Robert Brink - Writer

Olly Todd

July 20, 2008 | Skip To The Comments (1)

Olly Todd
Words: Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, August 2008

“Olly is small and skates obscure things that can be only be skated by a similar diminutive person with magical elfven qualities. He's a one of a kind. Get him drunk and he will not stop dancing, but may occasionally get angry and bite your toes off, so wear protective footwear when partying with him. He reads and writes extremely well, which means he's less likely to be homeless than most pros when all is said and done. I think he lives under a bridge somewhere in London, and like most magical elves, he has no phone (he just appears when needed), so getting a hold of him may prove extremely difficult. Not to fear though, Todd Mate is emerging on the scene and making quite the name for himself stateside these days. I think he may even be able to afford a phone by the time you read this.”

—Chris Pastras

They say you’re into reading and writing…
I don’t take it too seriously. To be honest, I don’t like to talk about it in the skateboard media. I prefer to keep it separate.

So then how do you feel about being interviewed?
I hate it! I don’t like being put on the spot. I always freak out about what I’m gonna say and it being taken the wrong way.

Last time you were in the States you had a knife pulled on you?
Yeah I did. I was basically stranded in LA trying to find my friends house where I was supposed to stay, but I couldn’t find it. I heard this house party going on so I went up and knocked on the door. These two guys opened the door, put a knife to my throat and kicked me down the stairs.

After that, I finally found my friends house, go inside and he’s passed out on the couch. Then his dog attacks me so I have to race through the house and out the back door and was stranded again. So I started walking, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was pretty cold, so I broke into a hospital and slept in a stairwell.

Did you break a window?
No, I planned it for when a staff member had to swipe his card on the door to get in. I hid behind this pillar and then I shimmied my way in there after him. Luckily the guy behind the desk was reading a mag and didn’t see me.

That’s some James Bond-type shit. Were you scared?
Well, I was drunk so I wasn’t scared. All I was thinking was that I needed to get somewhere warm and I was tired and cold. Survival.

Did anybody find you?
Eventually security guards found me. I basically came around from my drunken slumber. I guess they came to the stairwell where I was on the fourth floor and dragged me down to the reception desk. They were yelling at me, wanting to know why I was in there and I said my friend just had a baby and we were partying. I was making up all this shit and they just let me go.

Is this something you would’ve done if you were sober?
No way. Absolutely no way.

Does this happen frequently?
Sometimes. I’m not opposed to being opportunistic. If there’s a hotel and you don’t need a swipe card to get into the lobby then I would find my way into the laundry room and make a little bed out of sheets. I do that quite often in London. Like if it’s raining and I can’t walk home or if I can’t catch the bus. It’s interesting to see what you can get away with ‘cause you are not actually doing anything wrong.

Is it possible to get away with more than what most people think?
Totally. People don’t realize that if you push the boundaries a little bit more you can get away with a bunch of stuff.

You eat at homeless shelters too?
On the way back from that escapade in the hospital, walking to Clint’s [Peterson] place, I saw a line of dudes queuing up to get coffee and soup, so I got some.

The general vibe from your friends is that you drink their booze and eat their food without replacing anything.
That’s not entirely true! Clint’s place has a fucking bar in it, you know? There’s always all this booze and it’s too tempting not to drink. But the last time I definitely replaced it.

People make you sound homeless.
I like to be out there in the street, prepared to do what it takes.

What are some funny things about Americans?
Lack of geographical knowledge and how they don’t know the difference between London, England and Europe. They think London is a country. I’ve been asked if I speak European as a language. My friend has been asked if we still have unicorns in England.

I hear you drink lots of milk.
Yeah. All my life I’ve drunk milk and if I’m not drinking booze I will go through a couple pints of milk. That’s just what I do.

I don’t think most people see that as refreshing. If I drank more than a glass of milk I would vomit.
Afterwards I’ll just brush my teeth and it won’t feel weird.

How do you take your tea?
Normal English tea. Milk no sugar.

I do it completely black.
Yeah, that’s how my Dad did it during the war. Because they had to ration everything and you couldn’t get a hold of milk and sugar.

Clint says you’ll leave two pairs of shoes at his house for ten months and then get pissed when you come back and they’re gone.
That happened once because Benny sold them and I didn’t see any of the money!

So that’s the other half of the story.
Yeah, exactly.

I heard you’re into Ashlee Simpson?
I just like to wind Clint up because he really gets offended at stuff like that. Like yeah, she’s a pretty girl, but she has no talent whatsoever. And you say you like her music as a joke and he gets offended because he can’t believe you’d like shit like that and that you’d sink that low.

Must be the artist in him. Explain “It ain’t gay if it’s mates.”
Who said that?

I talked to a bunch of people before I talked to you because there isn’t that much dirt on you out there.
I like to keep it that way. That’s just something me and my friends used to say—just being funny. I’m not gonna say anything else about it.

As far as skaters go, who inspires you?
It’s gonna sound obvious, but Ricky Oyola, Puleo and Dill. Paul Shier is a big inspiration to me as well.

People seem to say you like to skate “obscure” things.
I just think if a spot is skateable you should try to skate it—simply because it exists—even if it’s just a basic trick. If that means something’s obscure, then yeah.

Carl Shipman is also one of your favorites? I feel he had the first proper popped and flicked frontside flip. At least that I ever saw in person.
He doesn’t skate much anymore. He’s got a family and a job near Sheffield. As far as British guys go, he was the best and has the best style of all time.

Anything you dislike about skateboarding as a job?
No. Simple fact. No.

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
I was at my Dad’s housewarming party the other day and he told me I have to listen more.

If you could skate like anyone else for a day, who would it be?
Reese Forbes, because of how much fun the guy must have just skating down the streets. He’s incredible.

Agreed. You mentioned earlier you like to keep certain things in your life separate from skateboarding?
I just want to be a skateboarder. When I was a kid and reading interviews with my favorite skaters I would get real bummed if they were into girls, or drugs, or drinking and I would think those things took away from their skating. So I just like to be a skateboarder to the skateboard media.