DRS INTERVIEW
I think last year I really took a long hard look at myselfI've known you for years and always knew you used to skate, but you recently started skating pretty much every day. What made you want to skate so much and how's it been after years pretty much off the board?
I stopped drinking and taking drugs
I had to repair what was broken and replace what was missing
And find all the things what truly make me happy
And one of the main things was skating
even when I wasn’t skating for all them years I was watching it all day whilst in the studio
In my mind i always thought “yeah I will pick it up again one day” but I realised I’m 45 years old and if I don’t get on it now I never will
And so it began ..... haha

I got into skating originally fromHow did you originally get into skateboarding?
Swapping some action figures for a yellow “penny cruiser”
I remember on the way home falling off constantly then right near my Gaf
I caught my first wave lol
Only for a few seconds but enough to be still here almost 40yrs later
Then “Back to the future” and “police academy 4” just solidified skating as the biggest thing in my life at the time
Nah vision street wear, bones brigade,What era we talking? Big pants little wheels?
h street them days
Huge boards and kryptonics haha
Hahaha maybe I was you know?Was there an initial influence that sparked your interest? I remember seeing a gang of about 20 kids skating down Oxford rd when I was about 10/11 which really inspired me. Maybe you were one of them haha.
Like I said a couple 80s Hollywood
movies and getting a penny board
But then hitting town and going “split skates” and “American sports” seeing all the product and proper skaters hanging about doing tricks was mind blowing

Split Skates on church street -1990
(where Tesco is now)

What was the video part or skater that really influenced you?
For a while I just followed what all the skaters I looked up to liked
Your “Matt Hensley’s” and so on
But the first part to inspire me personally was Ray Barbee's part in “Ban this”
It was a kid like me just him and his whip
Hardly any other obstacles just him workin the pavement so sick to this day!
inspirational skating, Rhythm and style (including his garms)
Yeah things was said here and thereDid you ever experience any racism from people seeing you skate back then? I know things are well different now but I guess Skating was kind of seen as "White boy" Thing by society in the late 80's early 90's.
Or I’d get chased from time to time.
It was mad because there was a kinda punk over spill of nazi skaters knocking about what was pretty trech too haha
But I was hooked man once you know the secret you can’t go back
The fact some people didn’t like me doing it just made me want to do it more haha

It was around the same time reallyHow did Music come into the picture? Where you making music first or did that come from skating?
It was the birth of hip hop
And skate culture as we now know it
I think skating just opened my mind
I believe skaters are all the misunderstood kids
super intelligent but often not academic
We are all super creative and over sensitive
It was always gonna be music and art too
Yeah I got to see them skate all the timeDid you get to see Femi and Rick Cooper skating the Curbs? Any stories from that era?
at the curbs and around town
They was like “the pro’s”
We would get so shook haha
Rick was always super cool but Femi never said much other than scream at you for getting in his way while he Ollied over the world haha
It’s crazy cos i reconnected with Femi
a few years back in London and often have a blaze with him at south bank
But the guy I spent most time with out of them lot was “Ste Malloy” that guys was a beast!
I remember him ollying a street gap with a Harley Davidson parked in it haha
Next level!!!

Ste Malloy - Melon photo by Ian lawton
Yeah it’s gone down really wellCongratulations on the new album. Sounds like it's going well. Talk us through your writing process a little?
Deffo my most coherent solo album to
Date
I just try to keep music interesting
Like your doing the same thing every single day but getting a different out come every single time!!
it’s so amazing haha
I once watched a gonz thing and he said
he travels to his art studio everyday takes the same route but each time he does it different
Some days he skates some days he cycles
Some days he hops there and some days
he mixes all the above haha
That’s exactly my philosophy with music
It’s not getting there it’s how you get there that’s important

Buy Del's new Album here
I love them allOut of all the Music video's you've made are there any your particularly fond of?
All pieces of art.
Yeah it’s impossible to remember! LolYou've made so many tracks is it hard to remember the lyrics, I heard DOOM say once that all he needs is the first couple of words to a verse then it all just pours out from memory.
And that’s so true you just need the starting lines and your away haha
Hard to pick a top 3 but I love theseTop Three skate sections?
1: Ray Barbie - Ban this
2: Gonz - video days
3. Any Paulo Diaz part
Same as the above no favourites but I rate theseTop three Skater's?
Antuan Dixon
Carl Shipman
Guy Mariano
Follow Del @delrokski
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.