Spinning Plates – Skateboard Cafe in London

Interview & photography: Genualdo Kingsford

An interview with Skateboard Cafe founder & co-owner, Rich Smith.

You moved from Bristol to London two years ago. What prompted the move?
Quite a few close friends and people I want to skate and film with had moved there, people like Korahn, Ollie, Layth and Sam. Also, it got really tough to find new spots in Bristol. We’ve skated here our whole lives, you know? I guess the main reason was that I wanted to continue to make skate videos and London has so many spots – it’s just endless. Also, generally, I felt like I needed a little change.

Was your job at Slam (City Skates) in place before the move, or did that happen after?
That came around simultaneously. I wanted to go to London, but I needed to figure out how, because I needed a job there. (Andrew) Makepeace mentioned that there might be a job at Slam, but I wasn’t sure if I could work full-time in retail and still do my own stuff as well. It was quite daunting, but the plan was to reduce my days in the shop over time, as we got new members of staff, and eventually I would be able to get out and manage my own time. 

How have you adapted to living in London?
It didn’t take as long as I thought. After about six months, I started to know my way around. I got a bike, which helped me get to know the city a little better.

How does filming here compare to back in Bristol? 
You never know where you’re going to end up in London. I know Bristol so well, which is quite limiting, whereas in London, even after being here for two years, I go to a spot or find something I’ve never been to before pretty much every week. There are so many more options.

You’ve been working with some new people through your role at Slam. How have you found that experience?
It’s been really refreshing to meet new people and get to know their skating. That’s helped me to get to know the city better as well. I’ve been filming the same crew for the last 10 years or so – pretty much only that crew – so it’s been nice hanging out with some younger dudes and building new relationships. I can go out on sessions with them and also my crew and sort of merge them together. It works really well. 

Tell us more about your role at Slam.
My day-to-day thing right now is being out filming with the team. I’m about to wrap up a video that we’ve been working on for a year or so. I wanted to find some new people and do something fresh with it.

The video is based around Pat (Coghlan) and Ben (Keegan), right? 
Yeah, Pat and Ben, and a little bit of Joel Banner too. He came on board later in the project. But yeah, my day-to-day role is filming and also running the social media there, so it’s a lot of product photography, and I shoot events. If there’s a shoe coming out that we want to do some marketing around, I’ll film a clip with the team. There’s so much product coming in all the time, so there’s always something to do – it’s constant.

It seems like a smart move for a shop to have a videographer in-house.
Yeah, for sure. I’m always on hand. A few weeks ago, it was that Grove DIY (Five Year Anniversary) Jam, so I popped there, filmed it and banged out an edit. I think it will pay off more so after we release this video. We can start churning out regular content of the team, because they haven’t really been introduced yet.

How are you finding balancing your Skateboard Cafe responsibilities with your work for Slam? I was surprised when you told me you were heading to the Slam office at 8pm after a long day filming Ollie and Korahn recently. 
Yeah, it’s hard. Sometimes, if I’ve had a good night’s sleep, it feels achievable, and sometimes it feels impossible. It fluctuates. Some days, I’m up at 7 or 8am doing stuff for Slam, then I’ll go out and film with the Cafe crew or work on some graphics, and then I’ll go back to the Slam office and work there until 9 or 10pm. When I get home, I’m totally wiped out. But it balances out, because there are days when there’s not much on.

Can you talk a little bit about the impact of your move to London on Cafe?
The next (Cafe) video will look almost like a London scene video. It’s pretty much all filmed in London apart from Josh’s stuff at Lloyds and Shaun’s stuff in Bristol. So when that eventually comes out, we’ll see what impact it has. I quite like the idea of being connected to London in that way, but then also not losing our Bristol roots.

Josh said you’re in Bristol almost every fortnight. 
My girlfriend lives here, so that’s another reason to be back. Sometimes it’s once a week, but every couple of weeks on average. I almost feel like I live in both cities. I like the balance. I really enjoy being connected to both scenes.

By my reckoning, Cafe is 13 years old. That’s an impressive run. How do you keep the brand fresh and relevant?
I guess I always try to be open to my surroundings, the people I’m with and what’s going on, while staying true to the brand’s aesthetic. I try to find that balance between not following trends too much and moving with the times. I’m always trying to mix up the formula a little bit by exposing myself to new types of music and different styles of artwork. I talk to people on the team as well. In terms of graphics and products, I chat with Ollie Lock and Dan Clarke a lot and get their feedback. I think that helps to keep it fresh because they’re really on the ball with the culture, clothing and art.

What are your responsibilities at Cafe?
It started with me filming my friends and making videos, and I’d say that’s still the core of it, but I’m also the art director. Usually the process with graphics is that I’ll think of an idea, then I’ll reach out to an artist who I think suits that idea. So I do that, I run the Instagram account, shoot the product and lookbook stuff and communicate with our factories in Spain, China and the UK to arrange samples and production.

