Category: Interviews

Meet South-East ‘Lunduner’, Helena Georgia Long. She’s 15 and is Greenwich born and bred.

This year she came from nowhere to win the under 18’s section at the Girl Skate Jam UK in St Albans with an array of tricks the sponsored laydee’s would have been extremely proud of!

Known as “Hell” to her mates you’ll find this girl encouraging them to hit up spots at 4am (AKA ridiculous-o’clock!!) just to be able to get the chance to skate a banned area.

With the legs of a Danny Wainwright, Helena’s willing to give everything and anything a go regardless. Her eager attitude towards skating means she is a photographers dream! And naming no names they will shamelessly exploit her like a performing monkey, with a needless repetition of tricks that she will never complain at, to get their shot – sorry. With whispers of sponsorship for this emerging talented youngster, she is definitely one to watch for the future.

How do they say hello in Cockney wherever it is you’re from?

‘Safe yeh’ or ‘you aite’

Alright Helena, Safe yeh? Any other good slang then?

Urmm…weirdest phrase I’ve heard is ‘I’m terffin manor’. Which when translated means ‘I’m going home’

You’re another of these skate sugar abusers, the secrets obviously in the sweet stuff – being good at skating that is?

It’s all in the Starbucks Coffee Based Caramel Frapuccinos – £2.90!

So you’re part of the Greenwich Crew what are the spots like round there?

There are some really nice spots but they’re quite touristy. So it’s hard to skate without using the sentence ‘Sorry my board went into your ankles, are you ok?’

Canary Wharf is one of your local spots, it’s pretty darn amazing, but what’s up with the security “jobs worthy” guards (I was made to delete all my digital images in front of them as apparently it’s illegal(?!?) to photograph skateboarding at Canary Wharf – luckily they did not spot the film camera hah hah!!!) Are there always so many of them wandering around in packs looking so gormless?

Yep! Have nothing better to do really! They threaten to confiscate your boards and they escort you to a train station or bus stop so they know you won’t come back and make their day hard work. But if you really get on their nerves, they give you a ticket meaning you can’t go anywhere on the Canary Wharf site again for 6 months. But I wouldn’t worry because they never pay attention to the tickets and so you can just go back there like usual and then get chucked out again.

You and your friends got up at 4am one morning just to be able to skate there, that’s real dedication!! Then you became a Tesco hobo?

Well there was this one time when we really wanted to skate this spot in Canary Wharf. Even though it was 4 in the morning there was this one security guard who kept walking up and down the road leading around it. Luckily there were these huge pillars which we hid behind, moving from one pillar to another behind the strolling security guard. When we eventually managed to sneak past round the corner we got to skate for a good 15 minutes at this treasured spot. After we got kicked out we got hungry and decided to go to Tesco’s, but as it was around 5:00am and Tesco’s opens at 8:00am, we decided to go to sleep for a bit outside the shop. Not the best sleep but a sleep’s a sleep!

Everyone who knows you talks about your enthusiasm; you’re kind of the skate equivalent of a Mr Motivator.

Well heaven is a halfpipe.

The first time I came across you is when you blasted into first place at this years Girl Skate Jam, you pretty much blew away the rest of the competition. Was that your first big comp?

It was indeedy! I thought the turn out was amazing, and the amount of effort put in to the comp was amazing! I’d never seen as many girl skaters in one room at the same time. The only other girl I’d ever seen was a girl about 7 years old on a Barbie skateboard slowly being pulled along by her dad.

What tricks did you do?

Urm…blunt nose grab out on the quaterpipe, boardslide down the rail, 50-50 on this box out from a bank, indy grab 180 from the roll in to the bank and a pretzel flip …that’s all I can remember!!!

You’ve since expanded on the blunt – fakie to blunt- finger flip – fakie, what’s next on the blunt combo?

Well I was thinking quite hard recently and have thought of kick flipping into a blunt and then finger flipping out. It will be really hard to get but if I get it that would be the best trick ever!

You then proceeded to come joint first in a mixed mini comp at Bay66 that’s pretty cool?

Yeh that was quite an experience but he (the other competitor) beat me on the deciding round unfortunately. But that was a lot of fun. I’ve been looking for other comps everywhere just to enter and try out, not bothered about winning because they’re just so much fun themselves, winning is just a bonus!

I’ve heard on the grapevine there’s some sponsorship coming your way, that sounds pretty exciting…

Well let’s hope so!

So where do you want to head with your skating – travelling, sponsorship meeting people?

Ooooh that’s a tricky one, urm well…skateboarding is just a hobby but I’d love to extend it by travelling to places with great spots that would be great and making friends on the way would be even better! I don’t see myself making a career out of it but if I could, now that would be the greatest opportunity, doing something I love for a career!

Shout outs:

Sam, she started this great opportunity, Jake and Joe who got up at 4am for me and everyone else who has always supported me in this sport, there are a bunch of names I could list but it take way too long!

Jenna Selby

Words and snaps by RLD
Sequences courtesy of DVS Shoe Company
Switch Flip pic by Leo Sharp.

Jereme Rogers is unique. Despite standing just short of 5 foot 10, this Bostonian rises well above the competition as video parts and contest placings will attest.

Skateboarding aside, Jereme is still a larger than life character and this might be due to a strong belief in himself and the big Him upstairs.

Ralph L-D didn’t beat around the bush with this one; Jereme gets quizzed on the PJ Ladd video fallout, his love of God, his jewellery and those tattoos. Read on.

Uhhh… Yeah! So, Jereme how did you get into skating?

(Laughs) Who me???

Yeah, tell us the 5 W’s of your beginning with a skateboard. Who got you into it? Where..?

Some friends of mine were skateboarding in my neighbourhood, and you know you kinda pick up what your friends do. So, there’s the ‘Who?’ ‘What?’ has to be a skateboard because that’s what I ride!

What was your first board like?

An old school board, like they had newer boards at the time, but my step dad gave me this big, old fat Vision board, or some craziness… 8 ½ inches wide! 9 inch trucks! Independents! Then, ‘When?’..? 1990- something..98? I was 13 at the time. So, yeah I was 13 then and I’m 21 now so if you guys want to do the math. It’s 2006, 8 years ago- 1998!

Damn 1998! That’s like 411 number 50 or something???

(Laughs) Yeah! And ‘Where?’- Boston. That’s where I started.

But why?

Well, I played plenty of other sports, like baseball, gymnastics, I used to snowboard… I did plenty of other stuff, but skateboarding was fun. It’s like a nice bit of independence where you can get a real sense of freedom whenever you want, wherever you want.

Were there many skateparks around Boston back then?

Nah, not really. There was this one place called 8-Ball that I went to a lot because it was in my town. And then for the most part, I would just go into the city everyday because there were good street spots in the city. I skated there everyday for a couple of years.

Living on the East Coast where you have a winter and a summer, did you find that helped your skating at all?

No, not at all! It only makes it harder because of the snow and rain.

Yeah, but didn’t those seasons fuel you with a different motivation?

I guess, but if I had grown up in Los Angeles, I probably would have skated a lot more… But I’m glad, everything worked out for the best. I’m happy I grew up in Boston because in LA you have to drive everywhere, whereas in Boston you can skate around the city all day. I’d stay in for the city for up to 12 hours a day just pushing around, ollieing up curbs, do a little boardslide… That was helpful, but everything has its pros and cons.

You blew onto the scene through your part in the PJ Ladd video. What was your reaction when you saw the kind of hype that video generated after its release?

I never read any of the reviews or anything, but kids would tell me stuff sometimes. I don’t know… It was cool.

When you were filming for it, did you have any idea it would be so big?

No, I had no idea! Towards the tail-end of filming for it, I was in the process of getting on Girl and had to film stuff for ‘Yeah Right!’, so I didn’t really concentrate on giving the PJ video my best footage. I didn’t think it would explode like that. If had known, I might have put some of my better footage in there, and like that it might have helped even more with getting on Girl. I just never expected it to blow up like it did. I should have known because PJ is so amazing! (Laughs)

So you were in the process of getting on Girl at that time. What was that like, being approached by someone like Girl who wanted you to ride for them?

It was amazing! But they didn’t just say, “We want to turn you amateur for Girl” right away. The way Girl works is they’ll flow you product, take you on tour, basically like a test period because they care about personality and how you are. Jeron (Wilson) hooked me up because DVS was doing a tour…

DVS are always touring dude!

(Laughs) Yeah, they’re always on the move! So they were on tour and Jeron saw me skating at this one demo, he started sending me boards and it just went from there. I went on the DVS tour with him, then I went to LA for a little trial period with Girl and they were psyched and put me on. So I was already on before the PJ Ladd video came out.

Who inspires you when you skate?

Ummm..? Eric Koston… PJ… I used to like watching Lil’ Stevie (Williams) a lot back in the day, but I don’t know how much he’s skating nowadays..? But, mainly Koston- He’s my favourite. PJ also. I like Paul (Rodriguez) because he skates a lot.

Do you hang out with Paul much?

Yeah, we skate together and hang out. I used to live with him for a while.

I see your tattoos and it’s pretty obvious that you’re religious man.

Yes sir! Fully committed.

When did you start getting those done? When did God come into your life?

2 years ago, I started acknowledging God a lot more. It’s only been recently since I met my new lady – that I’m getting married to – that I’ve been fully committed. In committed I’m saying like I abide by what He tells me. I don’t smoke or drink, I don’t really cuss… I go by these little commitments. Through obedience comes blessings, and the more I obey and do right for Him, then the more He’ll do right for me and my skateboarding and such.

So, it wasn’t through Paul that you got into God? I know he says he goes to church a lot and stuff…

No. When I was living with Paul, he was already religious and going to church a bunch of the time. The whole time I lived with him I just denied it and didn’t have any interest in religion whatsoever. It kind of came on on my own. I don’t know…

When I was in England I met (Christian) Hosoi…

Hosoi is a Deacon at the church I go to, and his friend Jay is the Pastor there. He’s a really good pastor and he talks about skateboarding sometimes which is really funny! He’ll compare God to skateboarding like commitment, for instance when you’re dropping in for the first time with a board- You put your foot over the bolts and fully commit to it. When he makes comparisons like that it’s fun.

Speaking of Hosoi, he’s someone that has seen it all and lived the ups and downs of life. Do you ever take time to look back on skatings past and try and learn from it?

Hosoi sure has! Most of the stuff we do now has already been done by people back in the day. Like a lot of today’s ledge tricks, they were doing on curbs. Nobody today is coming up with anything that new anymore. Most of the stuff has been done already in the old Plan B videos. I don’t go so far as to watch old videos with those 9 inch boards and stuff, but I will watch them for kicks. If I want to check back on history I’ll probably look no further than 10 years ago, 12 years ago, Plan B, stuff like that you know?

To my knowledge, I don’t think anyone’s done that 360 spin grind thing you did in ‘Skate More’, so no need to worry there!

(Laughs) Yeah!

Tell me, skateboarding has been through some hefty slumps in the past- What would you do if it happened again tomorrow? Do you have a back up plan for the future?

Whenever I’m out of skating, I’ll be going to Bible school studying to be a Pastor. Maybe start up my own church..? I don’t really know… But definitely something to do with the Ministry. When the time comes, God will put me there and I’ll do what needs to be done.

I’ve noticed by reading your tattoos, you obviously have a strong belief in your abilities and great self esteem, like “Fear no man” or “God” and “Fear” on each of your hands. Have you ever gotten any strange reactions from people when they see your tattoos?

Nothing too bad. I’m sure that people say stuff, whatever they want to say but I don’t really value Human opinion because at the end of the day I’m just skating and I’ll be in the industry anyway. You can’t please everyone, and I’ll just skate and be here for as long as I live. Then I’ll die and go to Heaven where I’ll be for a lot longer then here, so I don’t really have time to worry about what people think.

Aren’t there any tattoos that you regret having done?

No. None at all!

They’re special. Where do you get them done? Is it always the same dude?

Yeah, it’s always the same dude. Lately I’ve been going to this guy on Sunset Boulevard because it’s good to go to someone that you know is good. If I’m getting a tattoo done on my neck or hands, I not going to risk it and go to some random tattoo club! (Laughs)

What was your first ink?

I got these Boston and Los Angeles signs done first, right here on my forearms.

You’ve also got a lot of jewellery. What’s up with that? What was the first item you bought?

Ummm…? Even like back in the day, I always had some little silver chains and stuff. When I started making decent money, then I got something nice which was this Techna-Marine (Sp?) watch. They were kind of popular a couple of years ago with a big face and rubber bands, like a diving watch with diamonds embezzled in the face. I got that when I was 17 or something, then I got that Girl chain when I was 18 years old.

