Sage Elsesser Interview

Posted on November 17, 2025 2:59 pm

We’re pleased to bring you our second ever Sage Elsesser interview. Like our previous conversation, this interview coincides with his latest signature colourway for Converse, but covers a lot more ground, and explores a year filled with exciting releases…

Words and interview by Jacob Sawyer. Sage Elsesser photo from a Converse shoot taken by Ben Colen

We last connected with Sage eight years ago when the celebrations for his Converse One Star brought us out to New York City. It’s interesting to acknowledge what a different time that was. The Supreme Cherry video had been released three years prior, but the influence was still fresh, and what Sage and his immediate friendship group were doing ushered in new energy. Like the L.A. Boys decades previous, they organically stamped their identity onto the city they were inhabiting, elevating the profile of New York as a destination on the skate tourism bucket list for a whole new generation in the process. Their effect on the East Coast has been as impactful as that of their elders, who put the Mixtape video on the map. Enough time has elapsed for Sage to be able to reflect on this seminal time, so it was interesting hearing his thoughts about the city he relocated to so many years ago, and how he sees the echoes of his formative years continuing to reverberate.

The Converse CONS squad have recently honoured Sage with another signature colourway of his favourite model, the Fastbreak Mid. Like our previous conversation, we caught up with him to talk about that, with the expectation that our time on the phone may be a much briefer dip into the technicalities of the new shoe. We were stoked to find out that Sage had booked out more time and was down to discuss a whole host of different subjects. We covered his time in New York then and now, some of his favourite footage, his new album, touring his material, releasing music, riding for Converse for over a decade, touring with Ben Raemers and the rest of the CONS family, his new shoe and the inspiration behind it, how it feels to be an American right now, the meditative nature of skateboarding, time spent in London, the act of skating right now, parting ways with Supreme, some golden Jason Dill advice, and more.

Sage is an original, an artist in every sense of the word, and someone who has taken the things that he loves and built a reality dedicated to pursuing them. His new album is out there in the ether, his new shoe is in the shop, his tour is underway, and he is still carving out time for skateboarding with projects in hand, and the rare reward of new manoeuvres logged, not shared. We’re excited to see what’s next, and stoked to be able to bring you a conversation that marks some key moments in Sage’s career…

Last time we spoke was back in 2017 when the party happened for your One Star shoe. A lot has changed since then. Are you still in the same New York apartment, and is that Jamaican patty spot still around the corner?

Happy to reconnect. I’m actually not in that same apartment, I’m in a new spot, but the place where we went to get patties is still out there, it’s called Taylormade.

The New York skate scene from when we last spoke to now, how has it evolved?

It’s gotten younger and younger, and the kids are getting better and better. It’s cool to see that the kids still skate at Tompkins; they’re still down there sitting in circles and smoking weed, which is also reminiscent of when I was going there.

With what you and your friendship group have built from the release of Cherry over ten years ago now, are you able to look at things objectively and see how that influence has played out positively for another generation?

Yeah, for sure, I think the influence that we had on skateboarding was important. I think that to counteract the kind of hyper-monetisation of skateboarding, and to get into the nostalgia of it, the kids’ pants are getting baggier, and the references are getting older, which is nice because kids are more interested in skate history. They’re going back and watching videos from the 90s, they’re making stylistic references. I think there are a lot of kids who are now eighteen or nineteen, and even the way they skate is still in the vein of quality over quantity, which is also nice to see.

What you did has also opened a wider net of opportunities for those coming up after you.

For sure, it’s an honour to have played that role; we didn’t even know. We were all just friends, so it all felt so natural. Then obviously time passes, and kids tell me that they grew up watching us, and it makes you think, true, I was a kid skating then, at fifteen too, so they must have been just getting into skating at age ten or so. It’s super cool to have made that impact, especially as it was with my friends who were kids that I grew up with. It was in no way inauthentic; it was a real connection, and I’m grateful that it got captured. I’m looking forward to being in my older age, watching Cherry, and thinking about what a time that was.

