Zero’s [2019] video release delivers a familiar vibe that stays true to the roots of what made the brand an industry leader throughout the late-’90s and the noughties. It has a homespun feel – like being sucked through a skull-shaped portal to the heyday of heavy rail chomping stunts, quick-cut editing, with a classic rock and punk soundtrack, while captured on the trusty VX1000.

The Zero crew are certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel of skate videos, and stick to the best way they know to deliver hard-out hammers. Dane Burman and Gabriel Summers close the film in sweet succession and do Australia bloody proud. I caught up with the two heroes of Zero for a chat about the heavy slog and body-breaking effort they went through for Zero’s eighth full- length flick. Read on or be damned if you don’t.

Words by Trent Fahey [from Slam Issue 225]. Portraits by Kurt Hodge.

DANE BURMAN

Yo Dane, where are you, and how have you been of late?
Hey Trent, I’m still living in California, down in San Diego again. Back to my Zero roots. I’ve been well. Finally feeling good after a bad knee injury and getting back to 100 per cent, trying to keep filming and skating.

You must feel relieved that Damn It All is done and dusted. Are you happy with your part?
I am relieved. Mainly because of my knee. The whole time filming, I was dealing with coming back from a torn PCL and patellar tendon. I just tried to skate through the pain and film what I could. It only really felt good over the past six months or so. I was stressed that I was going to let everyone down, but it’s all over now, and I got a few things that I feel saved [my part] a little. I’m just looking forward to working on something new now that I’m feeling good again.

Using Minor Threat’s “Straight Edge” in your part seems perfectly fitting for you. I suppose you and Ian MacKaye probably have a lot in common being straight-edge angry dudes who don’t mince words. Are you a big fan of Minor Threat and Fugazi?
I’ve always been a Fugazi fan and always been down for some Minor Threat. Obviously, it’s fun music to get down to. My roommate and team manager, Kurt Hodge, suggested the song and I was into it. I don’t really like calling myself straight edge. I think it’s weird that people need to associate themselves with a group of people to do what they want. But I get it, and I like the song. It worked out.

I thought your section was over after the first track, a Greco Misled Youth-length part, but I was more than pleased to hear the sweet sound of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ “The Singer” kick in as you eat shit on a heavy boardslide. Had you been planning on using “The Singer” for a while?
I’ve always wanted to skate to Nick Cave, just because his music has always had an impact on me, but it’s kind of hard to skate to because a lot of his songs are storytelling. You get lost in the story a lot, and not always the tune, which can be strange in a skate video. But in that song, “The Singer”, the story resonated with me, and it has a nice slow, heavier beat, so I think it works.

I remember your first Zero part in Strange World was a track picked by Jamie [Thomas], and you were off it, right?
I wasn’t off it. I just didn’t care too much about the song. It wasn’t really my type of music, and I had never heard the band. But I was the new guy and just let them do what they wanted and was happy to be there.

Have you had input in the editing process for your Zero parts since then?
Yeah, since that, I’ve always been around the editing and given input with my parts and the rest of the video.

JT called the premiere “a preview, not a premiere” at the prem and claimed the vid was only “half- baked”. It wasn’t a rendered version but played from an editing timeline, yeah? What went wrong?
Nothing really went wrong. It was finished, but needed some tidying up. We ran out of time editing and hadn’t finished putting in credits and cleaning up slow-mos and things like that. Not too much has changed from then and the final video: just some colour corrections and things. My audio was a little low during the prem. That was the worst of it.

Have many changes been made from what was leaked onto Pornhub to the final version?
[Laughs] I don’t think much will be different. Nothing people will notice.

Securing a good soundtrack makes or breaks a film. What was the deal with music rights?
Thrasher offered to sort the music for us, so they could have the parts on their site for two weeks before we put the video out fully. Apparently, they’re lagging on some of the rights, so it’s pushing the release back.

Dane damns it all and pole jams into a sizeable American kinker. PHOTO: KURT HODGE

How much does a song usually go for?
A few grand. Some bands want more, and some want less. I think most songs in the video came in under $2000.

