The Terrible Company

Note: Please excuse the really bad video screencaps dotted throughout this article - the photos from this trip are lost to the sands of time.

Originally, after the successful "Sittin' On The Toilet" trip of 2010, I wanted to do it all again the next year. 2011's trip had been a write off though, as the potential for a road trip with a Cov crew and shredders Daryl Nobbs, Becky Jacques and Felix Parker had fallen through after some people got ill, and others had prior commitments they couldn't rearrange. The following year, in 2012, we finally managed to get some Cov heads who were keen to hit the road again for several days of camping, shredding and good times, so I got organised and readied myself for another camping trip. 

Like last time, we planned to hit up a good chunk of the south west, starting near Bristol and making our way down south to Cornwall. We booked ourselves in at the same campsite in Cheddar that we had stayed at for the first road trip, and got a tight crew of 8 people in 2 cars, with a plan to meet Joxa and Slasher Sam down in Bristol (they were living down there at the time). 

The roster driving down from Coventry was myself, my wife Emily, Ralph Cooper, Hannah Craig, Kyle "KB" Smith, Tom Illsley, Ryan "RB" Bradley and Alex "Moose" McGhie. Emily, Ralph, Hannah, KB and Joxa were returning members of the Sittin' On The Toilet gang, so I was pretty stoked for more awesome times with them, but also stoked on the people embarking on a trip with us for the first time. 

The trip would run across a long weekend, starting on a Friday, and ending on a Monday. It was April, a time of year when weather is unpredictable, but can sometimes turn out really nice. April 2012 was not one of those times. On the Friday morning of the road trip's start, it was chucking it down. The crew turned up at my house and we all looked at the BBC Weather website, and thought it looked like it might improve. Determined and overly optimistic, we got in our cars and hit the road, making a quick stop at the local Sainsbury's. 

Now, I've had some shit cars in my time. I once had a lowered Audi that would cut out whilst you were driving, and would only start again if you turned the ignition with the accelerator down (I had to do this whilst rolling, which was terrifying). I once had a Toyota Auris Sport that needed an entire clutch rebuild 3 months after I bought it. But the car I had on this road trip was a Toyota Corolla: the choice of grandads and Taxi Drivers everywhere. This car was reliable enough, but it was far too big for the engine size (it was a 1.4 litre) so was sluggish as fuck. It's one redeeming quality was it was very spacious, especially compared to the Peugeot 106 I took on "Sittin' On The Toilet", which had to have a roof box attached just to carry all of our camping gear. 

The Toyota Corolla didn't give me a whole lot of problems in the 2 and a half years I owned it, but on this particular occasion, embarking on a skate road trip with high expectations, it decided to conk out. After we had been to Sainsbury's, I got back in the car and turned the key. It turned over, and didn't start. I tried again. No start. I tried a few more times. The car turned over and refused to start. With no idea what to do I gave my Dad a ring and explained what was going on. I had flooded the engine. When I asked how we could fix it, my Dad simply said "You're just gonna have to wait". "How long???". "A couple of hours maybe?". My heart sank. 

After half an hour of sitting in the car watching skate videos and talking about how shit things had gone so far, I tried the ignition again. IT WAS ALIVE. The Toyota spluttered to life, and the engine was running. With not a second to spare, I gave Hannah the signal that we were hitting the road, and both cars rolled out of the Sainsbury's car park we had become far too acquainted with. 

As we barreled down the M5, the rain clouds began to shift, and suddenly: Blue skies! Things were looking up. The excitement was palpable and we all started to get hyped. As we rolled up to our first stop, Keynsham in Bristol, we were ready to shred. 

The session hit the ground running - after being stuck in our cars and thinking the day was a washout, everyone was so excited and shredding. Everyone landed a trick at the park: RB got the sickest Backside Heelflip over the hip, Tom shot a sick photo of me doing a Sweeper (lost to the sands of the internet), Emily monster trucked down some steps into a bank, and Ralph had his trademark fancy footwork on display. As the session was really getting into the swing of things… The heavens opened, and the rain came down. It was a washout. 

We sat in the cars and thought the rain might pass, but after 10 minutes it became obvious we were probably done here for now. Time was getting on a bit, so we decided to head on to the campsite, get set up, and chill out for the evening, with a fresh start the next day. Once we got to the campsite, we had a warm welcome, and the weather was looking fine once again. The evening camping antics were great, and everyone had a drink and a laugh. A few of the guys hotboxed a tent, so everyone was pretty mellow compared to the scrumpy based insanity of 2010's trip. We all settled in for the night in hopes of a good day's skate on Saturday. 

And then came the night. I don't think we get any hurricanes in the UK, but that night must have been the closest we've got to one. The wind was intense, and at times I thought our tent was coming down. Tom Illsley was in a pop up festival tent, and the evening before RB had made jokes that Tom would be sleeping in a tree by the time the morning came around. The more the night went on, the more I was convinced this would be the case. 

The morning came, and the sky was grey. Very grey. It was freezing, it was wet, it was not the ideal weather for skateboarding. I remember waking up a good hour before anyone else, and I went and sat in my car, put the heating on, and listened to the radio whilst I waited for some activity from the rest of the camp. As people stirred, the realisation of how shit the weather was settled in. We had planned to hit up Cheddar skatepark, but it looked less likely as the morning went on. 

We realised an indoor skatepark was probably going to be the only option. Bristol had the indoor Campus Skatepark, and was only a 30 minute drive away. We piled into our cars after some breakfast and headed to Bristol to meet Joxa and Sam. After an obligatory tea break at Joxa's , we made our way to the park. This was before the Campus Pool existed, and at the time Campus consisted of a room with a mini ramp, and a former school gym (before the current skatepark there existed) with some portable ramps and ledges dotted around. It wasn't perfect, but it was dry, and it was a skatepark. 

This session was pretty rad. Joe Habgood was there and was flying out of banks to wall ride everywhere. We all filmed some stuff, and generally just hung out and drank tea and skated. After a couple of hours, we stepped outside and realised it had dried up. We floated the idea of going to a skatepark, but Joxa had a better idea, and suggested a DIY spot called Daveside (which is still standing today, and is a super sick DIY skatepark). Back in 2012, it was just a quarter and a ledge. However, it was more than enough for us to get a session going. 

The skate was going well, and Emily had spotted a quirky little lump at the end of the quarter (built by Swampy) which she was determined to rock fakie. This thing wasn't a quarter or a bank, it was a weird lump with a little curb at the top to get your trucks onto. It was a challenge to skate, but it was super fun. Emily had a few goes at it, and was getting really close. Tom got the camera out to film Emily's trick on it, and first go, she went up and took a super gnarly slam, landing straight on her hip. It was one of the most horrible slams I've seen her take, but she just got straight back up - the next go she got it. 

After about 45 minutes of skating, the rain began again. Grateful to have got some time outside skating, we got back in the cars and said goodbye to Joxa and Sam, and headed back to the campsite. 

When we returned, it was like a bombsite. The horrendous storm-like weather had persisted through Saturday. Tom's tent was practically up in a tree. RB and Moose's tent had completely fallen down, soaking some of their bags. The big tent that Ralph, Hannah, Emily and myself were sharing was wavering, threatening to collapse. The only tent not on the verge of collapse was KB's pro fishing tent. 

The field we were camping in was boggy, and areas were becoming flooded. We made a decision to pack up, and head back to Coventry. If we could get a good night's sleep in a warm bed inside a dry house, we might be able to regroup and make new plans to head to an indoor park if this weather continued on Sunday. 

On the way out of the campsite, Hannah's Ford Fiesta got stuck in the boggy grass. She couldn't shift it, and no amount of pushing from others could free it. The Toyota had surprisingly gotten out of the field, so we tied a rope to the Fiesta and had to tow it out to rescue it. So far we had spent more time battling the elements than actually skateboarding! By the time we hit the road, the night time was drawing in. We stopped at a service station, where we skated some flat ground in wellies. Spirits were still high, somehow! 

To keep a sense of us being on a "camping" road trip, Tom, RB, KB and Moose stayed at mine and Emily's. Our house wasn't massive, so it was a bit like sardines in a tin. In the morning I woke everyone up with my Covpark Combat megaphone, which was tradition for anyone who slept at my house. 