The last time we spoke to Sage was around about the same time he did a 50-50 on this New York City candy cane. PH: Ben Colen

Living at the time, possibly unaware of what a moment it was, you were living in?

Fully, I was somehow aware of the moment at the time, I felt that shift, it was a shift that happened even in the industry. We were getting a lot of hate, and a lot of love simultaneously, and I felt that there were a lot of eyes on us. Maybe I wouldn’t even say there was hate, but there was some critique, especially with the direction that skating was going during that time. It started to get really, as Dill would say, upriver, hahaha. It started to get popular in a different way, and now I would say it’s not as popular, but it still has the same impact it has always had

What’s happening on the East Coast right now that’s exciting in your eyes?

I like seeing the kids who are coming up in the same way that a bunch of the older guys watched me and Aidan [Mackey] coming up. They were skating Tompkins, and watching us all grow up, and now I’m doing the same thing. It’s cool to have seen that with a couple of the younger kids, there’s a kid called Coles [Bailey], and watching his growth has been really cool. Everybody has these crews, and they put out their montages as a crew. Bill [Strobeck] is still going, and he’s building something with those kids. To be fair, I’m not really too hip to everything that’s happening because I want to interact with skateboarding in the same way that I did as a kid, meaning I want it to still be exciting.

“I like seeing the kids who are coming up in the same way that a bunch of the older guys watched me and Aidan [Mackey] coming up. They were skating Tompkins, and watching us all grow up, and now I’m doing the same thing”

There’s a lot of skateboarding now; there are a lot of videos. I’m mainly happy that Tompkins is still there, it’s repaved, kids still go there, and it still has a similar vibe. A lot of kids are moving to New York, obviously because it’s a beautiful city, an attractive city. I moved to New York as well. I grew up being called a “Transplant” and all of that, haha. I moved there at such a young age, and even though I still don’t really claim New York, but it definitely made me who I am, and I wouldn’t really want to live anywhere else, to be honest, as I get into my older age. I wish I could name more up-and-comers for you here, but I’ve gotten to see a bunch of the kids I would see at Tompkins evolve into incredible skateboarders.

Have you visited the banks since they reopened?

I haven’t. I went there back when you could sneak in a little bit, which was fun. I haven’t been since it’s reopened, though. They’re working on the small banks right now, and I’m really excited about that. For me, that’s where the real shit is. That’s a more nostalgic part of the spot that I would want to go and look at, over the wall.

I could picture you doing something over the wall.

Somebody ollied over the wall and the fence. I forget who did that. I actually ran into Ted Barrow yesterday at LA High, and he was working on an episode there. He was telling me about the architects, which was super interesting

I’m looking at the fence ollie now, it was Mike Vallely.

Was it? No way! That makes it even cooler, the photo is so sick, and he grabbed the board too.

On the subject of epic ollies here’s one of Sage’s own at a loading zone on Fairfax. PH: Ben Colen

You’re in LA right now before the tour takes you to Australia. Are you going to get some downtime to skate somewhere warmer?

Yeah man, I’m trying to film a little bit before I head to Australia. It’s been nice, I love skating in LA, especially skating at LA High, that’s like the first place I ever skated, it’s always nice to just get back to it. It’s different now, but being there feels so familiar and nostalgic. I used to go there all the time. I was jumping the fence when I was a kid. I would sit and watch people skate the rail on the inside, which was really fun to see when I was younger.

Retrospectively, what video has your favourite footage in it?

I’m not sure, I think it’s yet to come, I guess, haha. I’m content with all of it, but I like Blessed just because I was always yearning to have a solo part. So much of our footage growing up was always in montage form. It was cool looking back that we got processed in that way. There’s a trick in Blessed that was my favourite trick, it was a front tail heelflip on the Bay Blocks, and Bill put it in Sean [Pablo]’s part, not mine, and that confused me at the time. I had a part, but my favourite trick wasn’t in it; instead, it was a quick moment in Sean’s. I trust Bill artistically, of course, but I would have liked those five seconds in my part. I had a regular part in the video though, which is why it’s a favourite. I got to pick my song, and it felt reflective of who I was evolving into.

