Grant Noble’s Got It All Going On
Photo: Giovanni Angelone
Grant Noble carries around so much talent that if he shook his shoes off right after coming through your front door, a whole load of it’d come spilling out and make an absolute mess of your carpet.
And you know what the worst part of it is? It all comes naturally. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Some things come effortlessly to people, and that’s just the way it is. Stories of hard work, dedication, and early bedside alarms paying off for a lifetime of success are great and all, but that’s what Hollywood and the shows you half-watch while eating dinner are for. The truth is, there are people out there who can just do things well with an air of cool, and you don’t even feel the smallest tinge of jealousy about it.
That’s how Grant is with surfing and shaping. And skating, dirt biking, and generally enjoying life around his native Costa Mesa. If you’ve been paying attention to all the proper pockets, you’ll know Grant’s name has launched beyond the strato, right past the meso, and is now resting somewhere around surfing’s thermosphere.
His shapes are some of the most requested on the those-that-know-know market, his clips generate buzz, and his surfing's both refined and exceptionally agreeable to watch. He’s also one of the genuinely nicest people around, so we thought that’d be as good an excuse as any to call him up and chat about how his trademark casual approach to everything has helped bring classic, California cool back into the conversation. And with that…
Yes, Grant! How are we?
You know, living.
And how are things down in Costa Mesa?
Yeah, it’s actually been actually pretty weird. It’s been kinda slow. Especially after all the rain, the water’s been pretty gross, so I haven’t been surfing too much.
“Everywhere was going off, so you felt guilty not checking other waves, but it felt good scoring the home stuff. ”
It’s been the same up here in LA. Gross water, flat surf, and not that much excitement out in The Pacific. How were you going during that insane run of swell here, though?
Dude, that was great. I didn’t think it was going to end! And then it stopped, and I thought, ‘Hey, I feel pretty good still.’ But then that second wind kicked in, and I was like, ‘Damn, I really miss being surfed out,’ (laughs).
Photos: Zac Milan
Did you mostly stick around Newport and Orange County?
Yeah, I ran up to some of those weird spots up in Long Beach, but nothing was really that good after the first jetty after Blackies. But that? That looked like Pipe. It was crazy. I got a few okay ones (laughs). But the guys that were ruling were getting tubes from jetty to jetty. It was completely psycho.
Even Venice was completely pumping!
Yeah, I was going to drive up but I figured everywhere was almost going to be too big. Everywhere was going off, so you felt guilty not checking other waves, but it felt good scoring the home stuff.
Yeah, there’s no need to overthink those sorts of things. What were you mostly surfing on?
The first day of the swell, like, what we thought was going to be the biggest day, I was actually a bit of an idiot and rode a 5’7” twin fin. I don’t know what I was thinking other than, like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve surfed this before, and everything is always so fun on this board,’ but then the next day was triple the size, and I was out there thinking, ‘Well, I should be on a step-up.’ It was a struggle fest. The waves were so good, though; I didn’t want to get out of the water, I was just getting spanked (laughs).
Was that a self-shape or from someone else?
Yeah, it’s just a twin fin that I shaped for decent waves but not good waves. But then, the next day, I rode a step up and realized I should’ve just been on the same thing the entire time. It would’ve made for such a better time.
So is that the board you paddle out in your everyday conditions?
A bit, yeah. It’s like a poor man’s thruster. It’s a twin with a trailer, so it has a little bit more…? Well, fun to it.
“It’s definitely weird shaping a smaller board.”
How often are you shaping boards just for yourself?
It depends. I’ll sometimes get set into a quiver that I’m really psyched on, so I won’t make myself a board for a couple of months. But then, when orders slow down, I’ll start shaping more for myself, and I’ll have a flurry of boards that I’ll be running around with going, ‘I want to try this! I want to try this! I want to try this!’ Or, ‘Oh, I’ve never tried one of these, so I’ll shape something like it and try it now.’ But, yeah, it’s just when orders slow down that I start making shapes for myself.
