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Collin Provost Interview

A couple of weeks back the Prince Charles Cinema played host to the premiere of Emerica’s eagerly awaited Made 2. A cinema packed with half pissed skaters from around the UK got to witness some of the gnarliest skating to go down in recent years, as well as shout good natured abuse at the screen as is customary at these events. The next morning, and after the Emerica crew who made it over had indulged in some heavy London boozing, I caught up with Collin Provost who was kind enough to answer questions through a haze of jetlag, sleep deprivation and a raging hangover. We stood out the front of their hotel so he could shakily smoke cigarettes as we talked Made 2, Holy Stokes, growing up in Huntington Beach, Toy Machine and more. Keep on reading for a slightly blurry insight into someone who’s dropped some of the heaviest video parts of the last few years…

You’ve just finished filming for two big videos in the form of Made 2 and Holy Stokes. How did the process differ between the two and how did you deal with juggling filming for both?

Well I was only filming for Holy Stokes for a long time – to be honest I didn’t think I was going to be able to muscle a part for Made 2. Then last minute, I had about six months… I had some other shit too, but most of it was during the last six months. I mean filming for the Volcom video was serious, they were taking us everywhere and it was gnarly. I didn’t have as long as some for that either, because I had shoulder surgery and I was out for eight months. So eight months out for that, then straight into Holy Stokes, then straight into this…then straight into the premiere tour, it’s been heavy! I’m glad to be done [laughs].

Had you seen any parts from the video in advance, or was it a surprise at the first premiere?

I’d seen it a couple of times, I mean we had a team premiere before the first proper premiere. And fuck yeah I was surprised – I hadn’t seen any of it because I was on Holy Stokes trips so that was so fucking rad to see, everyone’s been killing it!

Collin backside bluntslides on a classic Californian set up. You can almost hear the screech. Photo courtesy of Emerica

Emerica has always had a heavy roster of pros – who are some of your biggest influences on the team both past and present?

Well for me, This is Skateboarding was always one of my favourite videos. Then with Stay Gold, it was amazing just to be a part of it, but I think everyone in This is Skateboarding. That’s probably one of my favourite videos ever made…

How is it having a team manager as gnarly as Heath Kirchart and does it push you, knowing what he’s capable of on a board?

Well we don’t really think of him like that, he’s just the homie you know? It’s just rad skating with him and having him around.

Getting up there with a tall as fuck nosegrind tailgrab. Photo courtesy of Emerica.

Emerica has always had a heavy roster of pros – who are some of your biggest influences on the team both past and present?

Well for me, This is Skateboarding was always one of my favourite videos. Then with Stay Gold, it was amazing just to be a part of it, but I think everyone in This is Skateboarding. That’s probably one of my favourite videos ever made…

How is it having a team manager as gnarly as Heath Kirchart and does it push you, knowing what he’s capable of on a board?

Well we don’t really think of him like that, he’s just the homie you know? It’s just rad skating with him and having him around.

Can you tell us about how you managed to get banned from the X-Games?

Oh that was some bullshit…I won some contest, they tried to take the money back, and I told them to fuck off basically…

You’ve been with Toy Machine for a good few years now, how did that come about originally? And is there a new video in the works?

Yeah man, a good few years now! They’re family, I’m stoked on being a part of it. And yeah there is a video coming; that’s the next one for me, a new Toy Machine video. It should be fucking awesome. I think we’ve got trips planned and I love going on trips with those guys, it’s a good posse.

You and Grant Taylor have spent a lot of time on the road together and shared a section in Holy Stokes – what’s the gnarliest thing you’ve seen him do on a board?

Well Grant and I have been on Volcom since we were little kids, they always put us together so he’s my road dog. Just watching him skate in general is just the shit – and he’s into cool stuff, he’s an awesome dude.

So next up is a new Toy Machine video, what’s coming up trip-wise?

Well we were supposed to go on a Toy Machine trip in October and things just got jammed up, but next year we’ll be on a bunch of trips. I hope we do Europe and everything, but I don’t know if we’ve got much travel budget so it’ll probably be a bunch of US stuff. I would love to come to Europe again though!

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