The latest addition to our Visuals interview series is with Nathan Clancy. This format explores some of the visual stimuli that have made an impression on his young mind and where he is at right now as part of the Polar Skate Co. squad…
Words and interview by Jacob Sawyer. Nathan and crickets shot by Sirus F Gahan
You can check out an audio version of this article on our Listen In podcast. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major platforms.
Nathan Clancy is the latest UK asset to have been added to the elite lineup over at Polar Skate Co. Footage of Nathan is always memorable; his unique approach and presence on camera are reinforced by his experimental sartorial choices, and his footage has been peppering our feed for a while. Most recently, Polar gave us the most comprehensive window into Nathan’s world via their You Got It My Boy Jamie video, a part full of city scouring accompanied by a bag of tricks that make tramline spots from Stockwell to Southbank his own, every trick a refreshing take on established ground. Nathan’s second-nature body varial techniques are so dialled in at this point they need a rewind to fully comprehend some of the head twisters he puts down, guaranteeing our full attention any time he makes an appearance. He is also not afraid to put his frame through its paces, battling gnarly terrain for the cause.
Being absorbed into the Polar squad has gifted Nathan a new key collaborator, and his newfound friendship with Sirus F Gahan means there will be many more clips to come. Commenting on being the lensman capturing Nathan’s brand of wizardry from the perspective of someone who has been doing this for two decades, Sirus reflects, “ Filming with Nathan is a surprisingly energising experience; he, as a human, emits so much positive energy already. Getting to be very close to him and being caught in his kind of whirlwind of hype as he skates and tries something very hard, and something you’ve never seen done before, is a refreshing experience”. We are looking forward to seeing what this prolific partnership gets to cooking up next, once this interview is in front of you and normal service resumes.
While Nathan is already a familiar presence on our online travels, we wanted to know more about what makes him tick and some of the visual influences that contributed to his early years and progression. Following receiving an Argos board he begged his mum for, his first proper intro to skateboarding’s possibilities came via the Skate 3 game. His locality to Cantelowes meant that very soon there were real-life elders to learn from, and a training ground that instilled a healthy transition foundation we enjoy seeing him draw from. His early days are expanded on more in the Listen In audio version of this interview.
We hope you enjoy reading more about the visuals Nathan picked. Learn more about the Atlantic Drift video that sparked his exploration of our capital, a lesser-spotted Ben Kadow moment that acts as a reminder to have fun, a Daryl Dominguez photo captured by Rafski on home turf, and a board graphic that caused some static at school. We closed out our conversation by marking this exciting moment in time, discussing recent world-expanding experiences with Polar, and much more…
Atlantic Drift – Episode 2 – St Paul’s (2017)
One of the first videos that I found myself very fond of was Atlantic Drift episode 2, the St. Paul’s edit. I was skating a lot of park at the time, and I wanted to start skating street when I came across this video. I’d seen Tom [Knox] skating at Cantalowes plenty. With him being from a similar area in London as well, I would just catch him about skating. In the intro to the video, I remember seeing his face on screen, and I was like, “Oh, that’s that guy who I recognise”. I ended up seeing him kill it in the video, and I was like, “Wow, this is mad! I wanna start skating street”. St. Paul’s was the spot at that stage of time; all of these groups of kids from all over London just be going to the one spot like St. Paul’s, just be hitting Knightriders, chalky sets, and stuff like that. It’s a massive shame that spot’s not really as skateable anymore. There are still little crooks and crannies that you can find to skate around there, but it really was the spot beforehand. That video really opened my eyes to the world of London streetskating, just getting out there with your boys and figuring out the city. This came out in 2017, so it would have been my very early days into skating. I would have been 12, turning 13; I was just turning into a teenager, just wanting to get out on the streets and go streetskating. It was when I was trying to get out of the park to do something with skating that was a bit more entertaining. Streetskating was where it was at, in my mind at that stage in time.
Seeing Tom on video, it was just sick to see someone that I had recognised. Seeing them in person doing their thing, and then seeing them out of the skate park at St. Paul’s just absolutely ripping. It made me want to get out there as well when I was younger. That video is wicked, everybody hit everything at that spot in every single way. So when I’d be going to the spot when I was younger as well, I knew they hit it like this and that; what could I do? Obviously I was a little grom then, so I couldn’t do much, but I would still be cooking up ideas and imagining shit. That’s where my early love of streetskating and piecing together stuff on the streets came from. I would just catch Tom at the skate park and see him rip there; him, Sparrow, TY, and his brothers would go to Cantelowes on little family sessions. Tom would just be ripping everything, going fast, doing his thing. I was little Nathan there, just like, “Oh, this guy’s mad, this guy’s wicked”. So then seeing him on screen was mad. People get out there on the streets and do it. I’m trying to recreate that. So I wanted to get out there and start skating street myself as well.