Photos: Zac Milan
If you’re making something for yourself, are you going with the tried and true or getting wild with it and seeing what sticks?
It depends on the mood, really. I have those days where there’s a board that’s looking really good or has been working, so I’ll just switch up something small, like changing the concave. But then there’re those days where I’m, like, ‘I want the weirdest board. Let’s switch a tail template for the nose template.’ It really depends, but for the most part, it’s refining stuff that I already know works.
So a lot of walking into the shaping bay and feeling the mood. What are you mostly getting barked at to make for everyone else? All ten-foot nose riders?
I mean, I’ve been mostly shaping longboards. But, I mean, that’s the go-to that everyone buys. But I also do a fair amount of fishes and mid-lengths. Longboards are the top thing people want, and then mid-lengths, and then fishes. Smaller boards are definitely popular, but shaping them is almost scary at times because I know what works for me, but I don’t know how it works for someone else. Especially if they’re also a good surfer. It’s definitely weird shaping a smaller board.
I mean, do you ever get the cursed ‘Surprise me!’ order?
Oh, that’s a scary one. Or even if someone says, ‘Hey, you choose the colour!’ And it’s like, ‘I don’t know what you want, man, you’re crazy!’ But I actually like it if you know how someone surfs, their weight, and all that. But it can be scary because it’s such a maths game. If you’re wrong, I mean, they’re going to be so bummed. Oh, and if they ask for liters, I’ll just look at them, like, ‘…Dude, no. If you can’t put this board under your arm and it doesn’t feel right, it’s not right.’ Base it off feel, and don’t just center things around some stupid specific number.
“it can be scary because it’s such a maths game. If you’re wrong, I mean, they’re going to be so bummed.”
How long have you been formally shaping for?
So, I know for a fact that I did my first board ten years ago. But that was out of a garage, and that doesn’t really count. I think I’ve formally been shaping for the past five years, at least at the point where I was confident enough where I knew I could make something that I know I wouldn’t totally hate. And it’s a product that I can put out and be proud of. So in that sense, it’s only been about five years.
And how much of that was self-teaching? Or was there anyone who, you know, you didn’t necessarily apprentice, but you shadowed or followed their movements?
It was both of the Tanners out of Costa Mesa. Tanner Barrett and Tanner Prairie. We would all hang out at Tanner Prairie’s shop, and he had a bay there and he would just let us shape boards when he wasn’t there. He’d let us Frankenstein his templates and everything, so I would always shape in there. And then Tanner Barrett worked at a glass shop, and he would show me everything, the whole surfboard building process. He shaped really well, and he glassed really well, so he’s definitely a huge influence on the boards that I make.
Photos: Tanner Harvey
And was there a first shape that you put together, and you sold, that made you realize, ‘Okay, I can do this.’
Yeah, I started making these mid-lengths, and no one really cared how a mid-length rides, hah. You can’t nose ride it, you can’t really turn it. It’s the easiest way forward when you start making boards. People didn’t really expect a lot from that type of board. They’re all-around fun boards.
And have you ever had anyone hit you up for a board that made you say, ‘Oh, wow, okay. This is serious.’
Actually, yeah! I’ve definitely had that feeling where I was almost panicking. I’ll still make your board, I just really hope you like it (laughs).
It’s rad to see shapers from Costa Mesa really embracing that DIY, alternative approach while still keeping that classic, high-performance Southern California presence.
Yeah, Orange County is crazy. Like, in Newport, you have all these numbered streets, and you’ll go up the jetties, and as you go up, it progresses from alternative surfing to high-performance surfing. At Blackies you have the longboard kids riding their boards, and it’s pretty rare to see thrusters. But then you move up to 36th street, and that’s the direct in-between of Blackies and 56th, and you start seeing some more high-performance boards and fishes. And then you move to 56th Street, and it’s all the kids with dads on the beach filming and scheming to get them on the QS, and there’s very minimal craft (laughs). It's cool to see everyone riding different boards and the variation, though.
Photo: Giovanni Angelone
So, you only started formally shaping five years ago, but you only really started surfing when you were like 16, right? That’s almost decrepit by generally accepted international standards.