Do you splash out on the jewellery, or do you only pick specific things, like the Girl pendant or something that has personal meaning for you?

What do you mean by splash out?

What I mean is do you just go jewellery shopping for the hell of it, or are you like (Rob) Dyrdek who once said that each item of jewellery he has he earned through contest winnings and hard work?

I mean right now I only have like three pieces… I don’t keep loads of stuff on, I’ll just wear a ring, a watch and a chain and I don’t need anything else. I know what I’ll get in advance, and maybe if I’ve won a contest then that’ll be when I go get it, but I knew I was going to get a DVS charm. I just got this DVS pendant made recently because I’m getting a shoe out with them and I’m committed to them.

Do you think you might get some gold fronts?

Nah! (Laughs) I like them, but I don’t think so!

Say you found yourself in a spot of financial trouble or something, what would be the first bit of bling to go?

Ummm…? I guess I could sell my watch a make a good little money off that! (Laughs) Just try and keep the DVS chain the longest because that’s my sponsor and means something to me. I’d work my way backwards, like watch, ring, chain… But I don’t plan on being in a spot of trouble!

You must be saving the money too! You can’t just spend it all on jewellery and tattoos?

I have a house that I’m saving money for …

You bought a house?

Yeah, in Santa Monica. So, every month the mortgage that I put into that is saving money because I put it in the bank and it earns interest.

Did you ever believe skating could take you this far?

I didn’t know to this extent! I knew right since I started getting decent at skating that I wanted to skateboard professionally. Anything that I have pursued in my life, I’ve been pretty serious about. I have a light weight competitive spirit- not to the point where I’m a sore loser, but I will try and do my best, me personal best! So, I expected something, but I didn’t expect this much!

So you’re satisfied?

Yeah, I’m satisfied with my skating and I don’t really care if someone else is out there getting way gnarlier as long as I’m alright and on my point. I mean, everyone has those times when they slump and are a little rusty, I just try and sustain and remain on point, always getting better than you were two days ago or something.

Do you still hang out with the guys you grew up skating with?

A couple of them. I just skated Boston recently with a couple of the guys, this dude Zeb and Steve Costello. I skate with Eli (Reed) and PJ too.

Were there some problems after the PJ video came out? Did everyone disband?

People left because of Sam… Nothing too serious, but for starts PJ or anyone didn’t get any money after the release which is not a big deal to me, I don’t care, but it was PJ’s skating that sold that video! So, that guy made a lot of money off of the video, and then they made that other ‘Texas Chainsaw’ or ‘Boston Massacre’..? Whatever that thing was called… It was a crazy video because they used old footage of us which they weren’t supposed to use. We didn’t ride for them anymore at that point.

So things are a bit sour now..?

No. I still like the dude a lot who owns Coliseum skateshop, but he didn’t even… (Sighs)… There were two guys that own the shop. Then this one guy Arty sold his share to Matt who in turn made the Colisuem videos do good. Them Matt turned Coliseum over to his kids and Arty went ahead with his ‘Boston Massacre’ thing. So if I’m sour with anyone it’s Arty.

What do you do outside of the pro gig? I heard you’re big with MySpace right now..?

It’s just a way to talk to kids and stuff and give some response to any questions they might have.

You have a lot of fans hitting you up there?

Yeah, I have like about 20 at most on there that are good friends, then there are..? I have 1848 friends on there right now when I checked this morning. Maybe 40 of them are real friends and the other 1800 are just random kids I don’t know..? (Laughs) But I talk to them and answer their emails.

Any groupies?

There are some girls, but I don’t pay no mind to them. I’m getting married and I just answer the kids emails, be nice to them and give them a chance to communicate with a pro.

So, what do you do in your free time man?

Ummm…? I skateboard.

What are you, a skate machine???

(Laughs) No, I don’t skate all the time, but I skate pretty much everyday. I just hang out with my lady, read the Bible and speak to to God. I try and get closer to Him and develop my relationship with God.

What do you plan for the future?

Skating. Do it to the point where I can retire off it, then be a pastor and see where God takes me. I’ll be moving out to Atlanta, Georgia, soon. When we get married we’ll move into a house I have down there, so it’ll be ready for us in February. Get married, open my church down there..? I don’t know.

Links:
www.girlskateboards.com
www.dvsshoes.com
www.crailtap.com

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

Interview: Ralph LD
Images courtesy of DVS Shoes

There must be something in the water because the East Coast of America, and more precisely Boston, has produced some of skateboarding’s most talented and versatile skaters yet.

Zered Bassett, or Dr. Z as he is known intimately, took time off from skating to shoot some pool and have dinner with our man Ralph LD. The result is this interview that covers the past present and future of one of skating’s brightest stars.

Which stance does he skate? What does he think of Marc Ecko? Will there be a sequel to Viscious Cycle..? Listen to what the good Doctor has to say.

Tell me , what was it like growing up in Cape Cod (Small fishing town near Boston , Massachusetts)?

Living in Cape Cod was pretty mellow. I played a lot of hockey. There’s not that much to do…

I went there when I was a small kid and really liked it, but I couldn’t imagine there being any heavy skating going down there.

Yeah! It’s a beach town where rich people buy houses to visit at the summer, but I was stuck there all year round. My parents didn’t have a lot of money so I was just stuck there.

Did you move up to Boston a lot to skate there?

Yeah, I met a few people from Boston. I used to stay over at this one guy’s house- Steve Nardone. He used to ride for Dynasty. I stayed with (Steve) about a year, and I used to stay with Jereme sometimes, a little bit out of the city.

It’s got to be said that you have some serious switch skating skills, perhaps to the point of doing some stuff better switch than normal. Is it a normal process for you growing up to make sure you learn each trick both ways?

Yeah, I’ve been skating switch for a while, and my best friend growing up used to skate switch a lot. I started skating on ramps but he got me to start street skating and switch. So, I guess it’s been a while and now it’s just what feels better, switch one day then regular the next. (Laughs)

It definitely helps with spots that can only get taken in one direction.

Yeah, like you can only roll up frontside, but I can get to it the other way.

You said you rode ramps growing up- Were they mini ramps or jump ramps..?

Uhh… I grew up skating around town ollieing up curbs and grinding curbs, but then they built a skatepark so I was riding the mini ramps there. I’d just do whatever because there weren’t any professional skaters around, so it wasn’t like someone was influencing me to do what was cool. I just skated whatever.

Right, fast forward to when you get sponsored by Zoo York. The team has gone through several major changes but you’ve stayed put. How did all those changes affect you?

Basically I just want to skate. I just want to skate and not worry about switching teams to make more money and this and that. I’d just rather get on with it and skate instead of worry about those things.

If you could get someone on the team, who would you like?

Oh! I don’t know if I could make that decision. (Laughs)

How about a rapper or a sportsstar?

Umm… Probably Dave Chappelle, the comedian.

Without dwelling over Zoo for too long, I must ask you about Harold (Hunter) passing.

Yeah, that sucks.

What was your favourite memory of him?

I think it would be me coming to the city (New York) those first few times, meeting up with the guys and Harold showing me around, going to parties and introducing me to people. He introduced me to so many people. I have loads of memories of Harold and they’re all good. It’s funny because we’d have little fights or something and five minutes later we’d be laughing about it. He had such a good personality; he was real easy to be with.

Is it easy to work with (Giovanni) Reda (New York Photographer), because I know he’s got a sharp sense of humour and likes taking the piss out of people..?

When I first got on Zoo, I shot my first ads with Reda. He was there at the beginning of my career and he’s still there today, so I just got used to working with him. I respect him and he respects me.

Is it hard to get the job done on the East Coast?

Nah! If it’s skating then you can get the job done. Only in winter time does it get difficult, so that’s when we head out on trips to Miami or California. During the Summer or Fall, whenever it’s not snowing then you can skate fine.

Do you travel a lot between the East Coast and the West Coast?

Not really. I’ll go down to Miami for a week or something, or Cali for a couple of weeks with DVS, go see the guys at the office or something.

When you’re travelling through Europe, do you ever get tired of constantly living out of a bag and being away from home?

I’ve got a girlfriend at home and I just bought a baby English bulldog, so it was really hard for me to leave and go on this tour (DVS Euro Invasion) when I’d rather be skating New York. But now that I’m here and I’m having fun, then I’ll try and make the most of it and get as much stuff done as possible, you know?

What’s it like when you run into regular people and explain that what you do is skate for a living and travel the world?

Oh, it’s definitely weird! People don’t get it how I can make a living out of riding a skateboard. They’re kind of ignorant towards the fact that you’re a skater and feel there must be something you don’t like about your situation. I mean, we’re getting paid to do what we love and they don’t understand it!

It’s a dream job.

Yeah, it’s fucking awesome! But it can get tiring at times…

But wait! There are rewards like hanging out with the Hubba girls!

(Laughs) Yeah… No!

That must be pretty crazy doing those photo shoots, right?

Yeah, I’ve talked to Tony (Hubba Boss) about getting more skating in the ads, but they are just going to keep doing their stuff with the girls. Everybody on the skate team knows one another and knows how they skate, but if we put that in the ads then we’d just end up looking like everyone else. So, I guess that’s why we’ll stick with the girls.

It kind of reminds me of how Shortys used to run the old Rosa ads back in the day.

Yeah, exactly!

Now that skateboarding has embedded itself in the mainstream, you’ve got Lupe Fiasco rapping about varials and Pharrell (Williams) launching Ice Cream, has anyone approached you to take part in such projects?

Yeah, actually recently my friend Vinnie Ponte- he’s a DJ right now- he makes tapes for Raekwon and a lot of the Wu-Tang guys hang out and one of their managers has been talking to me about doing a video game with the Clan. That’s the only type of thing so far.

Do you keep up with all the media hype like Myspace or anything?

Yeah, I’ve got a Myspace account on the internet. I check my e-mails, and I like electronics a lot like cameras and all those gadgets. They keep me happy while I’m on the road.

You stock up on the goods when you’re in Japan?

Yeah, definitely! (Laughs)

I know you put out a video… I can’t remember if it was Vicious Cycle or City of Killers, but was it of your own initiative to do a tour video like that, just travelling with the homies through foreign lands..?

With City Of Killers it was a Zoo York project with us touring around and stuff, but Vicious Cycle was my idea. I had a lot of footage and I didn’t want to give it to random people, I’d rather keep all my footage together and put it together with all the footage of my friends. I figured I’d just make my own video, like PJ Ladd had his video and that got me psyched, so I wanted to do my own with my friends having fun.

I thought it was a good idea. Do you think you’ll do something like that again in the future?

Yeah. Right now we’re filming for the Zoo York video, but when that’s done I’ll start working on the Vicious Sequel. It probably won’t be out for a few years, but I want to do it for sure.

Since Marc (Ecko) took over at Zoo, it hasn’t made such independent ventures tricky or anything? Have there been more responsibilities?

No, I wouldn’t say its more responsibility. I can’t really say, but for me it was more of a fun natural thing to do than a job. I’m working with people, I like who I’m working with, but I’m not working with my friends that I’d hang out with after work, you know? Now, I’m skating for a company where I hang out with people simply because I have to for the job.

When you grew up skating, did you ever build ramps and stuff?

Yeah, my father used to build me a lot of ramps. I’d come up with the ideas, and he’d build it. We had a skatepark a miles from my house and they were re-doing it, so I had my dad build something that kind of resembles what they had at Tampa- the pyramid, one of those. He built a lot of ramps for that park. Then when I was younger, he would build me quarter pipes like 3 foot high with 2 feet of vert! (Laughs) I didn’t know how to do it!

Do you think some kids take the new wave of skateparks for granted?

Yeah, I think they do. I mean, if you’re skating a park and getting real good, having fun and stuff, then you’re skating will gat a lot better for the future. You’ll have more control over your board and you’ll have skated a lot more than the kid who had nothing.

Do you still skate ramps now?

Yeah! Yesterday I did a rodeo flip.

For real?!

Yeah, at this skatepark over a funbox. I was with Reda and I was kind of drunk, but I’d done one before so I figured I’d try and do one and made it! (Laughs) I love skating ramps.

Talking about rodeo flips, I’ve got some pick and mix questions here: If you had to pick a trick for the week, would it be a benihana? An underfoot flip? Or a miller flip?

A miller flip, yeah! That’s when you’re upside down with your hand, right..?

Yeah, like a flipped over handplant. So, if you had to skate a spot for a month, would you choose a curb cut? A damp parking lot like rough asphalt? Or, a ledge that has been waxed beyond recognition by rollerbladers?

Uhh… Probably the ledge waxed up by rollerbladers. Either that or the curb cut because I’d like to learn more ledge tricks.

