Portrait - Leo Sharp.
Leo says I need to ask about the significance of the portrait. How deep does your football passion run?
It runs pretty deep! The portrait was shot at the ground of my local team that I go to watch from time to time: Bristol Rovers. My other team is West Ham, as that’s my mum’s team; I try and get to at least a few games every season.
I do still play, yeah, on a Sunday morning. Football was my first love; I’ve played since I was five years old…I’m 31 now (laughs). It’s great for fitness and mental health, and also it’s good for me to have something outside of skating.
Growing up, my grandad was my role model; I looked up to him massively as he played football semi-professionally as a young man, in the 1950s. My dad was still hugely supportive of me, but he was more into rugby. At home I have the letters sent to my grandad, asking him to sign for Everton Football Club, and the letters are signed by a guy called Cliff Britton, who went onto manage England before they won the World Cup. I have scrapbooks with pictures and write ups from when my grandad played later in his career at a more local club, which he then went on to run. You see in the photos that the pitches were just mud, the grounds were full of fans all in trench coats and flat caps, and the balls were made of leather. I’m happy I have all this stuff in my collection as he isn’t around anymore to tell his stories, unfortunately. I wanted my portrait to be a nod to my grandad.
So back when you started out skating on the outskirts of Bristol, there were two main forms of skate media. Which did you encounter first – videos or magazines?
It must have been a magazine I saw first, because I didn’t know that there were videos. I didn’t even know there were skateboard shops. You know when you were a kid and your mum asked you what you wanted for Christmas, so you looked at the Argos book and circled what you wanted? I thought that was how you did it for skating. You got a catalogue and you mail ordered everything.
Can you remember the first skate magazine you saw?
I’ve still got it; it’s a Sidewalk. Ben Grove has his top off on the cover, and he’s kickflip frontside boardsliding a rail. The logo is in yellow, the photo was at night…now I think about it, that must have been wintertime, because I bought my first mag just after Christmas (Sidewalk #77 was released in February 2003 – ed). Terry Tough Tits, what a legend. That cover is ingrained in my memory. I remember the next one I bought had Ali Boulala’s carve on the waterslide on the cover. My newsagents had Skateboarder and a few other mags from America, but once I started seeing stuff from Bristol and I realised there were things going on in my local area, I wanted the U.K. mags.
Breaking free from the hunt for Ozzy with an upwards Brummy back lip. Photo: Rob Whiston.
Do you think that’s why you got more switched on to skating? Because you could see stuff that was happening locally, as opposed to skating that was taking place under blue skies in California.
Yeah. All I knew from skating were my friends, and a kerb in my cul-de-sac. We waxed the kerb and had a little drain that we called ‘the gap’. If you back fiftied over the drain…you might as well send your sponsor me tape off after that (laughs).
What was the first skate video you remember seeing?
My first video was (the 2003 Fifty Fifty Skate Shop video) Jus Foolin, which is quite a nice one to have. I bought it in a sale at Fifty, for £15. You know when you grow up with a bunch of older people, and they tell you, “listen to these artists, watch this film, read this book”? That was basically it, but with skate videos. I wanted Logic 4, and they said, “why do you want Logic? Get this local video instead”. I only learnt the other day when I was listening to The Skate Creative podcast that Tidy (Mike Pearson) filmed it, and Alan Glass edited it. Jus Foolin was a bit like a bible; it’s got everyone in it.
I had a Flynn Trotman Reaction board, but I didn’t know who Flynn Trotman was. I didn’t realise the guy whose board I had was the guy who had the last part in Foolin.
Had you started to skate in Bristol city by this point?
Not at all. I was still skating by my house, on a Hudson board from JJB. I’d seen Lloyds in a video but didn’t know where it was. I didn’t know that most of the spots in Foolin were even in Bristol; my world was still quite small.
So when did you get a proper board and skate the city for the first time?
That wasn’t for ages. In about 2005 I started going to the next town over, which was Keynsham. That was where they had a real shit park that was built by a playground company. I had a proper board by then, I had a Flynn Trotman Reaction board, but I didn’t know who Flynn Trotman was. I didn’t realise the guy whose board I had was the guy who had the last part in Foolin. I’d have started making those connections when I was 15 or 16, and I started skating Lloyds.
Floating a solid backside 180 over the lofty rail and straight into the bricks. Photo: Leo.
What was it like the first time you skated at Lloyds?
Intimidating. If you’re looking at Lloyds, the long side, I used to think you had to have tricks to skate that side; you’d have to do a ledge trick, then something off the end. I went on the right hand side – the beginners’ side, as I like to call it - where you could push from the stair gap and do a shit ollie off the end of first. In my mind, you graduated from the beginners’ side to the long side.