Dude, yeah! I had so many hobbies growing up. It’s weird, but I only started surfing for a living only recently. As a kid, I was riding BMX bikes and racing dirt bikes, literally from like 5 years old to 14 years old. And there are really no translatable skills there, to be totally honest. But, as a kid, I was almost ashamed of it. I saw all these beach kids, and I was like, what am I doing all these inland activities? No beach kid wants to hang out in the desert. But as I grew older, I realized it was really cool, actually. I took my ten-year hiatus, though. I basically stopped riding when I was 14, and then I just got a bike, and it’s some of the freest I’ve ever felt. It’s a nice place to escape, well, work (laughs). Not a lot of translatable skills, however, for sure.
But my family would take me to the beach on the weekends, and I’d burn time bodyboarding, body surfing, and just all of it. So, it was a nice combination of water and land, I guess? I just wanted to do what my friends were doing. I’d have friends that would go to the skatepark, so I’d go, ‘Well, I have to keep up with them.’ And then I’d go to the beach and would have to keep up with those kids. I was almost the runt of the pack, but then I started surfing, and I obviously started on a thruster because that’s what everyone rode, but I realized I was never going to be a QS kid because I didn’t have the skill or drive to go out and compete in all those contests. So I went out and made a mini Simmons, and that was the first board I ever shaped, and it threw me into a weird trajectory of riding alternate boards and trying different styles. I found a lot of enjoyment in all that.
“Well, I’m fighting off a bit of a cold, so the only thing I’ve been doing is fishing in the local pond, bass fishing. I sound like a full-on redneck.”
I mean, was there ever that moment when you had that, ‘Oh shit, I’m surfing for a living! I’m actually doing this, and it’s also actually pretty sweet,’ realization?
Yeah, I was just getting flowed by RVCA at the time, and I was riding a longboard at Blackies, being a kid and all you know. Growing up there, however, I watched a lot of those, you know, Alex Knost Goes To Central America videos and whatnot, and I’d see him and say, ‘Dang, that’s really cool, what’s it like on those trips?’ And then one day he came up to me in the parking lot and said, ‘Hey, I want to take you on a trip.’ Then, lo and behold, I was basically on one of those same trips with Alex and Nathan Strom. At the time, I was, like, literally living up to my dreams at the time. I was on a trip with my two favourite surfers, and I was thinking, does that mean I surf like them? And then I realized, huh, maybe I do (laughs).
And what’s the plan for the Spring? Where are we going to see you next?
So I was supposed to go to Peru, but that kinda fell through with all the riots going on (laughs). But other than that, my horizon has a couple of late-season Hawaii trips and a few Mexico trips. And I’m always looking forward to Hawaii. I’m trying to film for a new part, and it’s nice to get away from California for a bit and get some waves. I don’t have to bring a longboard! And then there’s, like, the Duct Tape and Mexi Log Fest… I love those contests, so hopefully, I get invited.
I’m sure you’ll show up.
It’s one of those things where the week before the contest, I’ll shrug it off and shrug it off and then realize that, actually, I really want to do the contest, hah. But then I’ll hit them up the last week and apologize for declining the offer earlier and ask and ask if there’s any room for me. I really enjoy being a part of it, and you see a lot of people I normally wouldn’t see. It’s almost like a big family reunion.
It’ll be good to get out of California for a bit. Surfing in the Spring for surfing can be completely tragic with the wind and the completely dormant Pacific. It’ll be nice to get some smaller, quicker boards and actually be in something that’ll push you around a bit.
Yeah, I mean, it’s only like head-high a couple of times a month here, so I’m really on the longboard on a day-to-day basis because it’s necessary (laughs). You can still surf something, but it’s California’s dirty secret! Or at least in Southern California, that it’s really only waist-high most of the time.
What’s the agenda for the rest of the day?
Well, I’m fighting off a bit of a cold, so the only thing I’ve been doing is fishing in the local pond, bass fishing. I sound like a full-on redneck.
