SOUTHERNSCUM

Garrett Slobey Returns.

BACK FROM THE DEAD

Alley-Oop Unity late night blade with SC crew.

Whether its dropping hammers blading, or rigging theatrical lights 60 feet up in the rafters, Garrett Slobey is always going 100mph.

About 3-4 months ago, my fiance and I moved in next door to Garrett and I can honestly say this has been the most interesting time of my life. I’ve never had a friend that will stay up drinking with me til 5am raging the whole night then bang on my door at 9am with coffees in hand, ready to blade. I’m not talking curb blading either, I’m talking 9am early morning eat hammers for breakfast getting shit done blading. When Garrett’s not ripping up the streets though, you can find him high in the rafters at old theaters rigging lights or at the shop, building bikes and welding crazy sculptures. Over the past months I’ve really gotten to know the dude behind the blading and its been awesome. Garrett is a sick rollerblader, a helluva cook and a good friend so get ready to see a lot more of this guy in coming months because we’ve been stacking clips like Garrett stacks pancakes…high and often.

-DAVID DODGE

Interview: Southern Scum

Photos: David Dodge

Sunday October 17, 1:17 am

SS:  What are you doing right now?

GS:  Nothing much, about to pass out. I have some time if you want to do this now.

SS:  Haha, thats what I was thinking. I was going to crash but fuck it.  We just seshioned pretty hard so I’m pretty sore but if your down we can.

GS:  Yeah, I guess I am.

SS:  Ok so here we go. I feel so unprepared. Haha.

SS:  What’s your name sir?

GS:  Garrett Reed Slobey

(It doesn’t matter how old.  He is probably way older than you and still way better, just saying.  It’s just a number.)

Top-Soul 90 MPH

SS:  And exactly where in the hell do you live now?

GS:  Now and for the for seeable future, Greenville, SC.

SS:  And I take it the giant metal smiley faces in your Facebook pictures is what you do now?

GS:  A little bit, mostly motorcycles and skating.  A little bit of sculptures on the side.

SS:  Blading a lot or just keeping a float?

GS:  At least every weekend, unless there are motorcycles involved, I took a couple year hiatus from it, but now that I have found people that I really enjoy skating with I have started back up.

“So…..Kevin Dowling claims that Kwame Mcneil kicked Josh Amachers Bulldog in the face for no fucking reason. What the fuck is wrong with Kwame?”

Kevin just popped up and I told him we were doing this now and he said that had to be said.

GS:  I love Kwame, he actually just moved from Greenville to Ashville.  I think Josh love’s Kwame enough to get over that.  Plus Maggie smelled really bad, so she kinda had it coming to her.  She was a tough dog.

SS:  What exactly took you away from blading for so long? It just seems like one day you were making some of the biggest moves rollerblading has ever seen.  Getting your name out there and really pushing your body as far as one could to really push the sport as a whole.  Then bam, you are a ghost?

There is no standing and dropping on this.  UP AND DOWN

GS:  I had a pretty bad accident skating.  I compression fractured my L1, L2, and L3 vertebra really bad and lost my sense of smell at the same time.  Also, the Bama crew was kinda calming down, mixed with me riding almost every day after work, led to me not really skating anymore. Then some kids in Greenville hooked me up with some skates, rolled for a little bit, got hooked again. Then Steve from Asphalt Beach hooked me up with a pair of Rob Thompson’s and so I stared skating a bunch.  Tim Taylor and Johnny Ray really got me back into it, then I met David Dodge and now we skate all the time.

SS:  Two days ago myself and two friends went and grabbed some food on the West side and ate across the road from Chili’s on West End. THAT RAIL!!!  What the fuck were you thinking man? Ever?  It is like you did not care if you broke bones, or even died?  Some sort of bipolar disorder or something? It makes no sense.

GS:  Well it wasn’t really bipolar or anything crazy like that. When I started skating with my friends Ryan Jackson and Johnathan Gableman, they could always hand up to rails and I couldn’t.  So I had to skate fast and jump out to them.  So I would say that’s where I got my style from. Also, I always had a problem with just going slow. Everything I do is motivated by speed I guess.  I just looked at things and thought hey, I can do that.   So I just tried.  That and I guess I have a high tolerance for pain.  Andy Kruse used to call me novocaine legs.

