David Gravette, For One Night Only

December 10, 2007 @ 3:37 PM

Some people got it others don’t. David Gravette is one of those who’s got it.  He has the ability to make the most of any place you take him to skate. A perfect transitioned skatepark, a pole jam in a crusty alleyway or the biggest rail in any town. He’s going to make something happen or limp back to one of the many couches around the world where he can lay his head. This is what makes him an excellent dude to travel with. Never picky about what he skates or where he sleeps. Now if he could just stop the snoring.

JH So first off where do you live?

DG Where ever the hell I want

JH Ok where did you grow up?

DG Issaquah, Washington

JH When you first started skating where did you skate? Parks, streets of Issaquah?

DG I loved to skate transition and that’s all I wanted to do, so I spent pretty much most of my younger years shralping the Issaquah skatepark.

JH How old where you when you ventured out to skate places other than the local park?

DG Well my dad would take me and some of my friends on little trips down to Oregon or up to Canada, it was a good time.

JH How old were you?

DG Oh yeah, probably from 13 to 15

JH Would he take you out street skating or purely parks and on these trips was he there to push you along or just drop you off at the spot?

DG He would just drop us at the park and go do his own thing. I caught him a few times in Vancouver, Canada checking out the gentleman clubs. My dad was cool though, he never tried to monitor us or anything

JH So you were never treated like one of these Sheckler types whose parents raised them to skate as a possible career?

DG No, not at all. My parents supported my skateboarding, but just cause I had so much fun doing it. They didn’t know there was a real industry or anything like that.

JH What would your dad think when he would pick you up and you were broken?

DG My dad would sometimes get pissed at me when I would get broke cause my injuries would come in one after another and my medical bills would get up there even with the insurance.

JH What goes through your head before doing something gnarly?
Do you have to feel “in the zone”?

DG I used to just put every thing out of my mind and not be scared at all. Now I definitely have to be feeling it and I have all these little OCD things that I have to deal with.

JH Is it because the skating is getting so gnarly?

DG I don’t really know what it is, I see it a lot though with other skaters, that when you get older you just naturally start to think more, and it seems a lot of skaters either slow down a bit on the gnarly shit or develop some sort of skate OCD.

JH What are you more stoked on seeing in videos, creative skating or gnarly?

DG I like seeing it all except slow ledge lines cause I just get bored

JH Every day you go out with a filmer and photographer you seem really driven to come home with at least something good. Why is that?

DG So I have an excuse to party my ass off that night and not feel guilty

JH Would you rather be on a road trip or handling business at home?

DG I love to travel. I get over being in one place

JH On a trip do you want to know what the spots are before hand or just take them as they come?

DG I hate knowing what I am going to. I like to just sit in the back of the van kicking it and just show up at something

JH Who is your favorite guy to skate with?

DG Fuck I got a lot of them, but my homie Devin Appleo gets me fuckin hyped to skate

JH What about someone that you have always wanted to session with but haven’t?

DG Jason Adams, probably. I really like the way he skates and he is always skating something that looks really fun

JH What’s your take on X Games, the Dew Tour and contests like those?

DG Over it

JH But you could win so much money?

DG No I couldn’t, I would have to be so drunk to even take part in that shit I would just roll out to the slim jim death rail and puke bile

JH Stage fright?

DG Somewhat. It’s just a weird position to be in, you are a skateboarder and you have all this corporate shit around and some dude calling you bro, his name is probably Chad, and he has no idea about skating and he wants to know if you have any secret moves you have been working on at the foam pit to bring out in the finals.

JH I hear you. What about something like the Phoenix am? Or Tampa am?

DG I like those contests cause they are ran by skaters, all my friends are there. I just hang out till my runs and just wing it

JH Why do you hate skating at skateparks?

DG I just hate skating skateparks anywhere but Washington cause they are really good here and there is no pad laws or billions of little kids sitting all over. I also always seem to get fucking worked at skateparks

JH What would be your dream trip, with who and where?

DG Me, the mountains, lots of weed

JH Cool want to shout out to your friends, sponsors and paystubs?

DG Yeah I want to shout out to Garret Hunt who is hard at work putting the final touches on his new video, “Nufevah”, which I have been filming a part for. It’s looking good so check it out.
Thanks to all my sponsors for getting me where I am. CREATURE, Volcom, Vox, Bones Wheels, Independent, Brimley fool

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