Sage takes a lofty tailslide for a spin at the Bay Blocks in SF before Heelflipping out to fakie for the Supreme “Blessed” video

One of my favourite clips of you is in that video, the backside bluntslide to switch front nose on the perpendicular Dill bench…

Oh yeah man, I love that trick. I couldn’t believe I did that. I was just fucking around. I thought it was a nice little homage to [Jason] Dill because he bluntslid it.

You’ve got the rare double heelflip over the picnic table in there, too.

I can’t believe I did that one either; that one’s hilarious.

Your album The Sword & The Soaring was just released on 11th November. Is this a cathartic one to release?

Absolutely, it’s always really nice to release music, especially as I’m leaning in to my message. I feel good, and I feel content about what I’m putting out. There’s a lot of great music, and I’m very happy and content right now with the message within my music. It’s greater than the music itself. With the energy and all I’ve put into it, I feel like it’s an honourary gesture to bare so much of myself in the music, especially when it comes to how I’m perceived through what I do. People may see me as successful and all that comes with that, but I’m just a human being, and this album really investigates spirituality, as a lot of my music does. They say that when you release music, it is a release. It’s no longer held by you, it’s out in the world, and people are going to interact with it however they interact with it. Everyone gets something different from it to the next; it’s a beautiful thing.

NAVY BLUE – The Sword & The Soaring. Album out now

While touring, I imagine you have performed some of the new music. Do you feel more familiar with the material this release because of that?

Maybe a little bit, but I have just allowed this one to exist; I haven’t been interacting with it in the same way so much. I’ve been touring with Loyle Carner, so I’m performing for a lot of new listeners. I’m not trying to “win them over,” and it’s been nice because I go up there and do my thing, and people can feel it. Their response is often that they haven’t heard someone discussing that kind of subject matter. So, I’ve definitely been performing a lot of older joints rather than newer ones that haven’t been released yet. It’s been beautiful though, I’m having a new experience with it, I’m new to performing to so many people. That was particularly tough in the very beginning because I didn’t know what to expect. I just stepped into it willingly and have had a pretty cool experience so far.

How was it with the bigger crowds? Did that energy make you feel better up on stage?

Yes and no, it’s a little more jarring because you can hear the hum of all the voices in the crowd talking when you’re doing your thing, but you also hear the deafening silence when they’re listening. Both can exist, which is nice. I know there are people who are there to see me, and I know there are people there having an entirely new experience listening to me for the first time, which I think is pretty cool.

You played at the Brixton Academy and the Jazz Cafe when you were in London, two venues I love for different reasons. Which of those shows in London had the best crowd response?

I would say the Jazz Cafe because it was smaller and more intimate, and I know that everybody who was there was there to see me. London is a tough crowd, but I also have my second biggest following there. Last time I was there, I performed at Village Underground, and that was a great show. I had a great time at the Jazz Cafe, too. I felt like everybody was present, and holding space for me, which was really beautiful.

The tour with Loyle Carner has taken you through Europe. Is there anywhere you visited where you would like to spend more time?

Yeah, actually, Oslo. There were a lot of spots there. I wish Ben Chadourne could have come out so we could have skated around that city. Zurich in Switzerland was beautiful too. I have Swiss citizenship, but I hadn’t ever been there until this trip. It felt nice to finally visit the place I had been thinking about reaching for so long.

I noticed that a few of the songs on the new record were produced by you, but there are a lot of guest producers on this album. Who does collaborating with feel most natural, and whose musical output is easiest to tap into and get inspired to write by?

There are a lot of people who have contributed to this record, but in answer to the question, I would have to say Child Actor. He produced the single [Orchards], and his output is prolific; he makes so much shit, and we have a very good understanding. I love it when producers send me things, and I would say it’s between him and another producer called Shungu, who I have also become great friends with, who lives out in Brussels. Their output, and the stuff they like, and listen to makes them think they’re sitting on stuff a lot of guys wouldn’t want to rap over. Then they send tracks over, and the ones they’re not sure about always end up being the ones I pick. I think that’s gratifying for them because they have these moments that they love, which don’t get enough love, and are getting love from me. I love the really bare joints, not the ones with heavy drums. I love anything that immediately evokes an emotion in me. I need to speak to that, whatever that initial feeling is.