The weather was still absolutely shit, so we thought about hitting an indoor park. Consensus landed on us going to The House in Sheffield, where we arranged to meet Alex Burrell. But when we checked social media we got a surprise. The House's Facebook page said the park was closed, but would open ASAP, due to an emergency. Ralph phoned up for more details, and found out the building next door had caught fire. We all felt like this trip was fucking cursed. 

The guys at The House encouraged us to drive up, saying by the time we arrived from Cov the fire engines would have gone. Ralph asked how busy the park would be, and we were told it wouldn't be too bad. With the session on, we headed up to Sheffield. When we arrived, we were gutted to find the place absolutely rammed with scooter kids. 

Dodging the scooter kids for this afternoon was an exercise in patience. Literally every time one of us would set up for a trick, there was a scooter kid there. For some of us it felt like we were never going to get a chance to even attempt the tricks we wanted. For a short stint we took over the micro room and got some footage there. We managed to get onto the street course a little bit, but the sheer congestion of the park, and the self entitled parents of the kids, just made it worse.

By this point I was flagging. I was genuinely so tired I couldn't think straight. When we were leaving, KB was trying a trick, and wanted to get it down before we hit the road. I was so tired, and I just didn't have the energy to wait around, so I got pissed off with it. In the car I ran my mouth and basically said some shit about Kyle that was unfair and moreso a reaction to me being so tired and bummed out about the trip than it was about Kyle wanting to land a trick. KB was understandably vexed with me, and everyone in the car was bummed out. 

At the services I tried to mend the bridges and was honest that I was just completely wiped out. I was at the end of my rope and reacted like a twat. It was honestly one of the most embarrassing moments I've had skating and I felt so shit for being an arsehole and bringing the vibe down. We all tried to enjoy some KFC and put it behind us. 

The next day, the weather was looking great. Things were finally turning around. Knowing that this was the last chance for this trip to turn out good, we plotted a course for Clifton Skatepark in Nottingham. I don't know what happened on this day, but we never got any footage from the park. It was the day with easily the best weather, and I'm pretty sure Tom filmed some stuff here, but the footage got corrupted or something.

I barely remember anything else about this day apart from Emily taking the actual worst slam she has ever taken, and landing on her already bruised hip so hard she thought she had dislocated it. The session at Clifton ended with us making a trip to A&E to get an X-ray for Emily. KB and Tom were trapped in Nottingham waiting for us to be done, and late in the evening we rolled on back to Coventry kinda glad the whole weekend was over. 

I've titled this "The Worst Road Trip", but I am fully aware many of you might have far worse experiences. So why am I detailing this? I saw a video of Craig Questions from about 5 years ago where he talks about skateboarders, and how we might have a terrible time on a skate trip like sleeping in a cold garage with 10 other people, and how we all just accept it, like it's no big deal. 

For anyone else, this kind of experience might be their idea of hell. The trip I described would be enough to put most normal people off going camping or even interacting with the people involved ever again. But for skateboarders, this kind of shit is part and parcel. It's who we are. Everyone has a road trip story like my one, where seemingly everything goes wrong. But the one thing that always, ALWAYS, makes it worth it? Riding your skateboard, with some good friends, and getting each other stoked on riding something new and different. 

Questions made a good point that a bunch of "Lads" on holiday in Ibiza would take sleeping in a garage on a cold concrete floor as a failure. They would take camping in a literal storm as a failure. They would call the trip completely over the minute someone's tent ended up in a tree. 

Skateboarders adapt. Skateboarders think about how they can still proceed, and still get to do this thing we all enjoy so much, even if the universe is repeatedly telling you to give up and sit at home doing nothing. This road trip didn't go to plan, but we stuck with the idea of 4 non stop days of skateboarding as a crew, and didn't give up on it. 

Header Photo by Chris Johnson (@cj_photo)

As of 2020, you and your brother Darren have been running Ride for 21 years! When you first opened the shop, did you think the skateshop would still be going this far in?

Of course we did: we're down for life!! It does seem a bit unreal that it's been going that long, but we've had such good support from people. Having the bike side of the shop has made sure we had some income to pay the bills too. 

How has skateboarding in Coventry changed in the 21 years the shop has been open?

I'm not sure it has changed that much -  people are still shredding the town centre, and a few are more into transition skating the same as they always were. I guess the skate fashion has changed a fair bit: most people are on 8.25, 8.5 or even bigger boards now, and wearing slip-on shoes. When we started the shop, if you rode an 8" deck that was big, and most dudes were wearing silly baggy jeans and massive shoes too.

Photo by Ian Lawton (@mrianlawton)

I think you’ve been skateboarding longer than I’ve been alive! When did you first start and who got you into it?

I'm pretty sure I started somewhere between 8 and 10yrs old back in the seventies, so I've been skating for about 45 years. No one single person got me into it, skateboarding was just starting to happen: it was talked about a fair bit and you would see the odd thing on TV. I was always into going fast and doing silly shit on my bike so it looked very appealing. If any one person did help it would have been Steve Spain. When I was 13, I bumped into him at the brickworks in town, and we were still riding little plastic boards or anything we could get our hands on. He was there on this 10" wide thing that just looked amazing!! I said to him "I need one of those", and he took me back to his house and showed me a Surrey Skateboards price list. I went home, sold nearly everything I had over the next two weeks, and then went back to Steve's, and he ordered me a Dog town Jim Muir full setup… then it really started.

What was your first board?

My first board was a made up one, as it was for lots of people: just an old roller skate cut in half and screwed to some wood. After that I had a plastic polly prop rubbish board, even metal and fiberglass boards too, but I will probably say the Dogtown Jim Muir was my first "proper" board.

Your real name is Paul. Where did the name “Jim The Skin” come from?  

Oh man this question haunts me! I was fully into Two-Tone: Cockney Rejects, Sham69 and other Oi music. I always had a shaved head, and used to go on all the scooter rallys, Northern soul all-nighters and that sort of thing. Think one of the first times I got in a mag, they must have asked what my name was, and Mon Barbour of SS20 said it was Jim The Skin and it stuck big time.

Photo by Daniel Soderberg (@fotodanne.se)

You are pretty much vert royalty in this country. Was vert something you always enjoyed skating or did you gravitate toward it later in your skating life?

Personally skateboarding was always about speed, long grinds, airs and definitely not pushing if you could help it. I always skated street because it was great fun, but if you could get to a good park with a pool or snake run or ramp, you could just charge. If you watch someone drop in Vert for the first time, they will tell you it was one of the biggest rushes they've ever had on a board just because the speed and the fear you experience, so once you conquer it and can do back to back tricks it rules!

How did Blockless Combat start?

Blockless Combat came around because there were no Vert comps, and hadn't been for a number of years. I just wanted to get everyone who skated Vert together so we could all go nuts! At the time block skating was massive, and it seemed like that was all a lot of skaters wanted to do. After you've grown up watching dudes go 10ft out of a ramps it just seemed a bit weak, hence the name. 

I have said on multiple occasions that you have the best smith grinds in the west midlands. Who taught you to smith grind like that?

Haha, I laughed the first time I read that on here - "best smiths in the west… Midlands". When I first got front smiths, there were only two other people who could do them in the UK: Phil Burgoyne and Mark Abrook. I saw Mark do a few at the Banbury ramp and thought "I'm learning that bad boy!". It took a while but I got them in the end, and it became a bit of a trade mark.

Photo by Sean Goff (@seangoff_toddtwist)

How do you feel the landscape of new parks has improved over the time you have been skateboarding?

It's amazing how many parks are out there now! Don't get me wrong: there's still plenty of shit ones, but even some of them can still be fun. I think they are slowly getting better, the new one in Newquay is so good. 

What’s the best park you’ve ever skated?

That's a hard one to answer: don't think I could name just one, because I've been to so many all around the world and they all have their own thing that makes them rad. Some of the California parks are so good, but there's some amazing ones in Europe too. I guess it must be Creation as I go there most.

You’ve got some air miles under you: As a skateboarder who travels a fair bit, what’s the funniest thing to happen to you on a skate trip?

