Inauguration: Layth Sami

Layth Sami's First Published Skate Photo

Document Magazine – Issue 38 – January 2004

Skate photography: Percy Dean

So when the photo of your switch 360 flip down Lloyds was printed, it was January 2004. What was going on in your life 20 years ago?

Well, I was 17 when I shot the photo, and that would have been in 2003. I think I was still trying to go to college, but my attendance was around 13% because all I wanted to do was skate and hang out with friends. Luckily my mum is very chill, so she didn’t push college too hard, and let me pursue skating. Shortly after this came out, I moved to Canada for a summer.

When you shot the switch 360 flip, how long had you been living in Bristol for?

When I did this, I’d only been living in Bristol permanently for maybe a year and a half. I moved to Bristol when I was 16, but I used to come every summer, do bits and pieces, we’d stay at my mum’s house, then go back to school in Dubai. But when I turned 16, I decided that I just wanted to live in Bristol. Dubai was a good place to grow up skating, but there was no scene there at that time.

Even though you were spending most of the year in Dubai, were you paying much attention to what was going on in the Bristol scene?

Yeah, for sure. Format was one of my first videos I had growing up, so the Bristol scene played a huge part in what inspired me back then. It was cool to be able to come to Bristol and be part of a scene with so many heads that I grew up watching in videos - (Danny) Wainwright, (Will) Ainley, Smashy (Paul Alexander), (Paul) Carter and everyone else. The first switch tre I did, Wainwright actually filmed it. I was at Lloyds the day before, tried it and broke my board. He was like, “dude, go to the shop, get a new board from my package, and I’ll meet you down here tomorrow to film it”. Obviously I didn’t fucking sleep that night (laughs). I got the board from Fifty, then came back the next day, and he turned up like four hours late. I was there, really sketched out, but I tried it, and it took a long time to do actually. We both still smoked weed back then, so we’d take breaks, and he’d hook me up with bowls to smoke to keep me going, then we’d get back to it. It took a good few hours, man.

I’m guessing you got the clip first, then shot the photo later?

Yeah, I shot the photo shortly after. Unfortunately I didn’t roll this one away; I landed on quite a few of them, but Percy (Dean) was like, “nah, I got it, all good”. And he was shooting it on film as well, which was nuts. I felt really bad because I think he was trying to get a sequence first, and there were just rolls of film that he was pulling out of the camera in a pile on the floor. Was it HP5, the film?

That sounds about right.

That shit’s expensive; I was thinking, “I need to do this right now”. I was literally watching money pile up on the floor.

I know you said earlier about some discrepancies between the footage and the photo. Care to elaborate?

I had DCs on in the footage, but in the photo, those are Vans Rowleys that Wainwright gave me. They were half a size too small as well, so my feet were in so much pain. In the footage I was skating a Powell Mini Logo board, but in the photo I had an East board. I always wanted to be on East; everyone did at the time. It was sick.

Did you ever get on?

Nah. I used to buy the boards from Fifty. That was my shit. Korahn (Gayle) was on East, Ashley Skidmore was on East, obviously (Dave) Mackey, who’s on the cover of this mag, Welsh Tommy - it’s sick to be on the opposite page to him in the mag. The board in the photo is probably a 7.5”, and the board I did it on for the footage was a Mini Logo 7.75”, which was sort of big for back then.

And what size are you skating now?

8.5”.

So your board width has increased a whole inch in 20 years?

Pretty much. I’m going to go back down and see how it works out.

Do Café make 7.5”s?

I think they do, you know. When Savannah (Stacey Keenan) was on, that’s what she skated. Well, 7.75”. I might have to try one out. I like how in the mag, they just put my first name in the caption, and spelled it wrong: ‘Laith’. Like ‘Seal’ (laughs).

Anyone want to bet that Layth won't be doing this one again at 51? Not me. I've seen him doing switch 360 flips; they're literally going nowhere. Photo: Percy Dean.

For the 2021 Café video Impressions, you revisited the switch 360 flip at Lloyds. Tell us about that.

Yep. I don’t know why, I think it was maybe Rich’s (Smith) idea, like, “oh, you should just switch tre Lloyds again”, because I was at a loss of what to film and he said that would be sick. I tried it a couple times, didn’t get it, then it was coming up to it being 17 years since I’d first done it at 17 years old, so I was like, “I’ll have to do it this year”, and it worked out.

Was switch 360 flipping the three easier or harder as a 34 year old?

Oh, way easier. It was definitely easier than it was the time before, for sure. I still didn’t do it as nice as I’d have liked, but I’m going to do it again in what would be 17 years time, so yeah (laughs). I’ll be 51 in 2037, then that will be it.

Do you remember seeing this photo for the first time?

Yeah; I have a vague recollection of seeing it. I didn’t know it was definitely going to be printed, but I was hopeful it would end up in a magazine. At the time, it seemed like it came out over a year later, but maybe that was just me being impatient. Every day felt like a week waiting for it to be used, but it must have only been a few months. I think we shot it in the summer, and then this issue came out in January. I remember the cover; as soon as you showed it to me, I was like, “yep, that’s the one”. Mackey in Liverpool, in gloves and in the Nike SBs. This must have been pretty soon after Nike started doing skate shoes, because Mackey was one of the first on, along with Korahn.

What would be three standout tricks you’ve seen go down the three at Lloyds?

Korahn, switch back three. You said he’s done it three times, yeah? So, all three of them; those are my top three.

Four would be another Korahn trick for sure. The switch backside flip he did, the one I was there for, that was probably the cleanest thing I’ve ever seen. Boyo’s (Matt Williams) switch flip. When I was a kid I used to have a photo of Jerry Hsu doing a switch hardflip down it on my wall, so that would probably be one of my favourites as well. Either a switch hardflip, or there was another photo of him doing a switch heelflip.

The switch heel came from an interview in Document I’m pretty sure. It wasn’t a tour or anything, it was just Jerry Hsu knocking about with Percy for a few days.

In that case, both of them. So much good shit’s been done there.

Have you kept a copy of this issue of Document?

I haven’t. I’m sure my dad has one. Thankfully he hoards everything, so he’s blatantly got this somewhere. I did get three or four copies when they came out for sure; I’m just not good at keeping stuff.

From this first switch 360 flip up to now, which photos that you’ve shot are you particularly fond of?

Pretty much any of the one’s I’ve shot with Griff (James Griffiths) I’ve been in to. I really love his photos; I’m always stoked on getting stuff with Griff. And Chin (James Collins) from Bristol actually; I was really hyped on the front shove over the rail in Bristol. For some reason, I just really like that photo. The way he framed it and everything was banging. And I don’t do front shoves down stuff, so that’s another reason why I’m so hyped on it.

Oh, the front shove over the First Light Rail? The rail at the hospital?

Yeah.

Were you one of the Bristol locals who shot a First Light (interview for Sidewalk) at the First Light Rail?

I was one of them, yeah. Frontside flip, another photo I’m still fond of that Leo shot. Korahn had one there, maybe Ashley Skidmore had one too, he did a straight nollie over it, but there were definitely others. It’s funny how it’s still called the First Light Rail; it’s sick.

Any final thoughts on 2004, or this period of time?

I wish I could remember more (laughs). Nah, it was just good. Being that young and skating in Bristol, the scene was so cool to be a part of. I was hyped to be out of Dubai, living in Bristol, where it seemed like skateboarding mattered more. There was a really good crew of people around; Fifty and everyone were big inspirations. Carter, Matt Keal, Zak Pitter, all those dudes. It was a really good time to be skateboarding in Bristol, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it.

Follow Layth - @statecide