About

It all started when…

2001, NELSON.

GOSC’s seed was germinated in what is best described as NZ’s best kept city of seediness and smut. You know it better as Nelson. A medium sized town by NZ standards that masquerades as a city in name and nature. When I was 18, Nelson only had a modest population of 41,000, yet no one can explain the need for 5 or 6 bustling nightclubs, all of which were rammed Thursday though Sunday. A piss-heads playground.

We partied hard, too much really. This was smack bang during the CKY/Bam Magera/Jackass period of the early 2000’s. All we cared about was how far we could push the limit of fun. Mostly this involved pissing people off, public annoyance, punk rock music but above everything we loved skateboarding. Everything revolved around skating.

Now, for all of my disdain for Nelson, there is no denying it is gifted with an enviable climate, great weather and beautiful beaches. And while there was surf shops aplenty, unfortunately it is swell bereft. For myself and my gaggle of equally dead-shit mates, our lives revolved around concrete and coping, red wine and ruckus, punk rock and partying. Surfing was visible, it was there. Californian punk bands mentioned it, older dead shits spoke of it, they had licenses, (mostly suspended). Kaikoura and Westport were far-off places where it apparently took place. Licence needed, somehow attained.

2005, BYRON BAY.

The rest is history. 7 ply maple wood toys were swapped for polyurethane toys. The late night drinking lifestyle of Nelson was swapped for the late night drinking lifestyle of Byron Bay. Boom jeans swapped for Billabong boardshorts. To be totally honest I felt (and still do) like a skateboarder who was learning to surf. I personally didn’t change aside from the board under my feet.

I met an Aussie girl, she surfed when she wasn’t drinking. Her old man also owned a surfboard factory, interest piqued.

THE LABEL

All through my hell raising, skateboarding youth I had an itch. I guess I knew I wasn’t the most talented skater. I think that lack of talent created the itch. I loved industry chat, who’s riding for what label, who’s winning the local comps, who’s dropping the best range of new tees and shoes. I bought my favourite pro skaters decks, shoes and clothes and I arranged them in my room like a store display. I wondered a lot if I could create a label, can I create a label? Or was that something handed down via nepotism. Remember this is very early 2000’s, a long, long time before Instagram and Alibaba supported pop up brands. The only real missed opportunity I somewhat see as a potential sliding doors moment was with a bloke called Pete Field. Pete opened Kind indoor skatepark and spawned Kind skateboard decks alongside. The park started off with a hiss and a roar but eventually died of natural causes. Pete offered me, on an extremely boozy night out his press and what was left of his plywood supply, apparently enough 7 ply for at least 600 decks. 10k was a fair chunk of change for a young Gnome. Internally I panicked. You see, I knew this was an opportunity, a label could be born and I had the money needed in savings. I declined and swiftly flew to skate and party in London and Barcelona before relocating to Byron Bay.  The reason? As much as I love marketing, creating aesthetics, working with team riders and telling a story. My true love and passion is craftsmanship. I love to create and bring visions to life. Pressing plywood and drilling holes in basically the exact same size piece of timber did not float my boat. Too many constraints, not enough variables and definitely not enough customer interaction to keep my overactive mind sane.

THE CRAFT

I learnt to shape as I learnt to surf. 3 years in on my surfing timeline I started to realise I wasn’t alone. Nelson has no university, you either finish high school and hop on a commercial fishing boat or flee to Wellington, Dunedin or Christchurch to prolong your drinking and education. Or for my particular crew of friends you moved to the Gold Coast and embarked on switching from concrete and snow to Currumbin and Snapper. All of a sudden you had an influx of very competent board riders infiltrating lineups across NZ and parts of Australia. The paddling, fitness and lineup nous couldn’t be fast tracked, but once up and riding the balance, muscle memory and creativity from skating and snowboarding took over. I needed a shape I couldn’t buy, scores of others realised the same. GOSC was born and the mantra was “short, fast and wide, paddle and hide(foam). In essence, floating skateboards.

2020

GOSC’s current abode is Pottsville Northern NSW, Australia. A garage in Suffolk Park, a rented shaping bay in Byron, a commercially leased factory in Wellington, then a 2 year stint working as a production board builder on the Gold Coast are all part of the story. The same Aussie Mrs, 2 kids, a carpentry apprenticeship and numerous attempts to relocate back to NZ fill in the gaps along the way.

It’s hard to admit but skateboarding is not prominent in my life anymore. I’m a fully fledged surfer and am obsessed with all aspects of building surfboards. For all the tales of a wasted youth I did achieve good grades at school, inherently I am a student with a wildly, bordering on obsessive analytical mind. I informally study hydrology, the movement, distribution and management of water. I am a self confessed surfboard nerd and I pride myself on delivering aesthetically pleasing surfboards that perform exactly as intended. I also pride myself on creating a family, what I refer to as the “GOSC program”. Where anyone who sees and appreciates the ethos, culture and story behind GOSC can come and belong. It’s fun and inclusive and wholeheartedly positive,