The one funny thing that always stands out for me is when we were at Download Festival, and they had flown the big Vert soul bowl over for a comp. Christian Hosoi was over with Tony Alva to do demos. It got to the last few minutes of the comp, Slayer came on, and I was all ready to drop in and do some mad trick in my last run. I looked across to make sure it was clear and there was Sean Goff taking off his last item of clothing, so I had to let him go. He dropped in and did a full run completely naked. There were about 1500 people watching but I was just watching Hosoi's face! 

Photo by Richard Styles (@styzee)

As someone who stays pretty connected to the Cov scene, who are some of the best up and coming skateboarders in Coventry at the minute?

I don't go into town now, as I'm far too old to throw myself down stairs and stuff, but local dudes keep me up on who's ripping. I see a fair bit on Insta: obviously Lucas Healey, Pip, Duffman and Ben Keegan are still killing it but I've seen some rad stuff from Lewis Guest, Charlie Kerr and Jack Taylor too… I'm sure I've probably forgot a few but that's just my age! 

What do you think will happen in the Coventry scene in the next 21 years?

World domination!! Hopefully the War Memorial Park Campaign will succeed in their efforts to help us get a new park in Coventry, and we will continue to have a really strong scene. There's been so many people getting back into skating lately and new people starting up, especially girls. I would like to think the future looks good.

Anyone you want to thank?

Thanks to everyone who has ever made the effort to come and see us in the shop, and to all the Coventry skaters and BMXers: you all rule! Thanks to my wife Gayle for letting me disappear all the time to skate, and my children Charlotte, Joe, Izzy and Finn. Thanks to Mr Sean Goff for helping us set Ride up in the first place, and for his continued support. Thanks to all the people I skate with on a regular basis.

Thanks to Gary Taylor, Alex Haywood and Joe Atkins for working at Ride for so many years. And thanks to my brother Darren for making it happen.

5. Dead Dave

It’s been so hard to pick a top five, as I love skating as a whole and everyone in it, but at number five I think I’ll have to go for Dead Dave from the Baghead Crew and Heroin Skateboards. His part in Funeral is incredible to me, and I think I’ve watched it a good 100 times! He has such a unique bag of tricks, and the way his style is kind’ve loose and flowy is so good. It really inspires me to skate and I've been Influenced quite a bit from him.

4. Duane Peters 

“The Master of Disasters": What more do I need to say? The biggest punk rocker and raddest dude on a deck has to be on my list. From his sick tats and funky hair, to watching him rip at old contests, and legendary photos. So dope.

3. Jake Snelling

For number 3 I'm going to hark back to another UK skater: Jake Snelling. Obviously his footage in Blokes was amazing. He has so much style and aggression in his skating. Everything is done with power and speed. I only recently realised he was on Morbid’s Ripride team for a bit, so I always watch his clips on the Ripride youtube and that always gets me ready to skate!

2. Jeff Grosso

I love Jeff so much. I used to watch his Santa Cruz “Streets On Fire” part on repeat: skating the vert to “Nervous Breakdown”, huge Lien to Tail’s in slo-mo. That part gets my psyched up! His Antihero Destination Unknown part is crazy. Also, his Love Letters series taught me so much good stuff about skateboarding.

1. Mark Gonzales

At number one it has to be The G-man: Mark Gonzales. I think every skater has been influenced by Mark in some way, but ever since I first got into skating and played the first EA Skate game, I always picked Mark as a character. I always looked up to him, from Video Days and old Blind clips of him skating Paris just the best style. My favourite photo of skateboarding is an old picture from the 1980’s of Gonz doing the most stylish boneless on a Vision deck, with the tail right up in the camera!

Now, as the name suggests - this isn't exactly a new game. THPS 1&2 is a complete remake of the first two games, combined into a brand new package with a ton of extra content slapped on top. Every level is here, lovingly rebuilt in the Unreal Engine, running at 60 Frames Per Second. All of the pro skaters from the first two games are back, but updated to reflect their modern selves. They even managed to bring back a significant portion of the iconic soundtracks from the first two games! 

All of this wouldn't matter if the game played like garbage. Activision have tried to do a remake of these two games before, as well as sequels in the Pro Skater series, and they fell flat just because the controls didn’t feel right at all. As I've said before, THPS gets a lot of flack for being a goofy (no pun intended) arcade game where you can grind power lines, but the controls in the original games were so tight, so perfectly designed, and so addictive that it was an instant classic. 

I'm glad to say that THPS 1&2 finally gets the controls right again. This is not an accident: developers Vicarious Visions have a long history with the franchise, and used the original game's source code to ensure the feel of the game was spot on. This is a labour of love and it has paid off fantastically well. 

The developers have smartly included all legacy THPS moves from every game that came after THPS2 as well (e.g. Reverts, Spine Transfers, Wallplants). If your memory of THPS was a later game in the franchise, you won’t feel like the moves you are accustomed to are missing. Also, these new moves are now available on levels where you originally couldn’t do them. Having the full bag of THPS franchise moves at your fingertips on all of the levels from the original THPS makes these environments feel brand new again, offering new lines and combos that were previously impossible.

The controls set a firm foundation for a game as addictive, replayable and joyous as the original THPS. In the time since the last THPS game, people have been craving more realistic games - the culmination of this are games like Session, or the recently released SkaterXL. In comparison to these games, THPS 1&2 is a polar opposite. 

Personally I think this is a good thing - it's a slick, polished, tightly paced palette cleanser. It couldn't be more different than its competitors, and whilst that was a negative against THPS back in 2007 when Skate released, it proves to be an overwhelming strength here. 

THPS unsurprisingly knows it's a video game, and doesn't try to be a simulator. This is the thing I think will turn off many hardcore skateboarders, but for anyone who has spent the last 10 years playing Skate3, this kind of game, when it is done right, is a breath of fresh air. The gameplay loop is quick: you start a run, you rack up points, you complete the objectives of the level, and if you mess up, you restart instantly. 

The pace is blisteringly fast, and after playing any other skateboarding game it might be off-putting at first. For anyone who spent considerable time with the old THPS games though, muscle memory will quickly kick in, and you'll be knocking out combos of 200K points and upwards in no time. 

For old and new players alike, there is a ton of stuff to do here. As before, you choose a pro skater (or create your own character), and you complete all objectives in every level. This might sound a little simplistic and repetitive compared to modern games, but there is something very rewarding about maxing out your skater's stats and getting 100% completion in all of the levels. 

Vicarious Visions have doubled down on delivering a huge amount of content here as well: the roster of pro skaters here is almost doubled compared to the original game's with the addition of some modern day legends to join the original THPS cast. This is a wide and diverse list of modern day shredders: from 2018 Thrasher Skater Of The Year Tyshawn Jones, to Japanese X-Games wizard Aori Nishimura, and the world's first non-binary Pro Skater Leo Baker. 

These new additions are notable for very different reasons than the original roster, and show how wide reaching skateboarding, and the original games, have been over the last 20 years. Legends like Elissa Steamer no longer feel like "token" additions designed to tick a box. Next to the likes of Leticia Bufoni and Lizzie Armanto - they feel like they very much deserve to have the spotlight, and their influence becomes obvious. 

Each pro in the game has a set of bespoke challenges which allows you to unlock all of their boards, new tricks and alternate outfits. This gameplay is tailored to each pro's strengths and nicely bridges the gap between the stereotypical THPS super heroic combos, and the realistic tone of the game's pro skaters and locations. Some of these challenges are quite realistic in scope rather than asking for 50 trick combos (e.g. Earn 10,000 points from a lip trick and a revert only), which is a great way to use the THPS gameplay to appeal to those craving something a bit more grounded. It's keen to remind you that this is still a game about skateboarding, no matter how unrealistic and wacky that skateboarding may be at times. 

On top of these challenges there's a huge library of extra goals introducing an extra level of replayability - completing the base content in both games doesn't take a huge amount of time, so the addition of over 700 challenges to tick off extends the game's lifespan considerably. Some of these challenges are easy and take minutes, some will have you skating for hours. Vicarious Visions are incredibly respectful of the original games and what made them work, and rather than interfere with that core structure, their new challenge system bolts on incredibly well to modernise these games. 

All of this gameplay is set to a soundtrack mostly comprising of returning tracks from the first two games. These songs are iconic and, although maybe a tad dated now, are extremely nostalgic for skaters of my age. Skating around listening to Guerrilla Radio by RATM brings back instant memories of when I first started skating, and is a bit of a fountain of youth moment for anyone of a certain age. For anyone who wasn't alive when the first games came out - there are a bunch of new songs that feel on-brand and fit the gameplay extremely well that will doubt become iconic in years to come. 

