From Sidewalk 207 – December 2013
Photography by Rob Salmon
Joe is one of the best skaters I know and he has the mentality to go so far.
I remember once he was throwing himself down a stair set in his small, home-made improvised skate park in his garden and was so determined to land his first 360 flip down it until his board took a dive nose-first into a bucket full of water. It was hilarious! Joe’s perseverance to learn and improve hasn’t dwindled since day one, he hasn’t put his board down since the very first day he picked it up and everyone should expect to see a lot more of Joe Hinson to come. Mind you, it did take him about 100 years to learn how to ollie, (laughing)…
– Ed Richardson
I haven’t known Joe for long but he certainly is persistent and for some reason loves to jump down big things, as you can see here. Cambridgeshire isn’t exactly known for its wealth of spots or decent skateparks so Joe has done well to grow into such a rad skater.
– Rob Salmon
Okay Joe Hinson – introduce yourself please…
– Hello! My Name is Joe Hinson, I’m 17 and I’ve been skating for just over 4 years. I’m from a really small village in Cambridgeshire.
You basically live in the middle of nowhere in the Fens – how does a young Fensman like yourself come to stumble across an ‘inner city gangster’ activity like skateboarding? Surely there wasn’t an existing skate scene in the depths of the marshes, was there?
– No there’s never been a skate scene where I’m from. I first saw one of my mates skating about doing kickflips and 360 flips and I just sort of got hooked on skating from there.
How far away from your house is the nearest thing that would be considered a ‘skate spot’ by your average skater and what is it?
– There’s a really small skate park about a 15-minute drive from my house but it’s not the best park by any stretch of the imagination. There are no real street spots anywhere near me.
What’s the nearest city scene to your house?
– Well the nearest is Cambridge but I mostly skate with people from nearby villages and some of the guys from Corby/Northampton and Saffron Walden.
Which skaters/videos/video parts hype you up and why?
– I watch a lot of skate videos. I really like the recent Emerica and Deathwish ones as I like to skate gaps and rails, so they always hype me up to skate…
Are you a torrent thief or do you still buy skate culture?
What was the last DVD you bought if so?
– I try and buy most of the new videos that come out. The last one I bought was the Deathwish video but as soon as Cold War comes out on DVD I’ll be getting that.
So you live on the site of an Equestrian Centre – what’s the deal there? Did you grow up like a Cambridgeshire cowboy or something?
– (Laughing), I grew up around horses but never really got in to it that much…definitely not a cowboy.
Tell us about your pre-skate riding days please…
– I can’t really remember that much about it – the last time I rode a horse was like 12 years ago, (laughing)…
Ever jumped over anything big on a horse?
– I never really jumped anything to be honest; I was just a tiny kid.
So from looking at your Instagram I can see that you have quite an array of sponsors – what exactly does a package from ‘Soft Trucks’ entail? I guess they’re a good option for you to skate indoors when you’re stuck on the ranch, right?
– Well they send me Soft Trucks and stickers whenever I need them and some times some decks as well. Soft Trucks are so much fun when it’s raining and you can’t skate outside.
Which other people give you free stuff and what do they expect from you in return?
– I ride for Billy’s Skate shop in Cambridge, Muted Clothing, Softrucks, Zombie Brand Urethane and I just got ask to ride flow for 24 Skateboards but I’m still awaiting my first package, (laughing). All they ask me to do is to skate, have fun, get footage and photos for them and skate some comps if I want to.
Who are the top five UK skateboarders in your opinion and why?
– Umm, that’s a hard one as there are so many good skaters in the UK, so this is in no particular order as they all kill it. I’ve been really been hyped on Neil Smith, Charlie Munro, Will Golding, Kris Vile and Nick Remon lately, I just like their styles and the stuff they skate.
Did Nyjah just win skateboarding or what?
– (Laughing), yeah, Nyjah’s new part was so crazy.
Thanks
– My sponsors and everyone who has helped me out in life.
