Bill Hamilton-The Matador, Journey of a Legend.
February 2022, life takes me to Kauai, HI for a nice vacation stay in the North Shore. Few weeks prior to arrival I do a quick brainstorm session on who might be in the Hawaiian Garden Isle that could be a great guest for my podcast, maybe 15 seconds into my brainstorm session I thought "wait isn't Billy Hamilton from Kauai?!"
A quick internet search provided a phone number for Bill. I left a voicemail and 24 hours later I was speaking to the man himself, the legend, The Matador.
A date and hour was set and I had an interview with one of the most influential surfers of any generation. Surfer Magazine in 1985 mentioned BH in an article as one of "25 Surfers Whose Surfing Changed The Sport" as referenced on EOS https://eos.surf/
Unfortunately, Billy and I had some time constraints, we had an hour and change to talk months worth of surfing history, surfboard design and personal surf anecdotes. I had to cherry pick carefully what we were to talk about, what topics would my audience prefer to hear?, what questions would lead to interesting and insightful answers from a surfing legend?
The day came and I had a list of questions and topics as I usually do for my interviews and I knew the list was way too vast to conduct in an hour, so I opted anxiously, to just let the interview unfold and let it be. Well, my attempt to relax a bit and let the surf gods take care of business actually made me more stressed. I was to be dropped off at Billy's place by my party that consisted of my wife, our 7 month old baby and friends. The Crownovers sensed my tension and stress leading to the interview, because it was obvious. To give context and justify my behaviors to our non-surfing friends from the the Midwest who happen to be basketball fans, I told them I was about to interview the.....Kareem Abdul Jabbar of surfing, a legend of legends. They understood.
Upon arrival, Billy welcomed me with plenty of aloha and an ice cold brewski, good to settle down and hit the record button. We had a good conversation that I hope you guys enjoy. I had my occasional brain fart and some language speed bumps but all in all, I am stoked with our interview.
See you in da wata,
2p
Topics:
Beginnings
Longboards In The Sixties
Shapers In His Life
The Pivotal Times
1966 World Championships San Diego
Nat Young and Magic Sam
Surfboards Hawaii- Stylist 1 and 2
Longboards Fades Out
Surf Culture/Etiquette
Futuristic Innovation
The Ten
Shoutouts
Bill Hamilton Book Coming End of 2022
Stay Tuned!!!!!!
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