The game's creation features improve upon the original games immensely - as previously mentioned, create-a-skater returns, but create-a-park is also included here. This is a robust level creation tool that lets you build all sorts of mad ramp combos, with the added ability to share them with your friends online. The developers have expanded and improved this feature immensely, allowing you to create huge, sprawling skateparks filled with all manner of crazy Frankenstein obstacles. Considering how impressive creation tools in games have become, these improvements are smart and people are already using Create-a-park to build some incredible monstrosities from replicas of their local parks to roller coasters. 

The game also boasts an awesome amount of multiplayer modes for players looking to session with others. Split screen returns from the original PS1 releases, but there is also a great online suite of options allowing you to play all of the classic THPS multiplayer modes with up to 7 other players. This wasn't present or possible in the original games, and they could have just kept parity with THPS2's feature set, but going the extra mile with awesome online features is a great touch and is appreciated. 

Those behind the camera sometimes don't get much recognition, so for anyone who doesn't know you - tell me a bit about yourself.

For sure, I'm Garry Jones - photographer from Coventry. Moved away for a few years to study my undergraduate but eventually came back to Coventry. Without sounding too much like a profile on a dating app: I'm 28 years old, and recently just completed my Masters Degree. I shoot photos of everything from beer brands to shoes but my main focus these days is working in the music industry, portraits and making album art. Saying that occasionally I get to shoot skateboarding also. 

How did you first get into photography?

Not sure exactly when I decided I wanted to be a photographer, it was just always a notion I had from being a kid. Skateboarding influenced me pretty heavily: I had this Blueprint poster, can't remember the skater, but he was silhouetted doing a FS Krooked down a handrail and flashes going off behind him. I used to always stare at the poster figuring out how it was taken. My first steps into the photography world was in secondary school, using a darkroom where I learnt quite a lot to prepare me going forward.

What was your first "proper" camera?

My first DSLR was an Olympus e-410. I got it around the time I started college at the age of 16. That camera served me well: I shot my first events on it, and skate photos I was happy with. I think things got a bit more professional a couple of years later, when I jumped over to Nikon, and everything started to look a bit cleaner.

Tez Aldersley Varial Heelflip’s a yellow hazard in a Coventry back alley

Who were your influences growing up (skaters and photographers)?

Still to this day, there's not many "photographers" that really have influenced my work. If there is, it's more likely photographers that are my close friends that I work with, and they affect my work flow and style. It's skate culture, and the artists/documentarians within skateboarding, that have truly inspired me. 

Ed Templeton is the first, and probably biggest influence: everything he has done with Toy Machine, to his photo books that come out on Um Yeah Art (which is Thomas Campbell's publishing company). Greg Hunt: as a film-maker, always really inspired me with his work with DC and Alien Workshop. I always thought it was really amazing and always used to try and find interviews of him speaking about his work. 

French Fred and his documentation of my favourite brand Cliche really showed me what you can simply do with a black and white 35mm roll of film. Cliche really had such a cool visual aesthetic from their board graphics to the tour videos they put together, such a rad team also. 

Mike Blabac too: his photography of Danny Way, and his first photo book were insane, and to this day those photos are incredible. What I liked about Blabac was the fact he could shoot a really good portrait in a studio also, and had this really nice high contrast imagery which really has influenced my work even more recently as I did a transition into more portraiture work.

Who were the first pro/sponsored skaters you ever shot? 

Sponsored skater has to be Joxa, thinking back: me, you and Joxa used to head out a lot all over the place. Joxa was on Witchcraft back then, so it was always fun shooting with him, plus he's the coolest, most friendly dude. As for pro skaters: I was at NASS 2015 when the Birdhouse team came through on tour, and I had woken up a little bit worse for wear from the night before. I walked through the back entrance of the park and bumped into Jaws, shot a portrait of him with a fisheye and a flash, because I panicked and didn't have time to swap my lens. Later that day, I got to shoot Tony Hawk, which was insane, plus got to see Lizzie Armanto skate in person and she rips!

Tony Hawk with a FS Stalefish at Nass 2015

Who are your favourite photographers?

Hands down, my favourite photographer of all time is Ed Templeton. I love the way he documents the world around him. To go more outside of skating, Don McCullin is a British photojournalist who has work that needs to be seen either in a gallery or in the paper layout it was intended for. He documented the rise of the Berlin Wall, Vietnam and many other conflicts but his imagery is always so strong and tells the story like no other. 

I was always a fan of Lewis Baltz's work too: He explored the notion of how humans use space, the 'urban', focusing on the shape and form. It was a very matter of fact style of shooting. I have a complete obsession with anything to do with the documentation of the Beastie Boys, so Spike Jonze has to be in there. His latest book is amazing, and the Girl collab boards are so sick. Also a lot of my favourite photographers are my friends I work with, as they are inspiring people: Mike Massaro shot a photo of artist Caribou that I just love.

What format is your favourite to shoot? 

Ever since getting a medium format film camera, it's been my favourite. I really love shooting 6x6 medium format, so the frame is a square. Really tried to champion and shoot more film this year: in New York I shot a load of bands with my Bronica SQ 6x6 camera and fell in love with it all over again.

I saw you on BBC Sport taking pics in the background at the UK National Champs: Was it weird to see UK skateboarding being given such a huge spotlight? 

I was really fortunate to come on board with Skateboard England early on, and shoot the announcement photos of the skaters for Team GB. At that point, or maybe even before that, Neil from Skateboard England had really kept me in the loop and tried to get me on board. Saying that, Neil has been a big supporter of me shooting skateboarding, and is the nicest dude, giving me loads of opportunities over the past 18 months. 

To get back to your question, I wouldn't say it was weird, I would say it was about time. There's some really amazingly talented skaters in the UK, and the spotlight was being put on them deservingly. Hopefully we get to see the rest of this journey towards the Olympics soon. Add any of the guys and girls that were in that comp: if you go on their Instagrams, you can see how much they throw down, so everyone getting that moment of coverage is credit to them and their love of skating.

Alex Hallford at the UK National Championships last year

How did you end up taking shots for the European X-Games? 

There's really no crazy story behind this: basically I emailed and asked. Shortly after, I got a reply saying they would love for me to come over. Just goes to show, putting yourself out there and having a conversation with someone goes a long way! 

Which pros did you meet there? 

I met Felipe Gustavo the first year I went along, with a few others, but to be fair to everyone, even in practice people were really focused that year. Second year I went, it was way more mellow for some reason. On the first day, I showed up after getting off of the flight and got to chill at the park and hang with Jamie Foy, who was the nicest dude. We spoke about his New Balance shoe, and his thoughts behind it while Gustavo Ribeiro was just tearing it up in the background. Kelly Hart was there judging last year's comp, which was cool as we had met before at Street League London a couple of times, so I got to catch up with Kelly again.

What was it like shooting someone as gnarly as Jamie Foy skating? Did he land everything practically first go? 

At these big comps, the practice sessions are basically the guys putting their runs together: they are trying the same thing over and over again. Watching Jamie Foy just Krooked everything in sight super pinched was super gnarly, it was crazy to see that level of skating in person. On the other hand, there's Ishod Wair, who just flowed around the course adding bits on and improvised as he went: he's probably the best skateboarder in the world.

Leticia Bufoni with a BS Disaster at the European X Games in Norway

What was the difference in vibe between the European X-Games and the UK National Champs? 

At the X-Games, you can really tell it's a big TV style presentation, with music and competitions and loads of other stuff going on, plus there's all the other sports there. At the UK National Champs, everyone knew each other, and if you didn't know anyone, by the end of the three days you did and it was rad. Churchill was on the mic, so what else do you need? 

X-Games is that finished, high-end product that's been going for years, but I got to go to Simple Sessions' 20th event this year. Simple Sessions is this great comp run by people who do it for the love of skateboarding, and it comes across. Everyone has a really good time with loads of stories coming out of it. You see amazing skating at all of these events and I guess the difference in vibe is maybe down to what's on the line for these skaters who enter. 

With so many high profile photography jobs on the books, do you get any time to skate?