Ok, and finally, if you had to wear the same gear for a year, would you wear Vision gear circa 1986 i.e. day-glo colours, berets and all? Some Boulala gear i.e. frilly shirts, trinkets, velvet drainpipe pants and winkle pickers? Or, straight up Muska with fingerless gloves, Burberry scarfs and skydiving goggles?

Oh! I think I’d be on the Vision circa 1986 tip for sure! (Laughs)

Do you remember when you started skating what was going on then, which period it was?

Shhh… I’ve been skating for like 9 or 10 years, since I was 11 or 12.

So you started during the Menace hey-day, like 20 Shot Sequence period..?

Yeah, but during those first few years of skating I didn’t watch any videos or read any magazines, so I don’t really know about all that. But when I did start reading magazines, I remember there being a lot of noseslide bigspins and Mike Vallely dropping off roofs getting gnarly and shit.

Do you ever seek inspiration from the past, like educate yourself with what was being done back in the day?

Yeah, I definitely check out what happened on the East Coast because that’s where I live. I skate with some older people and I like to know what it was like for them coming up and what skating was all about back then for them. I usually hang out with my really good friends, not random people, so if they were around back then I’ll listen to what they’ve got to say.

So, what are your plans after this tour? Are you heading home or going somewhere else?

Yeah, I go home for 4 days and hang out with my girlfriend and dog, and then I’m off for two weeks to Russia with Redbull.

Out…

Words and pics by Jenna Selby.

Emma Richardson came onto the scene a couple of years ago when placing second at the European Championships in Birmingham, this was after she’d only been skating for a short while. She’s since placed consistently in all the comps she’s entered, recently taking second to last year’s European Championship winner Sabrina Goggel at a competition in Germany.

She is known to her team mates as “Exotic Emma”, which was actually self proclaimed on passing a drive-through sex shop on the way to St Neots skate park, and has yet to live this down.

It is generally advised not to share a room with this girl as the energy she exudes gives her verbal diarrhea throughout the night. However all can be forgiven thanks to her generous and dare I say somewhat funny personality. She is an extremely talented all round skater, and has recently come back from coaching at the Girlie Camps on the continent.

Hello Emma, can you introduce yourself?

Well I’m Emma Louise Richardson, I’m 18, I live in Birmingham and I like skateboarding! I skate for Rogue Skateboards, Roxy and Epic shop/skate park.

You’re one of those people that wouldn’t be forgotten in a hurry, why do you think that is?

I’m not sure, I enjoy life and like making friends along the way, I’ve made a load of friends on my travels this summer, well since Easter really till about now and it’s been different funny experiences.

Perhaps it’s the punk thing; I hear you’ve been spotted in white bloomers recently.

Well yes, I like wearing odd things I guess never been the one to blend in with a crowd.

Or maybe it’s the Birmin-ham ting?

I reckon that’s Burrminisnm, don’t you?!?

Or perhaps it both of the above mixed with Haribo – what precisely is your weeks consumption and why?

Well the sweets are just immense. When I go skating I always buy some so that’s a lot I guess.

Do you have a recommended diet for a skater?

Ummm, coke (cola!!) and haribo, to make you hyper….I rely on sweets to give me energy, when I shouldn’t.

You’ve recently come back from coaching at the Girlie Skate camps in Europe, how’d it go?

Well I had an opportunity to teach them this year, in Prague for one week and France for 2 weeks. It was amazing to experience so many bars in different countries because now I’ve turned 18 I’m taking full opportunity of killing off my kidneys. Ohhh and the skating were quite good too! Nar Prague was a beast! That spot starlin plaza on the top of the hill with like a billion stairs up to it, that’s a bit well enjoying…once you’re there then there’s like the best hill bomb back down after your skate. Smiles every day there.

How did you get roped into teaching at the last minute?

Well Lucy (Adams) was pre booked because she is Miss Super Star so she very kindly recommended me for it, but I weren’t complaining.

Could any of the poor lasses you were teaching understand a word you were saying though?

Yer haha they kept on complaining but JB the other instructor on the camp he was with me for the 3 weeks understood me by the end of the 1st week so that’s the secret just spend a week with me and then you can understand me!

Partying late night with the likes of Rodney Clarke on the Quicksilver boat whilst you were out there, sounds like it couldn’t have been much fun?

Haha JB told me it’s the same every year everyone walks on and everyone falls off…it was the funniest thing going from there to the other Mystic cup party and needing the toilet and walking into this hotel like we were a guest and falling over across the reception hahahaha.

And now you now think Prague is the place to be, why?

I dunno, I think it’ll be different the next time I go but places change and it’s never the same when you re-visit some where but it could be even better couldn’t it!

How though does it compare to the Brum scene?

Brum scene is pretty divided, but everyone is friendly on both sides. But I kept on seeing the same people in Prague and made a few friends quite quick, but skating there is amazing and Brum is as good as you make it to be and that’s why I love it.

You seem to be one watch out for at the moment, I hear there’s a bit of scouting going on for your services, how does that feel?

Well I guess i’m just doing what I love, and just want to carry on been a planker person..

You’ve always been good but your skills seem to have exploded this year, could you let us plebs know the secret…I’m sure it’s that Haribo!

I reckon its just people that i’ve been skating with lately, but this year every time I get on my board its amazing and don’t wanna stop.

So what’s your next plan of action?

My A-level results come out real soon and then after that in September I start my foundation degree for a year so I guess that.

Shout outs:
Granny, Mum and Dad sister hell-bell. Rogue-Jenna, Laura, Sadie, Lucy and Maria. Katryrna, Karyn, Greg (low profile). Lewis, Skiff, Diane from Epic, Zippy from Ideal, Marika and JB from Girlie.

By Ralph Lloyd Davis Photos courtesy of Etnies

We were going to write an intro piece as usual for this fella but after logging onto his Myspace, we felt as though you can hear it from the man himself. Over to you Ronnie…

‘Well…. I’m really not sure of what to say or how to explain myself. The only thing i can think of is, that im probably a lot like most of you out there’.

‘My name is Ronnie. I’m just trying to go through life, have fun, stay out of trouble, and support those around me. I have a horrible memory, some call it “selective memory” I think not’.

‘Skateboarding is my favorite thing to do, My heart is made of wood, trucks, wheels, bearing, bolts griptape, magazines, videos… all that stuff… It’s impossible to drive without searching or glancing at the possibility of a potential skate spot. But yes, skateboarding is a part of me and i’m so happy to see it part of so many people out there.

We are all family in a way and friends for life. Skateboarding Is Great! I’m Still learning new tricks but very happy that I’m not loosing any. I like keeping the ones i know consistant. Confidence goes a long way. Be positive, confident and have fun.. That’s what will make you progress more and learn faster. Thank you for all your support / nice comments / words of encouragement. If it wasn’t for a skateboard and all of You, I wouldn’t be here today.’

Welcome to Crossfire Ronnie, let’s have your “5 W’s” – Who, Why , What, Where & When of skateboarding for you…

Who, what, where, why, when skateboarding? Uhh… I think my neighbour introduced me to skateboarding around the age of 4. I guess that’s my first introduction to a skateboard… I just kept skateboarding forever because it’s been fun for me.

You’re from Orange County, right?

Yeah, the City of Orange.

And you’ve lived there all your life?

Yes!

Is it anything like the TV show, The OC?

Pfff… I’ve never seen the TV show. I think I caught a couple of minutes of it once, and they were in Mexico! But, I don’t think so.

Have you ever thought about living anywhere else?

Yeah, I know… Right now I travel and stay in Arizona because they have so many skateparks.

Have you spotted the Muska out and about?

No, I have not. I think he’s in Los Angeles right now. But basically it’s been Orange my whole life, and then travelling around a bit skateboarding. I’m not sure where I’ll be later, But (Orange) will always be where home is.

Can you remember what your first pair of Etnies were?

First pair of Etnies?… Probably the lo-cut with the big ‘E’ on the side.

Ah! That reminds me- I have issue 4 of Big Brother here, and you’ve got an Ad wearing those shoes!

Uh oh! (Laughs) Yup, those are the ones! It’s funny actually, I saw that picture a few days ago because I was going through a bunch of old ads I had kept. I definitely remember that one- I wore those shoes all the time.

Did you cut the Es off the side?

Yes!

Why? How did that trend start..?

I think it was just because the E was so obnoxious! (Laughs) You know, just a huge E on the side. But sometimes I wore the shoes with them, sometimes without… They came off so easy. You just grab a razor blade and “Phyuuu”…

Tell me about your career with Etnies, because you rode for them and then later left for your own gig Nadia…

No. I rode for Etnies and then I switched to Duffs when it had just started with World Industries and Steve Rocco. Then I went back from Duffs to Es, and after that I left Es to start up Nadia, and now I’m back with Etnies.

What happened to Nadia? How comes it didn’t work in the end?

(Sighs) One of the main guys – this guy Jim Ferguson – he basically shut down the factory, stole everyone’s money, stole all the shoes and disappeared!

So, the shoe business is risky business..?

Uhh… It was going good, but (Jim’s)… He’s an asshole! I mean, I don’t know what else to call him. He took everyone’s money, all my money I invested into this shoe stuff and disappeared.

Ali (Boulala) was also supposed to get with the program, and I remember his surprise when it all went belly up!

Yeah. Well, there were two main guys – Jim Ferguson and Patrick Keenan, and they really messed things up for everybody by not paying people… I don’t know it was a really big mess!

Alright, we’ll leave it at that.

Yeah… (Laughs)

Who discovered you? Who was your first real sponsor?

Ummm… Foundation.

What was it like riding for them back in the day?

It was good! I was riding for a shop, Hotskates and we’d go to these Quarter Master Cups contests that were shop sponsored. Josh Beagle was at one and came up and said, Hey, why don’t you come and ride for Foundation?” And I was like, “Yeah, cool!” So, I started riding for Foundation and getting coverage. Then a year later I switched to Blind. Actually Todd (Swank) kicked me off Foundation. It was pretty funny!

Oh yeah? How come?

I was calling up to get some boards and Todd had hearda rumour because Rodney Mullen had called me a couple of times like, “You know if ever you need anything, or things go sour, you can have a place over here (World Industries)…” So, I was like “Thanks!” Anyway, I call up Todd and he’s all like, “You’re off!”

Just like that!

Like my favourite company in the world has just kicked me off! (Laughs) Argghhh! So, I call up Rodney like, “Rodney, I don’t know what to do! Todd just kicked me off.”

Was this long after the Barbarians at the gate Tour with Foundation?

That one? I was already riding for Blind when that came out. It was kind of weird because Blind and Foundation paired up to do a video, and I had just got kicked off! Here I am back on tour with them..? That’s probably why I look so unhappy during that tour because it was so weird for me! (Laughs)

What was your best memory from the Barbarians trip?

You know, it was kind of a pain in the ass… I mean, it was cool driving around with those guys and stuff, but it was hard. We’d have to re-film stuff like going back into places and coming back out. The filmer guy was constantly in your face with the camera. I was only 17, and I don’t like video cameras and I hate filming with those things all up in my face. I don’t know how to deal with it. So, it was pretty crazy…

That video was one of the first times I caught a glimpse of Heath Kirchart. Was he really always that quiet and reserved, or did he get wild from time to time?

He is! (laughs) It’s been forever that I’ve hung out with Heath, but I don’t know how crazy he can get..? Mainly I’ve just watched his stuff from various videos, but I must say some of its crazy!

No-one can deny you have an amazing talent with your skateboard, but was there ever a time when you noticed it yourself, like, “I’m actually getting pretty good at this!”?

As far as I’m concerned, I need to get a lot better! (laughs nervously) I need to learn a lot more stuff and get more consistent and learn new stuff. It’s hard.

That’s crazy! But now you say it, I noticed that you learn tricks back to back. In other words, you’ll do it one way and then the other. Is that a natural process for you?

Yeah… Sometimes. Some tricks come easier switch, plus sometimes it gets boring skating regular. Personally, myself I prefer to do stuff switch because it seems harder.

You were one of the first people to push switch skating out there with super clean style!

Thank you! (Laughs) I don’t know…

It’s true! I remember in Trilogy you switch tailslide a ledge like 6 times or something. Was that to see just how many times you could do it in a row, or was it because you wanted to land the perfect one?

You know what? I kept landing it weird for some reason. I was coming off at the end of the stair, and it just seemed like one of those days; you know? Everyone has them: You go out skating and everything comes real easy, and that day I wasn’t really afraid. I go back. I went back to that school a few months ago and looked at the ledge, and I wouldn’t even try and noseslide it now! (Laughs) “Argh… This thing looks sketchy!” But some days some things are easy and other days they aren’t … We went skating today, and I was like “Oh my gosh! Am I supposed to be a professional skateboarder and I can’t even ollie right now!?!” (Laughs)

That could just be fatigue..?

