Growing up in Birmingham, how did you first come in contact with skateboarding? – I always used to play the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series when I was a little ‘un. Skating didn’t really hit me as a thing though until one day I was about 7 or so; I just saw a guy pop an ollie up a curb in the cul-de-sac and I was so gassed.

I managed to get myself a board soon after that but I fell off when I was learning to push and my board went under a car so I kinda left it alone and went back to the Tony Hawk games, (laughs).

With the City Centre being either skate-stopped or security heavy, where did you first learn to skate, and who with? – It wasn’t until some years later when I was about 14 or so, some of my homies I went to school with – Indie and Dan Welsh – had boards, so I gave it another go and thought it was fun. I got myself a board from Argos and started to learn how to ride the ting. These times I was mostly chilling in Pigeon Park.

Dan Welsh ended up telling us there was a skate shop in town called Ideal so we went down, and I guess that’s where things got started; meeting Kris, Zippy and of course our Bob! We got called ‘The Dark Lords’ and I think it stuck, (laughs).

You’d always catch us at places like the Wesleyan, Fastlands or our demo spot.

With the Ideal ramp popping up several years ago now, how important do you think it was for the scene to have that a central meeting spot and hassle free place to skate? – When Ideal got that ramp those years ago…I didn’t know it then, but it was only the best thing ever! I think the scene boomed because of that. I want to say I speak for everyone in Brum when I say it was like that second home. It brought together a sense of community for bunches of homies from every neck of the woods, and we met a lot of heads too. The vibes were big, man.

You get boards from Tommy D’s Spread Eagle Skateboards which is based in Birmingham. How did that come about, and how important is it for you to be involved in something local? – Well I was chilling at the Ideal ramp one time and I met Emma Richardson; she’s a real nice girl. We got talking for a bit, she explained how she was working with Tommy D and that I had meet him, and he pretty much hooked it up. It feels great to be a part of something, and I want to say it’s better knowing that the thing is based in your city. It’s one of those things that puts a smile on my face whenever I think about it