130 Thrasher
Fakie ollieHEADS_BARKER
Speaking of that, did you want to be a
sponsored skateboarder or did you have
other plans?
Yeah, I definitely did. I moved to LA for that
reason. I was just done with school and had
no aspirations for a job or anything and I
figured I would give it a try and so far it’s
working out.
Do you think moving to VA has made
that better or worse with skating as a
job for you.
Ha! I mean, I hope it didn’t make things
worse. My sponsors, Converse and Quasi, are
both really supportive of whatever I want to
do and they both understand that there are
scenes outside the big main cities. For my
own self, I feel better being out here. I feel
like I have more room to breathe.
Right. I’m from LA, and even being an
un-sponsored skater you can still tell it’s
more competitive here than other cities
in the world.
Honestly, it’s even the friendly competition
too. You see a friend skating a spot on
Instagram, then four people go skate it that
week. So you try and keep things secret and
that shit just got a bit old. Whereas people
out here in Richmond are, like, “Man, you
skated that spot? That’s so sick. It needed to
get skated.” Everyone knows each other here;
there aren’t really cliques; everyone’s a lot
kinder. Not that people weren’t kind in LA,
but you feel a vibe.
So you’ve been going on trips the past
two years with Cons and more recently
Quasi.
Yeah, and that’s another reason I was able to
move out here. I was privileged enough to get
put on trips with Converse in the last year,
which has been great. I just got back from a
trip to Chicago with Quasi. That was great
too.How is it traveling with those guys? You
got a good Jake Johnson story? He’s one
of those people in skateboarding where
I feel like people are just interested in
him, even outside of his skating. He
seems sort of elusive to some people so
they want a story, you know?
On this past trip to Chicago he bought a HVX
off of Chad Bowers just to film his homies
in State College, PA. He showed me some
footage on his phone of his friend, who’s
like 30, boardsliding his first handrail. It’s
really sick to see that someone who’s been
in the industry so long still has a such a pure
view of skating and still likes it for the same
reasons we all liked it growing up.That fuckin’ rules. That’s a good story
right there!Yeah, he’s always showing me things he’s
trying to buy on Craigslist. He showed me
these bowling lanes someone was selling, and
was telling me how he wanted to install them
on the floor of his garage but it might be too
heavy.
As far as trips go, how is it being a
sober-ass lil’ bitch? You know, when
you’re on trips and that is going on, but
you don’t partake.
I think it’s fine, but I’m not going to go out
to the bar every night. On this trip I was just
on I hung with Dick and Josh the whole time
while they were smoking and drinking. For
me, it’s no big deal.I know it’s not that rare these days, but
sometimes on trips if the whole crew is
partying, and you’re the only guy who’s
not, it can make the person feel like the
odd man out.
I’ve definitely been on trips when it’s a bit
alienating, but it’s not too bad. People are
always respectful of what I choose to do. It’s
not like I’m getting shit on or anything like
that. They don’t care what I do, and I don’t
care what they do.
I’m not trying to pry and get you to
talk shit, but Dan Wheatley wanted me
to ask: what drives you the most nuts
about trying to be a sponsored skaterPHOTOS: COULTHARD