I wasn’t dead conscious of Tom when I was trying to skate chalky ledges, but I suppose the way that Tom had hit St. Paul’s and all of those spots beforehand definitely gave me mad inspiration when I was younger and made me want to go skate St. Paul’s. It’s always been one of those spots in London that I had seen- checkpoint spots- so I felt I had to get some chalky clips for the video. I really like Tom’s 5-0 on the out ledge to flat, the gap out to the road. I remember going there and looking at that specifically and thinking it was mental. I like the tennis ball being dashed at him after the landing as well. It’s pretty funny. I’d say that’s probably my favourite clip out of that video, that stands out to me. He was bolting it down the little walk up to the ledge, and ended up hopping off the ledge so nicely as well, just floated all the way to the end of the kerb, it’s such a sick clip. When I was younger, Tom was my biggest first-hand influence. I’d seen him doing his thing locally, just ripping in person. Although I do love the other Atlantic Drift boys’ skating as well, it doesn’t resonate the same way Tom’s does because I got his energy in person; I had seen it in person. To then see it on the screen was what really infatuated me with the video.
“Tom was my biggest first-hand influence. I’d seen him doing his thing locally, just ripping in person… To then see it on the screen was what really infatuated me with the video”
I watched the video again not too long ago, and when you’re younger, you’re not really thinking too much about the filming, because you’re so attracted to the skater and the skating. But I watched it the other day, and it’s all filmed so mad, and Jacob [Harris] was pushing more of an artistic approach to filming at that stage in time as well, which was cool. I feel that made me like it a bit more as well, just because it was a little bit more artsy. The jellyfish and all the shots that Jacob had come up with to go along with all the skating, all the B-roll was pieced together really nicely. It just opened up the spot for me, and the space. It got me thinking about skating in a different way, which was super sick.
Ben Kadow – FA WORLD ENTERTAINMENT: Triple Backflip (2021)
Ben Kadow bashes the rail with his board, then rolls up to this electricity box, just smacks his board into it, and does, like, a front board with the board. It lands on the floor, and he jumps back onto the board. It’s just a super shambles clip. It’s not really a trick, it’s not really a thing, but it’s probably my favorite part of that video, and I guess just my favorite aspect of skating. I like going about, bashing my board off stuff, making noise, and just doing stupid stuff because that’s what skating’s about, really. It’s definitely a clip that I think back to every so often. I’ll be thinking about it and just trying to do dumb stuff like that myself. Just cruising down the road, slap my board off stuff, jump back onto it. It just feels like a good approach to skating, not to take it too seriously. You can do your mad handrail shit, and you can jump down a 15-stair. But don’t forget that you’re skating on a piece of wood with some wheels. It’s a kid’s toy, to be honest, you know? So you should have fun with it, and not take it too seriously. Even if you’re doing serious stuff, you might as well be light-hearted about it as well. Not just killing yourself, but doing it for the love of it. I feel like it’s good to appreciate the fun aspects of skating as well. Just taking the piss with it a little bit as well.
The rest of the video itself is also super sick, and there are so many standout crazy clips. But for some reason, this is the one clip that just sinks into my mind. When I think of the video, that’s the one clip I think of. I think the way that it’s pieced together as well, with the bash of the pole, and then it cuts to him rolling up to the box, smacking it off the box, and landing on it. Especially with the eerie music as well, the music gives it this whole sort of vibe that has stuck with me. I really like that clip; it’s super sick, a good old box bash. His skating infatuates me; I like his approach to skateboarding. Because he’s hesh, and he does pretty fucking mental stuff. But then he’ll also just be a little bit silly with it every now and again. You’re not really expecting what he’s going to be doing when he’s coming around the corner to do his tricks. There’s a surprise element to his skating, which is cool. He just steps on the board and goes for it, and if it works out, it works out, which is a super sick approach.