I hate watching new full-length skate videos split into parts. Will Zero release the video online as a full video after the single parts are all live with Thrasher?
It might be online eventually, but the DVD will be for sale soon.

Let’s talk about some of your tricks. The premiere footage showed your gnarly boardslide in the credits. Please tell me it’s been moved into your part.
[Laughs] Nope. It’s still in the credits. I don’t like the way I landed it, and it was one of the first tricks I filmed after the knee injury, so it was kinda old, and I also had two other boardslides in my part. The one near the end was way scarier and bigger than the credits one, so I didn’t feel like I needed both.

Is it true that you landed that boardslide first try before the filmer was ready, slammed on the second attempt and had to go back for it?
No, not at all, I saw someone say that online and it’s the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard. I don’t know where people get that from. It took me about 20 tries. I slammed on one of them, and then I landed it a few tries later. That’s it.

Sacking on the kinked back 50 looked rough. How bad was it?
That’s what did my knee. If you watch closely, I hit my knee on the kink first. I thought I’d broken my leg. I wanted to go back and do it, but it was in Barcelona and by the time I got back there the rail was broken.

Was the water rancid that you ploughed through after the ollie over the rail to bank?
That water was fucked up, so many needles floating in it. I got so much water in my mouth and nose and ears. I was blowing out brown gunk for the next week, and I could smell it for ages. Luckily I have a good immune system and didn’t get sick from it.

Ollie over the rail, into the bank, and diving face-first into some syringe-infested waters of Southern California. PHOTO: KURT HODGE

Tell me about the nollie heel over the Kirchart street gap. A phenomenal move, and I love that you did it via a little sedan as opposed to the usual Harley and scooter tow-ins that we’re used to seeing there. How many shots did that take you, and was it a hard to work out the speed you needed to clear it?
That’s a long story. Way back when I first hurt my knee, we went there because Louie Lopez wanted to bigspin heel it. On that day, I tried two
or three half-arsed [nollie heels], but it was so painful on the knee bailing them that I had to stop. I always knew from those tries that if my knee wasn’t fucked I’d be able to do it. Fast forward to the deadline for the video, with my knee feeling good again, so I went back and had a Harley towing me in. Within 10 minutes, cops arrived and kicked us out as I was warming into it and starting to shape the nollie heels. I went back the next day and had the Harley again, and the same thing happened. About 10 tries in and cops show up... Kicked out again... I called around and tried to organise a permit through Thrasher to buy myself time at the school, but we only had 10 days until the deadline, and the permit was going to take 30 days to be approved. So, the next weekend, we went back again and tried the tow-in with the little car, so it’d be quieter and not have the neighbours calling the cops, and it was the first one that I put down that I rolled away from. It probably took 12 to 15 tries. As we tried to leave, someone had locked all the school gates to keep us in there, and we had to bolt cut the lock open to get out. It all worked out in the end.

The Kyle Montgomery guest trick was good to see.
I always have Kyle guest tricks if I have one to use. He did the surfboard trick in my Cold War part and has a boneless in this one. He also has a really good clip in the intro where he’s in a scuffle with a security guard and tries to take his keys off his belt [laughs]. He’s my best friend and I’m always proud to have him in my parts.

I saw Marc Jacobs picked up his line of crystal art. That’s incredible.
Yeah, it’s amazing. He’s really moving and shaking in that world he’s in. I’m super proud of the path he’s carved for himself. I love that he stayed true to how free of a human he is and it worked out for him. I can’t wait to retire from skating and move back to Australia and grow old with him [laughs].

Where did your inspo come from to bleach your hair?
Nowhere really. I had kinda longish hair, and it’s fun to do things like that, so I did it. I figure I’m going bald, so I should have fun with what hair I have left. I actually shaved it all off two nights ago. I might stay bald forever now [laughs].

You’re seen wearing a few different shoe brands in your footage. What’s going on with you on the shoe front?
I’ve been steadily wearing Vans for almost a year now. They’re my favourite to skate in at the moment. Matt Bennett [Vans TM] and I have known each other since Fallen days, and he sends me shoes when I need them. I want to get something more official going with Vans, so I can work on a project with them now that this Zero video is done. I have a bunch of tricks I want to do. I just need a brand to do them for.

