Following on from Leo Smiths “Haunts” interview back in January this year, we thought we’d track the other half of the Smith brothers, Jody, down and find out why he’s been keeping himself so quiet lately.
Read on…
It’s been a while since we last spoke, what have you been up to lately?
Well I just got back from a little two week trip to London, went up to see my girlfriend and at the same time shoot some photos for my interview with Kingpin magazine. The last few months I’ve been flying around with the DC team attending these ‘King Of’ trips, the last one was in sunny Barcelona which lasted for 2 weeks and had pretty much the whole DC team out there. I actually had to come home a few days early because I had my driving test which, may I just add, I passed first go!
What’s an average day consist of for you?
On an average week day for me I’d get up at around 11am, if my girlfriend’s around she’ll make me the nicest egg and bacon sandwich but if she’s not I’ll usually opt for the standard marmite on toast and a cup of tea combination (which I think you just can’t go wrong with). After checking emails and keeping up to date with my sponsors etc. i’ll pop down to Sj’z, equipped with a chicken pasty in one hand and a can of coke in the other and have a good old chin wag with Titmus and SJ, or maybe sometimes I’ll just sit in there and read the latest copy of sidewalk…
I’d say 9 times out of ten I’d go chill with my brother for a bit and beat his arse at Pro evo soccer, but right now he’s putting together his latest DVD so I’m usually sat next to him advising on his editing skills etc. Then around 6pm we all jump into someone’s car and go hit up Mount Hawke Skate Park for a few hours, usually in the evening time I’ll watch a film, go for a quiet beer somewhere with friends or just chill with my girlfriend.
Jody switch back tails an old favourite. Photo: Leo
Do you still hit up Mount Hawke quite a bit? Have you had any say in
the recent street course rebuild?
I wouldn’t say I had a great deal of input into the actual designing of the street course but I did however help out with some of the building work and I did make a few adjustments to the heights and widths of some of the obstacles, might not have gone down well with some people but I’m not the kind of person to say ‘I guess that’ll do’; it has to be perfect. So yeah whenever I’m back in Cornwall I’ll go skate the park as much as possible, I would mainly go there to skate the blocks and mannie pads but now the park has steps and hubba ledges I’ll be hitting that on a regular basis.
What’s the scene like in Truro these days?
I do sometimes find it hard to see a skate scene in Truro but it does exist, I would say it was much bigger back in the day though. I think it’s getting to the point now where you’ll start seeing some kids quitting because they don’t think its cool anymore and the kids who are just far too addicted to it and just want to skate all the time which is what it was like for me, Leo and Stuart who carried on when everyone else drifted away from it.
Which youth on the up should we keep an eye out for?
I’m sure there are loads of kids out there killing it at the moment that I’m not aware of but I would say right now Pablo Aresu and Gavin Boon are the two most talked about. Gavin actually had a ‘first light’ not that long ago and they both have video parts in my brother’s new DVD. So look out for them, hopefully people will be stoked on their skating.
What does your current sponsor list look like?
Seems like every time I get this question my sponsors have completely changed, anyway, right now I’m riding for Plan B Skateboards, DC Shoes and Apparel, Venture trucks, Travel wheels, Nixon watches, S’jz Skate shop, New Era and Object hardware.
Is Leo still into his filming?
Leo is still filming and is currently editing his third video project which should be available to buy at Christmas time, fingers crossed.
Have you got any projects up your
sleeves?
Right now my main project is to get this Kingpin interview looking as best as I can get it, I actually broke and dislocated my elbow a few months ago and I found it really difficult to get my confidence back because I didn’t want to fall on it and have it pop out again. I thought at one point my elbow wouldn’t ever bend out straight again which was making me think stupid thoughts about quitting but luckily it’s working fine and I’m back skating just as hard as before.
Jody performs an impossible switch flip at Milton Keynes a few years back. Photo: Leo
How was it working on the recent European DC DVD? Any funny stories
to report?
Usually with filming video parts I find it kind of difficult but because we were going to so many amazing spots I found it (dare I say it) pretty easy. To be honest I didn’t really consider it as a proper video part just because it was so much fun and I can’t really remember stressing over any tricks in it. Hard to pick a funny story because there are so many things to chose from, a lot of times they would involve me getting blind drunk, losing everyone and finding myself lost in a random part of Barcelona. Now every time I go out someone will remind me to have the name of the hotel where I’m staying written on a bit of paper in my pocket just as a safety precaution.
Can you talk a bit about your colourway on DC? How did it come about?
I originally chose this other model but unfortunately that wasn’t available so I got offered to design a colour way for the Pure which I thought was a cool looking shoe, not too simple and not too bulky. For some reason I always thought black denim would look sick on a skate shoe so obviously when I got told that not only could I choose any colour but I could pick pretty much any material I was keen for the denim. I’ve always been super keen on black shoes with white soles so I decided to go for those colours but because I knew the shoe needed to stand out I added some red trimming which I think looks cool and plus red, white and black are the Sjz logo colours.
Are you pleased with
the end result? Is there talk of doing anything similar?
I’m totally pleased with the end result of the shoe and what really stokes me out is when I hear people saying they like them too so what could be better than that, not sure if they’re planning to do it again I’d like to think maybe they would but who knows.
Switch flip back lip at MK Bus Station. Seq: Leo
Out of all the trips you’ve been on over the past few years, which
one have you enjoyed the most and why?
I think the best trip I ever went on was probably my first DC UK trip which was before Leo joined the team so I found it kinda nerve wracking going on tour with people I didn’t really know at the time and looked up to i.e Bobby G (Rob Selley), Colin (Kennedy), Flynn etc. The trip wasn’t like any other I’ve been on, we basically drove all around the UK in this huge tour bus which was equipped with beds, lounging areas, toilets etc doing demos at different skate parks. I remember one of the last nights of the tour we all went out in Newquay before the Mount Hawke demo for a big piss up, after drinking a large amount of booze, getting spat on by Laurie (Sherman) and watching Pritchard break dance with his bits hanging out we all trekked back to the bus were we had the funniest shoe throwing battle. I remember at one point someone lobbing a metal bin and it hitting someone in the head, actually come to think of it I’m pretty sure it was Laurie throwing it at Passmore. Haha Good times!
And finally, what have you got planned for the near future?
Well I have a couple of trips coming up before Christmas with DC and Plan B, then I’m planning on making the big move from Cornwall to the big smoke in the New Year which is quite exciting. Obviously it’s going to be very different from my laid back life I’m used to in Truro but I’m really looking forward to it, so next year you’ll be seeing a lot more of me skating around London. To be honest it’s something I should have done a long time ago but hey better late than never.
Check out the clip below to see Jody skating the recently renovated Mount Hawke street course. A massive thanks to Leo Smith for the footage…
