Give it up for Ben Lawrie, our 2021 Slam SOTY presented by Converse Cons.
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In the meantime, enjoy reading the 23-year-old Melbourne city dweller's 2020 interview from our Spring Edition.
BEN LAWRIE INTERVIEW
Lincoln Square, drinking a coffee and talking to me on the phone. It’s an apt location for Ben to be doing this feature interview since he earned the nickname ‘Lincoln Child’ for skating the iconic plaza spot so obsessively back in its heyday. But a few things have changed since LC was a baby-faced local kid drinking Dare iced coffees and sessioning the slappy ledges at Lincoln Square. Obviously, the city’s most cherished spot got resurfaced and effectively destroyed back in 2016, but right now the entire city feels different. Melbourne is at the midway point of stage four lockdowns due to the second wave of COVID-19, which means there are curfews and skateboarding in the streets is heavily restricted.
Midway through our interview, LC has to bail from some nearby cops. He’s not technically doing anything wrong, but he doesn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention, since there’s some doubt about whether the Victorian Government classifies skateboarding as legitimate exercise. But it’s not all doom and gloom. LC has worked hard to shoot a full photo feature and can still have a laugh about the random messages he gets from Pontus Alv; the time he smashed his teeth in; and the Nike Quick Strikes that he’s been saving for a rainy day. Hopefully, soon things will go back to normal, and LC will be able to session spots outside the five-kilometre radius around his house. Until then he’ll be sessioning the long ledge at IMAX. And dodging the cops.
Interview by Nat Kassel.
LC, what’s happening today?
I’ve just been skating at IMAX and then I went across to Lincoln Circle to get a coffee. I’m sitting here now drinkin’ it.
Are you still heavily addicted to caffeine? What’s your coffee count for the day?
Today I had two at home and then I had one like an hour ago, so this is number four right now. I’ll probably have another one before I go home.
Is five per day a fairly standard coffee count for you?
Five’s a little bit above average but maybe three or four a day is standard.
How’s the vibe right now in Melbourne with stage four lockdown?
It’s pretty bleak. I can only really skate at IMAX, or Tiny Dancer, which is the Grattan Street ledges. It’s just a small ledge on a slant with shitty ground. But it’s really tense skating. You’re on edge the whole time, looking out for cops, and leaving as soon as you see a cop walking towards you in the distance. You hit the legs, just trying to stay safe. Only those two spots are safe because you can see cops coming from a mile away.
What exactly are the rules around skateboarding?
You’re allowed to skate for an hour a day, but even that’s a bit suss because some people will say skating’s exercise and some people will say it isn’t. So you could get a fine from a cop if they say that skateboarding isn’t exercise. That’s why you don’t want to talk to them at all, and you hit the legs before they come.
Do you know anyone who’s been fined for skating during the lockdowns?
Yeah, some skaters got fined in Docklands. It was just two people, one person filming VX and the other person was skating. They got fined and the cops told them that skating wasn’t exercise and they were supposed to just stay home and do nothing. So it’s pretty stressful trying to film and skate at the moment.
When the council cut notches out of this perfect ledge at No Piss Plaza, LC personally filled every single one of those notches with the gap-fill product Knead It, making the ledge skateable again. He celebrated this DIY refurbishment by doing as many tricks as he could on it, including this backside 180 reverse nosegrind to fakie. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
Are you rocking a mask when you’re skating?
I’ve been rocking a mask sometimes – if I’m by myself or if I see that there’s been cops around – but a lot of the time I’ve just been skating with my mask in my pocket and making sure I’m not near people. Some random civilians have come up to me and told me that I should be wearing a mask, but I think skating is exercise and you don’t have to wear a mask when you’re running. So if I can’t breathe with my mask, I’ll take it off. Also, if you’re drinking a coffee or smoking a cigarette, you don’t have to wear a mask. I was drinking a coffee before and talking on the phone, and some lady came up to me and was standing in my face, holding her mask, trying to make a point that I didn’t have mine on. I was like, “I’m drinking a coffee. I don’t have to wear the mask.” Some people don’t want to see other people not wearing a mask when they have to wear one, which is fair enough, I guess.
