Creating your own unique image and finding a niche in a saturated surf industry dominated by brands following a similar identity in order to appeal to the masses can be difficult.
However, freesurfer, shaper and businessman Coby Perkovich has done exactly that with his grunge and metal inspired high-performance SYSTM surfboards and his Terror Deck and fins.
Prior to starting SYSTM in 2019, Coby also delved into shaping as part of his brand “Sabertooth” which operated from 2015-2018.
Coby believes it is important to “stick with your brand image” when starting a business.
“My aesthetic was always dark. At the start it was more like a computer glitch vibe, but I’ve always been into aesthetics, it’s really important to me and I’ve found my niche with the grunge and metal style of things. You wouldn’t think it, but so many people are into it.
“I like being in complete control of the brand image, I’ve been asked to do things in the past with sponsors which I felt were super dorky and not really my thing, so it’s nice now that I get to pick how things look.
“It’s super important when starting something that you stick with your brand image. With SYSTM, I make high performance short boards and I don’t tend to stray from my thing. I’m not going to start pushing and selling bonzers or alternative boards. You do have to look after your customers and if someone really wanted me to make them something alternative, I won’t necessarily say no but I keep that kind of thing more under wraps as it’s just not me.”
Coby explained that his dad made surfboards and had always encouraged him to start his own brand.
“I was living in Indo for a few years and then I moved back home at the end of 2015, I was just a full surf bum at the time and I thought that I kinda needed to do something with my life. You are your own product and so that’s when I properly started Sabertooth in 2015. I was hand-shaping every order for a few years, learning and hacking away. I was still trying to do free surfing on the side and at the start I was surfing a lot more, I didn’t have as many responsibilities, I didn’t have a mrs at the time so it was easy and I could do what I want.
“I rode for Lost for a year in 2018 and so stopped making Sabertooth but when I was getting to the end of my deal I realized I was making no money, which led to me manifesting and eventually creating SYSTM.”
It’s important to note that Coby runs every process in his brand, alongside his brother who glasses the boards.
“I literally do everything, I talk to everyone, build the website, make the boards. It’s hard for me to find time to surf and it gets kinda hectic, especially when I get people DM’ing me in the middle of the night.”
Coby currently makes SYSTM boards on the Gold Coast and ships them around Australia, as well as exporting his boards to Japan.
He added: “I think the hard thing with being solely high performance is that I do look at myself as being in the realm where those big brands are. It really comes down to marketing, having the budget to make films, getting people to ride your boards, paying all your staff and at the minute there just isn’t enough time in the day for me to try and expand another level.”
While many shapers surf, not many surf as good as Coby who is known for his extensive aerial repertoire and is still a paid free surfer. However, Coby does not beat around the bush at just how difficult it is to make it as a free surfer full time.
“A lot of it is smoke and mirrors, it looks all glamorous but it’s not, they’re all bunking in the same room, it can be a really grindy thing. Obviously you have the top guys and they’re making a living but it is really hard. Companies have started to realise that if I’m investing x amount into a person, how exactly are we getting this money back?”
Alongside SYSTM, Coby has recently created Terror Deck and fins which allows him to ride products that are all of his own creation.
“I thought because I make boards, I may as well make accessories with it. I was originally going to do some SYSTM grips but I feel I’d be restricted to who I can sell them to. You wouldn’t put a SYSTM grip on a Sharp Eye board. That is where Terror has come in. I’ve kept it simple and in-keeping with my brand image and niche. It’s all about the aesthetics and I want it to look clean, kind of like what Octopus has done.”
Last year Coby signed his first team rider to SYSTM – friend and rail powerhouse Robbie Rickard, quite the juxtaposition to Coby who is known for his antics above the lip.
“Rob’s the polar opposite to me in surfing but it’s perfect because he can test my boards and gives me a completely different perspective to how I see things.”
Moving forward, Coby said he’d like to find more time to surf himself.
“Sometimes you wish you were more busy and other times you wish the opposite. I’d like to be able to surf more and although it can be hard, I wouldn’t do any other job.”