Yeah, but sometimes you have your good days and other times your bad days, so it comes and goes.

Now, you skate everything, but some kids nowadays wouldn’t realize that you can skate double kink handrails and huge gaps and stuff.

A while ago! (Laughs)

Yeah, but you’ve done it and probably still can. If you had to put a kid on the team now, would you be interested in someone who great at one area of skateboarding i.e. gaps or rails? Or would you rather have a kid who is well-rounded and can ride everything?

I think that’s great. If you can skate everything, then that’s pretty good. I’ve seen kids where they jump off stuff and do crazy things, but then you take them to a manual pad and they can’t even nose manual???

Do you think the hammer craze is a bubble that’s just burst and now team managers are sweating it because they’ve got a team full of kids who only know how to skate one thing..?

(laughs) I think it’s going to be around for a while still because there are people doing tricks off really hard stuff that’s basically impossible, and that’ll be around forever.

Almost like stunts..?

Yeah. Fortunately I can’t really get into it. If I jump off something big, I feel it for a couple of days! (Laughs)

Who do you like to watch skate?

The DVDs that I’ve been watching recently are the DVS video Skate More, the Zero Newblood video, the Cliché videos…

You’ve worked with Fred (Mortagne) on the Es video, Menikmati, right?

Yeah, I filmed a little bit with Fred for that video but I don’t want to get into that.

Ok.

…I like the Chocolate and Girl videos… I like all skateboarding basically! Any professional or amateur skateboarder that you see in a video, or your friends that you go skate with are fun to watch, especially if they do stuff that you can’t do! It’s like, “How do you do that???” (Laughs)

When people watch the end product, they probably think it was easy to film that part and it probably only took a couple of days, but how long does it really take you to put a part together?

It all depends on how much I go out and skate. The average is..? If I have a deadline for a video, then I’ll probably try and film like one trick a week. But, if you’re out skating everyday then you might film one, two or three tricks a day! Filming for videos back in the day was pretty easy. The Foundation video part, or my Trilogy or 20 Shot Sequence parts were probably filmed in a couple of months, like pretty quick. But now, with the Blind video half of that stuff… Wait- maybe not half but a lot of that stuff has been footage that’s been lying around forever. It’s kind of hard though because if I think of something I want to film and get sometimes it can take two weeks to get it! I’ll try the trick for a couple of hours and wear myself out, so I have to come back tomorrow. Sometimes you get it quick, and sometimes it takes a while…

Do you get very involved when it comes to filming video parts? See how a guy’s editing your part..?

Yeah, I think everyone does that. With the Blind video What if? I was there to over see, but I didn’t choose the song for my part. I had another song I wanted to use, but they couldn’t get the rights. I just went I there to make sure because you’ve got to be happy with what comes out. If I want something particular done, then that’s my input.

What’s that trick you do off a bump in 20 Shot Sequence where you nollie and underflip it or something???

(Laughs) Yeah, that’s kind of weird. That was at a school my mom used to work at with a big walkway that came out and a sidewalk in the way at the end. It’s a nollie, and then with your front foot you kick it up and over. So, it’s kind of like a nollie varial flip. I don’t know…

Uhh… Yeah. It still sounds complicated!

(Laughs) Ok! Which way do you skate?

Goofy.

So, you’re right foot forward? Basically, you nollie and with your front foot you kick it like this… (Ronnie demonstrates with the voice recorder)

From underneath..?

Yeah, so like that… (An front foot under-varial flip???) It kind of a weird one for the eyes, but when I landed that, I was like, “Yes!!!” I was stoked on that one!

What was it like back in those days, working with Rocco..? I always look back on that period as being one skateboarding’s best times.

You know what? It’s been a lot of fun. Some of the tours and demos Steve would set up, he would be there and it would be fun. We’d do the demo and Steve would pack our package all weird and get pizzas for everyone… It was a lot more mellow. Some of the demos these days seem more… I mean obviously it’s probably just me, but they seem more professional these days: You get in, you skate, you do what you’re supposed to do, then hang out with the kids and stuff. Back then it was mellower, but back then I was younger too I guess I had a different mentality. I don’t know..?

Have your parents always supported you with your skateboarding?

No, not really. They were kind of like, “You can’t skateboard forever! How are you gonna make money skateboarding? What are you doing with your life???” basically. I got boards for Christmas and stuff like that, but I was basically spending every minute of the day skateboarding and they didn’t really understand. Then I started getting sponsored, and my board came out so I started to get paid, I bought a car. I was paying for that, the car payments, and I had a cell phone… But they really couldn’t understand.

What did they do then?

Well, I explained to them, “Look, I ride for someone and they’re giving me this stuff for free… Look! Free stuff!” It gradually came around on them, but it’s a been a while since this has been happening, and it’s got to the point where they no longer have to worry because they figure I’m doing something with my life- “Our son’s not a bum!” So they’re kind of happy.

Was it always skateboarding, or did you play other sports?

I played a baseball and soccer. My dad put me in the teams and I played soccer for 8 years, baseball for 9, and switched back and forth- baseball, soccer, baseball, soccer… And then, just skateboarding throughout the whole of this time, till I stopped the sports and decided I just wanted to skate.

Were your parents ever worried about you getting injured?

No, not really. They were never worried like, “You’re going to get hurt! We don’t want you to skate!” It was more like I was out of there, skating- Waaahhh! (Laughs)

What did they think when you started to get coverage in the magazines and videos?

Well, I moved out of the house when I was about 17 years old, and that’s basically when skateboarding started happening for me, so they couldn’t really do much. Like they knew I was getting money enough to be able to pay rent, but they didn’t really understand. I don’t really know what they were thinking, but my Mom’s happy now. They have Blind stickers on their cars, and when they go places people will ask them, “How come they have that Blind sticker on there? You guys are like 100 years old???” So they’ll be like, “Well my son skates. He’s Ronnie Creager.” which leaves some people in shock. That will make them cool for a while because people are like, “No way!”, and that makes them proud of me. I have a house now, so they’re starting to realise…

That it’s paying off!

Yeah! They know I’m taking care of myself, I’m smart, I’m not taking drugs.

What would be your advice to a kid who’s in the same position as you were at 17, about to leave home in pursuit of a career in skateboarding..?

Ohh… I’d basically say go for it! But, don’t blow off your other perspectives! Skateboarding is great and if it can happen for you it’s definitely a perfect way to take care of yourself now however long it lasts, but it can’t last forever- Unless of course, you are one of those main skaters that are making a lot of money… But if you’re sponsored and making a bit of money, then it’s a good idea to save money and get ready for the future. Skateboarding can definitely take care of you for a while, so later when you can’t skate because you’re set up. Everyone needs to do something else than just skate. So yeah, go for it, skate, have a good time and be smart!

What do you do in your spare time? What’s your plan B?

After skateboarding..? Well, I like golf a lot, so I’m going to go to a college and try and get my Teachers card so I can teach professional golf. That’s basically all I have planned for now. I’d like to get more into real-estate stuff but you need a lot of money for that stuff. So, golf is one of my favourite hobbies in the main time when I’m not skating.

You’ve been playing for a long time, haven’t you?

It’s been about 6 years. I still suck! (Laughs)

Do you play with any other skaters?

Uhh… I have. I played with (Eric) Koston a while ago, and I played with Atiba, Rune (Glifberg)… Any of the Etnies guys that play golf. I’ve played with Ryan (Sheckler)a lot.

Do skaters make good golf players?

Yeah, totally! But a lot of them are skating all the time so they don’t get much time to play golf. Skaters are pretty talented and pick up stuff pretty easily.

How difficult do you think it is to be a pro with no defined image? I mean, you have clear target markets be it the punk or hip-hop fashions, but you’re just a skater in a jeans and a t-shirt. Was that difficult at times?

Yeah, I’m just a skate rat with a t-shirt and blue jeans! (Laughs) I don’t know… People find images and ways to distinguish themselves. You see them with their little bits of flair and it kind of helps to relate to that person.

Who did you look up to when you were a kid?

You know what? Every video I watched growing up just had me in awe of everybody. I could name off names, but I’ll leave so many people out and remember them tomorrow. I just go skating with the Etnies guys, look at them like, “Wow!” They are here skating and the motivation never gets old. It’s insane, it’s like I’m a kid again! Bastien (Salabanzi) was skating today, Ryan was skating, Rune (Glifberg) was ollieing this set of stairs, and I’ll just sit back like, “Damn, these guys are gnarly!” (Laughs)

Do you think Blind will ever take part in the Thrasher King of the Road contest?

We want to. We’ve got a lot of guys on our team that are willing and fun. I don’t think we’d come close to winning, especially if there were loads of stairs and rails to do. Like if it came down to it, someone could probably do it for the team, but it would be fun.

Do you guys hang out much together?

Yeah, totally! Everyone travels a lot, but we’re all very close.

What was it like getting on Blind in the beginning because that seemed like a rather transitional period for the company – From Video Days to 20 Shot Sequence?

For me it was awesome because Blind was one of those teams that you couldn’t touch. It was way too high up there on a pedestal, and I could never be on the same level as those guys! It’s kind of weird because I feel like I belong there now because I’ve been with the company for a while, but those first 6 years I was like, “What am I doing here? I don’t belong here, I suck!”

So who made the call?

What, like how’d I get on?

Yeah.

I called up Rodney and told him Todd had just kicked me off and I didn’t now what to do. Rodney asked me who I wanted to ride for, like take my pick, so I said Blind and he was like, “Ok!” (Laughs)

Simple as! What was it like back in those days with the World park? Was it really as scandalous as the rumours say it was?

Yeah. I’ve heard a lot of stories that came out of that place, but I was only around there for a little while and got to skate it a handful of times. It went away pretty quick, but I’m sure some crazy stuff was going down. It was amazing to skate!

How did you experience the changes in the Blind team as time went on?

(Sighs) With so many changes, it’s been hard a few times and kind of weird at other times, but Blind has always taken care of me. They have always been there and it’s just been good. They give me stuff to skate, they send me places, take care of stuff and it’s been going on 15 years now and it’s fun! Hooked with Dwindle, I get to go on tour with some gnarly skaters, like Sheckler, or Lavar (McBride) back in the day!

When was the last time you saw Lavar?

I saw Lavar in a magazine about 5 months ago. I think it was Slap..? He was looking pretty big, but he’s always been really tall, like 6 foot 5! Nah… Maybe not 6’5, but tall.

I don’t know what happened to that guy, it’s like he just quit..?

Yeah, I don’t know… I toured with Lavar so much back in the day, watching him go to demos and stuff. I mean, Lavar was seriously one of the most talented kids that I’ve seen skateboarding. Like insane! It was just so easy for him, and then he just stopped, and I think a lot of people do when they’re really good at something… People just stop like it gets boring for them or something..?

Have you ever stressed out in situations, like when you have to tour all the time or deal with responsibilities like filming for a video or something, and just flipped out and wanted to stop all this?

Oh yeah! All the time! (Laughs) I stress all the time, I’m a serious stress case. I worry all the time… It gets hard because I have two dogs at home and I travel so much, and it costs a lot of money to put them in boarding homes. It gets stressful, but… I have to do it. But it’s fun when I get to travel and get to go to places like this, Paris. I took so many photos today, and saw so many weird things.

You’ve travelled all over the world, haven’t you?

Almost. (Laughs)

Where has been your favourite destination?

Geez!… I’ve had a few good trips to Australia. I like Australia.

I think anyone who has been there says that!

Yeah! (Laughs) I like it because living over there is easy. I like it here too, but sometimes in Europe it can get hard because you can’t find people that speak English, which sucks for me because I have a hard time learning languages.

Do you ever take time out of your skateboarding schedule to try and take in some of the culture?

A little bit, but it’s really hard to do that. Today has been non-stop, like go here, do this do that… I pass these places like, “Ah! I want to go there!” but can’t. It’s usually get in, skate, do a couple of things and leave. It’s not like today we’ll go visit a museum or some place… There’s not too much of that stuff.

What are your plans for after this? Are you heading back to the States?

I go home tomorrow. Then the Dew contest tour starts next week, so I’ll go on that. Then it’s basically contests and stuff after that…

How stoked were you to get 1st at the Globe contest last year? It’s like we hadn’t seen you at a contest for a while and then ‘Boom!’ you win one of the biggest!