Has it been pretty tense in that respect? Are people on edge?
For sure, I’ve noticed people taking photos and filming other people without masks. I get it, they’re bummed that they don’t have something that they can do that adheres to the rules. A lot of people can’t do the thing that they love right now because of COVID, and they’re bummed when they see someone like me having fun. So they try to stop you.
So right now you’re only allowed to be within five kilometres of your house. Is that how it works?
Yeah, I’m really lucky because I live so close to the city, so I can still skate the places that I usually skate. I live in Brunswick, so I can skate the northern half of the city. I can skate IMAX and Tiny Dancer freely with one other person, just for an hour. So that’s pretty good.
If you can only skate in pairs, is it a bit awkward if you rock up to IMAX and find four people are there?
For sure, it’s pretty sketchy. What I’ve been trying to do is to make sure that my stuff isn’t where everyone else’s stuff is. Then if any cops come, I can say that I came here by myself and I don’t know any of these people. But it’s pretty hard because you’ll be the first person there and then all these people rock up and sit where your stuff is. Then you move it and everyone somehow sits where your stuff is. It’s pretty annoying. A lot of the time I’ve just left if the cops come because it’s up to their discretion to say whether or not I’m with all these other people.
It must be tough. I guess you’re the sort of person who’s trying to skate the city every single day. Have you picked up any other hobbies? How have you been keeping busy?
It is for sure. I’ve been borrowing my dad’s mountain bikes and learning how to do wheelies. I’ve been spending a lot of time doing that, which isn’t really that productive, but it’s been fun getting some exercise. And then I’ve been watching a lot of TV shows on repeat. I’ve been watching a lot of Peep Show and The IT Crowd and The Office – that sort of stuff.
This crusty green ledge, in the heart of Melbourne city, is typically surrounded by chains, but they were easily unscrewed. After sliding out on all four wheels on the top of the ledge and falling onto one of the bollards, LC managed to gap into a frontside nosegrind and then pop out over the dirt. It’s a safe bet that he was at least four coffees deep at this point of the night. Maybe five. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
You’re 23, right? Is it weird being young and hungry to do stuff but to be locked down? Do you feel like the pandemic is taking your best years?
Yeah, I just turned 23. I guess so, but at the same time, Melbourne is where I’m most comfortable, so I feel like I can just skate the spots that I’ve always skated and try to outdo the tricks that I’ve done before. It definitely would be good to go skate other places, but I’m still happy skating what I’ve got. It’s just really frustrating right now because the only ledge that I can skate is the one at IMAX and it’s way too tall to learn new tricks, so I’m stuck at the moment doing the same tricks over and over again. But I guess it’s just this period that’s going to be shit. As soon as I can travel more than five kilometres, I’ll be able to skate what I want to skate and do proper stuff again.
So I guess you’re not dreaming about going to Europe.
You’re just thinking about the city opening up again? Yeah, I’m not really too concerned about not being able to travel for now, as long as I can have fun skating here. I’m just trying to make the most of what we’ve got ’til we’re free again.
And you were working at Fast Times. What happened with that when COVID hit?
Yeah, before COVID I was working for Fast Times and that was real good. I was working in the city and I’d go straight to the skatepark after, or skate before work. And I’d just be chatting with my friends all day. But I was casual and all the people that actually had to pay for rent got to keep their shifts, so I got cut off first. But that’s all good because I don’t really have responsibilities.
Fired up by the infectious energy of Nick Boserio on the huck, LC backed Brass up with a full-speed frontside noseslide, popping out and over the stairs. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER
You live with your parents?
