Mark Gonzales of SUPREME Talks London, Southbank & Paris
- Will Sleigh
- Jul 2, 2015
- 3 min read
The Adidas global skate team rolled through London on the ‘Boost the Bar’ tour a few weekends ago; kicking things off with a demo at Southbank. I went to watch the legendary Mark Gonzales skate the iconic London spot, and while the whole Adidas team threw down in front of a packed out undercroft, the real treat was watching Gonz. When things started slowing down I somehow managed to drag Mark away from his skateboard for fifteen minutes to get a cup of coffee in a quiet corner. I’m still in awe that I had the chance to sit down with him and whatever I write in this introduction will never do his incredible character justice. I can only set the scene and leave you to read on and find out more.
When was the last time you were at Southbank?
I went to the Tate and walked down the river and went to Southbank probably three years ago. But I’d been going here before that on and off for a while.
What’s your best memory of Southbank?
I guess just as a kid seeing the skaters in London skating it. As a kid it was always a dream to skate here and when I did it was amazing. It’s a lot of fun. Of course it’s a lot smaller now than it was when I first came. I guess seeing the photos of the locals here you know, like Deacon and Mac who did a 540 here. He used to do extended inverts on the bank. I can’t remember his name, I think it was Mac. So just looking at the magazines as a kid were the fondest memories for me.
What’s your favourite memory from the 90’s?
I was skating with like Carl Shipman and the other guys that were here who were really into skating. Like Tom Penny and all of them.
You also have a lot of other stuff going on, like all of your art and poetry. Have you got any shows coming up? What have you been working on?
I have, what do I have coming up? I can’t think of what it is. I’m working on a new sculpture for the Supreme store in Paris. I did a sculpture for the store here in London so now I’m working on the one for Paris. I guess that’s what I’m doing now.
How long have you been living in New York?
I’ve lived on and off in New York for maybe like ten years. I’m from California originally.
I’ve seen so many videos of you skating in New York, it looks so fun. How would you compare the street skating and the traffic in New York and London?
Well it’s definitely scarier skating in traffic in London because the cars are on the wrong side of the road. And Japan as well. But you know Southbank is good, skaters can go there and they don’t have to be in the traffic where all the cars are. I mostly skate around the city, just cruising. Can you give me your best tip to avoid traffic while skating?
The trick is to not avoid cars, because when you do you move directly into an area where another car will be. So the trick is not to avoid the cars but go with them. As soon as you try to get out of their way, you’re going to run into another directly in the zone, you know. You get away from one car and go into another. A lot of the time you see people running out into traffic if their being chased, they see a car and jump back and get hit by the car they didn’t see. Sometimes it’s better to try and not jump back but jump with it, you know, go with it rather than against it. That’s my advice.
What’s your favourite cigar?
I don’t know, I have some here. Can I smoke here? I’ll light up, thanks boss. I really like this one.
Did you buy those in London?
[In a London accent] Yeah in London mate, in Harrod’s. This one’s a nice one, this one’s a nice one, I think I’ll smoke this one. My wife, she stole my clippers. She steals everything from me, she’s ruthless! So that’s the brand, you can see it there, Bolivar. This one’s a good one too, make sure you get the name, it’s a Cuaba, Havana Club. Cubans!
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