Yeah, I know! (Laughs) It’s weird because I’ve been trying for so long to do good in a contest that it was like, “What???” The judges definitely messed up, I don’t know what happened…

Contests have changed so much from say the first Slam City Jam in Vancouver on a tiny street course, to the massive Globe deal in Australia.

Yeah, it’s crazy! You’ve got all these kids looking at you… I get really nervous; sometimes I feel like I have ants all over me and I can’t feel my hands, my feet won’t work right… It’s like, “Cool, I’ve got to go out there and I can’t even ollie! The kid are going to think I suck!” (Laughs) I watch Ryan skate and I don’t know how he does it??? Sheckler is insane! It’s like he goes out there and makes everything first try and feeds off it. Bastien’s gnarly and it doesn’t seem like any of that stuff fazes him in front of all those people. I don’t know, I just kind of shy away from that stuff. Contests are weird; a weird, weird situation… (Laughs)

What was your best year for the contest circuit then?

Hopefully this year! (Laughs) You know what? I never plan to win any of them, but I just want to go out there and pretty much skate as good as I can. If I just tried to go out there and win, I’d watch these other guys skate and I’d be like… (Hesitates) I don’t know! It would be too hard! These kids are doing kickflips to bluntslide on the flatbar, and my best trick on that is a backside lipslide??? (Laughs) I can’t compete with these guys!

Do you think video killed the skateboarding star?

No, I think videos are pretty much how you become ( a skateboarding star)… That’s how you start. Anyone who has ever reached stardom has had a video part and come out and shown the world how they skate and what they can do.

Yeah, but what I mean is that there are so many videos dropping at the moment aren’t there days when you just want to skate for yourself? I know you don’t like cameras…

Basically, when I go out skate, that’s all I do- skate. I’ll film when I have to, but otherwise I’ll just do my thing. I probably skate 4 or 5 hours a day, be it at the park messing around or learning a new trick. That’s the best feeling in the world! When I go out filming, I’m just like, “Argh! This sucks…”

Well Ronnie, I’m done. Any last words?

Sweet! Happy skateboarding! That’s all.

Cheers!

Thank you. Wooorrdd….

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

This year brought changes to Brandon Westgate‘s life that many people could see from a distance. His switch from Birdhouse Skateboards alongside Aaron Suski and Anthony Shetler to Zoo York happened quickly just before the summer kicked in taking the 17 year olds signature back to the East Coast.

Since he started skating in the year 2000, Westgate has attracted the attention of Emerica Shoes, Venture Trucks, Volcom Clothing, Swiss Bearings and Hubba Wheels to back his aim to become a pro skater.

Ralph Lloyd Davis caught up with Brandon just after his switch to Zoo York where he is currently working on footage for their new promo.

Image courtesy of Sean Cronan.

How’s life treating you?

Couldn’t be better

You’re starting to travel around a fair bit, is that fun or scary?

It’s great seeing all these new places meeting all new people, great experience….

What was Greece like (with Emerica)? Was it real hectic skating that ledge/gap spot at the Turkish port?

Greece was really interesting I had a lot of fun and that spot was crazy there was so many people watching!

What do you miss about the East Coast?

Everything it’s the best place

What don’t you miss about it?

The winter can be harsh but what don’t kill you makes you stronger

Who introduced you to skating?

My friend Andy Dick

Did you just go with the flow, or did someone scout you out for sponsorship?

My friend Anthony Shetler hooked me up with 5boro

Was it tough being the little kid at 5Boro?

Yeah, but they’re all the best people.

Why are the up-coming amateurs learning so fast?

I have know idea..

If a pro model offer appeared in the next year, would you take it?

I don’t know, probably not, I haven’t payed all my dues.

Is there beef between 5Boro and Birdhouse?

I don’t know I’m now riding for Zoo York

Is it a conscious step to get so many ex-team riders on the same team again?

I like it, makes a good team enviornment.

Who’s gnarlier- Suski or Klein?

Suski for sure! what kind of question is that?!

What’s Tony Hawk like behind the scenes?

He’s a really rad guy.

What’s the strangest product someone has tried to get you to endorse? Do amateurs understand their strength in today’s marketplace i.e. as walking advertisements and future investments?

Red Bull. I don’t think these companies that aren’t skateboarding should even try to get involved.

What’s the best bit of advice anyone gave you in this game?

Make sure you’re still having fun..

What advice would you give an upcoming amateur whose phone has just started to ring with sponsorship offers at the other end?

Good luck!

Someone mentioned you’ve got huge hands – Ever think of a career in boxing?

Nah, my hands are tiny..

What’s the furthest extreme you’ve gone to skate?

Probably skipping school for a month with my friend, where we stayed in Boston with these filmer while the cops and shit was looking for us..

If you had to sell yourself, what would your sales pitch be?

I wouldn’t sell my self that’s stupid..

If you had to attend a speed dating night, what would you list as your attributes? What would you be looking for in the other person?

I wouldn’t have any attributes and I would be looking for anything apparently, I’d be pretty desprite to go to one of those..

How did it feel to win the Brooklyn Banks comp? What did you do with the $1000? Anyone try to leech you or rob you afterwards?

It felt really good to win and I put the money into my savings for college.

How important is education to you? What would you like to get a degree in?

Education is my life and I would like to get a Welder’s licence.

Best quote you ever heard?

When it rains it pours..

Did you ever meet Harold Hunter whilst on the East Coast? Any stories?

Nah I’ve never met him though I’m sure he would be a fun dude to hang out with.

Have you got close and intimate with the Hubba girls? Do the girls get to pick who rides for the team?

Yeah all of them, we pick the girls!

Do you ride dirtbikes? You just got your license – What car do you want?

Yeah I ride dirtbikes they’re great. I want to drive an 18 wheeler across the country..

Which video part made you scream? Laugh? Cry?

Donny Barley – Eastern Exposure.

Top 5 bands?

I never listen to music doesn’t interest me.

Tell us something that nobody knows about you….

I’m married with four kids…

Visit here to read the Zoo York blog.

Ralph Lloyd-Davis

Please note that this interview was issued July 21, 2006 and is a return interview for Crossfire, Ali’s second interview with us over the years. Please do not get this confused with his release from prison, we wish him and his family all the best. – Posted March 8th 2010 due to the amount of traffic coming to this page.

18 months ago, Ralph Lloyd Davis met Ali Boulala in his home in Lyon and had a good old natter for this very website, if you missed it and want to do that one first, then click here.

Last month, Ali and Ralph crossed swords once again, but this time in Paris for the Etnies 20th Anniversary on June 12th 2006, it was a riot of a party that saw a huge gathering of pro skaters in one of the most amazing venue of the party of the year so far.

Now, it’s not often we run interviews with the same riders twice, but Ali is one of those skaters that has nothing to prove but still nonchalantly impresses when he steps on a board. Has much changed since the last interview? Well Ali left Osiris Shoes and headed over to Etnies and the rest of the story can be picked up from here…

Arto! Arto! … Have you seen my new shoe?

Is that your first pro model?

Yeah, the new Etnies one.

Oh! Nice. I see you weren’t inspired by the Old Muska then?

(Laughs) No!

So, what have you been up to since we last spoke? I know you’re licenced to drive just about anything with wheels now, aren’t you?

Yeah, motorbikes are the new toy.

Motorbikes? I thought you just bought a Cadillac?

Yeah, I’ve got the car too, but that wasn’t enough… I needed a motorbike, plus Arto has got a bike too.

So are you going to start up a biker crew? I know everyone in Lyon is rolling around on them.

Sure, Steve (Forstner) has got a bike also.

Did you have the Cadillac before your license?

I’ve had 2 cars. First, I had an old BMW to get some practice driving, then right before I got the license, I bought this Cadillac.

Did you know you wanted a Cadillac?

No. I was just looking for a better car because the Beemer was over with, and I accidentally found the Caddy.

Since you bought the Cadillac, have you been getting any funny looks?

Oh yeah! People are screaming after it, but it’s not like it’s one of those old Elvis style ones. It’s more like a newer version, but people are still like, “What the fuck?!?” (Laughs) Even in Spain, Barcelona…

Have you made some new ‘friends’?

(Laughs) Yeah…

So, here’s your new model out on Etnies- Have you been following the design process from A to Z?

Well, not really… (Etnies) already had the shape and everything already, so I just had to add all the finishing touches.

The lace?

Yeah, all that shit. When I first saw the shoe without everything else, I thought, “Ooh! That’s a pretty good shoe!”

When can we expect it to come out?

Shit! They are making them so fast! Hopefully in a couple of months…?

Can you remember what your first pair of Etnies were?

I don’t know…

I remember mine being grey suede mid-tops with those lace cover things on top.

Oh yeah, yeah yeah! I think those came out around the same time as some Visions… I know that I definitely had some of those fucking lace-saver ones!

I don’t know what happened to lace-savers… Why did they stop making them..? Were you tempted to put them on your shoe?

(Laughs) I don’t know…

How are things with Flip at the moment? I guess if you’re going on an Etnies tour, you’re also going on a Flip tour of some sort, right?

Yeah yeah! That gets fucking confusing sometimes! (Laughs) because you don’t know which tour it is???

Is Flip working on a new video?

Yeah, I guess that’s the deal. We’re just been going places and film. We just got off the Canada tour, but that was mostly just demos.

You’re going to the UK soon, aren’t you?

Yeah! There are going to be some demos there too.

Have you seen the parks you’ll be skating- Stoke and Prissick? They are amazing! Street plazas…

Oh no… What, they’re plazas?!

Yeah!

Fuck! That’s amazing…

You’ll see, it’s sick. You can come around it goes down gradually. It’s not like the DC Plaza with nothing but stairs and rails. This place has got banks and ledges and stairs and rails…

Sick! Which town is that again?

Stoke on Trent. It’s up North. I’m pretty sure you’ll pass through there…

Is it brand new?

Click here to see the footage from this trip at the Prissick Plaza.

Yeah, well almost brand new. So, working on videos, do you ever get tired of filming or do you get used to it?

No, I’m pretty used to it because everyday you go skating you’re filming it. It’s cool that you can capture something and watch it afterwards. I mean, I don’t mind…

What’s a good filming mission for you?

I don’t know… Driving the Caddy and finding some new spots.

I’ve noticed a lot of your stuff is filmed at weird and quirky spots- Is that spur of the moment skating?

Yeah, pretty much! (Laughs) “Oh! Maybe you can ride down that thing and jump over there..? Let’s see what we can do here…” Like, I never plan things like I know I’m going to film this trick today or something. No way. If I ever did that, I know it wouldn’t work out. (Laughs).

So, what about heading back to the 25 set?

Ummm… Maybe when we’re done filming, at the end. See what happens…

What happened to that kid, Danny Cerezini, no longer riding for Flip?

I don’t know. I guess they just kicked him off, but I don’t really know why. I mean, someone said he was buying too much jewellery and getting blinged up..?

With Flip, is it a team decision as to who gets on or kicked off?

I don’t know, I have no idea really because just now with Rodrigo TX getting on the team I didn’t know anything about it! It’s supposed to be a team ordeal, but I don’t know…

You’re an honouree member of Baker- Do you get to hang out with those guys much?

Well, just recently… When was it? April for Dustin (Dollin)’s wedding everyone got together for that and hung out.

Yeah, Dustin just got married, Ellington has got a kid and so does Reynolds- What about you dude?

(Laughs) Oh! The whole girlfriend situation for me is over with at the moment… No kids soon! One day maybe…

Last time I saw you, I remember you telling me you were really pissed at that dude who rides for Death, Ritchie Jackson, because he stole your style or something…

Oh that dude! One of my friends in Australia is always fighting with him. Anyway, he’s over there in Australia and I don’t want to see him. I don’t care (Laughs) It was just something fun to say!

So what comes next after the Hippie look? Are you going to take tips from Don Magic Juan?

(Laughs) Yeah! Maybe some John Curtis Holmes shit..? Legendary porn star style!

News just broke that Muska left Shortys- Would you try and give Jeremy (Fox) a call to get him on Flip?

Yeah! (Laughs) We’re like ten people on the team right now, so one more won’t matter! I didn’t know he’d quit Shortys…?

Yeah, he just left.

But fuck! It would be rad to have the Muska! It’s rad with Rodrigo too.

Yeah, at least you’ve hung out with Rodrigo already in Spain and stuff. How has your life changed since the Flip videos dropped? Any bad return or was it all good with the mass coverage?

Oh yeah! Everybody and their mother have seen the Flip video now! (Laughs) Sometimes you’ll be walking in the street and someone will be like “Hey! You! My son made me watch your part so many times!” And that’s kind of cool, like “wow!” I don’t mind.

Who would you like to see make a comeback, skater-wise?

Ummm… I’ve got to think about that one for a minute… Well, who’s there that has gone?