From memory, there’s only ever been one Australian pro on Zero at any given time. How does it feel to have another Australian [Gabbers] turn pro for the company?
It’s rad, Zero has always supported Aussie skaters, and I’m hyped that that isn’t changing any time soon.

Were you there for a lot of Gabbers’ hairy hammers?
I was. But I’ve always got faith in him. Usually, more faith than he has in himself, honestly, but the man knows how to take a slam and get back up again. He’s gnarly. I love it.

Gabbers left Birdhouse because he didn’t really gel with the team. Is the Zero team more tolerant of his freak-outs?
[Laughs] I think Zero has always been the team to put up with and work through people’s personalities. It’s not really a team of socially well-adjusted dudes, and it never has been... Greco isn’t the most casual guy to hang with... Allie was a wildcard, and Brockman is just Brockman. Gabbers perfectly fits in.

Was it a battle between you two for the last part?
Nope. Not at all.

Did you know who was getting last part before the premiere?
Yeah, I knew. Everyone kinda knew. It was always talked about being between Chris Wimer and Gabbers, but just due to how heavy all of Gabbers tricks were, he had to be last. Wimer hasn’t got any 40-stair lipslides or triple kinked curved rails...

We’ve just started planning Skate of Origin for April next year. Are you going to come back and defend the title for New South Wales?
If someone pays for my flights again [laughs], I’d love to. Let’s do two weeks next time, though. One week isn’t enough.

I’m pretty sure you would be the only one who would want to be tortured by two weeks of challenges. Are you feeling confident about another win, or do you think the Queenslanders or Victorians might be hungrier after their defeat?
Those guys are all fucking useless. They do that thing where they act like they’re too cool to really try because they’re embarrassed to try and still lose. And if there is money up for grabs, I’m sure no one would mind having extra time. It just means more time to get through the book of challenges.

Only Jaws or a Zero skater would look at this and see a spot. Dane grinds a lengthy Howard and then handles the plunge. SEQUENCE: KURT HODGE

Poised for the long haul on his signature move, the frontside 50-50. PHOTO: KURT HODGE

Will we see you out here for Christmas?
I’ll be back.

How long are you staying and what is your current visa situation?
I’ll be around for a little over a month, just like usual. I still have two years left on my current US visa, so I’m not moving back for good just yet.

Will you treat your time back in Australia as a holiday, or have you got tricks in mind that you want?
It’s always a bit of both. I love filming and skating back home with my OG friends. I wish I had a way to live at home in Australia and still be able to film every day, and keep this gig going, but the resources aren’t available.

How much of the video did you actually film, and do you enjoy filming?
I filmed quite a lot. A lot of Adam’s [Arunski] tricks, a solid chunk of Jonno’s [Gaitan] tricks, and a handful of Gabbers’ stuff too. I do like filming, but I get tired of filming some tricks. It depends on what it is, or how exciting it’s looking, and how the guy who’s skating is acting. If they’re getting stressed out skating, or taking a million roll-ups between tries, or just half committing to tricks, then I pack up a camera on them. As much as I’m there to film someone if they want me to film, I’m also not a filmer, this isn’t my job, and I get sick of it if my time is being wasted.

Fair enough. Does the VX up in flames at the opening scene of Damn It All represent the end of VX videos for Zero?
The VX in flames is just cool. We had a bunch of VXs at Zero, some irreparable, so why not just burn one? It made for a good photo and a good clip.

What can we expect for the next Zero vid?
I’ve heard Jamie say that while it’s still possible to buy VX1000s, Zero videos will be filmed with them.

