So, first things first – how old are you and where are you from?
I’m 22 years old and I was born in the UK.
You’ve lived all over the world though, right? Were you skating wherever you were living?
Yeah so far I’ve spent my life moving back and forth in between New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and now Wigan.
Since I can remember I’ve been 100% invested in skateboarding and it was the perfect way to meet new friends in new places every time I ended up somewhere new – skateboarding was the one thing that stayed the same no matter where I was living.
Dipped to perfection. Seb backside smithgrind in a swirling pool of blue – photo Reece Leung
So living in Hong Kong for most of your teenage years you started riding for 8five2shop, which is known as a transit point for international skateboarders into Mainland China. Can you recall any good memories?
Oh dude, I owe everything to those guys. They practically raised me. There are so many pros/teams coming to China via HK and I don’t want to go on and name drop but… one day we were skating this regular bike track spot with Fred Gall: that was pretty surreal. You’d get all the “Blockbuster” professionals coming over expecting to be shown around but Fred was the best dude to skate around with, he was just down for anyone, which was rad.
Living out in Hong Kong you must have ventured into mainland China at some point, what’s it like over there? Surely the culture is a lot different than ours?
I say that everyone, skateboarder or not, needs to go check out China at some point as it’s a complete culture shock. It’s so hard to explain… basically just imagine a backwards bizarro ghost town with more marble than sense – in the best way possible.
Growing up around lots of different backgrounds and in different countries – what has influenced your skating most?
It’s hard to say from an inside perspective, I feel like it just changes as you go with it. In terms of other people’s skating, I’ve been religiously watching the Tim O’Connor Memory Screen video. I’m definitely influenced more by the old school East Coast plaza vibe than anything else.
What was the transition like moving back to England? Was it difficult to settle into your new home?
Yeah it was tough coming “back” at first. It was the hardest move of them all. I felt like I was in a good place before I had to come back. I had never lived in the UK before despite being born here and so I had to start from scratch. I didn’t know what to do with myself when I moved to Wigan so I just skated everyday and it’s been 3 years now.
How did you come into contact with Black Sheep and become one of the team riders?
Just skating every day with the Wigan crew, Sunday clubs with Eddie Belvedere, working at Central skatepark once or twice and filming with Isaac. It just happened one day – Eddie called and asked me. I was so happy to be a part of something again.
Switch crooked grind whilst time stands still – photo Reece Leung
Are there any current projects that you are working on at the moment?
Isaac’s full-length: O ONE FUCKIN’ SIX ONE which is out 16th of December.
Last but not least, do you have any people you’d like to thank or shout out?
Oh for sure! Thanks to Harry, Tez and everyone at the Black Sheep. Dave Mackey, Jody Smith, Scott Howes, Isaac Wilkinson, Owen Yu, Ant C. Chris Piet, Ben, Dani, Milos, Brian Siswojo and everyone at 8FIVE2