INSPIRING SURFING ROOTS, RUN DEEP
Adrian Lopez didn't know he was going to end up earning a living doing what he loves: surfing and shaping surfboards. Born in Sopelana, Bizkaia (The Basque Country), Adrian is a surfer since a very young age. He was born there and there also is where he learnt to surf and where he still surfs on a daily basis.
Even though he has travelled quite a lot, his basque roots run deep to the waves that saw him grow and shaped him into to a man. As he says, he gets inspired by mane things that he encountered during his travels, but the biggest inspiration and motivation comes from the coast and waves close to home. This is the reason why all the designs of Adrokultura are born with the waves that he usually surfs around home and France.
He shaped his first board in 2012 for a friend. It was a Mini Simmons and since then, he has done quite some boards bit without any continuity or compromise to the job in a long term.
It was not until November 2019 that he decided to dedicate himself to shaping surfboards. Since the last ones he made were getting better and better, people and friends who tried them were happy and enjoyed them... Things were working quite well so he decided to give shaping surfboards a real chance.
"I like to make boards that motivate me to surf, that can work on the beach where you surf or on the waves that are close to home. I'm lucky that I've been surfing all my life which also makes me meet a lot of people. Those people are motivated by the fact that you make their surfboards, and feel even more motivated to surf them if they know that have been shaped by you, a friend as well. That's what keeps my fire going when it comes to shaping surfboards, while learning and improving in the process."–Adrian Lopez.
When ask about what inspires him, Adrian has a clear answer: People who surf and shape, that do both for a living. It is key to have an eye on them; they are really inspiring because they are people who test what they do, that try and surf what they create. They understand the whole process and the do their job with criteria. That is what Adrian is inspired to resemble and works for it everyday.
There are a lot of names in the surfing world that inspire Adrian, but among he's my biggest inspiration we can find names such as Tyller Warren, McTavish or Chris Christenson.
"McTavish because I learnt to surf with one of his boards. It has also helped me a lot to extrapolate that knowledge of surfing when it comes to shaping and understanding the elements of the boards.
Christenson is a f***ing master. No matter what design he comes up with, what he shapes, everything just works in perfect harmony."–Adrian Lopez.