- In the words of publisher Ryan Stutt: There’s a hobo with a squid on the cover?” Cover photo: Burkard
Something cool just happened. The first issue of a new magazine called LATER.mag just dropped. There aren’t too many Canadian surfing magazines. Sure, there’s a couple – SBC Surf is the first one that comes to mind – but to be honest, there’s not a huge amount of strictly Canadian content. It’s also cold. The weather can be terrible. The waves are finicky, and where they’re good, it’s usually difficult to get to. But that’s all part of it. That’s what makes it amazing. It is however, a big part of what makes Canadian surfers travel so much.
Which is where LATER. Magazine steps in. It’s a magazine from Canada. It’s a magazine about leaving Canada, about getting mugged, getting barrelled, getting drunk, and generally having a good time. It’s a magazine about surfing, about travelling, about music. It’s a magazine about living. Travel. Surf. Fiesta.
Last year sometime, a friend of mine, Eric Greene, called me up and said something along the lines of, “Hey, we’re starting a magazine. You want in?”
Yes I did. And so did Colin Adair, Andrew Sayer, and Ryan Stutt. Every0ne involved knows their way around the publishing maze. Now it’s a real thing. It’s got pages and words and a cover and photos. And it looks amazing.
I like it. You will too. Here are a few questions I asked the friend who called me, Editor-in-Chief Eric Greene.
Why’d you want to start a magazine?
Because we wanted to create something fresh and interesting. I guess it’s a passion project, but it’s got so much potential to become something amazing. We had the right people involved before anything even started, so the ideas started happening naturally. Why did you get involved? I mean, print is dead, isn’t it?
Print is dead! Long live print! I guess I got involved because I like stories. I like people that write stories. This is another medium that I get to play with. It’s not a surfing magazine, exactly. It’s a travel magazine with a spin on it. Where did you come up with that idea?
There’s no idea behind it, really. We just wanted to make a magazine where there was something cool on every page. No shitty filler, you know? Maybe a cool thing is about surfing, or maybe it has nothing to do with surfing, but it’s still cool. There shouldn’t be a boundary about what should be in this magazine. It’s for people like us who want to see good content. You’re a surfer, but there are many things you’re into that extend beyond surfing, so why don’t we mix all those things together?
Who are the guys you got involved?
Andrew Sayer and I were both working on other publications and were vibing about trying to make our own thing just for the sake of doing something we were psyched about. We approached my publisher, Ryan Stutt from King Shit and King Snow magazines, and pitched our concept about a new magazine that was essentially about nothing and everything at the same time and asked if he’d support us and publish it. He was down, obviously. Then we got Colin Adair to be the photo editor and you to do whatever you do and then it was this real thing. It ended up being so much work beyond two guys chilling on a patio with beers, being like, “Hey, let’s make a magazine. No big deal, right?” But the whole thing has been such a rad learning experience for all of us. This is fun, isn’t it?
What’s your background in the magazine business?
All of us at LATER. have been working in the media game and come from backgrounds in the skate/snow/surf industries. We know so many people that are living the best lives and doing amazing things, so we want to be the media platform where everyone can share their stories and show their work.
How did you get the content for the first issue?
We started hitting up all the people we knew in the action sports industry and telling them what we were doing. Sayer , me, and you fished for writers and content ideas, and Adair connected with photographers all over the world. It was a real challenge because we didn’t really have any money and were trying to sell people on a product that didn’t exist yet…asking them to put their trust in us. Some people weren’t into it and that’s totally fine, but other people supported us and got involved and we can’t thank them enough for sharing their work and creating the first issue with us.
Were there other obstacles you had to face to get it done?
Oh man, there was so much shit behind the scenes. We got these designers, Breadwinner.ca, and they’re awesome, but then we had to pick the paper stock, the inks, sell ads, build a mailing list out of nothing, budget distribution costs, design a brand new website, and a bunch of other stuff. It was crazy, but awesome going through all that and figuring it out.
What was the response like after the first issue came out?
It’s still slowly getting out in the public now. The craziest response has been from us because it’s actually a tangible thing now. We have a final product that is complete and we’re proud of it. It’s a trip. But I know we can do it even better, so we’re grinding out another print issue and making sure our website is ruling. People seem stoked, though. We’ve been hearing from a lot of people in California, New York, Hawaii, Mexico, and all across Canada who have already seen the mag and they’re so psyched on it. We all really put ourselves out there with the magazine and didn’t hold back. There’s some raw and honest shit in there, but it’s the truth, you know? It’s life! I think people are accepting and appreciating that and we can’t really ask for anything more because that’s what we set out to do in the first place.
Where can people find it?
We’ve been trying to get an address of every industry shop and brand and send them magazines. We want to get LATER. in as many hands as possible, so if you can’t find it in your local shop, hit us up online and let us know where we missed. You can subscribe on our website too if you want it mailed direct. LATER. is free, but we’re doing a limited run on newsstands in Canada just to get more eyes on it and make it easier for people to go and pick up a copy while we’re still a new title.
Are you just doing this for the free trips? Come on, be honest.
Ha. We’re all going to be roaming the globe no matter what. If someone is willing to pay for our airfares, well, that’s the dream. But we’ll always been finding a way to get out there…don’t’ worry about that. That’s what LATER. is – Life on the road, adventures, searching, surfing, and leaving all the bullshit behind. Get out there and live your life so we can print some stories about it.
