Frother of the Month – Justin Bevan

By Franck Gazzola - www.frothers.com.au on December 31, 2014 in People

Name: Justin Bevan
Occupation: General Manager of JA Wales and owner of Foam Symmetry magazine
Age: 42
Local Break: Bondi/Cronulla (I live between both and go to whichever suits me that day)
Board types: I’ve got way too many to list here
Goofy or Natural: Natural

Where are you from?
I grew up out in the sticks at Picton, I surf at Bondi, and right now I’m living in Arncliffe.

What brought you to the Eastern Suburbs?
Working in Alexandria it’s easy to hit up Bondi for an early surf before work. The traffic back to work is always a breeze, so I can squeeze an hour or so in and still make it to work on time.

How long ago did you start surfing and why?
I started surfing full on at about 31 years of age. I owned a longboard for a few years prior to that but it would only get pulled out once a year on Christmas holidays – I was a complete kook! My son took up surfing when he was 12 and he got good quickly and I wanted to share that with him, so I got stuck into it also. I’ve never looked back. I wish I’d started surfing when I was a kid.

Do you surf for your own pleasure or do you compete?
I surf for the love of surfing, but I also enter a few contests here and there, more so that I can hang out with my mates.

You’ve started an incredibly different surf magazine called Foam Symmetry; how did you get the idea? What was missing in the current surfing printed press?
I was getting images published in another longboard mag, and after working hard on shooting I was disappointed with the way they laid the article out. Sitting around with my wife and good friends over a few drinks on the way back from the Noosa Festival of Surfing we pulled a bunch of mags out, some 5 to 10 years apart, and they all looked the same, every issue. My wife turned to me and said, “You’re working at a printing company, make your own!” After 6 months we did it. I wanted to provide an outlet for guys to get creative, take ownership of their articles, design them and add their personal touch, so we would end up with something beautiful and not just what I think is cool each issue.

If everything went according to plan, where do you see Foam Symmetry in five years’ time?
Hopefully we’ll still be going, and maybe I’ll be able to go around and thank every person personally who has been involved and contributed to Foam Symmetry still being around. Without them the mag is nothing.

You’re literally working two jobs; how many times per week do you manage to get in the surf?
I survive off four to five hours sleep a night tops, and if conditions are right I will manage to surf three to four times a week before work and then again on each day of the weekend.

Where is your next holiday destination?
My next holiday will be a week down the coast at our caravan at 7 Mile Beach in Gerroa over the Christmas period, and then I’m off to Noosa in March for the Festival of Surfing. After that it’s a month-long trip to California in their summer with my wife.

Any last words?
If you’ve bought a copy of Foam Symmetry, thanks for supporting us. If you haven’t, go find one – it’s full of beautiful pictures of surfing including plenty of lady surfers, some interesting reading, and not too many adds – happy sliding!