So, collaborating musically frees up the writing process more?

Yes, absolutely, because sometimes your energy is invested so much into making the beat, however it comes out.

Do you think parting ways with a major label lit a fire under you creatively, and kind of reunited you with the DIY spirit that birthed your music?

Definitely, it allowed me to turn back to the core of why I do this, it’s not to monetise it but because it’s my honest and authentic expression. The label my new project, The Sword & The Soaring is released on is called Freedom Sounds. I had a little brand called Freedom Man, I was making t-shirts for the community that I was a part of, with themes of Black Liberation and Pan-Africanism. Freedom Sounds, the record label aspect of it, just evolved organically; it’s a vehicle that allows me to self-release my music, taking a page out of a rapper named Ka’s book. He had his own label called Iron Works, and I thought it was so nice that he had a roof under which all of his music exists. I recognised that I was freeing myself up, so Freedom Sounds began.

“They say that when you release music, it is a release. It’s no longer held by you, it’s out in the world…Everyone gets something different from it to the next; it’s a beautiful thing”

Where do you feel most supported, or the most love. From the skateboarding community or from the music scene?

Undeniably, the music scene. I think that what I do with the music speaks more to my humanity and who I am as a person. Skateboarding is an expression of myself, and I think I do a good job of expressing who I am through movement for sure, but skateboarding is not always the most open-minded scene. There’s a lot of critique, a lot of judgment, a lot of shit talking. That’s why when I was first releasing my music, I kept my face hidden because I was afraid that skateboarders would judge.

Armchair critics…

Hahaha. It’s cool, I have done my knowledge too, I’m hip to it, I’ve done my skate research and explored the history. But, without question, I feel the love more. I have got, and still do get a lot of love from the skateboarding community. It’s just a shame sometimes. I posted the new shoes, and people are leaving comments like “He still skates?” Everything exists on Instagram now. Just because I’m not posting the new trick I have learned on Instagram doesn’t mean that I’m not skating. It’s a shame, back in the day, Instagram wasn’t part of the contract, but now TikTok and all of that has become part of the skate industry. To me, it takes away from the magic, if you post that you’ve learned a new trick today, then we know what to expect when your video part comes out; there’s no mystique.

Oversaturation…

Which comes with the oversaturation of the marketplace in general. People just want more and more and more. Capitalism is about feeding the beast, more and more and more, throw a car in the mouth of the fucking monster. More food, more GMOs, fucked up water, and hard seltzers. Skateboarding feels like hard seltzers, with a new one coming out every week.

Although they are two distinct worlds, it looks like you do a good job of juggling them. Playing shows in London, filming a quick clip, back to LA for your shoe release, and onwards. Have the two journeys ever felt conflicting? It seems like they marry up quite nicely.

That’s a good question, to speak to it directly, what a beautiful life it is where I get to do the things I love. I have a lot of gratitude for that, so I don’t feel like I have it in me to complain. I dreamt of doing music professionally, and I dreamt of skateboarding professionally. Now I’m not even thirty, and I have fulfilled so much that it felt like I’m on the tail end of my skate career because I got to experience the beauty of it so early. I feel like I made a great contribution to something I love, and there’s no greater feeling than bringing something to this thing that you care about. It’s the way that I interact with the world, and it’s such a cool feeling.

I was recently walking with my elder sister in Paris. She’s fifteen years older than me, so she has watched my love for skating fluctuate over the years. She still sees it when my eyes wander if I see a skate spot. I’ll be checking it out, and her friends are asking, “What is he looking at?” She knows I’m looking at a skate spot; the ways in which we interact with the world are different. I feel really lucky because I could be working a nine-to-five, or taking a job I hate just to get by and feed myself. Some days I think, Who has got it better than me? I get to do what I love.