Did you start to meet new people through skating in town?
Yep. The first person I met was Ben Minors; he worked in Fifty on Park Row, when he had full dreads. My friend Joe Smith, he lived in a house with Ben Minors’ girlfriend at the time, so I kind of got a little way in. I was younger than everyone else, but I’d stay over sometimes to skate town. I didn’t necessarily know many people, but I’d just hang around, have a little session, then I got my foot in the door a little bit.
My mum let me leave school early to watch the Zero demo.
Which local skater stood out to you the most, back then?
That’s got to be Stalker (Matt Keal). After I saw Stalker skate, I wanted blue and pink Ventures, I wanted brown éS, I wanted Addict stuff, and I always skated Rasa Libre boards.
During your first missions into the city, would you see many of the guys from Jus Foolin skating around?
I’d bump into a lot of people at the Fifty mini ramp (located behind their Park Row shop – ed). You’d go to the shop and you’d be looking at the board wall, but you’d have one eye on the ramp out the back, thinking, “who’s down there?” Obviously being 15, you’re not going to ask to go on the ramp, but I did get a few skates in before it went, because I got to know Minors.
I’d go to Lloyds and see Layth (Sami) switch hardflip off second every go, all day, with a white tee on that was so big it would almost go over his knees. I never saw Korahn (Gayle) or Danny (Wainwright) do anything crazy, but I guess they’d have been shooting stuff during the week, when it would be quiet and I’d have been at school.
I went to a few demos, though. My mum let me leave school two hours early once to go see the Zero demo. That was savage. I saw a City demo there, with Mike Maldonado, and a joint Blueprint and Cliché demo. I’m in the background of Frank Stephens’ fullcab sequence. Mike Wright was skating; he only had one bearing in one of his wheels, but he was still doing back heels down the three.
A bristolian hexagon is a 2D geometric polygon that has six sides, six angles, one ollie in and one quick hippy jump out. Photo: Leo.
Where can the earliest Josh Arnott footage be found?
We made Hi8 scene DVDs when I was a kid, but the earliest footage you can find will be on YouTube. Maybe a Ten Tricks edit in that Hanham warehouse.
Didn’t you have a trick in (the 2009 scene video) Bristol’s Finest?
Yeah. That was when I started to know people in Bristol. I knew Louis Gane a little bit because I knew Subway Dan; he was from around where I was from, but he drove into the city all of the time, and he knew all the boys. I’ve got a trick in Finest, but that was in a montage, or in the extras.
Did seeing yourself in a video like Finest make you want to film more with those guys?
Nah, because again, I was super shy. I wasn’t really going to be that guy to hit up Louis to film. I was happy to know that I could tag along, but as you get to know more people, your umbrella opens up a bit, doesn’t it?
I need to give James Harris a shout, actually. I had a part in James’ very first video Prism (released in 2010 - ed). I started to see him about; we’d bump into each other at skateparks. That part was filmed around where he lived, like Warmley and Cadbury Heath. There’s a lot of skatepark footage in there, but that was my first section that was released on a disc, in a video.
Danny opened my eyes massively to the way skating should look or be done; he showed me not to over complicate things.
Yourself and Rich Smith (Skateboard Café filmer and co-owner) have been a solid skater/filmer duo for years now. When did you two originally meet?
Rich and me had run into each other a bit when we were young, but never really said hello until we got older. The first time we really filmed with each other was when I was living in Barcelona in 2010. Rich came out to film with Danny for what I think was a (short-lived Spanish based board company - ed) Clan010 welcome clip. I definitely remember being stoked to watch and actually skate with Danny. He opened my eyes massively to the way skating should look or be done; he showed me not to over complicate things.
I know you were in the first Café promo, but did you have footage in the very first Skateboard Cafe scene video?
I definitely had stuff in the Café promo, but I was still riding Toy Machine boards then. I shared a mini part with Louis Marshall; there were Kr3w Slims everywhere (laughs). I wasn't involved in the very first one, but I do have it on DVD somewhere.
Was there a point where you were told, “Skateboard Café is turning into a brand, we want you to ride for it”?
Not really. As a brand I knew Shaun (Currie) was the first guy on, and then Harry Ogilvie. Korahn switched from Crayon in 2012, and that's when I got on, if I remember correctly. Wes (Morgan) at Rock Solid had sent my footage to 5Boro, and they were keen, but we went on a trip to Bordeaux - it wasn't a Café trip, it was just a big crew of mates - and Rich and (Andy) Makepeace asked me to ride for Café after that.
Half Man Half Biscuit wrote a song called Westward Ho - Massive Letdown. There's no letdown on board the Westward Ho here, just Josh doing a grand frontside boatride. Photo: Leo.