You know, some of these skaters that peaked too soon and then disappeared… Like Lavar McBride for example.

Yeah, for sure! It’s weird because skating goes up and down, and sometimes you just go down and never come back.

Since the video came out, has Flip ever asked to send you around the world and do the contest circuit? Or demos?

We’ve been doing demos all the time anyway- during the filming, after the filming… Contests? Flip always go to the contests, but that has nothing to do with the video.

Do you think we’ll ever see you at one of those world tour WCS events?

Well, we’re already on some wild tour right now! (Laughs)

Did you ever realize skating would take you down this road?

No way, no way! When I got my first board for free, I thought that was so crazy how someone could just give a board away, you know?

I just saw Andy Scott at Donnington last weekend for the Download Snickers comp. I hadn’t seen him in a long time…

(Andy) should have a comeback! (Laughs) he’s so fucking rad!

Yeah, “asleep at the wheel”! What was the last concert you went to?

In Australia I went to a lot of small concerts of friend’s bands and stuff. No bands anyone would know of though…

Are you still keeping up with your guitar playing?

Yeah! Everyday fucking all the time!

Do you think you might drop a little exclusive album in the future?

Maybe I could do something for a video part..? I can’t play a whole album yet! (Laughs) Maybe soon…

When was the last time you went back to Sweden?

Not that long ago, like when I had to sort out my driving licence. Actually, that was a year ago…

Have you seen the new skatepark they built out there- Malmö?

No, not yet! I guess me and Arto are going to go there. We’re going to drive through Sweden, then Arto will fly to Finland so he can pick up his motorbike. Then we’ll drive to Barcelona.

Fuck! That’s a long way! You might be pretty tired of motorbikes by then!

(Laughs) Yeah, but the first day I bought my bike in Germany, I drove up to Finland. The first day of owning the bike! I think it’s possible. (Laughs)

What kind of bike are you riding at the moment?

A Moto Guzzi- It’s an Italian brand. I’m sure I’ll get another one, and another one and so on… Collecting all different styles.

Where do you stock pile all your stuff!?!

Right now, my stuff is spread out all over the place. Hopefully one day I can get a massive garage to put it all in. Right now, the car is in Finland, the bike is in France…

You said you haven’t been to Lyon for a while- Are you hanging out in Barcelona right now?

Not hanging out as such, but we’ve been there for a while filming. Then we’ll go on some tour and back again… It’s like a never ending tour!

What’s it like skating in Barcelona? Is it really a bust?

No. It’s not really a bust. Everyone seems to think it is, but I haven’t seen any difference.

I ask because I have friends who live there saying it is, then others saying the contrary…

Let’s just say it is! (Laughs) Like that people won’t go there!

I recently go a hold of a new DVD called Neighbours – a Scandinavian project. It’s rad. There are actually some sick spots up North, but they are pretty rough.

Yeah for sure! It’s hard…

What was it like growing up skating in Sweden?

Parking garages! (Laughs) that’s it! Maybe a manual pad if you’re lucky. Now they have parks everywhere.

*Steve Forstner turns up and comments on Ali’s new shoe*

Have you seen this?! I suggested lace and they actually did it! (laughs)

It will definitely work with the ladies!

It’s crazy that they did that! Hopefully people won’t say like, “Oh, that’s a bit gay!”

Pfff… The whole ‘gay’ taboo in skateboarding is so lame…

Yeah, that’s why I don’t give a fuck!

Maybe if you replaced that red dot with a heart..?

Yeah! (Laughs) I’m psyched on my shoe though! It’s actually way better than I thought.

Now that this one is about to drop, have you started thinking about what the next shoe will look like?

Oh! I don’t know… (Laughs) It was fucking hard just doing this because I had no idea what to do.

So, did it take a long time to design?

No, no… Once I knew what I was doing everything became clear! Designers were asking me, “What do you want to do???” and I had no idea. But then, I just hooked up with this stripper girl and she gave me her (stocking), and I was like, “That’s it! That’s the shoe!” Then, I always wore this pendant- now it’s a different one, but I always had this one necklace- so I was like, “That’s it! Another item!” I looked at my shoes, like “That’s it too!” It all just came together so nicely.

Well, you seem to have a high fashion sense- Maybe there a career in the fashion business for you later?

Yeah, the world of fashion!

How’s this Etnies tour been going so far?

Great! I don’t know if it’s a Flip tour, or Etnies..? (Laughs) All the tours seem the same with the same people, so that’s cool.

I forgot, when I saw Andy at Donington, Pastey was there too- Justin Ashby.

Oooohhh… Pastey man! What is he doing nowadays?

He’s got his Pig City stuff, taking photos… Would you jump in a van if he turned up now?

Pastey? Fuck yeah man!

So, after living in France, have you brushed up on the language a bit? Can you get yourself out of trouble in post offices..?

(Laughs) Oh That! I guess the best plan was not to speak French because I remember that was the deal, like nobody wanted to talk with me. Everybody was always arguing about who spoke English better like, “No, you can speak English better! You talk to him!” (Laughs)

Remind us of that story Ali…

I don’t understand why, but the guy (behind the counter) called the cops for no reason. I was getting my money, and he thought I was a conman and called the cops! I think my passport was bit broken or something… Anyway, the cops just storm in like someone was trying to rob the place. They take me down to the station and all like, blah blah blah… Then they just let me go- no sorry, nothing! There was nothing wrong and they realised that later.

It’s tough being a travelling skater!

Yeah, they just arrested me because they thought I looked like a scumbag or something! Like I had fake documents, but there’s no way you can fake a Western Union money transfer!

Now you’ve lived the skate lifestyle, is there any other lifestyle that attracts you? Or seems parallel with all the touring and hijinks?

I don’t know. I guess if you were in a band, it might be the same…

Do you jam on your guitar much with Bastien (Salabanzi)? I saw him pass through with his guitar on his back.

He’s always teaching me so much stuff. Like everything I know I got from him because to learn you need to practice with someone better than you. (Bastien) got good so quickly, like we’ve been playing for the same amount of time, but he’s ten times gnarlier! He picked (guitar) up so quick.

That’s pretty much all my questions…

That was good.

Have you had a chance to play SKATE with Ronnie (Creager)?

I saw him play but he wins pretty quickly, you know! (Laughs)

What do you think you could take him out with?

(Laughs) The guy can do pretty much anything!

How about the Indian grab?

Ha! The Indian! That weird shit…

With your feet together, grabbing your toes and board… maybe you should take that to the 25 set?

(Laughs!) Oh shit!

Ali Boulala is sponsored by Flip Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Etnies and rides Sidecuts Wheels.

Leave comments on this interview here..

‘Gnarly Bastard’ is a pretty appropriate title for one of Britain’s best exports, Geoff Rowley – even if he does love little furry animals!

Ever since the grainy footage of this kid from Liverpool started circulating under skateshop counters, established pros were shitting themselves with each new tale of this little fella leaping off roofs and down rails. Geoff was the real deal. No bullshit – Just skateboarding.

After an explosion onto the Californian scene when Flip Skateboards uprooted and spread their wings Stateside, Geoff single-handedly kicked skateboarding up the arse and pushed it’s physical limits. Something he hasn’t stopped doing since day one.

Today, Geoff is a gentleman in pursuit of the wild animals he loves, and part-owner of Flip Skateboards. Business man and burly man, Geoff took time out of the wilderness to talk to Crossfire and answer questions from Zac, Ralph and a bunch of worldwide forum geeks.

Full name please sir?

Geoffrey Joseph Rowley Junior.

At what point did you realise skateboarding was your path and chose to follow it?

From the moment I slammed…

If you were still living in Liverpool, do you think you’d have an asbo (anti-social behaviour order) by now? Will you ever move back?

I’d have one wherever I lived, I can’t kick the social issues, I have a hard time with idle banter and wasted words.

Describe how you felt at these different times: Skating with Tom Penny at various Radlands comps back in the day?

Purity, young, alive, aggressive, veggie burgers, Chris Ince, damp floor, with the ocassional too cool for thought attitudes, baggie yellow pants.

Arriving in America straight off the plane?

Shitting it, eyes ablaze at neon lights, otherworldly.

Watching ‘Sorry‘ for the first time?

Relief and pride……yet wishing for more.

Alone in the woods?

Forced to feel ones innermost fears, “when you see only darkness, know that the light will soon return”

Why do you love the great outdoors so much….surely Liverpool had all the fluff you needed right?

I cared more about skating than my balls when I lived in Liverpool, unlike my gash seeking problems of late, nothing beats the smell of an animal!!

Have you ever experienced scarier moments out on the beaten track then riding your skateboard?

Absolutely, two lions rushing past you in the thick bush at close range is enough to make you break down and weep.

Is it wise to focus 100 percent of your attention on skating?

There is more to life than wood and wheels, though you have to ride that thing like there isn’t!! Gather motivation from wherever you like, that is the beautiful diversity that skating allows.

Do you need something else to think outside of the box? What’s yours?

Passion, and a drive for life, ever changing and questioning, be not afraid to look at yourself and judge, listen to people and suck it all in.

Please give me one example of ignorance in regards the arrival of Flip in America, and one example of open-mindedness you perceived at that time.

Ed Templeton and toy machine opened their arms to us, gave us local support, and had our back. Any ignorance was small and only served to make us stronger…..and faster!!!

Are Americans over-competitive? Is this a help or a hindrance?

The average Californian kid is probably a little more competitive than the average European kid, competitive Energy that is positive/friendly can be a good path to fast progression within a skate posse, I would call it a help rather than a hindrance.

Did Jeremy Fox propose for you to take a share of the company? Or, did you ask him? Do you work well together – any bad habits?

Timing was of the essence as far the company stuff went, it was imperative that flip be in the right hands. Jeremy Fox has given me so much guidance and support, we have been there for each other. Any differences we have or trouble working together are all what makes Flip what it is, a free, creative, ever progressive sleepless skateboard company with plenty of issues and bad habits.

Can Flip still be considered a British company?

All the company owners are still British citizens, one runs a large percentage of our workday directly from England for the last five years, I would say that makes us British until death. People can consider us whatever they want but saying untrue negative things regarding these matters is just downright childish. The things Flip/ Deathbox did for England and the English skate scene should not be sneered at.

Which British companies inspire you?

Flip/Death/Heroin/Unabomber are rad, they have the right passion, the rest aren’t my style.

Will there ever be a British company comparable to Deathbox/Flip?

I doubt it, but in order for somebody to do that they have to work from California, there is no other way to get to the level we are at, without first accepting were skateboarding was born from, and respecting that all the mags are driven from here also, it is hard to gain friends if you aren’t visible.

A European based company cannot and will not be accepted across the whole of the USA unless they embrace those areas and live them, Flip is strong worldwide for this reason, plus running a business of this nature isn’t viable based in England, too costly.

Would you agree in saying British skating suffocates itself with its stubborn attitude and pride of independence in regards the global market?

The English scene I grew up in was full of lunatics that roamed the globe in search of rad skateboarding and chaos, whether that be in Germany or some shithole area in Belgium, suffocation should not be an option, I always thought the real British soul was full of confidence and drive to be proud of ones upbringing……and yet want to spread the English way of radness, strength in character and richness in history, across the entire globe. Any other ways of thinking sound a little French to me!!

Is skateboarding really only led by three or four super companies?

Pretty much, though the passion within these brands is so diverse that constant change is inevitable, skateboarding has always been really driven by riders. If the riders demand change, or live change, the industry follows, very hard for other companies to keep up with this level, or compete, without these driving pro’s and amateurs in such strong numbers. I think it is a rad thing teams have clearly emerged again, makes skateboarding look radder.

Where does Flip sit in that picture?

Flying by the seat of its pants!

What role would you like the company to have?

A worldwide network of diverse pro’s with the spirit to keep progressing and showcasing why skateboarding is one blaster of a ride!!!!

What was your reaction when you saw ‘Spirit of the Blitz’ for the first time?

I was actually surprised to see the level of skating, in Liverpool I never really ever got to see Alex Moul and the rest of those guys around, so it was actually pretty rad, but I still preferred Hensley and the vista locals.

Do you watch it often?

No.

Does it inspire you when you work on another Flip video?

Like nothing else. The whole team loves making these things, months/years travelling with your close friends, having a blast, causing a little carnage and feeling whatever life throws at you drift by so fast, what better time could a man indulge in?

What’s next – Flip or Vans video?

Flip video. “Really Twatting Sorry”

What is the company ethos for an amateur to go from am to pro?

Head down, live breath skateboarding, unrelentless progression and motivation for the future, and a large heart.

