When I sat down with Hadrien Meyer at Crossroads and our beers came in, I had no idea what to expect. Music, surf, style, attitude – Hadrien has it all, but what is Hadrien doing all the way in Malta?
“I didn’t even look up Malta when I first moved here. I took my girlfriend’s word as gold and just came. When I arrived it was midnight in a post-Brexit, pandemic hit world…”
All Hadrien was looking for was sunshine, beaches and the English language. He was limited to Malta, and that’s no limitation at all for anyone with a curious and adventurous mind.
“Malta doesn’t get appreciated enough,” he said smiling. Music to my ears. We agreed that only boring people get bored, and Malta has a lot to offer. “There’s just so much talent here” continued Hadrien. “Music, sports, attitude, art, all compressed into one tiny space.”
Listening to him was a breath of fresh air. He’s 23 and works in trading. If only I was half as smart as this fella when I was his age.
“Finance comes easy to me” he answered politely when I pressed about the trading gig. That industry is about to enjoy a second rebirth with his generation, so I feel Hadrien is on the right track for a super bright future.
If his employment surprised me, the answer to what he thought the best part of the island came as a bigger one.
“It’s tough to pick one thing, but I love history and it’s insane here and so important geographically throughout civilisation.”
I’m used to hearing people knock Malta, but Hadrien loves it here and appreciates what he has around me. “The Maltese have this attitude about them which I love. There’s a certain grit to the locals which I love and mixed in with that there’s this Americanism about them which makes me feel at home.”
Such an honest appraisal of our island was welcomed. “The humour, the way they act is also very similar to the French, but there’s this American twist which I find cool.”
Basically, Hadrien has found a little part of himself on this little island. His father, an American Navy SEAL, his mother, hailing from the French Riviera have produced this cocktail of a boy which seems to fit in in this melting pot of an island. It’s a good love story!
Romantically he painted a picture of the islands which resonates well. “You’ve got the flat roofs, the wind turbines and the cacti, which gives it this New Mexico feel, and everyone’s so friendly.”
The first hour of our interview went on this way, and we hadn’t even discussed the surf yet, let alone his musical talent and passion.
Hadrien, or Luke as he also gets called, learned how to surf in the Canaries, but has practised his sports in many hot spots. France is his home turf, but he cut his teeth in Portugal.
“This guy, Rasta, would literally throw me into the biggest waves and that made me drop the fear.” He’s the one who impacted Hadrien’s surf life most. “You’ve got to be a king in the water like him, he’s a legend to me…” he reminisces about his surf instructor in Cascais, Portugal.
“When I first started surfing here, people warned me about the conditions at Ghajn Tuffieha Bay, and they were right…”
“It’s wild there as the Mediterranean water acts like the ocean, it will pull you down or smash you in a sandbank, and if it’s not those two it’s those buoys and lines that got me on my first surf.”
Hadrien has surfed in many of Malta’s bays and loves Marleys too. “That’s a different ball game. There’s the reef and you can get dragged in badly… on top of that you can step on a sea urchin too, so all in all that is an intense spot.”
“What I like about Marleys is there is more of a sense of a community. The dedicated surfers are there, the big guys, the OGs.” The surf community here “has the dramatic balance between the OGs and the newbies, which makes it interesting.” Even though we’re on a tiny island, the surf scene is no dissimilar to bigger areas abroad.
The OGs and the more experienced surfers are fundamental to an island that is growing as a surf destination. These are the guys who keep coming back, keep returning and live for their sport.
Two guys who stand out to Hadrien are Xav and Joe, but “The appreciation I have for Jay is real. He is so aggressive in the sea and so good.”
“Then there’s George, Captain George who represents balance. The wife, the kid, the family, and still time for his passion. It’s a lifestyle I look up to.” he admits.
After surfing amongst dead cats and sewage in Vietnam, Hadrien lists Madeira and Morocco as a dream destination but knows there’s still unfinished business here first.
“My dream locally is to surf the reverse osmosis in Pembroke, but this is a super dangerous spot due to the reef and wilderness of it all…”
Before he ticks that off his bucket list, Hadrien is on this awesome rock which he loves and is exploring his musical career too. He’s released a few solo tracks on Spotify and also plays in a band called Bennie Blue. Its music that has that laid back Jack Johnson/ Ben Howard vibe nailed, which is a style I am a sucker for personally.
We’re featuring some of Hadrien’s track on the right of your page, as at such a young age we know there are bigger things coming his way.
