It looks like you’ve had a busy year so far: you were photographed and interviewed for In Your Face and you’ve been preparing for a fast-approaching freestyle-skateboarding competition in Germany. How has that been for you?
It has been awesome getting back into the game after having some time off to work on myself. Getting back to having these goals and opportunities to be a part of has been motivating and exciting.
With your goals, what was that like to figure out when you’re a highly skilled freestyler?
It’s humbling. More comes from within and it’s some pretty personal goals that go hand in hand with succeeding. Success or achieving my goals isn’t necessarily winning though, it’s more about being able to create what I envision and bring that to life. Being able to perform a routine, pictured and practiced every night, for an invested audience.
Have you sought any help and guidance along the way?
I’ve been on a bit of a self-care journey and 18 months ago I made the decision to see a therapist. After a year, I felt my mental health was a lot better, although it still needs work, and that was when I wanted to work on the physical.
I made the decision 6 months ago to find myself a personal trainer to not only help with contest prep but also general health and fitness.
The progress I’ve made and the help I’ve received after seeking it and seeing things through with an open mind has helped me tenfold. I feel I’ve gained so much knowledge on my body and mind and found the recourses continue to help me.
What has been your biggest challenge preparing for this year’s competition?
It’s hard to list just one but I’d say getting over the mental hurdle of failure. Doing everything in my power this time around to train and prepare has helped give me that confidence in myself and my abilities again.
I also saw after reading In Your Face that you’re from Mordialloc. It’s not a good area for skating, especially freestyle. How has living much closer to the Melbourne CBD affected your skating?
Yeah, growing up as a Mordy boy and the only freestyler in that area was a bit of a hurdle but I honestly loved it. I made the most of the limited spots available, hitting the only lit-up car park every night as that was my only option, and I think that made me more dedicated.
Having the city at my doorstep now is a blessing to have. There are so many amazing spots which honestly I should take more advantage of, but old habits live hard and I mostly am at the training ground of Marvel Stadium as it’s closest to home.
I grew up around Dandenong which is now much easier to at least freestyle in compared to back when I was a kid.
Surely there are other suburbs that are fantastic to skate in. Do you have any areas around Melbourne you would like to skate more in if you could?
Not necessarily. To me nothing compares to the concrete jungle known as the city.
[But] as a kid I used to catch the train to random suburbs and look for different spots to skate.
Do you happen to have any funny stories from travelling around to suburbs to skate in?
Some of the most amusing moments for me is how people react to me doing freestyle in public regardless if it’s at a skatepark or a random spot.
Kinda funny, kinda concerning story: when I was younger I had a parking garage I used to skate super close to mine every night, I spent hours on end battling tricks and one night I ended up passing out from exhaustion. Woke up in a lady’s car. Thank God I knew her as she lived right behind the car park and was super friendly and understandably concerned. Her dog’s name was Spidey.
And, of course, I need to ask, ‘Why freestyle?’
Endless creativity. The joy it brings me to have the ability to express myself on a board with complete freedom. The weight of the world off my shoulders when I’m rolling. Pure fun and creativity.
Connect: Melbourne skater Josh Dunstone (IG: @josh_stinger_dunstone) first competed in freestyle skateboarding at the World Round-Up 2016. Since then, he’s gone pro, representing Maple Road Skateboards, invented a new rail flip (the Kangaroo flip), and raizor-tailed way too many skateboards (we’ve tried to get him onto skid plates but he’s not having a bar of it).