DemonFactory

We get a chance to sit down with the CEO of the DemonFactory. He tells us all. Well, maybe not all. He does gives us a little insight to this site. The reason for it. The future of it as well.

Rusty Steele (RS): Thanks for taking some time out to talk to us dude.

Demon (DF): No problem.

RS: So tell us who you are?

DF: I am just a guy. I’m from North Florida. I am the owner and chief asshole of this blog. I surfed as a pro in Atlanta. Ok, I made that last part up.

RS: How did you get started doing this?

DF: I lost a bet… Seriously, I started it back in 2008. At that time, it was centered strictly around MMA and UFC stuff. We ran interviews with some UFC fighters and such. Basically, it was like 1000 other MMA themed sites.

RS: You don’t seem to do much with MMA stuff anymore. Why is that?

DF: There are plenty of good sites that do a much better job covering the fights and the other stuff. It was a passion but it wasn’t a part of my soul.

RS: So how did you go from a UFC centered site to Surfing? Seems like a stretch?

DF: Unlike UFC/MMA, I was never a fighter. I grew up surfing. I spent each and every weekend at beaches in Northern Florida. Surfing was my life for so many years. I grew reading Surfer and Surfing mags. Gerry Lopez, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards were the popular surfers from my time. Yes, I am dating myself but someone needs too.

RS: What about surfers nowadays? Who do you like? You seem to put out a ton of hate.

DF: I put out a ton of hate? Over half is from your drunken ass! You’re the one banging on Eugene. You came up with Slater’s nickname ‘Prince of Poontang’. You made fun of Jordy Smith that he banned you on Twitter.

RS: True. I do have fun with some of them. You told me a year ago that we could have fun. Fuck things up a little. That’s what we do.

DF: My belief is that we should be different. Push buttons a little or a lot. Think outside of the box. Anything that we do on this site is more of a humor based than hate filled. I’m sure Fanning can’t stand us. I know he tried to crush Chas Smith at his after-party during his championship week at Pipe. We just call-out what we may find funny. We also give props where we see fit too.

RS: Why not run more interviews then? More stories like Surfline or Surfer Mag or Transworld?

DF: What? Suck? I kid. They have their place and we have ours. And because they have their place, it gives room for sites like ours. Nugable.com is another one that gets it. He thinks outside of the box. He will call something out as well. Some lump sites like ours as ‘Surf Hate’ sites but I don’t think that is accurate. We do more along the lines of Satire.

RS: Back to my other question. Who do you like these days? What surfers grab your attention?

DF: I am a big fan of the Free Surfer guys. I can appreciate guys who walk their own walk. Guys who say ‘Fuck the system’ or ‘Fuck the ASP’. I believe in a free way of life. So guys like Machado, Jamie O and a bunch of others stand out. Even though Slater is technically not a Free Surfer, I still admire what he has become. He is the Tony Hawk of Surfing. He is larger than the ASP. Even if the Rebel Tour does or doesn’t take off, I think you got to nod your cap to the guy.

RS: What about guys on the tour?

DF: Even though you bang on Jordy, I think the guy has mucho talent. I like Parko, Dane and Bede. Taj rips but I didn’t want him to win at Pipe but congrats to him. I like CJ and Damo a lot. Not only because they are from Florida, they’re also great surfers.

RS: So you also have the World Famous Demon Girls. How did that start?

DF: I wanted to stand out a little from the other sites. I came up with the idea for Demon Girls. I met a couple of ladies who were ring girls and some other bikini models. I talked to one and became friends. Vanessa Wade was our first Demon Girl. She was also an MMA Ring Card Girl. She ended up being featured in Playboy last year I think. I also built her website. VanessWade.net. Vanessa got me in touch with some of her other model friends and it just kind of took off.

RS: You’ve told me before that your Demon Girl pages get over half of your traffic. Yet, you haven’t had any new girls added in almost a year. Are you done with that part?
DF: It is true. The girls get a good amount of traffic. Our surf articles are now getting a ton of traffic. But, it still doesn’t compare to what the Demon Girls get. No we aren’t done with them. We actually will have some new ones added over the next couple of weeks. And they are top-shelf too.

RS: You’ve also added a new writer. Who is he and where did he come from?

DF: Victory Burgandy is from Thailand. That is true because I checked his IP location. I’m on Twitter throughout the day and night. Not all day and all night. My God, I got shit to do. Some people are tweeting all fucking day. Anyways… I had Victor Burgandy going back and forth with me about some writers and shit. Well, we kind of hit it off a little and I thought the guy was a unique character. So I asked if he would like to write a story for us. He did. He has done a few for us now. I like his style a lot. I think he fits my idea of writing for this site with his off-the-wall humor.

My idea for this site, which continues to morph into whatever, is a mixture of Maxim meets Playboy meets Surfer/Surfing/Transworld meets The National Enquirer. Like I said earlier, let’s think outside of the box. We have some visitors that come for the surfing. Some that come for the Demon Girls. Some that are now coming for some of his stuff. I couldn’t survive with 100% surfing. That’s what Surfline is for. I like other things in life besides surfing. Some of our visitors never followed surfing in the past but now may be fans because of this site. We’ve also hit a little on the skateboarding scene with stuff on the Z-Boys. We just did an interview with Mike Vallely. He was kool. He is another guy that you should respect for standing on his principles. Jay Adams and our Bunker Spreckels articles are kool too.

RS: You’ve now put offers out on Twitter for people to guest write. Can you tell us about that?
DF: There are some talented people in our world. They may have a good idea but not really any platform for people to see. I will publish someone’s work if I think it will fit what we are trying to do.

RS: We really don’t get many comments on this site. What’s the problem there?

DF: Because we suck and nobody reads anything here? Shit, I don’t know. I know that we have and continue to develop a following. Our traffic continues to grow each month. I get a good amount of emails. I get plenty of feedback and RT’s on Twitter. I think many of our readers aren’t the type to leave comments. I know Jordy reads it because he blocked you after one of your famous articles on him. On the other side, I think the bitches are scared. No one can figure us out or if what they are reading is true. Maybe they feel like we are trying to bait them? Who fuckin knows. I am kool with the feedback and growth that we are getting.

RS: Who inspires your ideas for this site?

DF: I could say the obvious like Bukowski and Hunter and so on. But I think that can go without saying for me. I admired Chas Smith and Derek Rielly a ton. I like their Fuck You writing styles. They both think outside of the box. Derek has a really cute ass and smells good when he has English Leather cologne on too. Those two guys have their own styles and they ‘get’ it. I think it was a shame that those two shutdown Likebitchin. It was a different site. It was more than a ‘surfing’ site. It was a shame that some would try to keep it within the surfing parameters. It may have been a little ahead of its time.

RS: What’s on tap for 2010 with DemonFactory?

DF: Fuck if I know. I just throw shit up against the wall on a daily basis. If I throw enough of it, something ends up sticking. I did say earlier, the Demon Girls will grow. I hope to find another writer with the humor and ideas that Victor has to offer. I hope to continue to push the envelope with new ideas. I will always try something different. Just like my personal life, I am just trying to be me.

~RS

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