Once a year, me and the Ghost Town Social Gang (Andy, Lyle, Ryan, Paul and Chris), go to a far away land like Paris or Barcelona and have a week or so of skating, hanging out and beers. On the run up to that I attempt to skate, but it doesn't normally happen if I'm truly honest. Think I'm more of a documentarian these days, and see skating as more social than ever, hanging out with some of my closest mates and having a push about. 

Cov’s own Andrew Scott popping over a unique gap opportunity

Did you get to skate the X-Games course? 

Never got to skate it - saying that, I never have my board at those events, as I have to carry loads of camera gear and clothes for a few days. I wouldn't be able to skate it anyway: they have a schedule of who's allowed on the course to practice, and they break down the days so everyone gets time without it being hectic as the courses are only small. If you had all the men and women involved skating at once it would be chaos. I think you have to have the correct wristband to skate as there are stewards everywhere checking. I'm lucky I get pretty good access, just no athlete access! 

What has been your favourite park/spot to photograph? 

Favourite park to shoot was the first year Street League was in London, at the Copper Box Arena. Apparently, the course was awful to skate but it had the Union Jack done in concrete so up high the photos looked great. Also I have had some good times over the years shooting the vert at Epic/Creation: normally Jim The Skin is skating, so always get rad photos. The big Herbert 3 set in Coventry with the old cathedral in the background looks epic. I shot a photo of Tez Aldersley that I still love to this day of him kick flipping it.

Tez Aldersley floating a kickflip down at the Herbert spot in Coventry

Which skater (that you haven't photographed) would you love to get pics of? 

Arto Saari would be sick! I love his skating. Spanky would be pretty high up: been really enjoying watching his footage recently. The skater that takes top of the list would have to be the fastest man in skateboarding: Dennis Busenitz. Just a photo of him pushing or bombing a hill would be a dream shoot!

What advice would you give to any aspiring photographers out there? 

Just enjoy your photography. Put as much time as you can into it, and most importantly talk to people and make connections. 

One last note on this: educate yourself! Take time to learn about photographers before you. Look at different areas, visit galleries, study photo books, listen to lectures - it all helps and gives you a better standing when moving into the professional world.

Anyone you would like to thank? 

Firstly, I’d thank you Ade: all the lifts to parks years ago, and people I met through you, and the videos you made. 

In skateboarding: big thanks to my friends over at Skateboard England, and always a big shout out to Jim The Skin and Ride. Everyone at X-Games & Simple Sessions: you rule. 

Thanks to Andy Scott also, as he kept me in skating for years, he's the hype man. Vic Frankowski: always a supporter of my photography from Content (@hello_content). There are so many to thank, as I can’t do what I do without people giving me opportunities and their time. Love to everyone.

Header photo by Ryan Bradley

5. Bam Margera skating a Rooftop Mini Ramp - Tony Hawk's Underground

This is the part that made me want to learn to skate mini ramp all those years ago. When I started skateboarding, I used to go to Zero G Skatepark in Coventry. I went every weekend, and there was another local, Cov legend Ian Sheer AKA Spud. Spud introduced me to Bam Margera: "Bam Fan" was a term coined back in those days, and I'm not ashamed to say I fell into that category, with heartagram T-shirts, nail varnish, and of course, huge Adio shoes. He had a rooftop mini ramp part, and it was the first mini ramp video part I ever saw.

4. Almost's "Cheese and Crackers"

Many of you are probably familiar with this video, and in a top five about mini ramp skating, it would be rude not to mention it. There is not one trick in this video that isn't crazy, and I've tried to emulate so many of these in my own skateboarding (usually unsuccessfully). If you have been living under a rock, and you haven't already seen this video, then my advice to you is to watch it right now! Hop to it! 

3. Mark Appleyard at Transworld Skatepark 

At number 3 is Mark Appleyard with a clip where he lands a beautiful Nollie Bigspin Heel to Back Tail. This is a trick I wish I could pull off, and maybe one day I'll figure it out. There's not much I can say about this one: just watch this clip and wait for the beautiful example at the end. How about them apples?

2. My part from The Terrible Company's "Cthulhu" 

Coming in at number 2 is my part from 2010’s Cthulhu, where I do a Fakie Frontside Bigspin to Front Rock. Yes, I know it's one of my own parts, and I don't really know where the trick came from. I'm sure somebody out there does this trick way better than I do. The thing I like/loath about it is how scary it is: you're riding fakie towards the coping, and popping a bigspin blindside, and just praying to land in front rock. (Harry’s Part starts at 15:00 - Ade)

1. Dan Drehobl - VOX 60 Seconds

At number one is a clip featuring Dan Drehobl killing it. What makes this my favourite is him doing my all time favourite trick, period - the mayday grind. For me, that trick just oozes style, and I think it shows people's different styles so well, as nobody really does it the same. Drehobl's 60 seconds part has the best example of this trick in my opinion!

Alex Darby - The New Deal team in "Useless Wooden Toys" 

For me it wasn't one skater, it was a video. Available for the bargain price of £9.99 - less than half the price of other skate videos in shops at the time - it embodied everything that the company which made it did: skaters doing it for themselves, shoving it to the corporate man without any of the rockstar nonsense that Powell were trading on at the time.

Every single day after school, rain or shine, I'd shove Useless Wooden Toys into the video player and watch it end to end (including the super-long bonus section after the main thing) whilst messing with my fingerboard. 

At weekends I'd hook up with my friends, watch it again, and then go skate around the local spots (a 30 foot long waxed curb, a two-step-set, a disused knee-high railway platform at the back of a train station carpark, and a janky decomposing 7 foot mini with coping that stuck out like 4 inches from the transition in the middle) all day until we literally couldn't even ollie anymore.

One of the highlights of my skate pilgrimmage to California in 1996 was skating Fort Miley where some of the tricks from the video were filmed. And there’s a clip of Justin roughly at the 6 minute mark that was a Birmingham skater meme before the internet!

If I had to pick out someone from the team it would be a tie between Ed Templeton (making the ollie impossible cool!) and Justin Girard (b/s tailslides of the gods).

I delammed more boards than I'd like to admit nailing impossibles, but it was totally, totally worth it; sadly I doubt I'll ever do a b/s tailslide as good as the ones Justin Girard did in Useless Wooden Toys…

John Ribbins - Daewon Song

I thought I would be able to bash this out in no time, but thinking back to skateboarding as a kid I realised it's really hard to figure out if there was a central person or persons that influenced me as a skater. I've never really been that good. Skating is just something I really really loved. In my early teens I was encouraged into football and hockey, but I wasn't great at those and never really made the cut to be on a team. The nice thing about skating was that you could suck at it, as much as you wanted and it didn't really matter because it was just you.

I grew up in Plymouth, which at the time had no skatepark of any sort. For the first 5 or so years of owning a board I just went in the road outside my house and tried to manual as far as I could down the hill, or roll up a curb cut to slappy 5050. I didn't really even know what an Ollie was. I think the person who really got me into the scene properly was Martyn Orme. He went to the same youth group as me, could kickflip and ollie and hung out at the civic centre, which was the hub of the Plymouth scene in the 90s. I started going there with him every Saturday and Sunday and just hanging out. 

There were so many rad people there at that point: Derek Beer, Simon Kay, Gaz etc were all older guys with great style and tricks. The people I'd spend my weekends with were the people that pushed me to be better and try new stuff - Alex, Jono, Ryan, Colm, Josh. Everyone was into different stuff. It was before we all had mobile phones, so you'd just show up and hang out. Those were the people that made skating fun, made it a community and something that I wanted to keep doing, every week.

In terms of Pros, I remember getting Rodney Vs Daewon 1 somewhere around 1998, and just being enthralled. Manuals were my thing, and that video was just next level for that stuff. Outside of the weekends, I spent a lot of time skating the industrial estate down the road from my house in the evenings on my own. I remember going there and setting up stacks of packing palettes and bits of wood into manual pads and just trying to do the stuff I'd seen in that video.

Obviously Rodney is amazing, but for me Daewon was the inspiration. That phase where he'd just make his own spots out of benches and manny pads really spoke to me, because it was what I was doing on a smaller (and way less proficient) scale at the factory near my house.

