Why freestyle?
I just always thought freestyle was really cool and creative. I guess I’m a bit of a contrarian and like things that are out of left field, and back when I started skating no one I saw was really doing it. It felt like doing tricks like caspers, truck stands, and primos weren’t the intended way to ride a skateboard which appealed to me.
I like the fact that you don’t need a spot or an obstacle. You can do it at the end of a driveway or a footpath. I like technical skating
—in theory you should be able to learn anything with enough practice. I’m not a huge fan of big, gnarly stuff so freestyle suits me perfectly.
Where is your favourite bit of flatground at the moment? Or the weirdest/most unconventional spot?
Haha, same answer for both questions. I have a weird spare room in my house that miraculously has a concrete floor (it’s a great surface). It’s big enough for freestyle, so I pretty much only skate there these days. I can skate when it’s raining or dark and I don’t have to battle it out with scooter kids at the skatepark so it’s great.
How does that work with the tail scrapes and boards flying everywhere?
I’ve definitely put some dents in the walls, but it’s my house so I don’t care; I’ll patch them when they get too bad. I have some old decks lining the perimeter to try to mitigate that somewhat. I don’t really mind scratching up the cement, it gives it some character. I even Bondo’d a crack in the ground that was annoying me. I usually film there so I have a green screen set up and a few lights and tripods. I’m surprised I haven’t kicked a board into those by accident yet.
You must freestyle skate mostly alone then. What’s the response like when you freestyle in front of other skaters in Adelaide?
I hide it for the most part as street skaters usually react with disgust. 😂 Nah, most people are pretty cool and think that stuff is way harder than it is; skaters seem to be a lot more open-minded these days. I can see why some people hate freestyle though if all they have seen is really lame stuff. I think lots of freestylers have absolutely no taste or restraint and taint our image. 🙃😂
What do you think is the most approachable class of freestyle tricks for skaters who don’t necessarily identify with freestyle (and why)?
Probably caspers or rail stuff. As actual tricks you flip into or out of like street skating, they’re more relatable to ‘normal’ skaters, as opposed to more traditional footwork ‘dancing’ freestyle. I think a lot of people think that footwork, pogoing, footplants, things where your feet touch the ground are kinda wack and they wouldn’t want to touch that kind of skating anyway, so there’s a better chance of them being interested in tricks they might already have a foundation for.
But as a freestyle skateboarder, what is your favourite trick or class of tricks to watch and or do? Like what gets you stoked?
Even though I do freestyle, I’m more inspired by technical street skating than by other freestylers. I get ideas from ledge and manual skating. I might see someone do something like a nollie heelflip nosegrind that could inspire me to do a nollie heelflip nose stall then go into a freestyle trick from that position. I like mixing more ‘street’, ollie-based flip tricks with traditional freestyle tricks. I also do a lot of switch and nollie stuff that you don’t see often in freestyle. I think there’s a few skaters who would be considered street skaters who take some inspiration from freestyle, but I’d say I’m a freestyler who’s inspired by street skating.
So I’m guessing you’re a fan of Andy Anderson and Kilian Martin’s work?
They’re both amazing and what they do is really hard stuff, but I don’t really like the whole ‘coming to a complete stop on a ledge or rail and doing a handstand or truck stand out of it’ thing. I love Rodney of course. I’m a huge fan of Daewon, Mike Osterman, Ronnie Creager, and Sto Strouss. I recently discovered Joey Brezinski who is amazing. I’ll stop what I’m doing and watch anything those guys put out.
Is there a particular skate part of any of the above skaters that you would watch on repeat? We’ve had so many interviewees refer to the old Powell-Peralta videos but it looks like you take inspo from different things so we’re curious.
I am obsessed with Rodney’s part in Rodney Mullen vs. Daewon Song: Round 2 (1999). I love that it actually tells the story of his career up to that point with his freestyle stuff at the start, going into his current (for the time) street skating, then showing what he would be doing in the future…all without any words.
His Globe Opinion (2001) part is so good too.
I love Round 3 (2004), especially Daewon’s part, which is still mind-boggling to this day. Ronnie Creager’s part in What If (2005)? is amazing. I love the whole Darkstar Battalion (2003) video, Chet Thomas and Sven Kilchenmann are so technical. I really like Baker 3 (2005) as well, it’s just so of its time and fun, even though it’s not really the type of skating I do at all.
Like a lot of Aussies, you’ve been skating a regular board until quite recently. What has it been like switching between popsicle and freestyle shapes?
Yeh! The first freestyle board I had ever even seen in real life was from you, [a Smokin’ Sukkaz]! I had been experimenting with different street-board sizes and decided to try an actual freestyle board. I found that it made freestyle stuff a lot easier, but then made my more ‘street’ tricks harder. Even simple stuff I can do most tries on a street board like kickflips or heelflips were really inconsistent and had no pop on a freestyle board, but then truck stands and caspers were way easier.
So I had to decide between that trade-off: easier street tricks/harder freestyle vs. harder street tricks/easier freestyle. I’ve gone back to a street board for now as I find the freestyle tricks on a street board a bit easier than the other way around, so I’m riding 7.75″ decks at the moment. I recently switched to the first (I guess ‘freestyle’?) wheels I’ve tried too, Powell-Peralta Nano Cubics. It’s great actually having the wheels flush or slightly wider than the axles and is making rail tricks a lot easier. I ride 52mm wheels which seems a bit harder to find in freestyle wheels.
Final question: if Rundle Mall’s Balls was a freestyle trick, what would it look like?
Maybe a kickflip to rail. They both take balance, they both get a lot of attention, and neither is quite as impressive as people make them out to be.
Connect: Luke Shaw is a freestyle skateboarder from Adelaide, South Australia. When he’s not skating, he’s doing animator/videographer things like The Household. You’ll rarely catch him rolling around at a skatepark, so find his freestyle on Instagram (@cinderblocz) and TikTok (@cinderblockz).