After a couple of cracks at this nollie heel via Harley tow-ins, only to be kicked out, Dane came back with a much quieter little sedan and rolled away with a bonkers ender. SEQUENCE: KOKI KASAI

GABRIEL SUMMERS

First off, congratulations on turning pro. The announcement was made on stage at the Encinitas premiere of Damn It All, but did you know it was coming?
I knew it was probably going to happen at some point, but to be honest, I didn’t think it was going to happen that night. It was a fucking shit show around that time. The video was barely done, how the hell were they going to have boards printed? That’s what was in my head. I was around them three days leading up to [the premiere], and I saw how much of a shit fight it was. Jamie had already told me it was going to happen with the part, but I just didn’t think it was going to happen at that point. So it was a little bit overwhelming and a surprise, but it was cool.

Your graphics look cool.
Yeah, I like them. I mean, I’m probably never going to ride the Gabbers one. I’m not the biggest fan of that nickname. I didn’t really care about it, but I’m just not that into it.

Thank fuck they didn’t use a played- out ‘new Aussie pro’ kangaroo or a koala graphic.
Yeah, or an avocado [laughs].

No disrespect to roos, koalas and avos, though. Where did the inspiration come from for your skull and rose or horseman graphics? Did you have any input after they mentioned they were going to turn you pro?
No, I had nothing to do with it. I grew up riding horses and stuff because I grew up on a farm, as you probably know. So I think that’s where [the horseman] probably came from. It’s the guy from the black plague. It’s Zero, it’s got to be spooky and scary.

Big ol’ boardslide in Mexico. PHOTO: KURT HODGE

How does it feel to set up a board with your name on it?
Weird. I don’t mean to be that guy that’s like, I don’t like skating my own boards, I’m not trying to be overly modest, but it’s weird. If I’m walking down the street or through the city, I feel like I’m showing off my graphic or something like that. Like, Oh, that’s my name, but I’m not even doing that. I look at it and go, fuck this is weird. It’s cool, though.

I’m sure you’ll get used to it.
Yeah, yeah, I’m down to skate it. And fuck it, I worked really hard for it, so I don’t give a shit if anyone wants to talk shit about me skating my own boards.

Thirty is a ripe old age to go from ‘man Am’ to pro. Were you worried it might not ever happen?
I was never really worried. I didn’t really care. And I’m not 30 yet, Trent.

Oh shit, my bad. When do you turn 30?
The 23rd of March [2020]. There were times where I was worried about where skateboarding was taking me, but at the same time, I never had any of these opportunities a year ago. After the shit happened with Birdhouse I had given up on turning pro. I didn’t really care.

What happened with Birdhouse?
I didn’t really get along with some people. It wasn’t that I had beef with anyone. But Australians have a different sense of humour. I can be hard work sometimes [laughs]. I’m not saying it was their fault, or anyone’s fault, but it just didn’t work. I also put a lot of pressure on myself, and sometimes I need people to put me in check. When you’re someone new hanging around new people, and there’s an inkling of that person being a problem, why would they waste their time on you? And I wasn’t feeling it either, to be honest.

Do you mean Birdhouse wasn’t your vibe?
I got there and I thought, I don’t really want this.

Did you spend much time with Tony Hawk?
I went out for dinner with him a few times. We didn’t really talk that much. He’s cool though, he’s Tony Hawk. It was cool, there’s no hard feelings or anything, it just didn’t work. But after that, I had given up on turning pro. I knew I could always get boards from PD [Distribution]. [Ben] Michell and Dustin [Dollin] have always helped me out with that, and they said they always will, they’re like family. They’ll always give me boards, no matter what, so I was going to do that and be an Australian skateboarder, and hopefully travel as much as possible.

Then I guess your My War changed everything.
Yeah, I guess it did. I didn’t think that it was going to be that life-changing.

Gabbers was initially going to skate to “Broken Face” by The Pixies, which would have been apt after his head injury, but to not be pigeonholed as the Broken Face guy, he ended up going with “Queen of the Deep” by UFO. Between tins of Tecate, he flies out over the gap and into a five-o. PHOTO: KURT HODGE

But that was the moment. If that didn’t come out, it might have come through another avenue.
Yeah, who knows? I wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, and I’m not going to stop now. I’m going to do it regardless, whether I have people backing me or not. As long as I’m enjoying doing it. To some people, it might not even look like I’m enjoying doing it because I’m losing my mind half the fucking time, but people have different ways of expressing it, I guess. But I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t want to do it.