While my other favourite skaters have come and gone over the years, Daewon remains a constant inspiration. Now that I'm an older skater, it's awesome that he's still out there being creative and learning new stuff. It's like, when I was 14 I was watching him in Rodney VS Daewon and getting inspired to learn Nose wheelies and now, 21 years later he's still out there doing crazy new shit on Instagram and letting me know that despite being older, there's still years left to keep doing and loving this thing.

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A post shared by Daewon Song (@daewon1song) on Jul 24, 2020 at 6:54pm PDT

Header Photo by Jim The Skin

First things first… What have you been up to for the last couple of years? 

It has been a while, almost two years actually… I needed a break, because grafting all day, then skating all evening just wore me down. I ended up getting side tracked and lazy getting back on board. In that time, Sarah and I bought and moved into a new house, and we have had a baby boy! I'm stoked as can be!

How is being a dad? 

At the start I was freaking out a bit, and this whole pandemic chaos had stirred me up a bit too, but I'm really excited and I still can't believe there's a mini version of me and Sarah. It's awesome!

You gonna teach them to skate?

Yeah for sure, if they wanna learn I'll teach it to them.

What drew you back to skateboarding? 

It was the boredom of lockdown. I was going pretty stir crazy and needed to sort my head out, so I started going to a local skatepark with a nice flat ledge. I've been skating there quite a bit recently. My friend Dave, from Australia, kept sending me old Slam magazine photos on Instagram, and it sparked the love back for skating too. 

David Blaine at the Boardroom - P: Owen Strachan

I know you lived out in Australia and occasionally go back out there to visit, what led to you living out there?

Yeah I lived there from the age of 10 until I was 23. My stepdad is an anaesthetist and he was offered jobs at a few different hospitals in Perth, so my Mum, stepdad and I moved out there for a better life. Miss it heaps, but love it here too. 

How does Australia's skate scene compare to the UK? 

I'd say the weather is a big difference, and the amount of new parks being built in Australia is huge compared to here. But the skate scenes are similar wherever you go really.

Were there any skaters you met in Australia who absolutely killed it?

Yeah definitely - Zac Wilmore, Aaron Nannup, Jack Snow, Zepp Heyes, Dylan Tomlinson, Sam Bennett, Brett Margaritis, Harry Clark, Quayde Baker, Barry Mansfield, Morgan Campbelljust off the top of my head… 

Where did you learn to skate and what were your local parks growing up? 

Carine skatepark was my local, I love that place! Leederville was another park I skated heaps. And I loved skating Perth city too.

Japan in Australia - P: Sarah

How did you meet Chizel and the rest of the Nuneaton crew? 

I met Chizel and crew from Nunny at Bedworth skatepark. I always used to hang at my friend Fabio's place, which was in throwing distance of the park, so met a lot of people through him. Thank you Fabio.

Were you involved much with Chizel’s “Doghouse Skateboards” output?

Yeah, they were some fun days man! 

Who are your favourite skateboarders?

Alltime? Or at the moment? There are too many to list! 

How about we go with favourites at the moment? 

Tiago Lemos, Oski, Ishod, Cody Chapman, Bobby Worrest, Stevie Williams, John Shanahan, Simon Bannerot and Lucas Healey. The DC Domino video was sick, their Brazilian team are mental.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an obstacle you can’t skate. Is there any spot out there you’ve had real trouble getting a trick on?

I like to try and skate everything, but I have trouble skating proper vert.

Similarly, your board selection is as versatile as your ability to actually skate. What kind of set up are you riding at the minute?

Mostly an 8.375 inch SUAS deck, 149 Indy trucks, Reds bearings and 50mm Spitfire Formula 4's, but I've also been riding on a 8 inch 5boro cruiser, 129 Indy lows, Reds and 51mm Dualite wheels too.

Is it possible for you to skate any faster than you already do?

Haha - Maybe some swiss bearings might help! I do like skating fast, I think it looks better and feels better. 

Anyone you want to thank?

Reviewed on Xbox One and PC

First things first: we can't discuss SkaterXL without mentioning Session. There are so many similarities between both games. Both games claim to be skateboarding simulators. Both use the left and right sticks as left and right feet. Both use triggers to turn. Both aim to recreate a golden triangle of American spots from major cities (although from complete opposite coasts of the US). Both have drafted in real pros and brands to help bolster their authenticity. There is just no getting away from the comparisons here.

What I will say, is that my initial assessment of both games, which pegged Session as potentially being the better game, was wrong. I know it's too early to say, with Session still in early access and a far way off of Version 1.0 (which SkaterXL is obviously now at), but the directions of the two games, although similar, also offer many differences. SkaterXL's path, in context, plays, looks and feels better. 

SkaterXL is a much more forgiving and accessible experience all up. Developers Easy Day Studios aren't slaves to the super realistic control scheme, in the same way Session developers Crea-ture Studios are. The ability to steer your board with the left and right stick as a safety net for anyone with muscle memory stuck on Skate3 mode is a really nice touch.

SkaterXL is missing many tricks like late flips (which Session does have), no complies, darkslides, footplants and handplants - but the tricks on offer are designed to look and feel different every time you do them, and in many cases everyone will do them differently. It's the first game where you can truly have and own your style, which is an impressive feat. Easy Day are clearly building a foundation for what may become the most sophisticated skating simulation the world has ever seen. 

The game doesn't use canned animations, and relies more on real time physics, which is what makes every trick look unique to you. Grinds depend on the angle and position of your board, which means you can tweak and style certain grinds, or even accidentally land in tricks you didn't expect (which is realistic - you ever go for a Smith and end up in lipslide?). Compare this to Session, where you absolutely have to be doing the right combination of left and right stick movement to do a specific grind, and anything but perfect execution causes a slam. 

SkaterXL's slightly more lenient approach is it's saving grace here - if the game was any more punishing it would just be completely frustrating. It balances difficulty perfectly with teaching you just enough to peel away at the surface. Spending time with the game, you begin to figure out tricks that seemed completely impossible to you mere hours earlier.

The game boasts an impressive amount of content, having roped in various talented developers from the game's modding community to bulk out the game with great replicas of real locations, amazing fantasy spots, and a robust replay editor. A large portion of LA can be explored and shredded alongside the smaller levels. The locales are a little dead, with no traffic cars or NPC's walking around, and in a way I understand that this is intentional so you don't get hit by a bus or mess up a line because of a random person - but the levels just feel lifeless without them. 

You can play as a custom character, using boards and clothes from some rad, real life brands like Santa Cruz, Element, Lakai and Dickies. The character customisation isn't as expansive as I would like: you only have 4 preset characters to pick from for male and female body types, you can't add facial hair, and the boards and hardware are all the same size. Compared to Session, which has various board widths and board shapes (pool boards are so hot right now) as well as varied sizes of wheels, SkaterXL falls short in this department, and I hope they improve it post launch. 

You can play as one of 4 pro skaters - Evan Smith, Tom Asta, Tiago Lemos and Brandon Westgate. The skaters all look kinda dead and robotic when you're watching replays of them. Again, it would be great to see some improvements with facial animations here so the characters feel a little less like action figures. There is a distinct lack of transition rippers, which is kinda weird considering there is a whole map dedicated to transition skating. 

One of my major concerns playing the Early Access build was that the transition skating was kinda borked. It just didn't feel right in the first pass version I played. Everything felt way too difficult and odd, and the controls just didn't gel with how I feel skating transition should be in real life - it was frustrating just feeling like I had to put so much effort in for a simple scratch on the coping, and more often than not it didn't look or behave how it did in real life. 

I'm glad to say Easy Day really went all in on trying to get this part of skateboarding right for the full release. Although it could do with some more tutorialisation: The transition skating looks and feels better than Skate 3 when you know exactly what you are doing. The game is missing some footplant and handplant tricks, but it is a ton of fun: Transitions feel like transitions, rather than ledges disguised as ramps. 

They even added controls to drop in appropriately from basically any lip trick you can land in, which is a massive improvement over Skate3. Whilst they get lip tricks mostly right, the grabs are kinda difficult: Indy and melon grabs are easy, but you have to contort your hands around the controller in bizarre formations to do other grabs, which is baffling and disappointing. 