**“Some days I think, Who has got it better than me? I get to do what I love”**

Frontside nosebluntslide in the Fastbreak Mid colourway from 2022. PH: Jon Coulthard

It has now been over a decade that you have been skating for Converse. What are some of the most memorable experiences you’ve had because of that relationship?

I think just travelling the world, getting to see different places. At such a young age, I got to experience so much. Sometimes I’ll be speaking to my girlfriend about other countries and mention somewhere I have been. She’ll shake me and make me recognise that I’ve been to all of these places just to skate. She’ll tell me how beautiful that is, and I have to take a step back and agree with her. How amazing is that? On a broader scale, the travelling I have done has exposed me to so many amazing cultures and different vibes. Although if you go on a Converse trip, you are definitely going to be eating some Indian food, no matter where you are in the world, because we have a lot of vegans on the team. Lots of Indian food and falafel. Also, the friendships are the most important ones for me because I see other companies with big teams, and it seems like they all know each other, but with Converse, I feel like I have really built lasting relationships with almost everyone I have been on trips with, real connections beyond skateboarding. Those are the highlights.

You got some good Ben Raemers time on those trips, too.

Oh man, I love Ben. I was such a fan of him beforehand, and then getting to know him, he was such a joy to be around. He was such a happy guy, I loved his sense of humour, his jokes. I also loved his ability to communicate when he wasn’t feeling it. He wouldn’t mask it if he was struggling or sad on a trip, he’d just say, “I’m not feeling too good, I’m just going to chill.” He kind of taught me to advocate for myself in that way, emotionally. I got to travel the world with Ben and crack jokes. Converse always had such a familial vibe, and lots of them were older, so they helped to raise me.

I was on my first Converse trip at the age of fifteen, with older guys like Zered [Bassett], Mike Anderson, Jake Johnson, Kenny Anderson, and Tom Remillard. The list goes on, and those guys took such good care of us; they were all so cool and looked out for us. I was probably talking too much and smoking too much weed, but they were understanding and helpful when I needed it. I’m eternally grateful.

Sage grinding three round bars in his three signature Converse Fastbreak colourways. A Nosegrind, a smith grind, and a frontside 180 to fakie 50-50. Photos shot in 2022, 2023, and 2025 by Jon Coulthard and Ben Colen

The Fastbreak remains a favourite and this is your third signature colourway. Is it safe to say you’ve found the perfect skate shoe for life?

Yeah man, it’s my favourite shoe, I really love this fucking shoe. It’s nice, this one feels like the culmination of what I was trying to do with the other two. This one, in terms of materials, and the changes I had always wanted to implement, I got to do all of that, and it really works for me; it’s the one I skate in. Hopefully, I can get a pro shoe one day and build on this foundation to make, what is in my mind, the perfect skate shoe. That would be my dream.

From the last Fastbreak to this one, what changes did you make?

On the hem of the collar, I got rid of a little bit of material. I love the suede and leather link-up in terms of durability. That came from paying attention to what other guys are skating in. With the all navy pair that I made, the first pair, I didn’t know if people were really going to like it. Then I would see Jamie Platt and Shane Farber skating in them all the time. Shane told me it was the only shoe he wanted to skate in, and I was surprised. From there, I wanted to make an all black one because I don’t wear black a lot, but I’ve been incorporating it back into my life, and wearing a lot of black shoes. I always felt that the leather on the toe was a little too slippery, and I had skated a pair with a suede toe that felt great. I wanted the durability of the leather for when you’re ollieing, and the suede for when you’re flicking.

“it’s my favourite shoe…this one feels like the culmination of what I was trying to do with the other two”

The new Sage Elsesser Fastbreak Mid colourway is out now with reflective accents for dark nights

With the outsole, I went for the translucent ice blue, and it felt a bit more flexible than the tougher cupsole the Fastbreak usually has. That extra little layer gives it flexibility and a different type of feel and cushioning. The coolest part of the shoe for me is the eyestay, which is where the metal eyelets live. The eyestay is the suede piece I have on the new shoe, which is generally sewn on top of the shoe; it’s the last piece to be sewn on top, but for this shoe, it’s inset so the leather sits on top of that eyestay. It’s something I had thought of and always looked at doing with that shoe, and it’s done in a really subtle way, so you can’t really tell.