You’re just a passionate man, Gabbers.
Yeah, passionate, that’s the word. We’ll go with that.

Well, let’s talk about some of the tricks in the video. Tell me about the kinked boardslide rail that was previously tried by Pat Duffy and Danny Way.
Did they try 50s or did they try boardslides?

50-50s, and they both ate shit on it.
Yeah, they both got scorpioned.

And you did, too.
[Laughs] Plenty of times.

This deathly drop in from a church roof shot Summers into a hell of an arse slide and abruptly into a wall. PHOTO: WILL OWENS

Whose idea was it to take you there?
It was my idea, actually. I’m going to take the credit for this one. It’s an abandoned apartment block now, and there are four rails going diagonally, and the one that Clint [Walker] did is the one on the very end. It’s different to the one I did. Mine drops down again and goes down a kink. You’d have to have a look at it. But I’m not taking away from Clint’s 50 because it’s probably even gnarlier to be honest, because you have to gap out. The one that Clint did was not possible for a boardslide at all.

So there’s one in the middle that we looked at and it was capped, there was a pillar in the way, and there was a lot of work to be done on it, but it was kind of low, and I was hyped on the fact that I was getting Zero boards and filming for a Zero video, so I just thought I could do it. Shout out to Dane for helping make that rail skateable – we did a lot of work to it. And it worked out. But it was a course of six months doing it. It was a lot harder than I originally thought it was going to be. I broke my collarbone doing it.

Oh, you broke your collarbone on that slam in the video?
No, the slam that’s in my part, I did that like three or four times. It didn’t really hurt me, I got out of it really well every time, even though it doesn’t look like it. My whole body was bruised, but I wasn’t hurt anywhere. But I was stomping it. It was fucking annoying actually because I went back so many times. I went back probably 12 or 15 times, and every single time I was trying it for hours on end. I stomped it at least five or six times, but for some reason, I couldn’t roll away. It was so hairball at the end. One of the attempts I just stuck and flew. It wasn’t a bad slam at all. It was really weird. I’d had the same slam probably five or six times that day, but for some reason, I was like, Oh shit, my shoulder’s out. I’d never broken my collarbone before, but apparently, it snapped my collarbone. It was really annoying.

Did you do it with a broken collarbone?
No, fuck no. I was out for two or three months. I was flying home the next day. So I broke my collarbone, went home, got better, and went straight back to the States and started trying it again [laughs].

No shit.
The day that I did it, I was trying it for hours, and I was getting close. And then on one of the attempts, I got stuck. I remember I got on really sketchy, you’ll notice on the footage, I got on really sketchy. I was kind of crossed up on it. It’s pretty sketchy going through dropdowns and kinks when you’re crossed up because you can get caught underneath it. But I got stuck on it because I was so tired. It was the middle of summer, and I’d been there from 12 until five or six, so we were there for a long-arse time. It was the only time that I had music there, and I was listening to Slayer and heavier music to get psyched. But then, I was so tired at the end, I put on Kate Bush, and it was way mellower. I got stuck and I was too tired to bother eating shit. In the middle of the rail, I yelled, “Oh fuck,” and I somehow landed it.

You get air off the flat of the last kink, so it was make or break.
Yeah, I probably stomped it like 20 times, and every other time I stomped it, it wasn’t like that. But it just worked.

Have you heard anything from Pat Duffy or Danny Way?
No, I haven’t. That would be pretty funny.

Did you plan to high jump the fence after your 50-50 gap out on the long red rail, or was that spur of the moment?
I remember that day I was super hungover and didn’t really want to skate it. It was a shitty trip [to The States], I was over it the whole time. I think I’d already been there for six months and I was going home the next day. I thought about it, and I was like, if I land this, I’m going to try to jump the fence. It took my mind off the trick, but then as soon as I got to the fence after I landed it and realised that I was jumping over it, I was like, I haven’t even looked at this fucking fence, it’s so big. In my head, I was like, I hope I can get over it. I know I’m hitting it. So me hitting it and doing a flip was the best-case scenario. I thought I was going to stop and get absolutely worked. I got out of it really good. The next day I was sore all over, though.

