Thursday 9 September 2010

Get your bearings: Jody Smith

Long time DC rep Jody Smith chats to Hooked about his twin, tricks and tactics on FIFA.



Hooked:
Alright Jody, we've been seeing you around sidewalk mag for a few years with no sign of slowing down. I remember looking up to you back in the day when you were on Reaction with Rodney Clark...
Tell us who your repping and the mo and what you've been up to.

Jody:
My current sponsors are DC shoes and clothing, Nomad skateboards, Haze wheels, Venture trucks, Nixon and
Sjz skateshop. This year has been a hectic one for me, lots of trips with the DC european team filming for the new DC european video. And in between these tours I've been piecing together some footage for my Nomad part which should be finished in a month or so. Fingers crossed!



Hooked:
Who do you look up to in the skate world, who do you love to watch to get you psyched?

Jody:
If I'm going to watch a video before skating which I rarely do these days it'll usually be a Keenan or Gino clip, usually if the weather is good, and I've had some good food, and my body is feeling good I'm hyped to go skate.


Hooked:
What other stuff do you do when you don't skate?

Jody:
I'm a huge Fifa addict! Usually I'll play against my brother or Sean (Smith), both are super good players. Hey if anyone wants to step up to the challenge here's my ps3 name - jodyRYANsmith. Prepare for a beat down! haha.
As well as geeking out playing footy games I also like to play it for real, a group of us get together every week and have a 6 a side match on this astroturf pitch.



Hooked:
If you could do only one trick for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Jody:
Tough decision.... either one of the three - switch bs tail, switch flip or nollie fs flip.


Hooked:
Yeah we've noticed a good few nollie fs flips in your footage! What's your favourite skatepark, and favourite street spot?

Jody:
Definitely the Truro skate plaza, I always have super fun sessions there.


Hooked:
Have you ever skated Derby? If not, where in the Midlands have you skated?

Jody:
I'm pretty sure back in the day when I was touring around with the Reaction and the DC UK team we hit up Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham and probably Leicester but my memory is so bad for places, I couldn't tell you what spots we hit up.


Hooked:
What's your favourite kind of stuff to skate?

Jody:
I tend to skate ledges, mannie pads, street gaps and stairs. Not too keen on rails or transition. Ialways said to myself if I had the money I'd have a mini ramp in my garden and learn how to skate the bloody things!



Hooked:
Who wins at skate, you or your brother?

Jody:
50/50. It usually takes us awhile to start the game because we always choose the same thing when it comes to the row sham bow! haha


Hooked:
What are you learning at the moment?

Jody:
I'm learning this trick at the moment called 'how to not hurt myself everytime I go out skating', probably a trick that I'll never get dialed!


Hooked:
Yeah we know that feeling. Have you ever considered quitting skating but the fact your twin skates pulled you back in? Or has Leo ever needed an injection of mojo and you supported him?

Jody:
I've only ever wanted to quit once and that was when I broke/dislocated my elbow a few years back, it really messed my head up, I just didn't think I'd ever get my confidence back but luckily I did. I suppose having leo around definitely helped me get hyped to be back on more board again. Leo kills it!



Hooked:
Got any tales of wild times or berserk antics on your filming trips?

Jody:
It's hard to think of one because there has been quite a few! haha Oh I've got one, me and the whole DC UK team had a big fight with these utter bellends in Bristol on the DC Lace 'em up Tour. We basically all went to this club on a boat, I forget the name of it, was a really goodnight until one of these chavs decided to throw a drink at me while I was on the dance floor, probably jealous of my funky chicken, anyway obviously being a bit confused and slightly annoyed I asked him why he did it which is when he went mental! 'WHAT THE F**K YOU GONNA DO?!!!' haha That's when it all kicked off, I think Sean and Keith got hit first, I took a blow to my ear which stung for days! Leo got hit too I think, Josef managed to connect with one of them. The funniest part for me was when the nights got turned on in the club it was me and leo stood side by side squaring up to this guy, I felt like Van Damme in Double impact! haha


Hooked:
Or a scene from Double Dragon on the megadrive ha. What trick do you have in your bag that always gets people a letter in skate?

Jody:
It really depends on who I am playing, if I'm playing my friend stu (titmus) then I'm f**ked because no matter what I do he always seems to sketch it. Me and stu have had some epic battles!


Hooked:
What advice have you got for someone who wants to get noticed for their skating and take it to the next level?

Jody:
Well me and Leo put some footage together on a tape and sent it off to a distributor and then slowly we started getting hooked up with products and then going on tours. I would definitely say just have fun with it.



Hooked:
What's your current favourite shoe?

Jody:
DC have come out with some absolute gems recently, my current favourites are the Tonik, the Match and the Trust. Go try them out!


Hooked:
What's the best thing about getting coverage being well known on the scene?

Jody:
I guess the best thing is hooking up with locals and getting taken to some of there secret spots!


Hooked:
And what's the worst thing?

Jody:
Probably the pressure of trying to do something that hasn't been done before.



Hooked:
What do you think of all these skateparks popping up lately - do you think it will hinder street skating / force it to die out or just make kids super gnarly super fast?

Jody:
No I definitely think it's a good thing, it'll definitely push the level of skateboarding to higher level, I wish I could have had the Truro Plaza back when I was first starting out. I do believe kids will still want to go out and search for street spots, at the end of day people will always get bored of skating one spot however perfect there skatepark is.


Hooked:
True, and no spot or park is ever perfect for everyone. Finally, tell us what have you got coming up‚ trips, demos, ads, or anything exciting?

Jody:
Just going to keep filming for these video projects, got my first board on Nomad coming out for christmas which I'm hyped on, also I have my second DC colourway shoe coming out next year which again I'm excited about. I'm hoping people will like it also. And maybe I'll squeeze in a couple more trips in before the end of the year.



Hooked:
Awesome, we'll look out for the board when it comes out. Thanks for doing the interview, we'll keep our eyes open for your footage and photos dropping.


Check some footage of Jody getting gnar with some bolts landings and switch tech lurkings. Awesome.



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