Alex is one of those rare kids you meet who is from the very beginning utterly different. Perhaps because his persona is a throwback to the old school skaters, or maybe it's because at fifteen, he has a deeper understanding of life than most his age. Always welcoming you with a big hug, and a oozing with talent, we present to you Alexander Coles.
Calvary Skate Park: How old are you and how long have you been skating?
Alexander Coles: I’m three years old. And I’ve been skating for 5 years.
CSP: Right on. Wow that’s interesting.
AC: (Laughter) I’m 15 years old and I’ve been skating for 3 years.
CSP: What got you into skating?
AC: Calvary. I’d been like playing Tony Hawk’s Underground with my friend all the time, so I got one. And I liked Calvary’s skate park so I started coming here because my friend went to service every Wednesday night for Velocity, so I started going to that. So that got me into skating.
Switch wallie.
CSP: Tell me about your worst fall.
AC: My least favorite one was probably like a year ago. I was over at Oasis trying to front three and in the landing I didn’t catch it right and I spun out and I kicked out, but I kicked out like straight down. And I landed like on the back of my board. I cracked a piece of my foot, and I sprained my ankle really bad. (Laughter) My friends freaked out because I never get hurt that bad. And right when I hit the ground I yelped so high.
CSP: That’s funny. Who’s your favorite skater and why?
AC: Mark Gonzales because he’s been out there so long.
CSP: Tell us about your style of skating and where it came from.
AC: I got my style from when I first started skating, I’d tried to go as fast as I could and I couldn’t really control myself. So I’d get used to going as fast as I could and I’d look all goofy but I kind of figured out how to keep it under control. Now, some of my favorite dudes to watch, like Omar Salazar, and he skates like that. I just try to go really fast and keep it under control but keep my body moving. I just think it looks cool. I don’t know. Kids can hate on me, but whateva’. I don’t give a hoot.
CSP: What kind of temptations do you face every day in the secular skate culture?
AC: I deal with probably just getting angry. And just saying things I should not say. Like, um, not like real curse words but just like words that aren’t really that uplifting. Hanging out at Los Altos, it’s really hard to be a good christian skater because I’m like the only one there most of the time. Most of the dudes there are really sketch and they curse all the time.
Boneless.
CSP: How do you stay faithful to God in the skate community when there are temptations like the ones you mentioned?
AC: When I’m just chillin, I try to think about what I say before I say it. When I’m trying a trick and I’m getting frustrated I just sit down and just close my eyes and calm down. And you know, just watch my mouth.
CSP: If you could change anything about the skate culture what would it be and why?
AC: I’d take out how people get stoked on people doing a lot of drugs. How people think it’s really cool to smoke pot and do other drugs and curse all the time. It’s a real big bummer to see stuff like that. I’ve seen some of the best skaters do stuff like that, and it really sucks.
CSP: Where do you see skating going in the next decade?
AC: I don’t know, off like 40 stairs maybe? It’s getting too crazy (laughter). The biggest set is a 23, how are you supposed to get past that? Skateboarding has become so progressed like how you have to land everything super clean. I don’t know how people can keep progressing when the standards are set so high before they can even do the basics. I just think it’s gotten to a point where I don’t know how people can get sponsored anymore because the dudes out there right now are so far ahead that new dudes that come in, I don’t know how they can actually get to a certain level or sponsorship, even just a skateshop sponsorship because the standards are getting set so high. I don’t see how it can just keep going. I think it will still be around, but, just new skate stoppers. Like floating ones or something (laughter.)
Disaster.
CSP: Any closing comments?
AC: Well I’d like to thank God, just for blessing me with the life I have. Being blessed in a great country with a real healthy body, and being able to take slams and get right back up skating. And I’d like to thank Daniella, my mom, my older brother Stuart, my little friend Stuart, and all the L.A. homies because they know who they are.