The other area of transition skating that feels a little poor is bowl skating. There's one proper bowl in the California Skatepark level, and it's a pretty standard clover bowl with pool coping. The pumping in this game is super hard to get right, and it's clear that (for the time being) it mostly works with mini ramps in mind, and not much else. Carving corners slows you down, pumping seems overly difficult to get right in this context, and once you roll in and do one lip trick you never seem able to hit the coping again. I hope they continue to improve this, as well as add more awesome transition parks and spots post launch, and maybe some footplant variants too (fingers crossed for the first video game Sweeper).

Past just skating around, there is a distinct lack of goals or objectives. The game has loose trick and line challenges for every level that you can burn through: frustratingly the game forces you to do these in Regular, so I had to do these in switch! A lot of this mode can be cheated by just doing the tricks required on the spot, rather than skating the obstacles the game wants you to, which is a shame.

Other than this, there is very little else in terms of campaign or progression. I know skateboarding is about finding your own fun, but in a video game, this lack of real goals can just feel like there is nothing to do. A video game where you "find your own fun" should give you more tools for hours of fun (e.g. Minecraft allows you to build practically thousands of things, hunt monsters, etc) - for SkaterXL to be the same kind of game, it would need a robust park editor, or allow you to modify in game spots. As it is the 8 levels are great, but lack any real substance other than "go skate". 

Skate, as a franchise, worked because it had these short, medium and long term goals to work toward, and a loose story to pull you through the game, and SkaterXL could benefit from something like this. The achievements offer a little something to work toward - for example there are cumulative goals such as total distance in grinds, as well as big, cool one off challenges like ollie a drop of 5 metres or more. 

It just isn't enough though: I would've liked more crafted challenges that make you think a bit more and allow you to get creative. Giving the player access to all levels, all gear, and all clothing from the outset, with no structure to what it is you're meant to do, might sit well with some hardcore skateboarders, but it doesn't make a great "video game". 

But still, even with this complaint, the gameplay is fun, accessible and a worthy successor to Skate 3. The best way to describe SkaterXL's approach is that it's a happy medium between Skate3 and Session - it's trying something new and maybe a little bit difficult to understand like Session, but it's doing so in combination with the best lessons learnt from Skate. 

Header photo by Ryan Bradley.

I grew up skating in Coventry in the early 2000's. By the time I had started skating, the spots had been skated for decades prior, but still had plenty of life left as the new boom of skaters entered the city. The spots have always had a rough and raw quality to them, but then again that was part of the charm. Banks, ledges, rails, stairs, even the odd street transition - but all of them had a common aesthetic of a city that had been rebuilt and reimagined through a brutalist lense after the second World War. The spots are decent enough to get the attention of Stereo's Carl Shipman, Darkstar's Joe Hinson, and the respective Get Lesta and Baghead crews: so it stands to reason that they are most certainly important in British skateboarding history. 

Andy Clare, one of the OG Cov Street skaters, is the owner and operator of Spray Station - a graffiti shop in Coventry’s Fargo Village. He's a lifelong skateboarder in the city, having seen new spots crop up again and again. He remembers many of the spots from the 90's era, many of which were still present when I started skating, and only recently were demolished:

"Brickies was great, I grew up skating those banks and loved it there despite the terrible floor and smell of piss. The balcony spot (aka Virgin Wall rides) was fun with good flat, grindy ledges and steep banks. The marble bank/wallride behind the west orchards escalators was great, and there used to be some big square wooden benches too."

P: Gaz Taylor boosts a melon out of Brickies for his “New Blood” article in Sidewalk.

Brickies, aka The Brickworks, was my favourite spot in the world. So much so, I wrote an obituary on this very blog when it got demolished last year. For many of us who grew up in Coventry, Brickies was endless fun: lip tricks, bank tricks, raw, unforgiving ground, and the openness of a skatepark made it the perfect challenge for anyone who enjoyed riding a skateboard. 

Gaz Taylor was part of the same generation of skaters as Andy, and has been skating in Coventry almost as long as I've been alive. Consistently adept at tackling the street spots in the city, he even got snapped doing a melon at Brickies in an issue of Sidewalk. Brickies wasn't his only favourite place to skate though:

"There was a flat bar outside the Belgrade theatre next to the fountain, about knee high.  Perfect for learning rail tricks on. I remember it used to shoot you off the end at speed as it was slightly down hill, that was really fun. Also, the old banks at Cov and Warwickshire Hospital were really good fun, that was a very long time ago though."

Ryan Stanway was one of the first skaters I met down the Memorial Park, before Terribleco was even a thing. Despite meeting at a skatepark, he is largely a street skater, and knows the spots of Coventry better than the back of his hand. He remembers one of the most infamous stair sets in Cov:

"Pigeon Shit has to be up high in the list of spots. It was the first decent sized set of stairs I landed tricks down when I was younger. There always used to be massive session there with 20 plus people all trying stuff." 

P: Moose throws a Varial Heel down at Pigeon Shit. Photo by Ryan Bradley

Pigeon Shit was a stairset in a "golden triangle" of spots in Coventry: an area surrounding the University where you couldn't walk for more than 10 seconds without encountering more skateable architecture. It was a long 4 set, merging into a 5 set as the landing was on a slight hill, and had a knee high ledge running along the right hand side. The ledge was battered from years of abuse at the hands of trucks and BMX pegs alike, but it didn't stop people like Kris Vile, Josh Walters, Ant Smith and others getting bangers on it. Josh's last trick in my vid "Batface" saw him getting a FS Tailslide Bigspin out on the ledge, and the same video saw Ralph Cooper close out his part with a switch hard flip down the stairs at Pigeon Shit. It was a proving ground for any half decent street skater in Coventry. 

Ryan Bradley, a regular contributor to this blog, lives out in the Warwickshire village of Cubbington, but his real home is at the street spots in the centre of Coventry. A regular of the scene for more than 15 years, Ryan's memory of street spots is pretty similar to my own. He remembers some of the more obscure spots and lesser remembered favourites:

"The pyramid spot at the old precinct entrance, next to New Look was so tight back in the day, and got so rinsed, especially by Tony Lui. The old blue fountain with transition at Belgrade was cool from what I remember, and was pretty fun to skate around in. The double death set, with the double rail that was right next to Brickies was great too. Obviously gotta mention Brickies itself, just because so much shit has gone down there for so long. There was a road gap on the hill in between the Boy's club and Gosford Street at the University library: I remember Duffman trying to conquer that, and I’m pretty sure they filled that in."

Some of the spots Ryan brings up were incredibly gnarly and were rarely skated. The double death rail didn't see many tricks go down on it, but Stan Byrne caveman boardslid it in the 2013 Terribleco video "Concrete Jungle". The road gap at the University library was like something straight out of San Francisco - a hill bomb spot with a gap over cobbles about the width of 1 and a half cars. The only person I know to have cleared it is Tony Lui. Finally, the old precinct pyramid spot was a small, whippy bank spot, which saw plenty of quick footed lip tricks go down from Tony Lui, Harry Myers, Kyle Smith and a wallie over the whole thing by Joxa. 

P: Tony Lui boosts a FS ollie out of the Pyramid Bank spot. Photo by Ryan Bradley

New spots (at the time) like the Herbert were popping up a lot, replacing old 1960's architecture. It was a reminder that the city had been evolving and changing long before some of us even considered standing on a skateboard, or even before we were born. Gaz Taylor remembers dozens of spots I had never even seen in my time skating:

"Manual pads in Whitefriar's car park were popular in the 90's. Barrack's car park had some rad free standing painted curbs, and some small banks shaped like half of a pyramid that we used to use to get air out of. There was a small rail outside the transport museum with no run up, that was good for cave man slides."

"In the late 80's there was a mini ramp in the woods in Canley next to Tesco, built by Phil Hunt. I remember it had bright orange coping on one side and bright green on the other side. The paint would stay on your trucks for a while after. Safeway's car park on Holyhead Road had some rad slick curbs and some mud gaps. That was one of the main hang out spots for skaters in the early 90's too. Grindable window ledges of the Coventry tax office building were very good fun."

P: An after dark session at the Virgin Wallrides. Photo by Ryan Bradley

This article was inspired by the demolition of the concrete benches at the Littern Tree spot - named after the pub nearby. Current skaters in the scene mourned the loss of the spot, but speaking to sources who have had an eye on the redevelopment a brand new hub of spots is planned. Old spots are great and we miss them when they're gone, but there's a lot to be said for the excitement of new architecture and the spots that are yet to be. 