Sweatstance the way it was meant to be done.  Fast, perfect, and on a ledge.

SS:  I was in Bama not to long ago and we went to this spot with an extremely awkward silver art sculpture. Do you know the spot?

GS:  Right next to the Nick under the bridge? Yeah.

SS:  That rail.  Really?  The disaster was at least fifteen feet.  Like I don’t get it.  You weren’t getting paid that much.  Did rollerblade ever even offer you health insurance.   I just wish people understood half the spots I was referring to.  I am going to try and dig up a photo of that Chili spot for this.  Everything else they can just see in Rejects 2nd issue.

GS:  I don’t think I even know what Chili spot your talking about.  I know the Chili’s, but I don’t remember the trick?

Rollerblade never offered me health insurance.  I have been lucky enough to always have it with the jobs I have had.  

SS:  Oh my Gosh.  Roll the ledge to disaster top acid the flat green rail that sits on top of the next ledge. What a guy. See I told you it was some sort of disease. Hell I bet you blacked out before half the tricks. It’s the only legit argument as to what you must have been thinking.

GS:I always just really wanted to do that rail.  I really love disasters on rails for some reason.

SS:  The sole purpose behind SouthernScum is to A. help promote obviously the south blading scene as a whole. And B. help get the exposure deserved from the scene that Nashville TN is bringing to the table right now.  For a while there the scene here really fell off. The last few years some pretty lame doods have been making moves, despite a few exceptionally talented kids.  But at one time it was HUGE. People were coming here from all over the Nation to blade spots with Zach Johnson, Lee Strader, Hal Bruen, and obviously yourself.  What was it like at that time.  Helping mold it to what it has become today.  Showing kids like Josh Whitfield the ropes?  Give me some good memories.

GS:  That was deff. some of the best skating of my life.  We would have the Bama crew one weekend, ATL another, the Philly kids, the Carolina kids, and the Ohio/Kentuckey kids come either all at once or just weekend to weekend. The session’s were crazy, Vanderbuilt, Nasvhille Tech, those were the hot spots.  The session were insane, everyone pushing everyone.  There were really just to many memories to name one.  I mean just epic sessions and hanging out.

Garretts warm up spot.  AO topsoul for the kids.

SS:  It is funny you mentioned half the spots you just did.  I just watched an old edit of a guy who I am pretty sure at one time was a good friend of yours who over this past year has become a GREAT friend of mine. He is also going to be one of the few leaders from the south to voice their opinions through SoutherScum.  Jordan Dale, he was so excited to here you were doing this.

GS:  Yeah, Tri, Chris Grutzmacher, Jordan, and the Brentwood kids used to have really good times chilling and skating.  We didn’t even film a good bit of the time.  Just skated.  It was just pure fun.

SS:  It is really cool to see such powerful people like you, Tim and Jordan getting back involved in the sport finally. But where are you going with it this time.  Are you going to keep the sessions mild and periodic or is the world going to see Garrett Slobey doing break through shit all over again?

2nd Angle.

Due to the fact that FACEBOOK does not allow you to keep entire CHAT conversations only a portion of them, which I was not aware of.  A good amount of information was lost along this point.  For those who wondered what Garrett’s response was, it went a long the lines of modesty.  He does not plan on committing to such death defying tricks again.  He went in to detail about multiple surgeries and his new found love for his career and does not want to take the chances of hurting it.  Only to continue to rollerblade frequently purely for the fun of it.  Between you and me I CALL BULLSHIT.  Lets let the guy spend a weekend in with Charles Dunkle and THE F.I.D. will be flowing like water all over again……..Back to the interview.

SS:  The industry, from your point of view do you see rollerblading ever climbing out of this so called “black hole?”

Do you think we just peeked way to early and are destined to climb back up.  What do you think we did right as an industry?  What do you think we as an industry did wrong?

GS:  I guess I fell out of skating when that black hole effect happened.  ASA disappeared and that hurt us a lot.  I definantly think that sort of park competition needs to be put back into rollerblading.  As a kid I remember watching Fienberg kill it in contest and that would get me so hype to go skate.  Both street and park.

