Big Living in El Porto

Bigger is usually better, but not necessarily in surfing. Being small typically equates to a lower center of gravity, providing balance through many difficult maneuvers. At a deceiving 5-foot-6, Cole Heramb, a surfer and second year biology student at UCLA, proves this by stylishly maneuvering through waves and almost everything else he encounters in life.

Currently 19 years old and a resident of Los Angeles, Heramb is passionate about various creative realms, which include surfing, drawing, songwriting and comedy. The source of his creative nature resides in his hometown of San Diego, where he first learned to surf around the age of five.

“I became more serious about it right before high school,” Heramb said. “And since then, it’s been a major form of self-expression and inspiration for most things I do.”

Because of Heramb’s early exposure to the ocean, he suggests that he was naturally more driven to study biology, with plans to enter wildlife conservation.

“Surfing kept me in nature more than other sports did,” Heramb said. “It makes me happy.”

To remain happy and in the water, it means protecting the environment and continuing to “help preserve what we have now—keep it habitable.”

However, despite his love for San Diego, Heramb decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue his studies in biology, unaware of how his surfing would be affected.

Cole Heramb practices self-expression with a surfboard and a smile | Photo by Matteen Maroofian

“The water is different. People don’t realize how dirty the water gets, especially when it rains with all the runoff,” Heramb said. “But surfers experience the trash and damage of humans firsthand and how it affects the ocean. It directly affects our lives. Like yeah you might catch a wave, but you also might catch hepatitis.”

And as biology major, seeing the difference in water quality even at maintained Los Angeles beaches fueled him to further want to protect the ocean. Unfortunately, his love for the ocean did not extend to all beaches.

“I hate El Porto, but I also love surfing there,” Heramb said of the popular surf break in Manhattan Beach. “It’s unreliable and crowded and it’s like the wave is working against you. The water gets nasty.”

So while Los Angeles offered a different surf scene than Heramb was used to, it was here where he gained inspiration for his other artistic outlets, such as music. He has been a guitarist for 12 years and grew up performing at restaurants with the many bands he and his friends had formed. But it was not until he moved for college when he decided to pursue songwriting more passionately. He transitioned from simply playing covers to utilizing music as an outlet for self-expression. In fact, he recently combined his life experiences to self-produce his debut album, titled “Red.” He states the project is a stamp of his self-empowerment as he attempts to understand and overcome the hardships of a previous relationship among other changes generated by college.

Cole Heramb tosses buckets and draws lines on an aquatic canvas | Photo by Matteen Maroofian

“Obviously, flow and rhythm are huge for both music and surfing,” Heramb said. “So part of what I create is influenced by my surfing and they’re similar in that regard.”

He even admits to having several songs directly about the ocean. “A wave is like a good rhythm section and a surfer is a guitar solo just shredding it up,” Heramb jokes.

To accompany the release of his album, Heramb even dyed his hair red. But while the dye on his hair is fading, his musical prowess is not, as he will be releasing his next album, entitled “Leopard,” in February. He states that it will not only be produced better, but it will be different from “Red” in that it is more lively and is about taking charge of life and becoming an individual.

No word on how this will affect his hair color.

Heramb also recently expanded his desire for self-expression in other realms as well. At a young age, he began drawing animals and his introduction to surfing resulted in ocean-inspired imagery. Heramb then started drawing for everyone and on everything, including his surfboards. This soon transformed to drawing on his friends’ surfboards and eventually to designing clothing. Similarly, he took a stab at comedy by joining an improvisational group and frequently performing shows, although always tying his motivations to surfing.

“I just wanted to be able to communicate creatively and likewise surfing is nothing without creativity,” Heramb said. “Also, waves are a canvas to paint on. It’s a metaphor. Everything I do is related.”

Although with his recent artistic endeavors, Heramb claims that he occasionally has trouble connecting school with his other passions, as he tries to visualize his life as an interconnected, holistic experience. Nonetheless, he just hopes to keep progressing and moving forward, never remaining stagnant.

While his diverse artistic passions have shaped him into somewhat of a Renaissance man, he attributes some of it to his size at a younger age. Throughout his childhood, Heramb allocated much of his time to soccer. However, in high school, largely due to this size, Heramb failed to make the soccer team. This left him not only upset, but also pushed him away from physical activities and toward more individual ones, such as surfing.

“Size didn’t really matter in surfing,” Heramb said. “I didn’t have to be bigger than anyone else.”

Instead, he found other ways to be big, although he says he is much bigger now. Thus, while he blames some of this artistic success on his soccer failure, he is glad he has managed to find overlaps in his passions and remain positive and humble.

“Being small kept me humble,” Hermab joked. “To be honest, I’m the most humble person I know. Besides, it makes you look tougher when you’re surfing bigger waves.”