Thrasher Magazine

Photo: Roger Ferraro

Interview by David Broach

What's up, Marquise? What are you up to right now? Are you on the road?
No, I was on the road yesterday. Me, Tom K and Bama were coming from ATL. We were just driving all the way—one straight shot! We barely missed our flight in Atlanta and they said we were going to have to fly standby, wait for a plane and then another plane, so we just said, "Forget it," and just rented a car and drove.
 
That’s so long! How long did it take you to get back?


Probably like 36 hours or something like that.
 
What were you doing in Atlanta, just skating?
We had to go out for a New Balance sales meeting. Go out there and hang out, look at all the new product and listen to all the new ideas they have coming up. They have all these little events and parties. It’s good.
 

Front crooks    Photo: Kenji Haruta

Does Stevie live out there now?
I think he’s back and forth between LA and ATL. He has a shop out there called Status Life, so he’s just back and forth. I had a chance to see him out there. I hadn’t seen him in a while. We got to see him at the checkerboard spot out in Atlanta, so that was cool.
 
What's up with this part you just dropped? Looks like you did some crazy traveling for it.
Holy shit, we went Barcelona, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Thailand, Portugal—all over, man.
 
Was that just last year?
That was probably like a year and a half. We started last summer.
 

Switch inward heel    Photo: Kenji Haruta

And it was just solid travel for that whole time?
Yeah, Anthony Claravall just hit me up one day when we were on an Official trip. I think we were in Guangzhou. He said he wanted to do a project with me. It was right after Blood Money came out. I didn’t have anything else going on at the time so it worked out. It turned into what it is.
 
Have you always had the travel bug or is this something new?
I definitely always wanted to travel, just to see everything out there, see the most I can see, take advantage of it. Not too many people get the opportunity to see the world like this, so if I get the opportunity for a trip I’m taking it!
 
I don’t think you get into this without wanting to travel, right?
Yeah, for sure. Except for the 15-hour flights—the long flights are hectic, but once you get there it’s worth it!
 

Feeble    Photo: Janchai Montrelerdrasm

No shit! Not to sound ungrateful but It’s always low-class coach! Fifteen hours of getting smashed in between the fat guy and the crying baby!
Sometimes you luck out and get that exit row! You get that extra space. That’s the ghetto first class!
 
When you film a video part, do you just go see what happens or do you have a list of things you wanna try?
Most of the time I have a ten-trick list, just to kind of get that foundation. I gotta start off like that. When you start off with a blank canvas, oh, man, I don’t know—it’s too much. It gets overwhelming.
 
When you go to a new country or city do you have a list for that place?
No, no, not like that. I just have tricks that I want to do. It could be different spots. I could just show up to a spot and be, like, "Damn, this is the perfect spot to try this trick I’ve been thinking about." I’ll just mess with it for a little bit and see if it comes naturally. Most of the time I just write out ten tricks on my phone and if we end up a spot that’s dope for it, that’s when it works out perfect.
 

Switch heelflip noseslide    Photo: Kenji Haruta

It’s good to be organized like that. So many people don’t think about it.
Yeah, for sure. I try not to make it too long. Ten is a good number. If you make it too long, like, 20 tricks and you're struggling on the first two, it get’s overwhelming really fast. So I make it a solid ten and then go from there.
 
Do you have any bucket list ledge tricks that you still want to do?
Man, to tell you the truth, every trick I try on a ledge is a bucket list trick for me!  I’m just happy to land it and be rolling away! 



They are all Hail Marys?
For real! I’m just so happy to be rolling away!
 

Nollie heel tailslide    Photo: Anthony Claravall

Do you like skating alone or with people?
Most of the time with people. You feed off of each other and it’s a better vibe, you know? Skating alone gets boring. Some of the trips for that last part were just me and Anthony and I’d have to get motivated to skate. It’s not always easy to do that. Luckily, Anthony is a really motivating dude. He’s just, like, “Let's get up early get some coffee and go knock this out.” He definitely pushed me on some of the trips.
 
I heard you paid for a bunch of your travel expenses yourself. Is that true?
Yeah, Anthony and me would split hotels and stuff like that. New Balance bought the majority of the plane tickets but we had to cover food and hotels. Once we got there it was on us.
 
What's your favorite country that you visited?
Man, I’m going to say Portugal. It’s so nice. In Lisbon we skated this plaza right on the beach; it was sick, man. Bar's right there so you could just chill, have a couple beers, then skate and after that head to the beach. It’s got the Spanish vibe but I think it’s a little more chill. It’s really similar but for some reason I liked it a little more.
 

Nollie backside heelflip 360    Photo: Roger Ferraro

Do you indulge in the local cuisine when you travel?
Sometimes! I mean, shoot—Anthony would try to get me to eat stuff but some of it be too crazy! We went to Thailand and he was trying to get me to eat all the street food and couldn’t hang, man. I got a sensitive stomach so I can’t do too much.
 
What was the craziest thing he pushed on you?
Just crazy fried chicken straight off the street. I tried fried bananas off the street once but that was about it. This one time he was eating fried crickets! He was trying to get me to do it. He’s got an iron stomach! He eats anything and everything on the road.
 
Do you skate with the New Balance team much?
Yeah, for sure, two or three times a week. Most of the time it’s me, Jordan Taylor, James [New Balance filmer], Levi Brown, Chad TimTim. We have a really good team. It’s all good people, good squad.
 

Photo: Janchai Montrelerdrasme

How'd the switch from DC to New Balance happen?
Actually, that was Jimmy [Astleford]. He hit me up, told me DC was going to making some cuts. I asked him if I was good and he was straight up with me. He told me he wasn’t sure and told me he would call me back in a week or so. Then, sure enough, he called back and said it’s not good. Some dude came in and was making cuts and not re-signing people's contracts. He told me over the phone that they couldn’t do it, but then he started talking to me about the New Balance program that was starting up and told me that Rattray was the TM for it. I’ve known John for a long time, since the Elwood days, so I hit him up and he talked to the team. I already knew PJ from DC and Arto from when I got Workshop boards so they started sending me shoes and It just went from there. After my first trip we just started doing the damn thing!
 
It’s hard to get those phone calls but It sounds like that was a pretty easy transition. For a lot of people, once the shoes are gone it’s hard to make a living.
Yeah, for sure. It was a good year without a check but it was cool too. It opened up new doors. I was head-to-toe at DC, so when that was over—for example: a while ago Jeff Landi hit me up about Official but I couldn’t do it because I was under contract with DC. So after that was over I hit him up to see if the opportunity was still available and sure enough it was. So it just started building back up from there.
 
Are you gonna keep traveling or stay put for a bit?
Keep traveling for sure. Too much to see still! I need to see more places!

Noseblunt    Photo: Kenji Haruta
 
What are you working on next? Is DGK gonna put out a full-length video anytime soon?
They are talking about it. I think they are. I just want to have footage ready to go. My plan is to keep filming and have stuff ready so if they do decide to drop something I’m just ready for it. 



I like it! Stay prepared! Don’t let 'em get ya!
Yeah for sure! That’s my plan: just stay prepared!
 
Alright, Marquise, thanks for talking to us!
Definitely. Thanks for the interview.

Photo: Anthony Claravall