“It’s definitely a clip that I think back to every so often. I’ll be thinking about it and just trying to do dumb stuff like that myself”
I’m also such a fan of the melon to smith he did in Hockey IV; that is a ridiculous clip. I had to rewind that maybe five or six times when I first saw the video. That was so good, the way he caught the grab in the air and then just smacked it into the rail, cruised down the rail, and then landed so chill as well. It’s just ridiculous, such a powerful skater! The box bash is the kind of stuff that I’ll always be doing at the skate park or just cruising down the street on some stupid, whimsical, having-fun shit. It would be cool to do some stupid shit like that on an actual spot. To box bash down a big bank into a big bank or something would be stupid. I do like this video part, but it’s the clip specifically that I like a lot. I don’t know what it is about it, but it’s just singed its way into my mind. Whenever I’m skating, I’m thinking… Oh yeah, I should do some dumb shit like that; it’s a reminder. New York is a pilgrimage I’m yet to take. I’m definitely keen; it looks super sick. I’m down to skate Tompkins; it looks super, super fun. Just drag a bunch of shit about and make your own little spot as well, you know? I like that sort of shit, so Tompkins looks really cool. I’m definitely keen to go and skate there, and just drag about a bunch of boxes.
Daryl Dominguez – Free Skate Mag (2024) PH: RAFSKI
Picking a photo was easy; recently I’ve been going to Royal Oak a lot, it’s been my local step. I’ve been taking the bike there from Kilburn, so on my pedal there I pass this set most times. It depends which way I’m going; sometimes I’ll take some different roads just to change up the journey, but I’ll pass the set, and I’ll look at it, and I’ll be like, “Oh you mad guy!” So every time I go past Royal Oak, I check the set, and I’m just looking at it like, “Oh this is sick”. For a while, I think it was in 2021 or 2022, I’d seen that the tiles had been flipped, and there were marks on the rail, so I’m pretty sure he did it around those times. For the longest time, I didn’t know who did it, or I hadn’t seen the footage or whatever, but it’s out now, and I’ve seen the photo now. Just being local and going past that set to go to the skate park most times is pretty cool. It’s like a local souvenir of skateboarding, every time I go to skate, and it gets me hyped. I have looked at the stairs, I suppose, but the rail itself is so close to the wall, and it’s got such a short kink as well. Daryl is a nutter for even attempting it, let alone doing it. It’s actually super skunked; it’s mental. The set itself is pretty cool, but I haven’t thought of trying anything down in specific. Maybe next time I’m on my cycle to Royal, I’ll have a little gander and think of something.
In the footage you can see his whole body up against the bricks, He’s just completely snuggled up, right flat against the wall. It’s not got any gap in it to lock in properly as well, so you have to be axle in the middle, and kingpin grind to get down it as well. If you look at the clip, I think you can see his truck is not even properly on it. He’s like primo sliding the wall on the way down because it’s that like close to the wall. It’s actually just nasty. The footage only came out recently, and I saw the photo first. But the first thing that I had seen in general was the flipped tiles and the skated rail. So I think it was just the aspect of mystery as well that drew me to the photo and the clip as well. Also, just being local to those sides of London and seeing that set and those rails quite often. It was quite a while ago that I spotted the flipped tiles and the rail had been ground. it took me quite a while to end up seeing the photo and the footage. That is definitely a standout Northwest London local, standout spot, and clip for me.
I’m from a younger generation, I suppose, so I’d be skating with younger bucks, but I’d definitely be seeing him at skate parks, and skating about London plenty, seeing his footage. He’s just a super humble, super nice guy as well, an absolute ripper. So yeah, shout out Daryl. He’s super sick, there are plenty of Northwest spots that he’s ripped, but that’s the specific one that I end up cycling past most days to go skate Royal. He’s another really powerful skater as well. Every time he steps on the board, he’s just super powerful. Especially because he skates a lot of big shit as well, but doesn’t half-ass shit into it. He just fully goes for it, which is super dope.
