Thank you to everyone who tuned into a chilled meeting of minds between the guys behind
and ! is a writer, podcaster and founder of All Conditions Media, an agency rooted in outdoor and action sports. We met after being served each others #content on Substack Notes and discovered a shared passion for reading. Our chat ranged from childhood influences to DIY skate magazines and we share the books that shaped our work and choices.It was a really fun time, despite only Matt having access to beers. Stick to the end for Matt’s literary-inspired expedition to Iran gone awry…
🔑 Key Themes
Reading as adventure (and a load of reading recommendations)
The evolution of media from skate mags to Substack
The DIY spirit
Reading and writing role models
Why Barbarian Days is the best
Highlights
‘Reading was always there. Like, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t doing it obsessively.’
‘I had this English teacher, Mr. Grice, who just sort of quietly told me I was good at this, and that was enough.’
‘We were literally just making it up as we went along—photocopying pages, cutting stuff out, sticking it down. But it worked.’
‘That’s why I think Barbarian Days was so good. It wasn’t just about surfing—it was about a life, you know?’
‘I went from doing listicles and ghostwriting stuff to Fringes, which was the first thing I felt really came from me.’
Notes
Being a lifelong reader
We spoke about being obsessive childhood readers and how that shaped our identities. Even when English degrees made reading feel like homework, we found our way back to books as joy and escape. Willard Price, Wilbur Smith, and Enid Blyton were some of the early influences—problematic now but powerful and adventurous books primed to capture young people’s imaginations.
Role models and education
We talked about the formative power of when someone sees potential in you. Both of us were lucky to have great English teachers who offered encouragement, but also permission to take reading and writing seriously. We speak about books as homework vs books as exploration and how we realised careers were possible in storytelling.
Creative DIY
Matt traced his career from running snowboard mags to founding a communications agency. His early lessons came from the punk-like ethos of DIY skate culture, where iconic magazines like Read and Destroy weren’t polished, but passionate. It was instructive to realise no one knew what they were doing, but they did it anyway.
Also, if you’ve got an idea for someone, you should pitch them!
From rugby to writing
‘I went from doing listicles and ghostwriting stuff to Fringes, which was the first thing I felt really came from me.’
‘That’s why I think Barbarian Days was so good. It wasn’t just about surfing—it was about a life, you know?’
Ben shared how he transitioned from professional rugby to writing, building from odd jobs, ghostwriting gigs, and clickbait blogs to publishing Fringes, a memoir about life on the edges of professional sport. He cited Barbarian Days by William Finnegan as a major influence—an honest, lyrical take on subculture, purpose, and place.
Being inspired by the lives of writers
‘And this is how much of a pretentious wanker I am, really.
I did a snowboard trip to Iran.
Basically because I'd read Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron.
Whether it was The Road to Oxiana or Barbarian Days, we shared how many of our endeavours began with reading a book. So
And yes, Matt once found himself following those literary footsteps all the way to Iran—an unexpected chapter that says a lot about where reading can take you.
📚 References
Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage
The Racket by Conor Niland
Barbarian Days by William Finnegan
the work of Wilbur Smith, Enid Blyton and Willard Pryce
A Thousand Threads: A Memoir by Neneh Cherry
Read and Destroy (skate mag)
The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (it’s 99p on Kindle right now!)
What Matt learned running his company for 20 years
Make sure to check out the rest of Matt’s work at Looking Sideways.
Share this post