Despite mocking Jamie Thomas for his blatant faith, Lance Mountain now rides for Flip – has that changed your attitude?

I have never mocked Jamie’s faith and never will. My beliefs and video jokes were for my amusement only, I have the utmost respect for Lance Mountain, and am proud to have him on the team, he is aware of my beliefs and I of his, we have had nothing but good laughs.

Is there a place for faith in skateboarding, or should it be left at home?

Left at home, though I don’t have a problem either way.

Who decided to incorporate Rodrigo, Bob and Lance into Flip?

They did, it was natural and comfortable for us all, those guys and Flip have always been close.

Who would you like to get on the team, but can’t?

Eric Koston.

How did it feel to win SOTY?

Fucking weird, though it was flattering!

When is Bastien going to get his?

When he quits the purple haze!

Before leaping a chasm of any sort, do you run through a safety check list?

Yeah! it starts with taking a shit, so i can’t soil my pants. No shit!

When have you over-stepped the mark?

I was unaware there was a mark?!

Is there no ditch too big?

Hoover dam drop-in, Nevada.

Who is your partner in crime when you head off on dangerous mission?

Daniel Sturt, tripods, black clothing, one filmer.

How does it feel to know you can still shock people with your skating and gnarly attitude?

Blessed and thankful.

How does it feel to see yourself on massive billboards?

I actually find it amusing that some old hag is looking at that stuff whilst waiting for the bus, wandering what in God’s name is going on!!

Lots of people seem to be moving about right now. Is it hard to have morals in the skate shoe business?

I am driven by morals, if a company doesn’t have any, including a rider, well they are gonna be fucked, I rarely quit any companies, regardless of what rumours are around.

Internet umours are rife that you could be heading to another shoe company and that is why the new Trujillo has taken a design leap into the Rowley 1 area, could you ever see yourself riding in anything other than Vans shoes?

I will ride for Vans until they quit making the best skate shoes, Tony rides the same kind of shoes as me and so the likeness in design ends there. My first shoe is being redone as we speak; I’m still stuck on it and have been messing with revamping a new version.

Do other shoe companies “tap you up”?

I am untapped, as i said, Vans is the way.

How involved have you been personally in the development of your new Rowley Squares shoe at Vans?

I have designed/drawn/tweaked every single one, also coloured about ninety percent of them, I fucking love it, it’s so rad to see things on paper develop into radical skate shoes, when ideas work out. I have to wear them, and take pride in fucking with them all.

Click here to watch footage of Geoff talk about the new shoe and skating from the early 90’s.

Would you relish another Vans UK trip like the last one?

That Vans tour was ace!! Flip will be in England August time, demo at the Middlesbrough Plaza, then some street rolling all over. Please do come.

You travel a lot. Which country has the harshest security?

United States of America.

Fave country to skate and why?

England, dreams of youth, and dog shit.

Where will you live later in life?

Arizona/England/Colorado/California/and the rest of the world.

If you took part in a speed dating night – what would you describe yourself as?

Fast/rude/honest/short/average length old man/handsome animal man with snaggleteeth awaits shining dark beauty with face of happiness, smiling, passion and dark lust in unfavourable positions a must, bangers need not apply, below 5’5” the smaller the better.

Lemmy tells me you really are a regular at the Blue Oyster Bar with that tash?

If I could grow chop’s like the man I would say that also!

Have you ever set your tache alight by accident?

Three weeks ago burnt my hair/tache/chinny/face on an open bonfire. I was blinking for days!!

If you had to fight one of the following, which one would it be: a) great white with a diving knife – b) bear with a cricket bat – c) giant boar with a meat cleaver

Boar with a meat cleaver…..they are fast but they are also blind bastards!

Crossfire and Sidewalk Mag are organising the UK Skater of the Year awards for this Xmas in London, could this be an excuse for the UK lads in the USA to come back and see Mum and Dad for Xmas?

Absolutely!!! I’ll have a stiff Glenmorangie!

Final three words of wisdom?

Hope and Glory.

Links

To comment on this interview, leave a message here.

Go to the Flip Skateboards site for team info, there is a new one coming…the company are “Really Twatting Sorry” about that!

The new Rowley Squares are about to hit our shores, click through to Vans to check the footage of Geoff over the gap at Meanwhile.

If you want to see footage of the Flip Team at the most recent Prissick Plaza demo in the UK, then click here.

Whitedog’s Report from across the Pond – 1st Edition!

Hello, I’m Craig Whitehead a.k.a “Whitedog”. I’ve known Matt Dove since I was about 9 yrs old since we have grown up on the east coast of the U.S. skating Woodward Skate Camp and O.C. Bowl in Ocean City Maryland in the summertime. He was one that we all looked up to growing up because of his style and the crazy tricks he did.

But I’ve got to know him a lot better after I got older and moved out to San Diego California and have got to skate and hang out with him for the past 6 or 7 years now. When you see this guy really throw down on a vert ramp, or any concrete structure you will be quite amazed of the shit this guy has in his bag of tricks. And then when you see his art work, you’ll get a grasp of the obscurity of his mind that thinks up the tricks he does. Lets talk to Matt for a minute about whats going on recently in his life…

So Matt, Most people know you as a Professional Vert Skater and Reptile Extraordinaire. What people don’t really know about you is you create some great pieces of art as well. Let’s tap into that for a minute. Tell me a little bit of history on your artwork and what you have done.

I was born into a creative family….that’s how I can pretty much sum it up. Everyone in my family has some really creative side about them and they express it individually really well…I think. I always had someone around me, when I was growing up, painting, building, sewing, writing, drawing. I was lucky enough to have access to the tools I needed to try to make, create or destroy stuff, They were pretty much at my disposal. I was in an environment were I had the opportunity to learn the basics of all of my family’s interests.

As far as what I have done in the “art world”, not much really. Most of my pieces have been published or viewed at skateboard events or publications. Transworld published an article a while back…Thrasher, Happy mag…I don’t know. A friend of mine and myself held our own show. That was really fun. $5.00, all you can drink, wine, beer, energy drinks and vodka. We also incorporated a makeshift living room, with all of the normal amenities of a living room. But, everything was painted white. The room was furnished with paint brushes and paint. Everybody participated, got loaded and oh, we had two live bands play as well. They were “Buckfast Superbee” and Jesse Fritcshs band “Operatic”. It was a fucking blast!

I have a show coming up at a gallery this weekend. I have no clue what to expect. I do know I have been sucking too many spray paint fumes and spray adhesive. I almost pass out when I stand up…..I need to wear a mask. So I am behind on a few pieces right this second. Three to finish. I think I have a show in august, held by a body piercing place called APOGEE in ocean beach. Oh, I’m painting a breast mold for the “Keep a Breast” foundation to fight breast cancer. I pretty much try and do creative things all day long, all the time, although it doesn’t always work that way, I think it is essential to my peace of mind and well being.

What’s up with the three new pieces you have going as we speak. Are they going to make it for this next show? I know you’ve been slaving over them for 2 or 3 days straight with barely any sleep.

I hope they make it…fuck. I always do this, but I was confirmed for the show last minute, so it’s kind’a not my slacking this time. I have about five pieces at my friend Jesse’s house I need to pick up, then hopefully these three….like I said, I hope. The three that I am working on are a collaboration of my previous pieces in this style. I am trying to incorporate everything I have learned from the first five finished to make these. I barely sleep when I am working on something. Music, painting, writing…it doesn’t matter , I just get super caught up and can’t get the ideas out of my head until I put ’em down. Ok, they are definitely going to make it. I have about 15 hours of work to go…it’s 6:00pm PST.

Damn, that’s pretty rad how you can just bang shit out like that, The canvases you use aren’t your run of the mill canvases which is pretty unique. Where do you get them, and what are these crazy things you have been painting on?

Ok, so it’s the next day and I am definitely not going to finish my last piece, but I finished two…sucks. I find most of my canvases in Ocean Beach ally ways. People throw the craziest stuff away, no reason to waste good pieces of wood or rad furniture. Most things that I find, I rip apart paint em’ and make something I would hang on my walls, out of them. The last three pieces originally were a mirror stand, a dresser droor and this antique wall cabinet with an ironing board in it (the one I didn’t finish) All really good pieces of wood…just thrown to waste and recycled, by me.

That’s fucking great! You know what they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure. Hey, you mentioned something about music and writing back there somewhere. What’s up with the band?

I’ve been working on a little music project in a three piece called “ENJOYORHATE” for about six months now, three of which have been with the same drummer…not long at all. I play guitar and do main vocals, Wesley Ladd plays bass and Zeb Pontius gives the beat. It’s all original/ experimental songs that all three of us write together. I don’t know how to describe our sound, um, I can tell you our main influences though. Bands like The Melvins, Sonic youth, Fugazi, Nirvana and Dinosaur jr……are pretty instrumental in our vision as a band.

Like I said it’s pretty new, but, developing so fast. I think it’s because all of us share a passion to develop this project to what we feel is us. Who knows…it may suck to everyone else…our first show sucked, I know that, but so much fun! Soon enough we’ll have some songs recorded so you can decide for yourself…ENJOYORHATE?. It’s crazy, I feel like if you choose the creative life you will always have things to learn, at whatever age you are. Life doesn’t get boring and mundane if you challenge your imagination and follow your true interests. Music is another extension and outlet for me, just like everything else I try to do…create!

Right on. So it’s been 2 days since we have spoken. I attended the art show, and was all in all, a pretty good scene. The band that played was Southwest Nomadic and really set a good vibe for the whole thing. A good group of artists attended as well. Amongst Matt, there was Brad Sluder, who had some pretty killer pieces, and his girlfriend Ashley Agackie, who put the whole thing on. Plus, Eveler Collins, Dan Sanborn, and Patrick Sheehan. What did you think Matt?

I thought the show went really good. I cruised the other gallerys in the area and I liked the gallery we were in the best. It had a really good feel to it, like you said, great music and all of the artist had very similar cohesive style. Most of the other gallerys catered to a….well…snootier, highbrow crowd. Ours had a younger more original feel…I was proud to be part of it for sure. I really liked Patrick Sheehans work, cool prints on heavily grain textured pieces of wood, with ornamental rod iron pieces as accents….pretty cool. Brads stuff is really interesting as well.

Definitely, so, what’s on the agenda for you next? What are your plans for the future?

Well, my immediate future is to play a show this Sunday at the Zombie lounge in North Park, then, the next day fly to Ocean City Maryland for a skate camp that I host / visit my mom/ go fishing/ visit the girl of my heart. Besides that, paint as much as possible, play music as much as possible, skate as much as possible and try to pay off some bills…geez. Hopefully all of these aspirations and goals will some how pay off so I can keep it up. I would love to be able to do graphics for a good company for a living, hopefully my friend Darren is getting that going with Creature…that would be really cool.

Thanks a lot Matt for taking the time to answer my questions and hopefully we’ll be able to see more of your art work and graphics on the Creature boards to come. Good luck in everything you do and we’ll see you at the Zombie lounge this weekend!

Interview by Zac
Photo’s by Jonas Adolfsson

Picture the scene….

We get into Malmo, my board is lost in transit, my luggage had left the day before and was sat on the concourse all alone, waiting for me as i entered the country. It’s pissing down with rain and we check in to the hotel where we and are met by 2 blokes in a BMW 4×4, one of them being my mate Seth from Meanwhile who i had no idea was out there, and the other – Danijel Todorovic.

The sun comes out when you meet this guy, this was a first for me but we got on like a house on fire from the off, so much so, i decided to grab some time with him a few days after we got back from the Bowlriders event there at the end of May 2006. Sidewalk Magazine have already had Danijel on their cover and this month (June06) he also graces the cover of Document Skate Mag here in the UK, is there no stopping this forest boy from Sweden?

This interview will be available as our first podcast interview on this site soon, so watch this space. – Zac.

So, what brings you to the UK Danijel?

First of all, my mate Seth lives here in London, and I was told about this Circa event and the new premiere, and I was going to get my boards from the Harmony boys.

Ah, a nice tied in trip! How was the premiere?

Yeah, it was good. Prince Charles cinema, loads of people and loads of good skating. The after party was even better!

Was there any particular rider on the “It’s Time” video that stood out for you?

Tony Tave, I’ve got my eyes on him.

He has youth on his side to..

Yeah he’s still a kid, but killing it.

So, you come from Malmo in Sweden, tell us a little about the Malmo skate scene, starting off at Streetlab.