“It’s like a local souvenir of skateboarding, every time I go to skate, and it gets me hyped”
I was at the spot Daryl does an impossible into on his Pissing Grounds part; I varial flipped into it for the Polar part. I wanted to try and do an impossible into that bank, but we knew someone had done it. I was with Sirus [Gahan] and Jamie [Platt], but I couldn’t put my finger on who had done it. I ended up not doing the impossible, although I couldn’t find the clip; we had a gut feeling that it had been done. After I had done the varial flip I realised it was Daryl. That clip of his is mental too; he goes so high before the bank, and he wraps the impossible up into his feet, and then into the bank. It’s so skinny as well, a terrifying spot. That’s what I mean, he’ll just fully go for it, whereas I’ll be there tiptoeing up before the bank. He just makes everything look so powerful. Charlie Munro did a nollie heelflip into it, which was mental as well. That spot is no joke. It’s not fun to skate. It’s pretty terrifying, to be honest. Especially at the bottom. It’s not the nicest getaway. You’ve got to kind of come off to the side, or you’ve got to land onto the bricks. It’s not what you want at the end of a skinny, steep bank, to be worrying about how you’re landing. Not to speak for myself, but any trick down that bank is super dummy. Skating that spot nollie is pretty dummy as well because the bricks beforehand are a little bit weird to pop off, so you’ll be catching your nose off the pop and stuff. That is not an ideal spot.
Heroin Skateboards – “Toxic Fade Eyes Deck” (2015)
When I was younger, I had gotten a board for my birthday. I think it was like my 11th or 12th birthday, and it was a Krooked eyes complete. It was 7.75”, super, super sick. Then my next birthday came around, and I ended up going to the skate shop to pick out my own board, and I wanted to get something sort of similar, with some eyes. So I saw the Heroin graphic, and not even knowing it was Heroin or whatever, I just thought, that graphic’s wicked, I’ll get that. I ended up grabbing that, and got some mad mashup tie-dye griptape for it as well. So it was just super flamboyant, bright board, pretty ugly, with the rainbow eye graphic underneath, you couldn’t really miss it.
Then me being all hyped on my new setup, I’ve gone and brought it to school. All the kids were looking at it. They’re like, “Oh, heroin, heroin”, and the teacher’s like, “What?!” So a teacher looks at my board there, and they’re like, “Why does your board say heroin on it?” I said that I didn’t know. I just bought a skateboard, it was my birthday present, I bought the skateboard the other day. They were like, “You’ve got to cover that up. You can’t have that!”, and they ended up calling my mom about it. She said that she didn’t know anything about that, and that it might be heroine, like a woman hero. They told her it wasn’t spelled the same way, and that her son’s board says heroin on it. This was in a primary school; I was like year six at this stage. They said I couldn’t bring my board to school anymore, but I ended up just slapping some stickers over it.
“You’ve got to cover that up. You can’t have that!”
I thought that was well funny, not having a clue about it or the brand or anything. Just being some little grom thinking that graphic’s well cool. Then going to school, all the kids like being like, “heroin, heroin, heroin”, and the teachers not being happy about it whatsoever. Getting onto my mamma about it, and saying I can’t be bringing the board to school. Then having to cover it up with stickers. I just thought it was funny. That then made me look into Heroin, and Fos, and all of the footage, and I probably wouldn’t have if my teacher didn’t get onto me about the name of the skateboard, you know what I mean? I ended up looking them up and looking at the videos and whatnot. I just think it’s a super dope graphic as well. It’s mad out there, and it’s hard to miss.
Having the teachers being in pure shock and horror about it, and getting onto my mamma about it was pretty funny. I thought Heroin was well cool when I was younger, still do now. I ended up grabbing their boards here and there, I definitely loved their graphics when I was younger, and just how scatty they were. I like that they pissed off my teachers and made the classmates think, “Oh, what’s this weird kid doing?” I still have the board in a box on my balcony; it’s just tucked away with a bunch of old boards.
Some of the boards that I have over time, I’ve kept one of them. I didn’t end up mashing it up too much because that was one of my first boards. I was in primary school, so I didn’t fuck it up too much. As of recent I like Loïc [Le Hécho]’s graphics. He’s a tattoo artist, and he’s done a bunch of tats for the Polar boys as well. He’s done a couple graphics for some of the newer seasons of boards to come out, and I really like his artwork on the boards. They look really cool. Also, Jacob Ovgren, I like his graphics as well, his OG cartoon-style graphics are of course, super dope. As of recently though, my favourite graphics have been by Loïc.
Nathan Clancy puts his own twist on St Paul’s history in You Got it My Boy Jamie…
Am I right in thinking that over the last few years you’ve been working towards a degree in fashion?