Are you involved in clothing design too?
Yeah, pretty much all aspects. Team managing…  

That’s a big job in itself.
Yeah. We’ve got such a variety of characters – and that’s why I love the team; I’ve always aimed for that diversity – but it does get tricky to manage that. Sometimes I get lost worrying about each and every person’s feelings and opinions. That can be quite hard.

How do you go about choosing riders?
I’ve always chosen people I’m close to and see often. I just feel super connected to the team that way. I even feel funny about getting clips from other filmers because I wasn’t on the session and I’m not as emotionally connected to the footage. I suppose that’s why the team is still quite UK-based, but maybe that’s something I’ll be open to changing in the future. We’re at this point now where we’re all getting older. Everybody takes a lot of pride in the fact that we’re friends and it’s super organic. I think that’s part of the appeal of our brand – it’s pretty real; a lot of us grew up together – but we’re not in our early-20s any more and we’re at a point where we need to make new friends. It sounds a bit dramatic, but I almost feel like this video will perhaps represent the end of one chapter and the start of a new one. Maybe it will feel a little different, but it’s OK to make new friends and that can be organic too. It’s important that I think about that because this is something I want to continue to do. 

As I see it, consistent, high-quality video output has played a big role in Cafe’s popularity and longevity. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of videos to Cafe in particular and board brands more generally? 
Whenever I finish a full-length video, the first thing I say is: “We’ll make some short edits, have some fun and play the algorithm game a bit,” but whatever we start working on always ends up becoming another full-length. I’m just stuck in that habit – I guess I’m from that generation – but I think there’s such value in it. It’s so satisfying – every little clip you get is another brick for that wall – and it’s just nice to make something that people will perhaps go back to and watch again. Also, we’re doing it for us, you know? When we’re old, we’ll be happy we made those videos, rather than short, little Instagram clips. But I love the process of both. There is something so fun about making those quick-fire edits. I love that energy. 

I guess you’re doing that for Slam quite a lot.
Yeah, and I do want to do that (for Cafe) after this video. Working on a full-length takes a lot of time because most of the guys on the team are skating part-time. It’s kind of mad that we can even make a video with all the other responsibilities everyone has. I’m super grateful that the guys still have that energy after all this time and I’ll never turn down a session.

How has your approach to making videos evolved over Cafe’s lifespan?
These days, I’m more open to using different genres of music. In the past, I used the direction of jazz, soul and hip-hop, and I built the brand’s aesthetic around that. Now I’m more open to using pretty much whatever the guys like, but I still try to find that balance of not going too far away from Cafe’s roots, so it’s unrecognisable. It’s never easy. I’m always developing and it doesn’t feel like I’ve figured out a formula. Every video I make is as daunting as the last.

How do you feel about the current video versus previous projects? You said it’s essentially a London video, but is there anything else that sets it apart?
This will be the first video we’ve done that isn’t VX. I’ve dropped a few (HD) Instagram clips over the years, but this will be the first HD full-length, which is exciting. I’m definitely not as swooshy with that camera and the big fisheye as I am with the VX, so I feel like my filming style has perhaps changed a little bit. I’m experimenting with 16mm for the first time as well. I used Super 8 in the past. I hope this video feels fresh and a bit different to the others.

It feels like the skate industry is going through a tough time at the moment. As a business owner, how have you experienced this? 
It’s rough, man. Just sales and that classic problem of everybody still having too much stock four years on.

From the pandemic boom? 
Yeah. It feels like you’re trying to move through quicksand. I have so many ideas. I really want to push towards making cool cut-and-sew clothing. I’ve got a lot of passion for that, but we’re limited with our cash flow, so I’m just trying to focus on the things I can – the team, our community and filming – and keep the brand going through this hard time. Ultimately, I want to make some interesting clothing – some technical pieces – and go on lots of trips, but until that day, I’m just going to focus on the videos because I can make a difference there regardless of sales and they keep the team motivated. 

Trump’s tariffs were a hot topic not so long ago. Have you experienced any knock-on effects already, and if not, do you predict any? 
So far, not really, because our boards are made in Spain and our clothing gets printed in the UK. We’ve actually taken a break from our cut and sew for a few seasons while we get back on our feet from the pandemic stuff, which is frustrating, but it is what it is. You’ve got to work within the limitations, which can push creativity in some ways. So with the clothing, because we’re just making printables, I’m trying to play around with interesting placement and really focus on good artwork. But with the tariffs, it’s going to be interesting. Selfishly, I’m hoping American board prices here get too expensive and people are more likely to buy our boards. We’ve got that C2 shape now, which is very similar to a Hockey board, the shovel-nose shape. A lot of people are doing it now, but you can get one of our boards for £65 as opposed to £100, and you’re supporting a UK brand.

What are your hopes for the future of Cafe?
I hope we can just sell more and do more. I hope we can find the balance of bringing up the next generation, but also staying true to who we are. I want to be able to do it full-time, man. I want to go on trips and travel, and not just for me, but for the guys who have put so much trust in the vision. I want to reward them with it being successful, you know?  

Watch Allegro, the new Skateboard Cafe video, here.