Alex Knost

How a Newport Beach longboarder is redefining what it means to be a postmodern surfer

If you're a surf media consumer, you know Alex. In recent years he's become the poster boy for the modern longboard movement. "He has amazing board control," said Thomas Campbell, the painter turned surf cinematographer who can list amongst his many credits first exposing Alex's talent to the larger surf community in his 2004 film Sprout. "He's chosen to ride narrower-nose longboards, and they force you to ride a wave exactly how it wants to be ridden."


This explains Alex's highly unpredictable style, which comes across as a blend of the classic postures and maneuvers of 60's log-riding with the exaggerated recovery techniques of 70's experimental surfing and the attack-minded nature of modern shortboarding.


"He's motivated as fuck" says Campbell, who helped produce Alex's band, The Japanese Motors' album. "He's at the zenith of motivation right now. This is it for him. This is when the energy in his body and his mental capacity are connecting, and he's really able to focus. And he's doing it. It's fun to be able to work with people like that."


Wanting to surround yourself with smart, intersting people isn't something most Orange County-raised pro surfers aspire to. Then again, neither is longboarding, designing clothes, making indie rock, directing low-fi surf movies or Xeroxing crazy collages all over the place.

By Joel Patterson
Read the full story in Surflines Water