What’s the go with the rail that you back 50-ed, which Clive Dixon lipslid. You skated it first, right?
Yeah.

Give me the full story.
It’s just a good old case of I did it [first], and then everybody else does it. As soon as someone does something, people go, Oh, that’s doable, he did it. I feel like I have that too. I remember looking at it so long ago, when I first went to The States, and going, Fuck, that is skateable. It was high, but the fact that it was high, made it good. If you’re going to skate a big rail like that, you might as well skate it high because then you can go faster. That’s my theory because I like gapping out to stuff. I don’t like going slow. I’m trying to clear everything. In my head, with the back 50, I thought that if it went wrong, I was going to clear the whole thing. But in hindsight, it’s pretty fucked up because I’m pretty sure my body type is not meant to jump down 26 stairs or whatever it is. But I tried not to think about that.

Three years went by and still no one had skated it. That’s another thing too, it’s at a really famous school. You always find yourself going to that school at least once or twice on a trip to the States. So I claimed it, went there and chickened out because I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent. Then I went back one weekend, and somehow I did it first shot. I probably should have died because I locked in double toe side at the beginning, but I was pretty psyched. And then two weeks later, Clive Dixon went and lip slid it with the same filmer who filmed my back 50.

The same filmer?
Yeah, I mean, it’s at a famous school. You can’t be mad at it, but everybody else’s footage came out before mine. It’s just like, goddamnit. But whatever, it happens. Sascha [Daley] went down it frontside – front board. If you hung up on a front board on that, you’re gonna die. You’re not gonna live to tell the tale.

Was there any beef with you and Clive?
No, you can’t have beef. I guess I’ve just got to take it as a compliment. That those sorts of gnarly skateboarders are skating spots after me. That’s cool, I guess. I’m not trying to sound cocky either. Every skateboarder does it. You go, That’s fucking sick. And you want to do it. It just sucks that I didn’t have an outlet to put out my footage first. But that’s OK, it’s out now.

OK, so the readers would all have one question that I would be remiss if I didn’t ask, what’s going on with the footage of the slam that nearly killed you? Will we ever see it? I’m honestly unsure if I ever want to...
I was talking to Jamie about that and it was supposed to be in the video.
It was supposed to be in the credits. I’ve seen it. It’s not that ... oh, it’s pretty brutal, it’s pretty dark, it’s not nice. Jamie was going to end the video on it, but he couldn’t find a place for it. I said it should be in the intro because then there’s still the video to lift people up, but he said that wasn’t going to work. I get it. It’s just dark because you have to play the whole scene and it’s not good. It’s just bad noises, a lot of blood, people looking very distressed.

It’s at the eight flat 10 rail at San Dieguito High, right?
Yeah. I tried to gap back 50 it.

How many times did you try it?
I mean, it’s a bit hazy, but I probably tried four times, and I ate shit on the fifth. I thought I had it. I was good to go, but when you see the footage, it’s just really fucking annoying, I hesitated. That’s what got me. It was in the middle of winter and the day started off nice, and then it got windy. The run-up is fine, but there’s not enough of it, really. You want to be going as fast as humanly possible to make sure that you’re going to clear it all. Right at the last second, when I was rolling up to it, I didn’t think I was going fast enough because the wind kind of got me. I bailed and my board was in front of me, so I was distracted. I was trying to get away from my board, but I didn’t realise I was jumping down an 18-stair, so I didn’t really roll out of it or take the impact properly. I just fell like a civilian. Every single bad injury I’ve ever had, or most of them, have been from hesitating. Don’t hesitate, that’s the moral of the story.

It may not always look like it, but Summers says he’s enjoying the ride. Frontside boardslide in Barcelona, which didn’t make the video, but made for a lovely picture. PHOTO: GERARD RIERA

Do you remember much of it?
Yeah, I do remember a lot of it. I was only out for ... not too long. I remember when it all went wrong, and I remember the feeling of it, if that makes sense. It wasn’t like it was painful, it was just weird.

