing to us. It was basically the LSD clubhouse.

Who came up with the name LSD, and what does it mean?

Langland surf division, not sure who came up with it about 5 or 6 of us I think. 

What happened to the LBR?

The LBR, oh R.I.P!  There were a few core surfers in the LBR. They wouldn’t let us enter two teams into the Wilkinson Sword Welsh inter clubs, so we started up out own club the LSD. Then about a year later they tried to hand us the LBR over but we’d already set our club up. I used to surf for them in the juniors, they were the best surfers but they wouldn’t let it go and when they finally did it was too late.

What do you mean hand over the LBR?

They wanted to give us the club because everyone way joining LSD, to keep the LBR alive.

Who was the biggest drinker?

There were some big hitters, who are bigger hitters now. Long Stroke Mccord, Rad Al, Sanchez (not Pancho off dirty sanchez, they are big boys, they could consume a high volume of alcohol.

Who was the worst behaved? Ever bar any of the boys?

Narr, they always said sorry the next day, I should have barred myself a few times though! (LAUGHS) It was a good laugh, controlled sometimes and out of control other times but that’s what made it all fun I suppose.

Did you become the usual beer bellied landlord while running the place?

Yeah! It was definitely time to move on in the end.  We had a kitchen there,  lasagna, gammon egg and chips, all day breakfasts! There was a cook and beer on tap whenever you wanted it basically, dangerous!

I’ve heard that you’re also quite the romantic. Something to do with a helicopter?

How the hell did you find out about that? HAHA (LAUGHS). Yeah, it was a bit of a whirlwind romance, a week before I was going to Oz I bumped into a girl from school that I grew up with. She was a professional dancer and was on her way to Slovenia for four weeks, after that she came over to Oz. Then, four months later we were in Bali and we got engaged in a helicopter above Ulus.

Haha, thats classic. What sort of professional dancing ?

I dunno some sort of musical back up dancer not sure how to word it properly.

So not a pole dancer?

I wish, she's actually taking pole dancing classes!

So shes teaching pole dancing?

No she's learning how to pole dance.

So she's going to be a pole dancer?

Haha, no! She goes with a few friends, just a bit of fun and something different to do to keep fit.

OK, got it! Where did you get married and go on your honeymoon?

Got married in Morgan’s hotel in Swansea and Honey mooned in Thailand.

Why aren’t you on facebook?

Funny to should say that Will, signed up last night.

Haha, its one of those things I usually stay clear of, but I’ve lost contact with a lot of people, so many of the boys I used to surf with down in Devon and Cornwall. I lost my phone the other day, lost all my contacts, it’s just the easiest way to keep in contact with your mates.

Usually the people not on face book have some dark secrets or no friends!

Nar no secrets, and yeah I’ve got a few friends, I checked before I left the house, think I had 10 requests, but that not many is it?

Not really. How many friends do you have?

I don’t know I only started in last night! (LAUGHS) I still can’t work out how to add friends, my Mrs has had to show me.

What’s your average week entail?

Ummm, work Monday to Friday. Surf if there’s surf. My wife Emily is a personal trainer (AT A GYM?) so we do a bit of circuit training with a few of the boys down the beach.

Do you feel that surfing in Wales gets overlooked by the magazines and surf industry?

I think it does. I think it’s easy to forget about us. All the companies and all the hype is down towards Newquay. But I suppose if your hungry enough for it you can always pester people, make yourself know around the contest scene. It would be nice to have a bit more coverage up this way.

Do you ever get the urge to move away from Swansea and its lack of quality waves?

Everyday I think. When you wake up somewhere and there’s waves, the suns shining, it gives you a buzz, makes you want to jump out of bed. But with the summer we’ve had its not encouraging, we have such long winters and then the summers been and gone before we know it.

I once heard Sam Lamiroy say that it’s a myth that the Gower reefs get waves!

I wouldn’t say it’s a myth, but you’ve got to be on the ball. We get really good waves though, maybe not to the standard of the Irish reefs and Porthleven, but if its on, its on, we do get good waves!

Would you say there's a stronger sense of camaraderie among Welsh surfers than Southwest surfers?

I’d say so, whenever you go away for a team event. The Welsh seem to be the most strongly bonded team compared to all the other teams. We’re all very proud of being Welsh and surfing in Wales. For most us surfing our home break is more of a social thing, get to catch up with all your mates, quite a close-knit community.

You're 3x Welsh champ – does that say something about your competitive instinct?

I’m very competitive. I grew up with four older brothers that all surfed so that was competitive, and not just with surfing, I had to compete for my food, stop them stealing my clothes, so I grew up being very competitive.

I kind of took a different path from contests, I still like to compete, but its finding the balance between making a living, being married, setting up home and not wasting all my money traveling around Britain surfing in contests to make myself feel good.

 With that, why have the Welsh deserted the British contest Scene?

In the 80’s and 90’s the Welsh were a dominant force. Rob Blyth has been competing on the junior circuit but at the moment its just Nate and Vanghanie when he can be arsed.

I’m not sure about the older crew, most can’t really afford it or have responsibilities. With the groms there seems to be a lack of drive at the moment, there are a few that are showing promise but mainly in the local contests. The thinking with kids at the moment is that if their Mum or Dad cant take them they’re not going to go. I mean maybe not now but when I was younger, 13, 14, if there was a contest in Newquay I’d be ringing around, scabbing lifts off Dan Harris and Guts, staying with mates,  spending all my money, I’d get down there anyway I could.

Is the Welsh interclub rivalry still strong?

Yes. It’s kind of hard at the moment because it got cancelled this year due to lack of waves, but if it’s on every club in Wales wants to win it.

You have a lot to do with the welsh team and coaching these days, do you feel that surfing in Wales is going in the right direction at the moment?

Yeah it’s getting stronger, it’s going to take us a few years for us to get back up to the standard of the other British Lads. We need to do a lot more coaching in Wales, coaching, video analysis, heat drills. In Newquay every grom seems to have a coach even if it’s just his Dad, they’re having group sessions, filmed, analysed. They are thinking about their surfing! Not just, I got a sticker on my board, I’m sponsored, excellent, I’ll just do a few comps and surf in the Welsh team. We have to get out of that mentality and think of the bigger picture.

Why did you GET INVOLVED IN TEAM COACHING?

When I grew up there were a lot of people that coached me. I wanted to help out a few of the youngsters and pass on what I was taught. I only really started last year, I went to Morocco with the Worlds and really enjoyed it. But the main reason is to help develope welsh surfing.

Any young super groms that can turn heads? Are there any that can whoop some English?

They can definitely turn heads, more on a local scene though, we’ve got a few years to catch up at the moment. There are a few that are showing promise, Dan Breson, Billy Sharpe, Max Tucker, George Schofeild.

What are your plans for the winter?

We usually go away for Xmas and New Year but that’s out of the window because a close friend is getting married, It going to be quick trips somewhere, definitely to warmer climates.

Any shout outs

JP for making me good boards since I was 12, Santa Cruz and all the boys in Double Overhead. Also my wife for training me and being understanding with my surfing, and all the LSD boys.