When did going out to film become something that you started to put serious thought into?
Not until Café. And even then, I’d always joke with Rich: “can we just go skating today, not filming?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can we go skating for fun?”
“What’s that?”
Before Café, there’d always be people with a camera if you wanted to get a clip, but it was never like, “we’re going here today, we’re hitting this spot, we’re getting this trick, then we’re going home”.
This is impeding on Inauguration territory here, but what was your first published skate photo?
Can I blow this out and say that I didn’t land it? It was a front blunt on a rail on Whiteladies Road, but the spot’s not there anymore; Reece (Leung) shot it for my First Light.
Instagram spoils the magic or the allure of skating for me.
Tell us about the day the photo was shot. How much of a change was it having someone there specifically to photograph a trick of yours?
Oh, I was bricking it! I was thinking, “this is all on me. He’s pointing the camera at me, everyone is watching me”. Reece knew Phil Parker, Mike Arnold and those boys before I knew them. Paths cross, as they do in skating, and we ended up at the same session at that spot. That must’ve been in the summer of 2013.
Ten years since you bought your first mag! What was it like seeing that photo in print?
I was stoked; I think I bought three copies of it. Bought a copy for my mum…even though I didn’t land it. I did go back and get it for footage though, but I think the photo was printed first, controversially. The footage was never released in anything, but we went and got it anyway, because the photo had come out. Rich will still have the clip, but it will be about eight hard drives ago.
It’s undeniable that Instagram has drastically altered the way that skateboarders approach coverage. Unlike back in 2003, these days you can see your favourite skaters’ latest conquests within seconds of them being landed. When did you start noticing the shift from ‘traditional’ to ‘social’, in terms of filming in Bristol?
I can’t really put a date on it, but it got to a point where the VX wouldn’t even come out, or you’d try a trick on the VX and get over it, then the next thing you’d get asked is, “do you want to get a clip for Instagram?” I’d rather put my energy into something that’s going to be in a full-length, than try something to get 250 likes that’s going to disappear by tomorrow. I don’t care about Instagram – it spoils the magic or the allure of skating for me - but if you’re going to be a sponsored skateboarder, you kind of have to. I like the era where you worked towards a part in a video, and that was your showcase. I’d much rather save my clips for a full-length, but it seems like everything is a ‘part’ now; there are no real full-lengths.
I've had some odd things shouted at me whilst being kicked out of spots before, but "this isn't the land of the brave" is up there. They were right, it's actually Ipswich. Frontside noseblunt transfer on borrowed time. Photo: Leo.
There’s definitely been a shift in recent years, lots of individual parts are being released, but full-length company videos are less common than they were.
If every video is someone’s individual part, you’re not really part of anything; there’s no team, it’s just you. For a while, with Café edits, Rich would mix everybody in, and I didn’t really like that; I’m quite old school. I like to see a name; I like to know who somebody is. You don’t want to be guessing who people are: “oh that looks like this other guy, but he’s regular?” I’m not asking for a name to pop up every time someone comes on screen, but I like the old video format where riders have sections. I know with Alfresco Rich put Mike at the end because it was too obvious that Korahn would have the ender. Mike’s footage warranted it, but that’s when I noticed that Rich was switching things up.
Because the Café team is quite close-knit and everybody skated together a lot of the time, it did make sense when Rich started editing things in more of a montage style.
Until everybody moved away, apart from two or three of us. Back then it was more of a family orientated thing, and that was when full-lengths were important. We had premieres for the first two videos, and I’m a big fan of a premiere. Now, you put your stuff out and it’s like, “oh, is it online? Cool”. Watching it sat in my pants in my front room…I don’t need to see people clap my footage, but I’d rather see a video for the first time at a premiere, where you can see peoples’ reactions to everything.
I broke my collarbone on the first day of a Bones Wheels trip. I didn't even get out of Bristol on my first ever tour.
So in the past you’ve ridden for Supra and Emerica, though the last few years you seem to have settled on DC, and have become a big part of their U.K. operation. When and how did you end up riding for DC?
I had been riding for Emerica for a little while, meanwhile DC had started to bring back their 90s Droors Clothing vibe. The DC Video was huge on me growing up. That’s my shit; baggy stuff is what I feel most comfortable in, and visually I think just looks the best. Dave Snaddon asked me to ride for them as I think they were rebuilding the team. I couldn't say no to skating in Kalis’, or Lynx. About a month later, I was at Stonehenge in the rain, on a trip with the whole U.S. squad. Tiago Lemos, John Shanahan, Wes Kremer, Madars Apse, Thaynan Costa, Mike Blabac shooting, Chris Ray filming…that was a heavy squad, for sure.
