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Adam Gaucher – First Light interview

Smashing up East Midlands crust with Derby's Adam Gaucher

Adam Gaucher is an enigma. Or at least he’d like to think he is. I personally don’t think he’s mysterious, but he is very difficult to understand. For example, some reoccurring questions concerning Adam that have plagued myself and the Derby skateboarding community in recent times are:

How he gets to a session at 4pm when he’s text ‘skating?’ at 8am?

Why it takes him so long to make and eat a hardboiled egg?

Why does the boot of his car still not open?

How much talcum powder does one man need to put on his feet?

Why would you ask me (more than once) to sniff your grapefruit?

To you, these questions probably don’t seem that cryptic. Maybe you think we could just ask him, and he’d tell us the answers? Well I can assure you we’ve tried, and none of us are any wiser. The same things keep happening, and the same questions continue to be asked. Nothing ever changes.

It may appear like we’re continuously frustrated with Adam, but that’s actually not the case. You can most definitely balance out our frustrations with some positive Gaucher flavour.

You see, not only is he a seriously rad ATV skateboarder who’s great to session with, he’s also one of the first people I will text if I’m going down the pub. I’ve lost count of the good times and laughs I’ve had with him over the last few years, and I really hope they continue.

Bar the continuous weirdness, I’m stoked he’s my friend.

Anyway enough intro waffle, delve into the world of the mysterious @instagauch for yourself below. Enjoy!

Darren Pearcy

Without a second thought Gaucher uses a boneless to get from top to bottom in a Derbyshire ditch. photo CJ.

Who are you and where are you from?

I don’t even know who I am. Adam Gaucher I guess. You know Gaucher is actually French for left handed person. I’m 27 and I was born, raised and live in Derby.

How did you get into skateboarding?

You know the Mighty Ducks, the ice hockey film? I think that kind of started it, ha.

How does an ice hockey film lead to skateboarding?

I think it just made me want to do tricks. I remember watching it and then rummaging in the shed to see what I could potentially do tricks on. I swear I started pogo-sticking for a bit first. That obviously didn’t work out, ha. I had some rollerblades but lost interest in those pretty quickly, the only other thing in the shed was a skateboard.

Twenty seven is pretty old to drop a first light interview, what have you been doing all this time?

I dipped in and out of skateboarding a little during my early 20’s, I was doing art, playing guitar, looking at girls, the usual distractions. I never stopped skateboarding, but I was definitely skating more casually than I am now. I think once Derby skatepark opened and I stopped worrying about getting hurt on a skateboard things changed a bit.

What made you stop worrying about getting hurt?

Cruising parks is fun, but I was getting bored of doing the same stuff. I figured the only way it was going to get more interesting is if I actually push myself. So I started skating street more. I figure that even if a spot’s shit or I do hurt myself then at least I’m doing something new. I just don’t want skateboarding to feel stale.

Dodging the mutants to get a frontside wallride on the trickiest bank to wall in the UK (probably). Photo CJ.

I’ve definitely witnessed you skate more street this summer than in previous years. What’s the spot/scene situation around Derby like right now?

The Derby scene is cool and there’s definitely some good spots around. I still really enjoy skating the park and chilling with the homies in Derby, it just feels quieter than it used to be. I guess a lot of people have dropped off, chilled out or moved away (miss you Ball).

I actually spend most of my time skating in Nottingham now, there’s so many spots and parks plus there’s always a group of people out skating. I’m pretty reliant on the hype of a session to get me going.

Speaking of sessions… You’re pretty well known (amongst your friends) for taking your time getting out of the house. For the sanity of your mates, can you please give us some insight into why you get to a session at 4pm when you’ve text any one of us ‘Skating?’ at 9am? We just want to understand.

I honestly don’t know, it confuses me. As soon as I wake up, I’m really keen to skate so I’ll text one of you straight away to organise something. Then after lying in bed for a bit I start to question how hyped I actually am, so I just stay in bed and watch clips from a film or something. At the minute it’s generally clips of Avengers of Marvel stuff.

So basically you organise to go skating, then you watch a whole film before leaving the house?

Not a whole film, just clips on Youtube – like Thor beating up Hulk with a hammer, ha. It gets me hyped, mystical shit you know? It was Lord of the Rings for a bit, but I’m bored of that now. It helps me relax before I get up.

Once I’m done watching clips I stand in the shower for ages, get ready and then make a boiled or poached egg. There’s literally no method or thought behind it. It just takes me a while to leave the house. I do want to get out early, it just doesn’t seem to work out that way.

Do you ever feel bad or guilty for making us wait while you’re doing this shit?

Not really, ha.

Cheers! The photos of you featured in this interview are obviously the first you’ve had in Sidewalk. How do you feel about the transition magazines have made from print to digital, and would you had rather seen your photos printed in a physical magazine?

I’m absolutely stoked to have something in Sidewalk, but yeah I think it sucks a little that it’s not in print. I appreciate art and that’s what a skateboard magazine is to me. A photo in print just feels like it means more than one on the internet. However, it will probably benefit me in the long run as I use to spend so much time on the toilet reading Sidewalk!

You know, I actually prefer photos to video too. With photos, there’s more imagination involved. I like looking at skate photos and trying to guess or understand what that person is doing in that moment, or what the spot is like. You don’t get that with video, everything is too obvious.

One last grimy old spot to finish this off – salad transfer throwing the horns for SLAYER, Photo CJ.

You’re not a big video fan then?

No I do like videos, but I get bored quickly. I’m happy to watch one edit. You know, like some Bru-Ray (RIP P-STONE) clip or something short, that will get me hyped. I’m not really interested in watching full videos though. I want to watch something quickly, get hyped then go skate.

You’re happy to watch the entire back catalogue of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before meeting your mates for a skate though right?

Ha ha. Dick!

What’s your plan for the rest of the year? Are you working on anything at the minute?

Just try to have as much fun as possible. I’ve been filming some bits recently, so hopefully we can drop a little part before the end of the year.

Is there anyone you want to thank and give a shout out to?

Thanks to you Daz for sorting me out with everything. Alex, Aiden, Tom L, Ball, George, Chandon, Bambi, Greg, Quigley, Leech, Charlie, the Derby and Notts crew. Safe!