I’ve been skating for 12 years now and been in the scene for quite some time. Streetlab is a shop that my mate Frederik started about 5 years ago and it was the first time we got to do something on our own, to start building a scene and get people involved and be open minded, because people in Malmo, back in the day, found it hard to get into the scene. People wouldn’t let you, they were kind of a dog-town era, proper dicks. If you weren’t respected, they wouldn’t let you into their gang, but we fucked that up with Streetlab, and we got in touch with loads of people and more people started skating and old friends started skating. We just tried to carry on and build bridges.

Sounds cool. So Streetlab is the skater owned shop…

Skater owned, skater built. Any shop manager out there that has their own part in a skate video… it’s well good I reckon!

When we were in Malmo, we were invited to the premiere and it had a kind of Crossfirenight vibe to it, DJs playing and mixing music.

Yeah, we had a really nice night, it was at a club that we always use. We had a premiere a few years ago and it was almost the same vibe, just without the bowlriders. I think the bowlriders brought in more people, so we had about 420 skaters there. So we were rockin’ the party!

Nice girls too!

They say that, I dunno…

You’re are probably used to it though! [Laughs] So the video itself, I thought it was of a seriously high pedigree. Who are the guys to look out for coming from your scene that people will get to know over the coming months?

Frederick’s section. I was stoked that he had a full part. All of the Streetlab team because its basically the shop team and there are 9 of us, and everyone is different. Different styles, different types of skating and different ages. We go from kids to 33 year old boys.

Nothing wrong with being 33!

No! [Laughs] But yeah, its always good to see people still ripping. It was our third video and the thing I’ve been battling with since the first video is to get the most fucked up soundtrack and I think this one is the winner!

There’s some really good tunes in there actually. I noticed Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Mew and some others.

There’s a few good ones.

Anyone else that we might not know about?

Fidgit, the song in my section, from the North of Sweden, a rock band. The first section, Fast Forward’s part, it was Disco Volante.

They played at the bowlriders too.

Yeah, we know the drummer, he’s a skater and a friend of ours. And the whole band is Malmo based so it was good to put their music into it.

So which 9 riders appear in the video from the Streetlab team?

Its me, Daniel Sjoholm, Martin “Fast Forward” Henriksson, Christian “Roadkill” Mattson, Frederick “Benhög” Nilsson, Martin “Pennan” Pennlowe, Emre Yercok, Daniel “Kattöga” Sjöholm, Rasmus Sjölin, Peter “Pastorn” Liedberg, Christina Sandell, Love Rydstern, Fredrik “Frille” Grundberg, Fernando Bramsmark and a girl has a split section with 3 others, she has a really nice section.

She really stuck out in that section, I noticed her straight away and she ripped.

Sarah Murele.

She’s definitely one to watch.

Yeah sure, and she’s coming over for this girl thing in London soon I think.

There was one this weekend, in St Albans, they always have a UK girl jam, and it always attracts a lot of Europeans now, so I’m not surprised to see her come out. But yeah, she really lays it down.

She does yeah, and she’s 15 I think!

And when is the video released?

As soon as I get back tomorrow, I’m gonna try to finish off the DVD sleeve and see how the menus will work and send it away for printing.

Sounds perfect. So, have you played a major part in putting the DVD together?

Yeah unfortunately [laughs], I told everyone that I’m not the man to do it, but since no-one took care of it, everything happened to end up on my desk. Wednesday evening before the premiere, at 3.15am, I finished it and put it on a DVD. That was the best feeling!

But that’s always how it happens for premieres, I’ve put on a few in the last 5 years and its always the way that the party is planned, but the video gets done but just in the nick of time!

Always!

I think the 50/50 video we did was finished about 2 hours before it got to us from Bristol, it was tight!

Its always like that, even though we had a premiere the last time, at the same place, same people involved, we told everyone we wanted to get it done beforehand properly so we could actually sell it at the premiere, but… that didn’t happen!

A lot of work though, I don’t think people understand the amount of work it takes to put out a high production film these days.

Just time. I don’t think it’s that classy, just friends putting a video together, it’s always better like that.

But there are some amazing spots in this video that people wouldn’t have seen before…

That’s the good thing, you get to see things that maybe you’ve never seen before.

And that’s what people want. Keeping it fresh and exciting. Have a lot of pro skaters come out to Malmo to film parts?

No, not really. If something had been arranged in Sweden 5 years ago, everyone would have gone to Stockholm because it’s the capital and everything was based out of Stockholm. But that’s not a factor anymore, down South is growing and thanks to the concrete park, we’re definitely going to grow even more.

It certainly stuck out like a sore thumb down there, that park is pretty special. How did the park come about?

We have a good indoor park, John Magnusson, who has been working at the park for ages, and he has his heart and soul in his skateboarding. He used to be a professional hockey player but he gave it up to put everything into the skatepark and just wanted to skate. He’s the guy we need to thank a lot for this park and the opportunity to skate these incredible spots every day.

You have a street section in that park, a bowl section in the park, a pool in the park… it has everything in that park that anyone needs! I’d highly recommend people travelling out there to check it out.

It basically has every element in it. I was on the designer group for the street course and that was a really nice thing to be a part of but at the end of the day, we didn’t get anything that we wanted. The architects were like “this wouldn’t work with this and that won’t work with that” so in the end it went shit anyway. But still, its good.

There’s still a lot in there though!

Oh yeah, I’m just picky. [Laughs] When you have a good park and you know you could do a little bit better, you get it in your head that they didn’t make it perfect.

There’s no perfection guaranteed when you build.

But its concrete though, so its good.

So, you’re sponsored by The Harmony , which is run out of England. How did that come about?

Funny story actually. I used to ride for Minute Skateboards, I was their only rider outside of the UK, same as Harmony. Just after Minute quit, I got involved with Adam Mondon, Tim Crawley, Frank Stevens, Paul Sylvester, and Alex Irvine the photographer. They came over to Sweden, stayed at mine and I showed them all the spots and we had a good week skating. That was in September, and then in January the year after, Mondon just contacted me and told me about this company they were starting and asked me if I wanted to join. And I wasn’t riding for anyone at that time so I found Harmony really nice and got on the train.

It’s obviously an independent company but it seems as if they have some very cool graphics with David at the controls, was that something that was an influence for you joining them?

Yeah, I’d only met Mondon and then met Dave who did the graphics and was amazing at his designing and his art stuff. Like, every t-shirt and board he did was a work of art and I really enjoyed that.

I think he goes under the name of Dist One.

Dist One UK Yep.

www.distone.co.uk – You can go there and check out all of his incredible work with Harmony. The movie just dropped, with the Harmony, how do you feel about that one?

That was also a stressful project, we didn’t know how we were gonna end it and what we’d be using but the result was really, really good. Got some Malmo in there because they took a trip out here and we’ve got the first Valencia trip the Harmony boys did. So the movie is like a timeline, how the company went along, what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been involved in and had really good music and me and Tom Harrison put in a good mix. I really enjoyed that one, but I’m not sure its out yet. They’ve put it with Sidewalk but I think they’ve pushed it back. But it’s coming, maybe in the next issue in July…

So, do you get to skate much in the UK, come over and visit the team?

I’ve been over here a few times. With Seth being here, its really easy for me to come over and its cheap, with the tickets from Malmo from Ryanair, booked in advance. But its hard for me to travel the country, I always stay in London when I get here. It’s easier. If we go on a tour – like we just went to Scotland with Harmony – it was a mission. Bob Marley And The Wailers Tour!

Was he on the stereo?

Oh yeah! And I met Jamie, the new kid, Jamie Bolland. Amazing guy, he’s on the up. It was good to be back with the team. Unfortunately Tom was injured but we skated some good concrete in Scotland and some good downhill action in Glasgow.

Drunken downhill! Always the best way to do it. Did you manage to get to the Dundee skatepark on that one?

Yeah we went there, Div was there killing it. It was really nice to see, good park and we skated Livi too that night, its open 24/7 I think.

And it was dry?

It was dry yep.

Perfect.

It was a good experience. Not as smooth as the Malmo one, but it was good.

What’s your favourite style of skating? What’s an average day for Danijel, what does he do?

Because of the park, we go down to warm up for a bit, its easy because it’s only a few minutes from my house, and then we just hit some random spots. I’m filming a lot with Pontus Alv, because he’s got a new film coming out and I’m trying to get a full spot in that.

His first film “The Strongest of the Strange” is one of the best skate films ever made.

It’s a good one, it took him 3 years or something but it turned out good and you could see, the way he skates, he’s so creative and inspiring. If I get to skate with him, I enjoy it so much because he pushes himself to a limit that no-one else could. He always takes you on a mission.

And his bowl?!

I should kill the designer for that. That bowl is so rough. You have to have 2 or 3 weeks of skating it every day to learn how to ride it, but I don’t have to time. I can’t stand it, its so hard to skate. It looks good on the video though.

But I mean, they make it look really easy to skate on the video, they really put it down.

D Boy especially because he’s so small, its easier for him. He cruises every corner of it, its amazing. I wish I could skate it.

So do I. In fact, some of the boys went out there when we were in Malmo, I was stuck at the bar, unfortunately, so I missed the bus.

Yeah I think Silent Will went out there.

Silent Will and a few people took some photos of Pete King, Ross, Josh and a few others. But they only skated it for 25 minutes before it rained so they didn’t get too much action in it but they had a good time on it. It looks amazing fun. I’m certainly going to be hitting that place up myself next time I’m there.

You should, you should!

So, what about music? You say you picked Fidgit for your part in your DVD, but what’s on your stereo?

I have a really strange mix of music. You either love it or you hate it. I download loads of stuff and my iPod is full of shit. I just want songs that remind you of something or give you a good feeling about something. Especially with the music in certain skate videos, they’re the tunes you remember. And they’re the ones you’re chasing when you see a film and that’s what I do. I don’t have a favourite band or one type of music I listen to.

So if we were to put you on an island and gave you 5 desert island discs, what would they be?

Five whole albums? Shit. Some Bob Marley, to relax to. Definitely a Rolling Stones album. Maybe some Nina Simone, some kind of Soul, like Al Green or Nina Simone. I need a mixtape with all my shit on, like Vanilla Ice, Technotronik, all those disco and 90s electro tunes. It’s funny stuff, all the breakbeats. So I’d take 2 mixtapes as well. Some classics and 2 mixtapes.

Am I correct in saying that Streetlab are big fans of Crossfire radio? So we’ll probably have this played in the shop.

Yeah, I take my iPod in often. And some of my friends love what I have on it and some hate it. But to play the same thing every day gets boring so we play loads of Crossfire radio shows. And they’re pretty long so as soon as one is finished, we put the next radio show on.

I couldn’t believe it, I was so stoked, as soon as I got to Malmo this guy came up to me and said “Oh! You’re the guy from Crossfire, we listen to your radio shows!” and you know what, that made my day! So if that bloke is lreading this right now, thanks for telling me and making my day! So what plans have you got next? Obviously you’re going back to Malmo…

Malmo yep tomorrow morning. Next thing is actually Rune Glifberg’s 20 years of skating. All the Volcom riders got invited so we’re just going to have a big jam in Copenhagen. Its one of my favourite places to skate. It’s an 80’s theme so everyone’s going to be dressed up as 80’s skaters and we’re going to have a wall ride comp and a fly out comp. It’s gonna be a good thing, and Rune is gonna be there to represent the whole thing.

He’s been pushing skating a lot now for many years and he never lets up, he’s probably one of the best on the circuit.

I was surprised to see him at the Bowlriders in that condition and killing it. I’ve never seen him ride a bowl like that.

I’d never seen him rip that much, with no pads on aswell.

And putting street stuff into it aswell, doing all the street stuff inbetween his vert and bowl stuff. Really amazing.

People like Rune have photos taken by your friend Jonas Adolfsson, do you?

I get loads done with him, he’s actually one of my favourite to go out with, we really push each other. He’s very talented and well under-rated so I go out with him a lot. We actually got some photos for Sidewalk. I talked to them as he had loads of photos that hadn’t been used. That’s Jonas’ problem, he’s not involved in magazines enough, so we got him in touch with Sidewalk and him and Horsley split the Haunts thing. These pics on this page are all taken by Jonas, he is a talent.

People will be able to check out a whole feature of Jonas’ photography in the features section on this site at some point over the summer as we’re going to be running a huge photography feature with various people from America, the UK and Europe. Ok, so let’s wrap this shit up, Danijel, thank you very much…If you wanna say thanks or hi to anyone, it’s all yours.

Let’s do this! I wanna say thanks to all my friends and family, girlfriend Liv for standing with me. My sponsors, Nike SB, Kaspar from Holland, we have Streetlab the shop (thanks Freddie for doing everything), the Harmony boys, Adam Mondon and Dave Earl Dixon, thanks for bringing me on this Harmony trip. John at M&O and Spitfire and Thunder trucks. – Thank you everyone!