SS:  Couple more things then I’ll let you crash my man. I am struggling so I know your old ass has got to be tired. Haha.

GS:  Shoot, I’m good.

SS:  Did you ever own a copy of “Rejects” that was actually a porno?

GS:  Haha, no.  I never saw one either.  That was a crazy moment for the mag.

SS:  Shawn Engler man.  That guy seems to have fallen off hard.

GS:  I have talked to him a couple times.  He is up in NYC now if I’m not mistaken.  Yeah, it’s weird to still talk to Charles and Shawn, they always seemed like they would be best friends.  I will always consider Charles a really close friend though.  I love that guy.

SS:  Would you ever take credit that you, Chris, Matt and Ryan Jackson are responsible bringing the word, “word” into rollerblading?

GS:  Your are forgetting Brett Newkirk and Conner King too.

Excuse me “You.”  For Nashville?

SS:  Haha I am trying to type correctly also, it is really tough.  I Never realized how bad my grammar was until now.

Misfit.  South Carolina stlye.  Nashville taught.

SS:  Do you remember a grommet by the name of Taylor Popham?

GS:  Haha, yeah.  I don’t really remember skating with him though.

SS:  Is that a yeah you remember him, or a yeah to the typing topic.

GS:  I remember him.  I mean, I would go back to Nashville to visit and seeing him around the scene.  I don’t really have a recollection of skating with him though.

SS:  He is going to be so juiced when he reads this.  He has managed to make quite the noise down here.   He just went and spent some time in Bama and came back pretty tough. You know them Brentwood boys, fucking pampered.  But you guys really made and impact on that guy.  He shreds.  Really helping get Nashville back on the map.  He is going to be so overwhelmed he was named dropped in this.

GS:  Haha.

SS:  Well I guess let’s wrap this up.  Something that is not really for the readers more for the personal curiosity.  I have wondered since I was like 12.  How small is your foot exactly?

GS:  6 or 6 and a half, depends on the skate.

SS:  I really think that has to be some sort of record.  I tried on a size 7 the other day and Steve made a comment that my foot was pretty small but that it doesn’t get smaller than Garrett Slobey. 

GS:  That’s pretty funny.  I really wish I could be in two places at once, because I would love to still be apart of the Nashville scene.

SS:  The scene is what it is that’s for sure.  Like I said earlier it really fell off but it is on a quick move up all over again.  Some pretty promising young talent moving here and new grommets who are hungry for it.  Glenn Stiggie and Eric Boner both have contacted me recently wanting to blade.  I am constantly riding Whitfield about coming out.  Ever since I moved here I have just wanted to see it happen all over again, and it will.  You coming to visit some weekend would probably juice some old heads a lot. I’m sure a lot of people would come out man.  You should make it happen.

GS:  I will do my best.

SS:  Alright so lets stick a fork in this bad boy.  Before we drag off into some shout outs is there anything specifically you would like to say to the people first?

GS:  Skate for the love of it.  Keep in touch with friends, even if you do stray from skating.  Those friendships tend to be some of the strongest!

SS:  From the then’s to now’s.  Who deserves the gratitude?

GS:  Steve, he sold me my first pair of skates.  All my friends from Nashville(Brentwood crew), David Mitchell and Lee Strader, Jim Blackstock and Andrew Hogan for being people to look up to. Johnathan Gableman and Ryan Jackson for getting me into this ridiculousness, Wes Driver for helping me get my name out there, the Bama crew for being an inspiration, and the Greenville crew for helping me find my love for the sport again!

SS:  Proper.

Kind grind just getting back in the swing of things.

To see plenty of old footage of Mr. Slobey simply google his name.  Look up some old reject magazine issues.  There is footage and photos all over the place.  According to a conversation after the interview he is planning on trying to do some traveling around the south really soon.  So keep your head up and eyes open for a true hero from down south.  He has been resting but I am pretty sure this beast is ready to pounce all over again.  Also please be sure to watch this profile, just incase the words have not spoke for themselves.  One of the best profiles in rollerblading history: http://vimeo.com/10665815

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