Simon Hetrick in 'Dead April'

Creator & Innovator Simon Hetrick throws the ultimate hat trick with his new edit ‘Dead April,’ featuring, edited AND musically produced by the man himself. Having spent as much time in the recording studio & behind the screen editing as he did chasing waves, his new edit features sights and sounds that’ll leave you itching for some quality time of your own deep in the barrel. Hit play to watch the magic unfold & scroll down for a few words from Simon about the film.

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**First, tell me a little bit about who you are and where you’re from.**
I’m Simon Hetrick, 20 years old from Ocean City, Maryland. I was born 4 hours inland in PA and came down to the shore as a baby all the time to my grandparents condo. Been surfing ever since and eventually my family and I moved down to the beach. I grew up doing the local ESA contests and eventually the national circuit and a few pro juniors here and there. I started to figure out that I was missing a lot of swells at home and abroad while traveling to surf contests in crappy waves with packed lineups. Since then I’ve focused on traveling filming with my friends and making surf flicks and I love it to death.

**How long have you been surfing? What’s your style?**
I started surfing when I was five and can’t thank my parents enough for supporting my love for it. They didn’t surf but were always there to push me in and have fun in the water, as well as get me on the road. We’ve had many a fun east coast road trip. Hard to say, I try to just surf relaxed, have fun and let it flow.

**What inspired this film? Can you tell me a little bit about the roles you served on the film itself?**
I wanted to capture what it was like to be a East Coast surfer during the weird year we’ve all had. It was a really good time to be home and without much going on locally our lives were centered around the home break this year. I edited the film and recorded the music with my good friends Stephen Alther and Matt Mcqueeney, Matt filmed the majority of the film as well as scoring the synth interlude.

**How long have you been making films and edits? What inspires that work?**
Since I was probably 12, looking back at old YouTube edits from then is pretty classic haha. I think when I was around 14 my music taste and surfing was developing a lot and it was a big learning period with editing, along with a couple really good seasons of waves. I was picked up by Vissla around then and everyone involved has been incredibly supportive of my filmmaking. My friends who I surf with day to day and inspirations who have become friends like Dane and Noa who have always been themselves and done their own thing get me fired up to create.

**The music – what roll did you play there? Did you collaborate with anyone on the piece?**
I played guitar, bass, and tracked vocals, Stephen Alther played drums and sang as well, and Matt Mcqueeney played synth on the interlude tracks. My dad tracked harmonica on the first track too. It's been sick bouncing ideas off each other and refining it together as we record.

**What’s next?**
I’m working on an album of my own while the boys and I continue to record for demo album and a studio record we’re hoping to release by the end of the year for Valhöll. In the meantime we’ll keep writing and release a few tunes for fun.

Instagram / @simonhetrick