Friday, January 02, 2009

AQUA CHECKS IN WITH ANDY DAVIS

We wanted to see what Ando and Friends were up to and how things were going down south. These guy's are always creating beautiful stuff and we are always excited when a box shows up at Aqua Surf Shop. Here is a quick check in with Andy Davis and some photos of Ando gear and art.




When, where and why was Ando & Friends started?

Ando & Friends was born in the fall of 2006. It had two homes, Cardiff and Costa Mesa California. Cardiff was where myself and two of my partners dwelled, and Costa Mesa was where our other partner and our showroom (Andoland) warehouse and offices were. One of our partners was Jeff Kelley from Sanuk sandals. I had known him for a while and he and his partner Ian Kessler approached me and wanted to know if I wanted to start another clothing brand. I had two other clothing brands prior to Ando & Friends, FREE and Byrd. After a few months of talking and negotiating Ando & Friends started.

Who have been your influences in both art and surfing?

I have had many influences in art and surfing. Here are a few in both categories. Art: Dr. Seuss, Margaret Kilgallen, Alexander Girard, and David Weidman. Surfing: Curren, young Wayne Lynch, Greeno, Alex Knost, Neal Purchase, and Tyler Warren. Way too many to name man!


WAVE SET TEE

What music are you currently listening to that gets you amped to surf and create your art?

It just depends on my mood I guess. Let's see the last time I painted, yesterday, I was listening to the Smiths I think.

What have you currently been working on? Are you doing any shows or events in the near future?

I am currently working on a few different projects. We just finished a window display at Patagonia and I just started working on a new one for a store called south coast in ocean beach (sandy ego). We are finishing our holiday line and I am starting to storyboard our Spring/Summer 2010. That sounds like Jetson's shit. CRAZY! No shows for a little bit, next year sometime.

Do you create the poses, waves, and characters in your art and clothing from actual surfing moments? (Such as pictures or video footage) Or do they come from your memory in the water?

The weird lanky humans I create come from all sorts of things. Day dreaming mostly, actual surfing memories too. Books and movies find their way in there from time to time as well.



SLASH TEE

Where do you like to surf and what type of board/boards are you stoked on?

Usually I surf close by my house, little shitty out of the way beach breaks and a couple little nooks that come to life from time to time. I like to ride all sorts of stuff. Not really any thrusters anymore. I have not ridden them for about 14 years. They were all that I ever used to ride and I was not having as much fun anymore so I started trying everything else. The board I am really stoked on at the moment is a 5'6 Larry Mabile twinzer. It's beat up as fuck, super delammed, but it still goes good.



INSIDE OUT HAT

What lies ahead for Ando & Friends?

What lies ahead for Ando & Friends is to keep supplying the stoke. We are starting our kids line, I have a four-year-old son Noah and he is my inspiration. We will be doing more with our very talented young family member Tyler "Pickle" Warren. More in the Friends Depo with Jeff Canham, he lurks in your neck of the woods. Having fun with our new website, being blogheads! We are also working with new factories trying to have all of our products becoming as organic as they can be. It takes awhile and we are still learning.



INSIDE OUT HOODIE

Thanks a lot to Andy Davis for giving Aqua his time and input. Look for Ando & Friends Spring and Summer 2009 apparel in our shops this upcoming year. Check out their website at www.andoandfriends.com. All the best to them and thanks for keeping things fresh.

AQUA SURF SHOP