And you fractured your skull. Was there bleeding on your brain?
Yeah, there was, but it wasn’t that bad. It’s a risky 48-hours after that.

Would you ever go back for that?
No. Well, Milton [Martinez] went and gap lipped it anyway. I only wanted to skate it because no one had skated it that way. Now that someone has skated it that way, it ruins the purpose of it. I wanted to go back and do it, but Jamie helped put it in perspective. What am I going to do, drag all my friends there, and put them through the same shit? We all know what happened last time... It’s pretty dark.

There’s plenty of other gap-to-rails.
Yeah, exactly. I’m going to leave that one.

Who filmed your Australian footage, and did they still own a VX, or did you travel back with one?
Dane [Burman] filmed a lot of it when he was back for summer. He has his own VX. And Zoolz [George Kousoulis] filmed some of it. I borrowed Colin Evans’ VX and still haven’t given it back and probably won’t. And HD long lens is fine to use, so James James filmed a trick. I didn’t film that much in Australia. I only filmed with Dane and Zoolz. I was away the whole time. I filmed a lot in Barcelona and America.

Jamie claimed the premiere was a half-baked preview more than a prem. Has your part been changed much from what was premiered?
I don’t think so. I think it was pretty much as it stands. He said that I could get more stuff for it, but nah, I’m over it. Onto the next one. Once the premiere’s done, I’m done.

Damn it all.
Yeah, I don’t really want to stress out about adding tricks for a video that’s already been premiered.

Did you know what song was going to be used for your part and were you involved in the editing process?
Yeah, originally, it was going to be The Pixies.

Which Pixies song?
It was called “Broken Face”, which was quite fitting. But that song got kind of annoying after a while. We just decided to use the second song, UFO. I like that song. I’m happy with it.

Are there things that you would change?
There are a few questionable tricks in there that I don’t really like. There are a few things that I would have liked to have had in there but... I used to try to get diverse with my video parts, but fuck man, I’m in my late-20s, I skate how I skate, it is what it fuckin' is at this point. I mean, I’ll try to skate everything, but I’m not going to try to nollie heel a 12-stair anymore. I’m over it. It hurts. I’d rather skate the next day. I’d rather stick to what I know how to do. There are a few tricks that I would have liked to have got that I tried.

The ones that got away.
Yeah, there’s only a couple that come to mind that I really cared about.

I personally despise watching new full-length skate videos split into parts. I like to dig in and feel the whole vibe of the video in one hit.
I think that everybody that was born after ’97 or ’96 doesn’t mind it, but everybody before that hates it.

Will Zero release the video online as a full video after the single parts are all live on Thrasher?
Yeah, I think that was the plan. I was pushing for that for sure. My theory was that they should just put the whole thing out through Thrasher like they did with the Welcome video. But I think there’s a whole thing with music rights. I get that too because I think what skateboarding videos have missed these days is that people don’t put any effort into music anymore.

Well, it costs money.
It costs money, I get that, but you may as well spend the money because the amount of shit that’s not even watchable twice now – because of the music standards – is just ridiculous.

I guess Thrasher and the big shoe brands are the only companies with the budgets to buy music.
Exactly. But if the video doesn’t have good music that you can relate to, and you want to actually listen to, you’re just not going to watch it again. You watch it once and you discard it. You go, Oh, that was a really gnarly part, but I’m never going to watch it again. So I think it’s really smart to get music rights. It’s got way more longevity.

Have you watched the video in full since the premieres?
I watched it the other day with my friends from Tassie. It was the first time I was sober and not in a premiere situation, and it was a fucking classic Zero video. It’s a video that you could watch if you’re into that kind of skating. You’ll sit down and chuck on the Zero video. Just like any other Zero video. I was kind of stressing that it’s taking so long to come out, and it’s just going to get lost, but if it has good music, and it’s an edit that you can relate to and you like, then it will stay around for a while. I’m glad how it has turned out, and I’m glad we put money and effort into music rights, to be honest.