No, I got an undergraduates in fashion textiles, but I didn’t go any further with it. When I was younger, I wanted to get into college because I’ve always been into clothes. I always wanted to know about cut-and-sew, and production and shit like that. I went to learn how to pattern-cut and make my own clothes and stuff like that, but I haven’t ventured any further. It might be something I pursue later on, but right now I’m just skating and enjoying it. Skating’s being nice to me at the moment, so I’m just gonna crack on with that for the moment.
Is the fashion side of things something you’d look to apply to something else later?
Yeah, potentially, the skate world has always had ties with fashion and clothes. Realistically, I just love clothes. I’m not into fashion in a sense; I just really enjoy clothes. I’ll just go to a charity store and find a nice T-shirt; the hunt is fun. Having specific stuff that’s very you; someone else ain’t got that shirt. Cool stuff like that, but I’m not into brands. Balenciaga, Gucci, that doesn’t really concern me too much. I just like nice clothes. Potentially, though, skating’s always got that market; skaters always want clothes.
Do you think there’s an era in skateboarding that had more interesting clothing aesthetics?
Yeah, definitely, the turn of the millennium, Y2K, early 2000s, super, super cool swag then. Skaters just dressing like rock stars. It was pretty sick. Bam Margera swag, Ali Boulala swag.
What about right now? Do you think skateboarding is looking interesting right now as far as what people are wearing?
Yeah, skating’s always been that platform for people to be individualistic and portray themselves how they like to. I feel as time goes on, a lot more skaters are feeling a lot more comfortable doing so, because skating is a lot more socially accepted now, I suppose. I think people feel like they can get away with more, with their expression and their choices, and with how they want to portray themselves as a skater.
When I bumped into you at the Warsaw Express event, you’d freshly hurt yourself. Have you still been recovering from injuries recently?
Oh, yeah, that was lethal. It’s not necessarily that one, but it is the same ankle that I’ve gone and hurt again. I’ve been having a bit of a problem with the ankle and, weirdly enough, it wasn’t a roll. It was a hot pocket again. It’s just made the ligament, across the inside of it, a little bit swollen, but I’m getting there. I went for a skate yesterday, and it was feeling good. It was feeling alright. It’s getting there slowly but surely; it’s part of the process, innit? You’ve got to take it when it comes and just keep it moving and stuff. I’ve been exercising, going for little bike rides and keeping outside and active because I can keep weight on it and move about. I’ve just been cruising about and taking it easy after the video came out.
How did it feel having the video come out?
Absolutely mental. When I saw you was the first time that it was being premiered in Poland. So that was pretty mad for me, and I’m still not over it now. It’s a bit of a dream to me; it’s not really fully registered. But it’s been good, taking in the moment and having the period of the premieres, and going about travelling with all the homies that you had put the hard work in with. Appreciating the video, and all of the skating. This whole couple of months period of the video release has just been super nice. It’s also nice now for the video to be finally out and to have a brief moment of rejuvenation, just to rest up a little bit, and take it easy. Find a bit of rest so I can get some motivation to get back out and at them, you know? On to the next.
Nathan wearing Polar Winter 25 for Sirus F Gahan’s lens on his first trip to China
Did it feel weighty for you working on a part like that?
100%, it was my first time, my first rodeo filming for any sort of brand or any sort of skate video. Polar’s pretty prestigious in my mind’s eye, having watched their videos. When I was younger, seeing their videos really made skateboarding super, super dope. I’d be thinking, “These guys are so cool”. So to then be skating with Sirus [Gahan], and Jamie [Platt], meeting a bunch of different people, and getting on, and skating, and being like-minded towards filming a video, and having fun skating is a big, big blessing, Super, super sick.
How did you approach it? Were you thinking of specific tricks for spots, or were you going with the flow and skating what you came across organically? Did it become a more thought out thing from your side?
It was definitely more thought out. Sirus has this spot map, so he sent that through in the early days when I was first getting to know him. He told me to have a look on there to see if there’s anything that I was keen to go skate or get out and at them to skate and film. There are so many mad spots on this map so I’d just be on my phone looking at concrete for hours. What could I do here? What could I do there? Especially because it was my first time filming for any sort of big video or brand or whatnot, I put importance on doing a good job to make myself proud. I wanted to do well for myself. So I was just thinking, if this is gonna be my first part out properly for anything, I wanna do something that I’ll end up being super gassed with.