Nostalgia and history are powerful things, and they definitely contribute heavily to skateboarding. The cyclical trends, the feeling of skating a park you haven't been to in 10 years, and the stories people tell of what trick was done at which spot. No matter what new spots are planned for Coventry, the old spots like Brickies, Virgin Wallrides, Littern Tree and Pigeon Shit will live on through what we remember about them, and of course the footage we got along the way. 

First things first, can you give a little introduction about yourself, as a skateboarder and artist? 

So, my name is Daz, I’ve been skateboarding for around 13 years. I skate mostly blocks, stairs and gaps - I like a good challenge. I’ve been creating art since I could hold a pencil as a child. I’ve always painted, but the last 3 years I’ve been pushing my oil painting, and pushing creatively to get into a headspace of surrealism! I see both art and skateboarding as surreal. Art and skateboarding definitely go hand in hand, can’t live without them!

Where did you first learn to skate? 

Always been a Worcester lad, so I grew up skating here. I grew up skating with my good friend Charlie Tyndale, and we always just pushed each other with dares to do silly things on our boards! 

What's the scene like round Worcester?

The Worcester scene used to be amazing, but it has slowly died off over the years. Mainly because we lost our skate shop, Spine, owned by Chris Bourke. We still have a fair few skateboarders in the city, but not like it used to be, which is a massive shame. 

Were you about when Perdiswell skatepark first opened then? 

Yes I was - crazy how time goes by! Haha

What came first: your interest in skateboarding or art? 

It would have to be art. I’ve been doing art since before I could ride a skateboard. Skateboarding came to me when I was around 13 years old, but I’m so addicted to both. 

How did you get into oil painting? 

I’ve always been really inspired by artists such as Turner, Kay Sage and the mighty Zdzisław Beksiński. I’ve always found the Dystopian Surrealism world a beautiful place. 

Is art something you've pursued professionally, or do you like to keep art and your day job separate? 

Oh man, I’d love to be a professional artist but unfortunately I have to keep the day job for a steady income. My day job is pretty much painting anyway - I paint canal boats for a living, so I’m doing some kind of painting/art all the time. 

How does skateboarding impact the art you produce? Does it inspire anything you've made? 

Well, I see skateboarding as a very surreal thing, so I’ve always been inspired by that. My illustrations are more inspired by skateboarding than my oil paintings. I’ve created DVD covers for skate videos, and other designs for skateboard companies over the years. It’s always rad to do a nasty skateboard illustration!

Which companies have you produced artwork for? 

Mainly friends. The Wizards Key: they are my good friends from Canada, they kick ass and skate hard, so definitely worth checking out! I do all the artwork for Cornmarket, and I’ve done some for A Third Foot. 

Who are your favourite artists within the skateboarding world?

100% Ed Templeton!! 

What's your favourite board graphic of all time? 

It’s so hard to choose! I really like Vision's boards, they all are so good. I like Blast skates too! 

Is skateboarding art? 

Of course! What isn’t art?

Which famous surrealist scene would make the best skate spot?

I’m saying "The Lugubrious Game" by Dali. 

I just googled it and it looks like a legit Barca ledge spot! 

It would be a mental spot to skate! 

Anyone you want to thank? 

5. Static 4

I first watched this video at the premiere in Birmingham. It was an insane video, with some really creative New York style skateboarding. The person who stood out to me most was Jake Johnson: I first saw him in Alien Workshop’s “Mind Field”, but this video shows how much he still rips.

4. Transworld - “First Love”

One of the first skate videos I watched when I first started skating. I was attracted to the diverse styles that people had but my main inspiration was Omar Salazar: hyped mentality and pure speed make this a definite win for me.

3. Enjoi - “Bag of Suck”

I was shown this video in my early years of skating, and it opened my eyes to the creative enjoyment you can have on a skateboard. The team is full of rippers with a creative style. Also, you can’t talk about Enjoi in 2020 without mentioning the awesome Ben Raemers (R.I.P).

2. Lovenskate - “Tea and Biscuits”

Lovenskate have always been a home favourite, with their team of consistent rippers. This video is a great ode to Almost’s “Cheese and Crackers”, but with a raw UK style.

1. Anti-Hero - “Fucktards”

Anti-Hero has been my all time favourite skate crew since I was young: just straight up raw skateboarding with no frills and no gimmicks. “Fucktards” shows this great team, with a killer soundtrack.

You moved to Bristol last year, how's the city been treating you? 

Bristol's so sick, everyone's very smiley and happy, so it was a bit of an adjustment from the Midlands. It's all cider and hippies haha. Also there's so much going on. Everyone's down to skate 24/7. I think I’ve made more friends this year than any other in my life to be honest. 

Where have you spent the most time skating in Bristol? 

The Deaner!!! Dean Lane is my fav, I spend quite a bit of time at daveside too. Been exploring other spots and parks all about. 

What possessed you to tail drop off of that massive box at the Deaner fun day last year?

Seemed like a good idea at the time. And there might have been some rum involved. It was funny because Habgood didn't understand what I meant, so it took a bit of convincing to get everyone to hold it up haha! 

Who do you skate with these days? 

Everyone and anyone. At the minute I'm taking it easy because I've done my ankle in, but Jord and Baz are top shredders and always a giggle. Pro Marky is still as pro as ever, and the DLH crew are always there. 

Before Bristol you lived in Worcester - how was the skate scene out that way? 

I was kinda in a bad place when I moved to Worcester. There's not a lot of skaters, no scene at all really. I made some good mates, but it wasn't a good place. 

You were one of the Kenilworth skaters who came out of the scene down Castle Farm skatepark, what was it like skating around Kenilworth? 

It was a really good training facility to have. I think after a year or two i wanted to start traveling further and further, but the locals weren't really on it. When I moved to Coventry they didn't visit or anything, so i just drifted more towards the Cov skaters. 

Who were your influences in skateboarding growing up? 

I used to love watching anything with Tony Trujillo or Zarosh, love me a mosher. Also liked the old Blueprint team, when they had Vaughn Baker and Si Peplow. I must have watched The DC Video a hundred times too - so anyone in that is 10/10. And obviously Ben Raemers is the King (Rest In Peace). 

I think out of all of the skateboarders I know, you always have the wildest, most innovative ideas of tricks to try. What inspires your specific style of skateboarding?

I like to see if I can skate spots or parks differently. I try and find odd lines instead of the standard "2 flatland tricks and 1 big stair" line that everyone was doing when I was growing up. It's like a little challenge to yourself. If you can imagine it, you can do it. But if you don't try it, then you’ll never do it. 

Who are your favourite skateboarders right now? 

Probably Jord or Pip, haha. I honestly don't know. Peter Hewitt, Jordan Thackeray, Oski? There's too many to choose from. It's an impossible question. 

Is skateboarding sport or art? 

Is dancing sport or art?

I think you were on the 80s pop music hype long before it became popular in skateboarding. What are your favourite 80s bangers?

This is the best question, haha. Strawberry Switchblade, Blondie and Talking Heads. Anything with big synths and flashing colours! 

I remember some ruckus you had with security guards and cops in one of the Baghead videos. What was the story with that? 

Oh yeah! The security guard got in the way, and then claimed I had assaulted him. The police took one look at me and took me in without even asking any questions. I spent 4 hours in a cell, and then another 2 in an interview. I think they were expecting me to pay the fine and leave, but I felt I wasn't in the wrong, so it went to court. 

How did the court case go? 

It was OK. I got a lawyer, and the police had to pay for him, haha.

You used to throw together some rad edits on Youtube. What was your favourite thing about filming the "Stan Cam" videos?

I just enjoyed making myself laugh, and trying to get others to laugh. I think that's why I just shot it "point & shoot". Spur of the moment filming is much easier than planning a shot, or a specific trick, you know? I think there was definitely some influence from your vids there - Batface was my favourite if your videos, raw and rugged. 

When can we expect another episode of "Stan Cam"?

I need to buy a new camera, so maybe we’ll see a Bristol edition this year?

Anyone you want to thank? 

Big up all new Bristol homies - love yall, fuck the midlands, thanks ma & pa, and of course, Satan.