Speaking of classic Zero videos, who are your favourite Zero riders from the past or present?
Number one: Jon Allie, for sure. He just seemed cool. He’s a legend, and he skates fucking cool. James Brockman, because he’s still got one of my favourite parts. That Strange World part was so sick. And now being his friend and knowing him is even more hilarious. As a wildcard, I’ll chuck in Lindsey Robertson, just ’cause his Dying To Live part is sick. And I always liked Ryan Smith. I always liked the misfits from Zero. Of course, Mumford as well. I always like Mumford’s parts. And Ellington, fuck. There’s so many of them.

Has Brockman given you any tips on clipping your recedor back?
[Laughs] Nah, fuck, he ran it for ages. That’s why I’m running it. I was thinking about shaving the other day, but it’s kind of annoying shaving it. I don’t really give a fuck. If you’re someone that cares about old age and balding then you’ve probably got a few insecurities going on.

You’ve just got to own it.
Yeah, it’s almost worse when people make a big deal about it. It’s like, shut the fuck up, you’re going to die soon anyway.

Tomorrow you’re flying back to The States, what’s the plan?
I’m hyped. I’m only going for two weeks. I’m going to go show face, like I didn’t just film a part and then disappear off the face of the earth. It’s going to be nice to do that before summer hits, so I can try to get some tricks while I’m over there and keep myself a little bit relevant while I’m in Australia over summer.

Where do you stay when you’re in The States?
I stay at the Zero warehouse usually. They have a room there. It’s pretty gourmet. I have my own room. I have a whole office to myself, there’s a big-screen TV in there, there’s a kitchen. Jamie lets me use the van and everything. It’s pretty good.

Has skating with Dane helped motivate you?
Yeah, for sure. We always bicker and argue. We’re definitely two different people. I’m sure he probably said the same thing. But at the end of the day, we both love skateboarding. That’s our main driving force with our friendship and everything. He helps me a lot with things, like controlling my anger and controlling how I act around things. He’s helped me the whole time riding for Zero. In saying that too, we’ve almost gotten into punch-ons in the van just from dumb little shit. There’ll be days when I’m hungover and don’t want to deal with it, or I’ve had a hard day and don’t want to hear shit. It’s just his fuckin’ attitude. But it’s not a bad thing, at least he keeps it real, I guess. We’ll be at each others’ throats, nearly knocking each other out one minute and then a day later we’ll be best friends and having the time of our lives. It’s just how our relationship is.

Does turning pro change things for you financially with Zero, adidas, RVCA and your other sponsors?
With Zero it definitely does. I can’t really say about the other ones. That’s a work in progress. But fuck, hopefully. I can live off skateboarding with the money I get now. It’s not glamorous, but it’s doable. But I want to reap the benefits of being a professional skateboarder this year. I want to travel and do cool shit. Last week I was kind of losing my mind about what I’m going to do next. I got to a point where I was like, Fuck man, I’ve been working so hard to get to this point, I need to just enjoy it and not think about what I’m going to do next. I mean, the amount of fucking effort I’ve put into skateboarding and to make it to where I am, if I put that much effort into anything else that I have passion for that involves making money, I’ll be fucking rich.

Now that you’ve ticked off pro status and last part of a Zero vid, what aspirations do you have left in skateboarding?
To have fun. Enjoy it while I can do it. Travel. I want to go to cool places and get educated by the world. As skating progresses for me, the thing that excites me most is new and untouched spots. Going to California and trying a trick at a blown-out spot doesn’t really excite me that much anymore. I want to go to Turkey or Russia or somewhere and skate something that hasn’t been skated. That’s how I see myself in the future as a skateboarder.

Thanks, Gabbers. That pretty much wraps it up.
How did I sound, did I blow it in any way? Am I going to get a phone call from Chami or Sparkes when this comes out? [laughs].

“Don’t hesitate, that’s the moral of the story.” Gabbers fangs fast into a frontside 50-50 on a serious Barca Hubba. PHOTO: GERARD RIERA