We ended the year by announcing DC’s Big Push victory via Jody Smith’s banging switch pop shuvit cover, shot deep in the Cornish underground by Leo “Big L” Sharp.

CJ caught up with Jody to talk about landing another cover, DC UK TM business, the Cornish scene and more.

Read away…

To celebrate DC winning the Big Push this year, we’ve been treated to the visual delights of a huge switch pop shuv at the feet of DC Europe rider Jody Smith. Where was the photo shot mate, and did you know if was going to be a cover?
I had no idea I was getting the cover. I literally got a text a day before from a friend saying “you got the cover”, at the time I was having a heated game of FIFA so I didn’t know what the text meant to be honest. I won the game of FIFA by the way, 3-1! The spot is in Penryn just outside Truro.

You’ve been gracing the pages of Sidewalk (and other mags…) for as long as any of us can remember and have had coverage spanning geographic boundaries from the depths of the South Coast of England to the US. Having been involved in the industry for so many years, do you still get the same excitement when getting a photo in the mag, and how did it feel when you saw this cover?
I was so hyped about getting the cover! I had no idea I was getting it. Sharpy (Leo Sharp) had text me the day it came out saying “you seen the new Sidewalk?” And I replied with “Nah, is it out yet?”, he sent back “Yeah I think so”. I thought nothing of the texts to be honest, even when my friend sent me the text about getting the cover I still didn’t catch on.
I think I get even more hyped on getting photos these days, I’m not one of these people that are always in every issue.

Where was the photo shot and what was the story behind it?
Well, we’d planned on going out on a Sunday to this spot at the Arts College in Penryn, but after getting kicked out straight away it kind of put a downer on the day. I’d been thinking about hitting this spot for ages, not sure who suggested it but we ended up checking out the cover spot, which I’d only seen from a Facebook pic and it looked sick. Obviously it being a Cornish spot it wasn’t as perfect as it looks but I was determined to shoot something so I tried frontside flipping it, after about thirty horrible attempts I decided to give up. Before I started skating it I had claimed a switch pop shuv but thought I’d have more luck with a frontside flip. Anyway, Sharpy had reminded me of my claim so I thought I’d give it bash. Cheers Sharpy!

What have been some of your favourite covers of Sidewalk over the years and is there anything/anyone you’d like to see on there in the future?
There have been so many amazing covers! I’ve always loved Shier’s ice block crook cover, Korahn’s switch backside 360 was pretty epic! Oh and Pablo’s feeble cover was insane too! I could probably name loads of favourite covers. I’d love to see Stuart (Titmus) or my brother on a Sidewalk cover, I’ve always said I’d like to have a framed cover pic of myself, Leo and Stuart on my wall. Come on lads pull your finger out! Ha-ha.

For those of us who are a little out of touch with the happenings within the Cornish skate world, who’s emerging from the scene and is there anyone we should be looking out for from the younger ranks?
There are loads of kids coming up from the Cornish scene at the moment; I’m hyped on it right now! The SJ Skate Store team is looking really solid at the moment, we’ve got Joe Venthem who has recently been hooked up on Converse, we’ve also got Isaac Blease who is one of My DC Crew riders who is killing it, then there is Pablo who everyone should know by now, and then we’ve got Phoenix Luke who is one of new recruits and has just started getting shoes from Supra. And that is just the Truro scene. You’ve got another My DC Crew rider Christian Watts from Newquay who is killing it at the moment, definitely one to watch. Cornwall is taking over! Ha-ha.

2011 has been a busy one with travel in Europe and the UK. With your role as Team Manager at DC taking full effect in 2012, do you have much stuff lined up and what should we be keeping an eye out for?
Yeah this year has been quite busy for me, been travelling a lot with the DC filming for the new DC Europe video, doing the Big Push and then getting this new role as TM. I think I’ve got one more big tour with the DC Europe team before the deadline for the video, there is talks about going over to China in February which will be amazing, that’s one place I’ve always wanted to go! The spots look insane!

Witness Jody and the rest of the UK DC squad in their winning edit from this years Big Push:

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