Sam Taylor
21, Leicester
How did you end up moving from Leicester to London?
I moved partly to skate but also to go to college.
Wow, a skater who studies. What are you doing a degree in?
I am studying illustration at Camberwell.
Do you hang out with the other students or just with skateboarders?
Maybe a 60/40 split of skaters to non-skaters. If someone is a skater you immediately have that common ground and connection with them.
Do you skate with all these guys regularly?
Yeah, I skate with Kyle, Jake and Ali all the time. It’s cool skating with the same group of people. The bigger the better really. Ali goes on solo street missions around London sometimes with his iPod on but it’s just more fun in a group. You get to show off more.
What spots do you skate regularly?
Stockwell is a bike ride away so that gets hit up a bunch, and we go over to Mile End a lot. Or just come to Ramsgate.
Do you play skating games?
I used to play them when I was younger but tend to actually skate a lot more than play skating games these days. If I ever do play I tend to play as Louie Barletta – he’s pretty sick.
Which skaters inspired you as a kid?
Erm… Jamie Thomas. I remember the first skate mag I ever got had Tom Penny on the cover doing a pop shove-it. I used to watch a bunch of 411 videos as well, and that Shorty’s video Fulfil The Dream.
Faris Hassen
22, London
How old were you when you started skating?
I was 13 I think. I saw some kids skating in a gang on TV and just thought that was what I wanted to do. My first set up was some crappy Complete. It lasted about six months before I destroyed it.
Do you always skate with this gang of kids?
A lot of the time, yeah. Or I’ll just go to Southbank and see who’s around. You get to show off more in a big group too.
You’re the second person who’s said that. Is skating just a big game of “my dick’s bigger than yours”?
I guess so. It’s just more sociable skating with a bunch of people as opposed to rolling around on your own.
Where do you skate when you’re not in Ramsgate for the day?
Southbank, streets in Elephant and Castle or just around where I live in south London.
What is your tactic for dealing with security guards?
Just don’t even bother arguing with them. Pretend they are right and do what they say. Then come back ten minutes later when they’ve gone.
Do you ever play skating games on the computer when the weather sucks too much to skate outside?
Yeah, we’ll all go round to someone’s house and get out the Xbox. I tend to play as Chris Cole.
Jin Shimizu
19, London
How did you get into skateboarding?
I grew up in west London so I was really near this big skatepark that is now called Xbox under the Westway in Notting Hill. I just used to skate there and a load of street spots in Hammersmith, plus Southbank and Shell Centre.
Were you bummed when they skate-stopped Shell Centre?
Of course, man. That sucked.
Do you tend to skate in a gang or do you go off on your own to skate?
It is kind of random depending on who’s around. I definitely really enjoy skating with a group though. If you are all skating a single spot or object or whatever – like the three-set we were skating in Ramsgate – then you all get hyped off each other and encourage each other to get your trick.
Can you foresee any more gang trips to Ramsgate?
It was really fun skating a totally new place. It sucked when my board fell in the sea though. I almost killed Jonnie at the same time. That was a bit of a low point.
Do you ever skate on the computer?
I do, but I actually find it harder to play skate games than I do to just skate in real life. I think it is the other way around for most people though.
Kyle Platts
22, Sheffield
What made you move hundreds of miles south from Sheffield to London?
I moved down to do illustration at Camberwell, which is where I met Sam. The course was actually the main motivation for moving but the skate scene in London is a massive bonus. I started skating pretty young just in a Tesco car park in Sheffield, and then started skating parks and street and stuff, but most of the kids I grew up skating with quit as they got older. In London, though, we have a solid gang of five or six of us who always skate together.
So you prefer skating in a group?
Definitely, you just get each other up for it in a group. We’ll all go warm up at the ledges in Elephant & Castle or Southbank and then go mission around. On the weekend we’ll skate the city or around Liverpool Street.
Have you ever found any odd spots in your group ramblings around town?
We found a spot the other day, actually, that is this weird loading bay near Bond Street that none of us have ever seen before so you do find places if you look.
Do you play many skating games or are you too busy finding loading bays to jump off?
I do play them but I don’t have a computer at the moment. When I was a kid I used to always play as Andrew Reynolds.
Jacob Harris
19, Leytonstone
What first drew you to gliding around on a plank of wood with four wheels?
I think I started when I was about 11. Everyone who grew up around where I was from used to play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and playing that just really made me want to skate so I got some crappy Complete from Argos and that was that.
So you were actually inspired to skate by video games?
Totally. Which is weird as I don’t actually play them so much anymore.
How did you end up skating with the group of people that you skate with these days?
It was kind of a process of elimination. We all met it Southbank years ago and the people that I still skate with are just the people that stuck with it and didn’t quit. Skating with a group of mates is definitely good motivation.
Aside from Ramsgate, have you skated any odd places on trips?
I went on this tour thing called The Big Push where we skated all over. There were plenty of strange places like Corby and Livingstone.
Did any locals ever give you any stick for being too old to be playing with a skateboard?
Of course, you get that everywhere though. In Liverpool they just wind the window down and shout “Skateboarder!” at you in a scouse accent. It isn’t very highbrow abuse.
Ali Drummond
21, Tunbridge Wells
How did you get into skating as a young whippersnapper?
I grew up in Tunbridge Wells and just started skating with kids from my local area, and as soon as I got a bit older I realised that London was only a train ride away so I started making the trip. That was how I met all these guys who I now skate with.
What do you get up to when you aren’t skating?
I study South East Asian Studies and Burmese language at SOAS.
Wow, do you think you are the only skater in the history of skating not from Burma to speak Burmese?
Possibly. Jin speaks some Japanese but I don’t know any skating Burmese speakers.
Do you prefer skating in a big gang or do you enjoy tootling along on your own?
In general, skating in a big group is always better, as you get hyped on your tricks and it’s just generally more fun, but if I’ve had a shitty day or whatever I might go skate street on my own and just listen to some music.
Is Ramsgate the most exotic location you have ever been on skate trip?
Undoubtedly. Actually, I’ve been to Asia a few times to skate; that might just beat Ramsgate.
Who is your favourite skater to pretend to be when you are skating on a computer?
I think I always used to be Koston when I was younger. Can’t go wrong with Koston, eh?