“Sirus has this spot map, so he sent that through in the early days when I was first getting to know him…There are so many mad spots on this map so I’d just be on my phone looking at concrete for hours”
I was on the phone for hours just looking at concrete, thinking I could do this, or that could be cool. It was pretty stressful, to be honest. I was getting in my head about it like, “Where the fuck do I go skate? What do I skate?” It was definitely different to just going out and having a random street skate, hitting random different spots. Going out with the idea in mind to get this footage, for this specific thing, that’s going to go towards this specific video, with these specific guys, at these specific spots was a big switch up. It was a little bit of a mission.
That was my first time doing anything like that, so I knew I needed to think up spots. I was going on little missions, looking at different little crooks and crannies on a Lime bike. Thinking there could be something down here that I could hit, or something down here. I was just getting in my mind about concrete, just looking at concrete all the time. I got sick of it, man. Honest to God, I was absolutely sick of it. I’m glad I haven’t been in my head as much about it as of recently. Definitely when I was first filming for the Polar video, all my mind was glued to was concrete. Looking at different shit to skate, just looking at different pictures on fucking Google Maps was low-key torturous, but in a good way because I was passionate about it. I wanted to put in for that video.
Getting on a big company like that, and then having that video project must have been massively motivating. Did it change your perspective?
Yeah, in a way. My perspective on skating hasn’t changed too much; skating is still the same to me. I still want to go out, have fun, and do stupid shit. But when it comes to filming towards a video like that, where everyone’s going to put into it, and it’s a big project. The outcome of it is so beautiful; that is the difference. I’ve learned that side to skateboarding and found the love for it, and it really is something super beautiful. Having that video to come back to in maybe five years’ time. To be able to look back on it, little sectors of skating throughout your life that are documented with the friends that you’ve made along the way- is just super, super fucking crazy and a blessing.
Lots of travelling since then. How was China?
China was mental; that was my first trip with Polar, and it was to Asia. I hadn’t been to Asia before, and it was to Shanghai, so it was a culture shock. I was just in awe; I was having the time of my life. To be able to skate and take in a new place and a new city like that is ridiculous. It’s so sick to be in that predicament, seeing the world, and seeing different places to go and skate was pretty mental. That’s been pretty crazy to come to terms with. It’s all been mad; travelling has been crazy. I loved Poland; Poland was wicked. I love Polish people’s attitudes; they’re very stern and straightforward, but in an endearing way.
Nathan Clancy rotating at Witos on a recent trip to Warsaw
Was it only Warsaw that you visited?
Yeah, I only went to Warsaw. I wanted to go check out more because I’ve heard from a lot of people that Poland varies quite a lot. Apparently Krakow has quite a different vibe from Warsaw; it’s completely different. People were saying in Warsaw that every city has its own characteristics. All the locals are taking the piss out of the other cities, with the other residents and stuff like that. Because they’ve all got their own little vibes. But yeah, it was cool; it’s been really eye-opening travelling. But not only travelling; having to skate whilst you’re out there, because it makes you take in your surroundings, you know, you’re looking at all the little things around you. All of the Soviet architecture against the really new skyscraper stuff was a crazy contrast. Taking all of that in was super, super dope. It’s nice to get out of your usual surroundings and see something different. In Warsaw, I went out at like 7 a.m. in the morning to go and have a little push about, just because it was my first time in town and I’d woken up early; I was super gassed. I went out and at them, and ended up meeting this guy in town because I was skating this pole jam. I’d found this perfect pole jam, and this guy was just thinking, “Oh, this is cool”, so he just stuck around to watch me.
He tried to chat to me in Polish, and I told him I can’t speak Polish that well. He had proper broken English, but he was just chatting away to me. He asked where I was from, and I told him I was there skating, and told him about the Warsaw Express event. I ended up getting friendly with this guy because he was just liking the skating. It was like 9 a.m. in the morning; I’d been out for maybe two hours, got myself a coffee, and had a little skate about. Then he just showed me all around the centre of town. He took me to all of the different buildings, and he was telling me all of the history behind them. He was a super sound guy. That was my impression of Poland anyway. I got out and at them and then met my man Łukasz; he was even trying to school me on all the pronunciations of the letters and shit like that as well, super nice homie. It was cool having someone local, a random fella telling me about the city. He was teaching me about Poland because I told him I didn’t know anything about the place. I spent a good hour and a half with him and then went to breakfast with the boys. Poland was wicked. I love travelling.
What do you reckon is the best park in London right now?
