Shaper: Kane Barrie, gotta keep it fun!

Who is Kane Barrie?

I’m a semi retired heavy metal hero…a vatican assassin warlock…a wild eyed-scientist…a hydrodynamic engineer…haha…i just like to play fiberglass and build a few surfboards…

How did you get into shaping?

I grew up in a factory where my dad made boats…and i liked to surf…one thing led to another and my journey down the path of dirty chemicals had begun…

When did you shape your first board?

a stripped down long board when i was a wee lad…i left the fixed fins on the blank and glassed over them and made a mess….and got cut up by glass shards..first proper board with a planer wasn’t till 19…and it sucked too! that boards still lurking around a south florida garage somewhere…

Where do you get inspiration? Both design and shaping?

death metal and punk rock…guitar…nintendo…the aerospace and boating industries…80s movies…beer…a lot of my mates force me to build some pretty awesome stuff too…

Favourite board you’ve shaped?

6’0″ 19′ 2 3/8 “epoxy/crazy stuff vacuum bagged…slingshot flex…ended up giving it up to a mate who fell in love…

Who influences you and your craft?

i’m surrounded by crazy talent being on the Goldie and been fortunate to have good working relationships with some of the best guys…i also have a great crew of surfers I fine tune designs with…and some of my mates in Florida are the best composites guys in the world you’ve never heard of…surrounding myself with good people hasn’t done me wrong yet!

Favourite food

Sushi…with gallo pinto for breakfast…

Favourite spanish word

Bellisima pero estos son mas divertidos: mariquito, culeajuega, cadapicha, culaea chancha…jajaja kakaka…

Best wave you’ve ever ridden

any good day at Lago Mar with me mates…haha it’s good you don’t know what/where that means!

What do you think about progression? Some people think surfboard design is slow to progress. What are you doing to progress design?

you gotta look a little bit past the big boys…the prog is well and alive as its always been amongst smaller custom manufactures and the underground…I’m not makin miracles but…just fabricating things super fast/light/strong…got a couple magic tricks in that area…and I’m not the only one…there’s a lot of boat building/composites going down in Florida…NASA is in the middle of the state…and a lot of those guys surf…If I had my way…everything going through my factory would be unconventional/epoxy but the general surf world isn’t ready for that yet…and I gotta eat…haha

How many boards have you shaped?

i reckon probably 500ish on my label…every one start to finish…I haven’t kept track of all the other boards ive built though though 99% were epoxy…

What advice would you give for people looking for the right surfboard?

The day you’re honest with yourself about your surfing and equipment needs is the first step you’ll take into a bigger world…and don’t ask for the bro deal…a hungry shaper doesn’t cut smooth curves! haha

What’s the best way to identify the gap between a customer’s wants and true needs? 

I like to educate people a bit about whats going on…concaves, vee, foils, rocker, fins/placement, tuck, flex, poly, epoxy, materials, 10 fins, 16 channel…blahblah. ect…depends on how far they want to go down that track…they’re usually asleep by then and their magic board is done…

 What does the future hold for Nightmare Shapes?

Hopefully we keep pumping out better boards and getting good waves on those boards…gotta keep it fun…yew!!!

Pictures were taken by the AMAZING Victoria Aguirre. Graphic design: Sinai Mejias (me)

Special thanks to Victoria Aguirre, for being such a GREAT photographer, artist and friend! And thank you Kane Barrie, for being part of my blog!

love♥

holaparasiempre