More recently you’ve taken on the role of Team Manager for DC in the UK. How have you worked up to this from starting out as a team rider? Looking forwards into 2022, have you got many things in store with DC?
That came out of nowhere, really. I kept in touch with the U.S. guys after that trip, I guess they wanted someone more involved with skating taking the reins, and I must have made a good impression. As for stuff in the pipeline, there’s not much planned as I’m just getting to grips with it all. I’d love to get the crew over to Ireland, as Cian Eades lives there and you still don’t see too much from over those ways. I’d love to bring back the Lloyds Big Three Jam, too.
Frontside 360 into the Chew Magna abyss. Photo: Leo.
Talk us through your relationship with Fifty. How did you progress from being a customer to being a team rider, then how did you find yourself actually working in the shop?
I was maybe 22, 23 when I got on Fifty. I got on when we went on the trip to Rhyll in 2013. I was getting shit about being the new guy, then a week later someone else got on, and I wasn’t the new guy anymore (laughs).
How I ended up working there was through my own stupidity, basically. I broke my collarbone on the first day of a Bones Wheels tour; I didn’t even get out of Bristol on my first ever tour. I did a kickturn at Campus, whipped out and shattered my collarbone; that was the first night. I went on the trip anyway and was basically a flash stand for CJ (Chris Johnson). I was working as a carpenter, but when I got home, I couldn’t raise my arm up, I still can’t; I’ve got no muscle strength. I needed to pay rent and bills so I turned to Syd (Justin Sydenham – Fifty Fifty co-owner) and asked if he could help me. Louis Marshall had just decided to go to America, so he said, “you can have my job until I get home”, and that was me. I was doing three or four days a week. I was in the right place, right time, with one arm. I couldn’t grip boards, I couldn’t get anything, I’d just stand there at the till.
Danny and Syd have run Fifty since 1997, which, in independent retail, is a massive achievement. From the perspective of someone who started out as a customer and ended up working in the store, what are the secrets to Fifty’s longevity? How have they managed to not only stay open, but also stay relevant for 25 years?
It’s not down to me, any of that. I’m still a fan of the messy skate shop with shit on the walls, stuff on the floor, boards everywhere, but they’ve moved with the times quite well. They’ve always done art shows, video premieres…the early Café videos, we’d launch those at the shop. They’ve run events, and brought tours to Bristol. The team has helped, too. Now, I don’t even know how many people are on, but if you wanted to count them, there’s probably 30 plus, with skaters from every generation.
Tell us a bit about the scene in Bristol these days. It looks like the next generation is coming through, there are younger skaters who are carrying the filming and photography torches…why do you think that the city has the ability to keep raising generations who want to keep the old school traditions going?
I think it goes back to how we’ve been brought up. There’s a long history of people teaching you the right way in Bristol. You have the young mixing with the old, along with dudes who have been in the game who know about things like sponsorship. You listen to your elders; I can always hit Danny up and ask for advice, and Bear (Myles) will always bounce ideas off me when people hit him up.
Josh finally gets to create his locomotive nod to Wainwright. Carriage to carriage ollie, Spike Island. Photo: Leo.
Out of all of your footage to date, which would you say you are the most pleased with, and why?
I would probably say the last Café edit, Sonata. That was filmed during lockdown, so I managed to use my time and find some spots that hadn't been touched, and figure different ways to skate Lloyds. I feel like I really tried for that part, and thought about every aspect of it, down to how I wanted a trick filmed, what outfit to wear, trick and spot selection…even down to the music choice, which I really had to force through. That’s definitely my best stuff, my ‘peak’, if you will.
There's a long history of people teaching you the right way in Bristol.
Out of all of the photos you’ve shot over the years, which one would you say you are the most stoked on, and why?
I’d probably say it’s the train ollie for this interview because I’ve been looking at it for so long. How my portrait is a nod to my grandad, the train ollie is a nod to Danny. He had a photo lipsliding a train in almost the exact same spot as the ollie.
I haven’t really shot with too many people. Leo, Reece, Henry (Kingsford) from Grey, CJ…with me, it’s more about the experience with the photographer. Some photographers make you feel really comfortable, but some don’t even talk to you the whole time. No communication, nothing. A big tick for me was shooting a photo with Blabac; he’s shot all of my favourite skaters. The photo was a noseblunt on a ledge in Deptford, but that’s probably a favourite. To get shot by DC’s main dude…that was pretty surreal.
Josh puts another Southwestern coastal find to work. Kinked bank ride to scenic backside bluntslide. Photo: James Collins.
Follow Josh - @arnott123
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