Will Gabourel Interview
Will is definitely the only desert(Victorville area) skater I can name(just remembered Joshua Flodter) But from the outside looking in, I think he hold it down out there while skating backwards. IN this interview we talk about small companies, Cellular skateshop and more. Enjoy.
How old are you and where are you from? You wouldn't believe me if I told you how old I was and I am originally from Fontana CA, but grew up skateboarding in Victorville, CA which is now my hometown.
What's it like out there in the desert? As far as day to day living it can be very boring. There isn't much to do out here. When it comes to skateboarding we have spots popping up all the time so my friends and I are always working on our "Cake" video projects, so it keeps us busy and away from the meth epidemic and other nonsense out here.
How'd you get into skating? My buddy Carlos had brought over a board one day after I moved out here and I feel in love ever since. Then when I was about 15 and I had met my late bestfriend Matt (Rest in Paradise) and he introduced me to street skateboarding and what I could make of skateboarding.
I remember for awhile every clip I had seen of you was you skating fakie, why do you like skating backwards? Is it because everything is easier fakie? Strangely enough I was a blessed victim of the mongo push like many other skateboarders when they first start but my problem was because I understood that it felt more comfortable to have the foot you push with in the back I used my mongo foot to push and just rode with my popping foot in the front which is why I am always riding around fakie
I like how you have an few interesting sponsors. Who do you ride for? Thanks g! I ride for F.S.C! Skateboards, Theeve Trucks, Pharmacy Boardshop, Proper Skateboarding, Wicked Audio, & Sports420. Those guys back me and all my shenanigans so I am stoked to rep their rad brands!
Tell me about FSC and how you got on? F.S.C! (Fun Skateboard Company) is originally from Austrailia by skateboarder Steve McInnes and he brought it under the Surplus Skate Distribution umbrella a couple years ago. I was riding for Theeve trucks which is under the same umbrella and after riding for Shorty's skateboards for a few years them shutting down the board program for the second time and Steve offered me a spot in the team as one of the first American ams. Went pro a year later.
What does it really mean to go pro for a small company in this day and age? Being pro for smaller brands is really rad because there is more communication between the owners, riders, footage, graphics and everything in between. On the other hand because it is a small brand there isn't a shit ton of money to go around to fly us out on trips or any rad things like that so go out and swoop up some of ya boys boards so we can grow and I can culture myself haha!
Did you get any hate when you went pro?
If I did, I didn't hear about it. Shit, all the fans are nice but where my haters at?! 🤣
Hyped to hear that the 3rd full length Cake video is coming out real soon? How did this crew come about and why are you guys obsessed with Cake? Yessssir! Our new video premieres at Pharmacy Boardshop (Hesperia) on November 4th 8pm so slide thru! Most of the OG homies in the group had known each other and we've been skating for years together but we have some younger cats that are coming in and out of the videos. So it's rad to bridge that age gap and get out community together to make these!
Who are some of your favorite skaters from the IE? Jestin "Habeeb" Davila, Adam Simoni, Eduardo Craig, Josh Flodter, Mikey Lesondak, Jock Houston, Joseph Barrios, Daniel Knapp, Jeff Figueroa, Steve Gamboa, Daniel Espinoza, Jose Sandoval (Editor's note: My fav skater <3), all the Ferg, Lime, Upland & Apple homies!
When were you first introduced to weed? The first time I smoke weed was with some my homie right after I moved into a new pad and we ran into the homie Antwuan (Dixon) at Pharmacy and we smoked a blunt. Long story short, I was dusted...
Spliffs and Blunts? Neither, cone joints mostly, blunts every once in a while.
What is Sports420? Sports420 is a brand my buddy Kevin Collins has cooking for release next year can't really speak too too much on it but I can say there is an edit coming and currently a small limited run of hats so follow @sports420_ on instagram for updates.
What ever happened to Cellular? I was living down in Rancho for a spell and started riding for the shop. Rode for them for 8 years and ended up back in the desert. I felt like I needed to step away and venture on to new endeavors. Especially not being in the area of the shop anymore. From what I understand they closed their doors
Is it true that some lawyer owned that shop? Unless Ann was a lawyer, I was assume it was not true. I couldn't confirm nor deny that seeing as I wasn't apart of the financial part of Cellular
Let's talk about Proper, how did you become involved with them? It was rad! They hit me up a couple months before they launched and asked me try a couple samples of the "Cinex" shoe. Shortly after they asked me to join the squad and had us film for a launch video which I had a part in and can be found on Transworld or HellaClips!
With Skater owned shoe companies like "Fallen" going under due to "corporate companies", do you think Proper has to worry about that type of thing? Honestly, I don't! They are making amazing, and durable shoes without all the extra bullshit technology that shoes don't need. They're industry vets that back core skateboarding and everyone should buy Proper! #FootwearThatWorks
Shoutouts? Shout out the Gabourel squad, Cake boys, F.S.C!, Theeve, Proper Skateboarding, Pharmacy Boardshop, Wicked Audio, Sports420, friends, family, everyone who reads this interview, watches my videos, buys my boards, supports the cake videos, and everyone who doesn't, skate shops, skateboarders, skateboard magazines, weed, ps4, my real hip-hop heads, 4SevenMag, and of course...my haters
