Pipe specialist Jamie O'Brien lives, breathes, and sleeps the BanzaiPipeline on the North Shore of Hawaii. No really, he lives in a house right on Pipeline, so he actually does sleep and breathe the wave. Even though he makes his living by surfing Pipe, Jamie O is clearly not a one-dimensional surfer, and this week he's out to prove it when he'll compete in the Standup World Tour's first stop, the Sunset Beach Pro.

Jamie caught up with SUPmag about the upcoming contest and his new hobby.

Interview by Joe Carberry


SM: What got you into standup?â¨
JOB: I bought a Laird board because I thought it'd be fun to mess around with. I went out and caught some bigger waves and it was challenging. (At this stage in my career) it's more challenging than shortboarding at five or six feet. It inspired me to do it more and more.

SM: What board are you going to use at Sunset?
JOB: â¨The guys at Paddle Surf Hawaii gave me a 9'3" and it works awesome.

SM: Have you been out at Sunset much on a standup?â¨
JOB: Actually, I haven't practiced out there on a standup much. I'm sure I'll wing it. Hopefully its not big bumpy and windy. I tend to fall over a little bit. I'm good once I'm on the wave. Mostly it's just fun and challenging. That's why I like it. I don't like to take things too seriously.

SM: How do you think you'll fare against the field?
â¨JOB: I definitely want to do good. It's like anything, you're gonna want to win. I did a contest at Makaha and won my first heat. That was really cool. But losing, at this point, is not really a big deal. I'm just gonna try and get waves, hopefully its not too big. There's guys that are really good out there (on this tour). It's definitely something that's not easy. The guys that are winning are winning for a reason.

SM: Do you think you'll compete more in standup?â¨
JOB: If I get a little better. I want to get the guys to come paddle with me so I can figure it out. I want to go over and try to do stuff with Kai Lenny (my teammate with Red Bull). Hopefully he can give me some pointers. It's not that I completely suck, I just need to learn to use the paddle a little bit more when I'm surfing

Check out the full interview.