I think the translucent outsole gets overshadowed by the gum outsole reputation, but every time I’ve skated any translucent outsoles, they are definitely grippier in a way that I prefer.

Exactly, and they have this flexibility. To be honest, my very first Converse colourway was a black leather Chuck Taylor, and my idea was to do a full, clear outsole and midsole. The guy, who at the time was head of design, told me that it couldn’t be done. I asked if instead it could be kind of cloudy, like the Jordan 11 Concord, that sky blue, and he said that was impossible too. After some time had flown by, somebody did it with a clear sole, but at the bottom, then John Varvatos did one, Alexis Sablone’s shoe had a full clear sole. So, I wanted to make a nod to my first shoe, it’s the development…I started with a black leather shoe with gold accents, and now it has silver. I also wanted to step away from the rose emblem I had been using.

What is the typeface inspiration for the SE initials on the insole?

I just do a lot of research, and I’ve been doing some creative direction work for my friends, so I’m always finding references from looking at different books. I found that font in an old book of monograms, and I liked it.

Have you unearthed any other good basketball silhouettes looking through the Converse archives?

I have tons and tons. I hope that one day I will be able to share that. I have tons of references, and that is one of my favourite things about Converse; I love digging through the archives. I have found some really special ones by researching things on the internet, and searching for shoes that I want, uncovering things I have never seen. Bobby De Keyzer is also really good at that, and we connected when we did the ‘Case Study’ project. I would have loved for us to do more of those. Now, with what Tyler [The Creator] is doing, it seems like Converse is fully on board with how important the archives are, especially in this day and age, where people love vintage and want stuff that is lived in, not talking about a lived-in shoe, but that vibe. I love repurposing things that haven’t seen the light of day in a while.

The new Sage Elsesser Fastbreak Mid assists this tall frontside lipslide shot by Ben Colen

Without getting overly political, how does it feel living in America right now? Is there a mood of apathy or righteous indignation?

Great question. It’s very split right now, you’re either a leftist or an extreme conservative, which is really tough to navigate because it’s two polarised, extreme ends of the spectrum that are clashing. Especially with the president, people on the right are feeling very empowered. Then [Zohran] Mamdani wins, and he’s going to be mayor of New York, which feels like a step in the right direction, but it’s hilarious hearing people call him a communist. Are they not hearing what he’s saying? He’s a democratic socialist, and a small amount of research on what that means would help. It’s a shame to see such ignorance empowered, but I also know that people are entitled to believe what they want to. It’s scary here, and the thing being broadcast on all fronts is fear, because when you’re in fear, you’re easily controlled.

What’s crazy is that the fear is being peddled by the same people who claim to be Christians, these super right-wing people. Everything that they believe in is so anti-Christ mentally. I’m not a Christian, but I do believe in Christ, and I think he’s a wonderful spirit. Everything he stood for, a belief system built on love and tolerance, is not evident there; it’s only love and tolerance for one kind of person. It’s so baffling to see people being so contradictory, but we’re living in a day and age when people aren’t living their truth. They’re empowering their lowest selves, other than the god within them who wants you to be loving and caring to all people. America is a breeding ground for that, but there is a beauty in this country too, and I’m very proud to be a Black American. Scary times, and it’s been scary times for years. On another note, I found out the other day that Jeremy Corbyn follows me on Instagram, which I thought was pretty cool.

Now, for spirituality, the second faux pas of polite conversation. I know spirituality is a common theme in your music and a vehicle to explore that. Would you consider skateboarding as somehow tied into a kind of spiritual practice?

