03 Mar INTERVIEW | THE PRO OLIE MOORE
How old are you and where are you from?
24, Peterborough, England.
How would you describe your home town to someone who has never been there?
Peterborough is okay…nothing special. I live nearby in the countryside. Peaceful to come home to but after a while it can get a little boring but thats like spending too much time anywhere.
What’s the gnarliest thing you’ve seen go down in U.K. Any crazy stories from the city?
Ummm nothing that crazy to be honest it’s pretty tame where I live.
When were you rst introduced to wakeskating?
I was a wakeboarder and did the boat nationals in ‘09. I entered the wakeskate for fun and won it, so wakeskating became more interesting to me especially with it being so similar to skateboarding.
What was the rst video that really got you psyched?
I’ve watched Fun Boots quite a few times. Forever a fav.
Do you still ride boat?
Rarely but it’s fun when I do and reminds me of the good old days growing up riding ski boat.
What was the rst cable park you ever went to?
Probably Sheffield. My parents got me a membership there for a year, so that was where I first hit rails and got into cable riding.
So you used to Wakeskate there a lot?
Yea a bit but it’s like two hours from where I live so it was just for that one year.
Then you were turned into a local?
I was just some out of town kid but got to know the locals so we had a laugh.
Who was your rst sponsor?
Liquid Force UK for about three years thanks to Crowhurst. But I soon realized they’re just a big corporate company.
So how long you been riding for Southern?
I was on Southern for a year but the times were hard with getting boards then Aphid came about and that was something from birth I wanted to experience in my lifetime then that ended after a couple years. Wakeskating is hard to survive in if you’re trying to make some sort of career from it. Then Dan hit me up at the beginning of this year and now I’m back on Southern. Southern just feels right, we are all pretty similar, like to party and have a good time, don’t take wakeskating too serious. I feel like I fit in well.
When did you actually get to meet Daniel Robinson?
Daniel Robins.. Nick Robinson.. Haha so many people seem to get their names mixed up. I met Dan when I first got on the team thanks to Pierre. Dan invited me out to his place in South Florida to check out the last retention tour stop, which was my first time going to the states on my own and first experience of the wakeskating scene overseas. It was an awesome time meeting so many people at an event like that. Dan also introduced me to Jameson Whiskey and a relaxed lifestyle that Florida offers, which is why I keep going back each year.
Who have you hung out with the most on the team?
Dan, and Nick a good bit. But Reed spent a good bit of time in England a few years back spending 2 or 3 summers in a row here which was awesome he’s a rad guy! We hung out a good bit, did a UK winch trip in 2010 and filmed for his A Cup A Tea video back then. I wanted to get out and see him and the rest of the team some more!
What’s next for you? Are you getting a pro model deck soon?
Based at home most of the winter and working pretty much. I don’t know man, that’s up to Dan I guess – haha
Are you single? Or are you in a serious relationship?
Single.
Where has wakeskating taken you, travel-wise?
Wakeskating has taken me to so many places I probably never would have been. Parts of Asia, around America, Canada once plus plenty of beautiful places in Europe which I am very thankful for.
I see that you travel a lot to the US, would you ever want to move there permanently?
I really enjoy the time I get to spend in the US and seeing all the friends I’ve made over there, so living stateside would be awesome but getting a visa for that, I hear is a struggle. As I’m getting older money is more of the issue so work is becoming a bit more important which means staying at home more often than traveling. I’m not complaining, I’ve done more traveling and seen so much already compared to a lot of people which I’m lucky to have done.
Is there somewhere you haven’t yet traveled to that you really want to visit?
There’s so many places in the world to visit. It would be nice to go back to the Philippines and Bali looks amazing. Plenty more in Europe to explore, it would be fun to do some more wakeskating in France and Spain etc with all those guys out there. I like going to the different cities and states in America where things are different to home and more diverse.
I noticed you been getting a lot of tattoos lately.
I thought your mom didn’t want you to get any.
Haha my mum is pretty chill about them but my dad… not a fan. Tattoos have become more of an interest to me lately as most of my friends at home have them. Art is cool.
Are there any tricks you can’t do?
Too many.
What are you going to start working on next?
My consistency isn’t all that and I suck at flip tricks down drops.
What do you think about the Wakeskate Tour?
It’s cool, helps progression and grow the sport. Getting to see a lot of Wakeskaters hanging out and riding together is pretty rare so it’s always a good time.
Who is the next kid coming up from U.K. that people should pay attention to?
James Harrington kills it. Big bag of tricks and flows around the cable with style. Also Will Bradley who never really wakeskates much as real life takes over but he’s got one of the best styles in wakeskating.
What do you want to accomplish in wakeskating?
What do you want your legacy to be?
I don’t know man, I just want to keep enjoying it. I really wanted to just wakeskate and not have to work but that doesn’t seem to be possible if you don’t already have the big time sponsors but even those companies don’t seem to be that interested in the sport. They seem to just be content with the skaters they already have and don’t care for new talent. Which isn’t helping when it comes to getting more people into wakeskating and the growth of the sport. It seems that wake skating has been sitting in the same spot for a while now. I just want to see wakeskating go somewhere and become something big. Skateboarding has blasted the last few years and it’s awesome to see, people are seeing it as something gnarly and progressive rather than a kid’s sport. Wakeskating is going stale like forgotten about fish. If you’re getting paid to do a sport you should be pushing yourself to push the progression! There’s kids like Clem going mental on a wakeskate. He’s landed so many new tricks and put out that many videos on Instagram this year. He’s Wakeskater of the year! Why aren’t the energy drink companies fighting over him..?
What do you want to tell the kids out there who dream of being a pro wakeskater some day?
Watch skateboard videos and be creative, use lock-ins.
What’s the plan for 2017?
Winch more and put out a full part. Film some more with Kid for the Istudiomo video.
Anybody you’d like to thank?
Mum & dad, Southern, O’Neill UK. Unleashed – Phil and Edgar for the interview/article. Cheers!
INTERVIEW BY Edgar Petrenko / PHOTO BY Peter Vahl idsson