I’d have to say Royal Oak. I love Royal Oak to bits; I go there tons. During the summer, it’s just been too hot out in the actual sun, so you get a bit of shade. It’s just so fun to go back and forth. You can hit the quarter, then you hit the hip, then you hit the bank, then you hit the hip, then you hit the quarter, and it’s just back and forth. You can just keep lines going for ages, just going back and forth.
What about new builds? You spend quite a bit of time at Finsbury Park as well, right?
Yeah, I like Finsbury, but it’s not as fun as other parks in my opinion. I feel like it’s just ledge, and really small manny pads and stuff. I want to skate ramps and the transition section at Finsbury. It’s all right; there’s Cantelowes around the corner. So if I wanna go skate transition, I’ll just go skate Cantelowes.
Who have you been skating with a lot recently, and counter to that, do you like skating on your own?
Yeah, I definitely love skating on my own. Not specifically, I’m not going to be going somewhere just on my own, on my ones, but if I’m up and at them and no one’s really on a session, then I’ll just get out to where I’m trying to go skate. Usually, there are people skating, so you can catch people at certain parks, and usually you know which certain people are going to be at certain parks or certain places as well. I kind of get out and at them just on my own and then figure out who’s about when I’m out there, you know? Because if I get too situated in looking for where the session is, then I never end up getting on a skate, so I end up just going for the skate and then figuring it out when I’m out. Recently I’ve been shouting the Slam boys like Pat [Coghlan] and Dan [Tabakin] and skating Finsbury actually. I was chatting shit about the park, but I went to go skate there recently with them. Pat’s funny on a board, man; he’s definitely a sight to see on a board, and he’s definitely fun to watch skate. And Dan as well; they both just do it their own way, which is wicked.
How is it skating with Evan Johnson? It seems like he can do anything he thinks of.
Yeah, man, he’s super humble about it as well. He’ll end up doing shuvit noseslides, then V-heel out. I remember I pulled up to the jam in Poland and hadn’t even chatted to Evan; I didn’t know he was in town. I just ended up looking into the park, and I saw my man do a shuvit noseslide to switch varial heel out. He just landed it bolts. It was just like, what the hell? I pulled up, and my man’s literally pulling off Tony Hawk Pro Skater combo tricks in front of me. I literally lost it; it made me bug out. He’s so extraterrestrially good. He’s literally alien. I refuse to believe he’s human; he’s so techie on a ledge. He’s mental and so humble about it as well; he just acts like it’s nothing. Super, super sick guy.
We recently interviewed Chris Pulman. He said he’d hung out with you recently and was hyped to speak to you about trick possibilities.
Oh mate, Chris is so, so sweet. I love him to bits. Yeah, we were just at Blackfriars when it was a new spot, and we were thinking of new things to skate. We were both just walking about with our boards, placing them up against stuff, and thinking of fun stuff to try.
He said he liked looking at things through your skill set and vicariously imagining what could be done.
Bless him, that’s so sweet. Likewise, he also has a very organic approach to skateboarding. I feel he just takes himself to wherever he wants to skate, slaps himself on the board, and just works away; he doesn’t think too much about it, you know? He just sort of approaches stuff and figures it out, which is quite sweet. He’s got a fun trick selection as well. It looks like he’s having a lot of fun when he skates, which resonates.
What new projects or trips do you have on the cards?
As of recently, I haven’t got any projects that I know are on the way, but I’m sure me and Sirus will be filming here and there for whatever next Polar project or videos they have in mind. But as of recently, I’ve been chilling after the video. Having a brief moment to just recalibrate, take it in, and get on to the next. It’s been like a month now since the video came out, so slowly but surely. We’ll definitely get some more done before the end of the year.
We want to thank Nathan for his time, and Sirus F Gahan for helping us out with phototgraphs. Follow Nathan on Instagram, Sirus F Gahan, and Polar Skate Co for the latest updates. Shop with us for the widest range of Polar products you will find anywhere.
Previous Visuals Interviews: Pat Coghlan , Jacob Rosenberg , Gabriel Summers , Mark Suciu , Hayley Wilson , Mike Sinclair , Tom Delion , Sam Narvaez , Tyler Bledsoe , Daniel Wheatley , Braden Hoban , Jaime Owens , Charlie Munro , Lev Tanju , Jack Curtin , Ted Barrow , Dave Mackey , Jack Brooks , Korahn Gayle , Will Miles , Kevin Marks , Joe Gavin , Chewy Cannon