ADIL AZOUBA
Local Carpenter and surfer from Anza beach.
So stoked to present one of the most special collaborations
Adil Azouba is a craftsman and bodyboarder native from southern Morocco. He lives a few minutes from the sea in a small fishing village of the African continent. Every day he goes down by motorcycle to his workshop from which you can hear the shores breaking against the rocks of Anza beach. His day-to-day life is spent in his small studio on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, polishing his wooden creations and escaping to surf the spots in the area.
His work became a lifestyle driven by the sea and woodcrafts, through a pure self-expression and creativity exercise.
During the last months we have designed hand by hand-to-hand with him a limited edition of 20 handcrafted SURF COMBS, leaving our brand mark «Made for pleasure» impregnated.
Today we tell you more about Adil and his life. A story based on the reconnection of the man with nature, surfing and religion.
Hey Adil, long time without having a talk. We hope everything is alright around your beautiful land. Did you surf these last weeks? Nice winter season?
Hey guys! It’s a pleasure to have a talk with you again. Yeah definitely, this surfing season was amazing. Good waves and no crowd. Maybe the only good thing of Corona is that I could surf alone every morning before going to work. It’s been a privilege.
For all those that would like to know a bit more about your beginning. Who is Adil? How did you start in the woodcraft world? At which point did you start making a living from the woodcraft?
Adil is just a simple, single (you can call me if you like me 😉) guy. I’m 33 years old and I was born in Anza where I still live today. Life for me is all about family, surf and work in my little place. Since I was a child I always had the curiosity to craft and build stuff. It all started with my father. Many years ago, during summers, I used to go with him to the local market where I had the chance to work as a carpenter and as a welder. Then I realized I was falling in love with creating new things from wood.
However, it was only 6 years ago when I decided to start my own business. After practicing on my own (watching YouTube videos and experimenting at home) while I was working as a sailor for fishermen. But suddenly one day I woke up really sad, spent the whole day crying with no reason so I went to the doctor. The doctor started to asking me why I was crying but i didn’t know why, so he asked me a question that changed my life: “What do you want in your life? Where would you like to see yourself in the future?”. After this question it was like a revelation for me and something turned on in my mind.
I went back home, picked up all my stuff (bodyboard, clothes, fishing rod, etc) and I traveled to Imsouane to spend some days with myself thinking about my life. After 5 days of loneliness, prayers and surf I came back to Anza again. After working 2 years as a gardener (but studying to be a wood artist/carpenter) to earn some money, one day I decided to quit everything and start looking for a place to start my own project. I found it and I started working and showing it to the people and posting on Facebook. Then, suddenly, I did my first sale. It was a wood clock for a friend of mine. It was such a special feeling that gave me energy to continue on this. It made me realize I could do it.
So after that day 6 years ago, I’m still here, better than ever and working in a lot of big projects around the region.
As an artist, where or how do you find inspiration?
To be fair, the ocean is my main inspiration. My best inspiration moments are while I’m surfing alone, just me and the sea. The best ideas arise there. Then I go back to the office and start working on these ideas. Sometimes inspiration also comes from the mountain. Many of my best ideas came while I was hiking through the mountains.
Tell us about a day in Adil’s life.
Out of Ramadan, I wake up early, around 6:30 in the morning and the first thing I do is to pray for God and go checking the waves. If it’s good I just go out and after the session I start working. Then I work. And at some point I eat something fast and keep working. Waves check to see if maybe I can get another surf and if not guess what: I keep working! Once I finish work, I go back home, I check the projects for the next day/week, I relax, chill and enjoy dinner with my family. After dinner we usually go to the church to pray for God again and go back home to rest. That’s basically a normal day in my life.
Morocco’s surfing industry and popularity have been growing by leaps and bounds during the last decade. To what extent did you feel such development in your region?
Yes, definitely. There has been a lot of changes and evolution during the last 15-20 years. And I could say that almost 100% of this progression is because of surfing. It has helped a lot of people to the local people in the region: Thanks to surf schools, surf camps, tourists etc many Moroccan people have opportunities to have a good job while it keeps them away from other bad things. Surfing made people’s life better, that’s a reality.
How would you like to see Morocco’s future of surfing?
I really would like that Morocco could be one day a world reference because of its amazing waves, food and people.
Bringing together the words “project” and “dream”. Do you have any personal projects or dreams to accomplish in the spotlight? Don’t be shy and open yourself:)
I have many dreams but no doubt my biggest one is to have a big beautiful workplace in Agadir with nice machines to work so my family is proud of me. On the other hand, my other biggest dream is to travel to Europe, live other cultures, languages and of course surfing with the Macabre crew around there.
Last words to all of our readers?
I just wanted to thank Macabre for the confidence they put on myself and my work. Also thanks to my family, friends and Allah’ for supporting me in my life. It’s been a pleasure for me to be here with you, I hope you enjoy the interview and see you next time brothers!
Thanks for your time joya, we hope to see you soon again ¡Inshallah!
