About blunt

blunt magazine was first put together by founding editor Miles Masterson (a.k.a bluntEd) in a dingy, damp, roach-infested converted garage flat in Hout Bay, Cape Town, in early ‘97 – with little more than a sketchy dial-up internet connection, a shitty PC and an old-school film camera.

blunt magazine’s launch

blunt magazine’s launch issue, April 1997. Roger Coyles, blunt slide, Thibault Square, Cape Town. Photo by Nic Bothma.

The vision was to create a magazine that represented and brought together like-minded fans of individualistic sports and creative subcultures, including skateboarding, surfing, BMX, wakeboarding, underground music and more, combined with a healthy dose of FU anti-authoritarianism, and environmental and social activism.

blunt-office

blunt magazine’s second office space was a big step up from the first. For a start, there were no cockroaches. Ralph and Seamus, circa 2000.

Co-founded and supported by Craig Sims of Atoll Media in Durban, blunt magazine was immediately notorious for its uncensored, no-bullshit, off-the-wall ‘gonzo’ editorial approach. blunt quickly became one of South Africa’s most successful, bestselling print publications, with a nationwide, cult-like following of tens of thousands readers and devoted disciples.

Kids in SA went nuts whenever blunt rolled into town. The blunt Fast Forward Road Show, PE, circa 2004. Photo by Rowan Trollip.

Always innovating, blunt launched one of the country’s first magazine websites, produced videos, hosted movie screenings, took part in major national events and international tours, endorsed TV shows and went on some crazy road trips. We also had a ‘blunt stage’ at all of South Africa’s biggest music festivals, where the likes of Fokofpolisiekar and countless other legendary SA bands and musicians played their first gigs.

Many of SA’s top bands played their first gigs on the infamous blunt stage, including the likes of Fokofpolisiekar. The blunt stage, Splashy Fen, circa 2000 something.

In an ironic twist, thanks to the magazine’s phenomenal success, blunt was sold by its primary owners to publishing beast, Media24. But soon after, it was abruptly closed and the mag was no more…

Until now.

Laying dormant but not forgotten, blunt has emerged from its long hibernation and is now wholly owned by its creator and founder Miles, who has worked hard with his small team of freelancers and contributors to breathe new life into blunt magazine once more, just as he did in that tiny garden flat in Hout Bay 25 years ago.

PE BMXer Matt Mcloed

Building on its original legacy, blunt remains true to that original vision – to be the unbiased, independent voice of like-minded progressive South African subcultures – and continues its mission to spread the gospel of adrenaline sports, personal freedom and unfiltered fun and creativity to the world.

And it’s fucking great to be back. Watch this space, suckers.

– bluntEd.

Thalente Biyela,

Thalente Biyela, kindly representing for blunt, wearing a long sleeve ‘Legend’ tee from our new range of limited edition merch, February 2022. Photo by bluntEd.

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