Fancy Lad, the jesters of skateboarding, the ones who aren’t afraid to ride for real, live skateboarding to the fullest and…
look, they skate and they’re rad, capiche?
First up, how did you guys come together and decide to form the “truly creative skate company that anyone can relate to?” How long has Fancy Lad been going?
The company formed in 2011, although many of us had already been making videos together for years before hand when we met at the Coliseum Skateshop. We have always had a passion for creative skating and didn’t really see anyone pushing the limits of making full length videos that veered away from conventional professional skateboarding.
What does the Olympics mean for skateboarding?
Skateboarding is gonna’ remain the same as it ever was, it’s just another contest with another name on it. The people who are gonna’ participate are probably gonna’ make a lot of money and the rest of skateboarding will remain on the streets. That’s where I think it belongs.
“Hopefully we’ll have taken over as the largest brand in skateboarding”
And what does it mean for Fancy Lad?
Nothing, unless they let us compete in the special olympics.
What will Fancy Lad be doing in ten years?
Hopefully we’ll have taken over as the largest brand in skateboarding, kind of like Hurley, I want to see our logo on every kid in middle school who doesn’t give a frigg and shops at Zumiez to prove it.
How did Is This Skateboarding? come to be? Was it a planned project?
It wasn’t really planned. I think it’s just a continuation from our last video FL3. We kind of had some serious motivation, because we knew it was going on Thrasher and filmed a lot quickly.
You guys say that ‘the only thing you take seriously are your jokes’, got any good ones for us?
Yeah. “Some people say ledges are really the cornerstone of skateboarding.” My boy Yellow Nick came up with that one.
Any great stories from the filming of ITS for us?
Hmmmmm, I’ll have to watch it again to jog my memory, but the one thing that comes to mind is when we went to Wompatuck state park to skate that huge bank that Matt Tomasello sal flip tailed. Colin Fiske is one of the biggest nature boys I know. And if you bring him into the woods, the deeper he goes, the more excited and crazy he gets. There is something that happens, he starts climbing huge tree limbs to the top of roofs and throwing them of and speaking in tongues and almost always takes a dump and wipes with his white tank top that he has on.
How do your board designs fit into your guys’ attitude towards skateboarding?
We all got eagle eyes that don’t turn off, nah mean?
I feel like we are still trying to find our niche, which is a good thing because we are not afraid to try something new even if it fails miserably. Our first graphic of the old VHS skate video stack is because we are huge skate nerds. It’s also a reminder that skateboarding has a short history thus far that kids don’t really even pay attention to because of the surplus of content on the internet, but back then when they could only be seen through video release made them extra special. I consider that the 90’s the golden era of skateboard video.
And have you worked out what skateboarding is?
I’m not sure, but I think it involves riding….live to ride, ride to live.
What should skateboarding be, are we on the right track?
I think skateboarding is doing great right now, it should be anything you want, even if that is to jump off a roof or get gnarly in a pool or fling your board at a wall. I want to encourage people not to be afraid of looking like a complete fool as long as you are doing what you want to do on a skateboard.
How do you scout spots?
The boys on their bicycles find the most, but we all got eagle eyes that don’t turn off, nah mean?
Once you’ve scouted spots, how do you think you see it differently from other teams?
We look for a spot where maybe only one trick can be possible, preferably something no one has seen before.
With everything that’s brought you to the level of popularity you’ve reached now, do you feel like you’re still living the life you set out to at the beginning. Are you still on track?
Most definitely, every video we have made has been exactly the video we’ve wanted to make, we’ve never compromised anything. I think that’s why people like them.
What’s coming up for Fancy Lad?
We are going to start the next biggest trend, Fancy Lad Poker Hats just like Hunter S Thompson used to wear. (Cigarette holders sold separately)
Thanks so much, Fancy Lad.