One hundred percent, yes. Skateboarding taught me patience, it taught me perseverance, it’s meditative, and it’s like a dance. There’s something so beautiful about it, seeing how people move, and what that says about who someone is, the way they skate. It’s expression and I think that any form of self-expression is spiritual because you are praising and honouring who you are, physically, and emotionally. The feeling of falling, and how good that feels when we’re going through hard times. I think we all have that self-harm mentality with it sometimes. But mainly it’s just the patience, to try a trick for so long, and to breathe, learning to breathe through it all, that’s meditative. Then you also envision yourself landing the trick, you learn not to get too down on yourself. That’s what I’ve noticed change. I used to break a lot of boards back in the day, but now it’s not so serious to me, even when I’m skating, I sometimes think they cut down a tree to make this board, and a guy somewhere made this with his hands. They cost a lot of money now, too; they’re not $40 anymore, far from it.

We loved seeing the clips of you skating at Southbank. Is that the first time you’ve gotten comfortable skating there?

No, I actually went there a lot when the wall was still up and the ledge wasn’t there. I used to like skating the little banks, the bank-to-bank with the step between them. I was always such a big fan of Palace, so I liked watching them skate there, old Blondey [McCoy] footage I loved, Chewy [Cannon], and Lucien Clarke. That was obviously the first place I wanted to go when I went to London, but it was really nice to revisit it this trip because I haven’t been in a minute. It was cool to skate with the guys.

Sage stamps a fakie ollie into switch frontside crooked grind seal of approval on a ledge that wasn’t there last time he visited

When did you first get to skate down there?

I first came to London in 2002 for my brothers funeral and I would skate at Playstation skatepark a lot so I never actually made my way over to Southbank back then. I didn’t go there until 2014, when I would come there for a Stone Island shoot. I was staying at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch, and I had a shoot the next day, but in my head I was thinking “I’ve got to get to Southbank”.

Do you remember who was skating there when you got there?

Emeka [Wambu] was there, Chewy [Cannon] was there, and everyone was bless. I just posted up there, it was great.

Did you get to skate any other spots in London this trip, or were the weather gods in opposition?

I did not; I checked a couple of things and had a look around the city, but I had been travelling on tour. It was really nice to have that little bit of skating, then I took the board off and actually got to rest for real. I didn’t get to any other spots, unfortunately.

You were also visiting family in London. What parts of the city have you got to explore through those meetings? Where in London feels most like home?

I would definitely say West London, Ladbroke Grove, feels the most familiar. My parents also lived in Camden, so I was staying over there a little bit, and that felt kinda nice. My grandma lives super far out West.

What, like Ealing way?

Exactly, she lives out in Ealing. It’s a little strange out there, but if I were to live in England, I think I would like to live in Fulham or somewhere like that. Nice, chill, familial vibes.

I wanted to say that your interview with Ray Barbee was banging. Who else out there who has been an inspiration would you like to speak to in that capacity?

Thanks, man, that was the coolest fucking thing. I’m working on a Thrasher interview right now, and I was wondering who I should get to do it. Maybe I should switch and have Ray interview me. I think I would like Brian Lotti to interview me, though. I would love to interview Marcus McBride, Antwuan [Dixon], or Rodney Mullen. I would love to interview Anthony Van Engelen also because I get along really well with him, he’s like this big brother or uncle figure for me who is really so straightforward. I love that about him, the way he communicates is so on point, he doesn’t sugarcoat anything. People are really intimidated by him, but I find it so charming, the way he is. I loved his Epicly Later’d where he discussed his sobriety. I would like to ask him more questions about his journey through that.

How is skateboarding feeling for you right now?

It’s beautiful, it feels really childlike right now, I’m learning new tricks! I’ve done some new moves that I have always really wanted to do, and that’s so gratifying, tricks I thought about doing ten years ago! I have actually managed to make them happen, which is nice. New moves, I’m taking the [Anthony] Pappalardo approach, and trying not to get too fixated on what’s good enough, or not good enough, and just expressing myself. This is an art form that I have chosen to express myself with, so boom, the board is just a vehicle, so boom. However simple or however complex the move is, just do it. It’s a new perspective.

Frontside 180 into fakie 50-50 wearing the new reflective Fastbreak Mid that is available now

Do you have FA or CONS projects on the cards you are working on?

Yeah, I’m out filming, I’m working on something, but I don’t want to disclose too much about it.

Has parting ways with Supreme increased the Stone Island real estate in the wardrobe?

Hahaha, yeah man, for sure. I’ve always been collecting Stone Island pieces, even when I was on Supreme. You have to leave the nest sometimes, and I’m super grateful for that experience. I still have a pretty good relationship with Jame [Jebbia], and it’s always nice whenever I see him. It’s like a different connection we have now that it’s not work-oriented, which is beautiful because I always liked him. I try not to get too hyper-fixated on the material stuff, but I do love clothes, and I’ve been getting really into finding great vintage shit, and the finds I’ve been getting.

The thing is that I love material, my materialism comes from the fascination with the making of a product, I love the feel, I love the quality, and it’s very sensory for me. I’m into clothes in that way, whether it’s a really comfortable pair of socks or underwear. What cotton do they use? How did they spin this? Those little details are what stimulate my interest in clothes. That’s why I gravitated towards Stone Island: the amount of time that went into making each garment. Developing the dyes, colours, materials, and sometimes developing the material takes years. How do they get a thermal-reactive coat to go from one specific colour to another? That’s what sparked my interest in that brand.

Can you give us a funny Jason Dill quote or some advice from him we haven’t heard before?

Okay, this one’s good, hahaha. There was a time I was out skating with Bill [Strobeck] and Dylan [Rieder]. Dylan was trying this trick, and I was watching for cars. Dylan was the kind of guy whom I just mimicked; he was like the coolest big brother ever. He smokes Camel Blues, I smoke Camel Blues, he drinks San Pellegrino, I drink San Pellegrino, whatever coffee he gets is the same one I’m getting, to a tee. He’s got black nails, then so have I, cool. We were out skating, and he tried this 5-0 on this bump to rail, but his board shot out, and I got it. I felt involved in the session, a car pulled up and was in the way of the landing, so I started barking at the owner. I got a little too comfortable and was telling the driver to get the fuck out of the way. I was being distracting basically, and it got back.

“When you’re on the fucking session with Dylan, you’re a ghost!”

I think maybe Bill told Dill what had happened, that I was barking on the sesh. Then Dill calls me up and he was like “When you’re on the fucking session with Dylan, you’re a ghost!”, hahaha. I thought it was so funny, “don’t say a fucking word!” I remember being so bummed, but I needed to hear that! To be told to shut up and sit in the corner. I’m very sensitive to sounds and movement during sessions myself; people can speak to that too, don’t talk when Sage is trying a trick. I remember apologising to Dylan about it afterwards, and he just said “it’s all good”, he didn’t even care.

I needed to hear that from Dill at that moment, and as extreme as it was, I got the message, word, shut up, you’re a ghost. The thing I gathered from that was to take note, you’re out skating with Dylan, sit and watch, observe, and learn from him. That’s what I gathered from it, so all of the other times I was out skating with him, not filming tricks, I would sit there in a kind of meditative trance watching him. I remember watching him try lines over and over; he wasn’t so much a perfectionist, but he knew in his head how he wanted to do something. Had Dill not told me that, I wouldn’t have been able to step into that level of attention to detail I had when I was witnessing him skate afterwards.

I want to ask you your own question from the Ray Barbee interview. What does skateboarding need more of, and what does it need less of?

I asked him that? Wow! It needs more care and compassion. What does it need less of? Less waste, I think it’s an extremely wasteful industry, so I appreciate it when people do things like what Kenny Anderson is doing with Clearweather, these conscious efforts to reduce our impact. Every skateboard is a treat; it’s wood, so I think a move to recycling that’s less wasteful would be good. More care, love, and compassion are what I think are needed in skateboarding.

Thanks for your time, Sage.

Of course, thank you.

We want to thank Sage for taking the time out for this one, it was a pleasure to reconnect. Make sure you follow Sage Elsesser and Converse CONS on Instagram for more updates. Also be sure to explore the Navy Blue back catalogue which includes the new album.

Thanks also to Ben Colen for all of the photos, and James Cruickshank for help throughout.

Shop with us for Sage’s new Fastbreak Mid and more from Converse. Check out what products Sage is skating Underfoot.