Yeah, I’m living with my parents in Brunswick, but COVID has got me wanting to move out and feeling guilty about living with my parents. My parents both work a lot, so I wouldn’t really see them on a normal day. They’d go to work at six in the morning and go to bed at nine. And then I would wake up at nine, skate all day and get home after they’d gone to bed. It felt like I’d moved out without actually moving out. But now, with COVID, they’re both working from home and having meetings all day. I’ll wake up and I can’t make a coffee downstairs because my mum’s teaching a class – she’s an English teacher, so she’s Zoom-teaching all day, pretty much. It’s pretty hectic in the house. At the same time, it’s good to be able to hang out with them more.
Are you on JobSeeker Payments right now?
Yeah, it’s real good. I’m getting more money than when I was working and I get to skate all day. It’s amazing.
Good for you. And you’re skating for Polar. Have you met Pontus Alv?
Nah, I haven’t met him. My only real interaction with him is through DMs on Instagram. He sends me sketches and heaps of random stuff. It’s pretty cool. It feels crazy that he’s DMing me.
He seems like a bit of an eccentric artist.
For sure, he is.
Geoff Campbell, your TM at Nike, was saying that you tend to obsess over spots for a period and then move onto another spot. For a while, it was City Park, then No Piss Plaza and now it seems to be IMAX. What makes you obsess and then what makes you move onto the next place?
Yeah, I don’t know, I start to find one thing fun, and then I really enjoy it and I want to keep the feeling going. Then I’ll rinse it too hard and get over it and have to find something else. It’s IMAX at the moment, but that’s just because IMAX is the last resort and I don’t have anything else to skate. I’m getting pretty sick of it, but I have to keep trying to find ways to make it fun. I really love No Piss [Plaza] because you can skate the big out-ledges and all you have to do is hold one of your go-to tricks for a long time and pop it out. You have to really know your trick to hold it on that big out-ledge.
I feel like you’re the master of holding a ledge trick for a long time.
Yeah, that’s my favourite shit. I love it [laughs].
Your backside 180 nosegrind at the big No Piss Plaza out-ledge is gnarly.
Thank you. That’s one of my favourite tricks, so I’m hyped to get it on that. I was trying it out forwards and then I just landed it to fakie. Maybe I’ll do it out forwards as well. I’ll probably just rinse it and do every single trick I can on that thing.
What tricks have you done on it so far? I imagine you’ve pinched a front crook on it?
Yeah, I’ve pinched it [laughs]. I’ve done a lot of tricks on it. I really enjoy skating that thing
Finding spots during stage four lockdown is hard enough, but renovating the spot and then skating it in a busy area is even harder. LC handled it all in one day, sliding this backside tailslide up the curve and popping out fakie. Much better than bleeding from the mouth on a packed tram.PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
Sick. That nollie front nose at Yarra Pad is sick too. You got that one in before they destroyed it.
Yeah, that spot’s so sick. I just wanted to get some stuff on that before it got demolished. It feels good to get the last trick on it for sure. And no one else can skate it now [laughs].
Why did they get rid of it?
That’s a hotspot in Melbourne for homeless people. The city wanted to get rid of those big pads because that’s where homeless people camp out. But they’ve demolished it all, and I think their plan is to put a big grass mound underneath, which homeless people will probably like more than a concrete pad.
That’s quite a brutal reason to destroy a spot, isn’t it?
For sure, where are the homeless people going to go? They’re just moving them somewhere else.
The Yarra Pad was destroyed recently, but not before LC got to leave a little legacy at the iconic Melbourne spot. Here he nollies into a long and satisfying frontside noseslide. PHOTOS: BRYCE GOLDER
What about the frontside noseslide, did you pop out over the stairs?
Yeah, I popped out over the second set of stairs. That one was pretty hard. I was skating that with Brass [Nick Boserio] and I was pretty hyped. I wanted to try huck because he was hucking. That spot’s real hard to skate because you have to roll away through some grass at the landing. I landed it and rolled halfway through the grass and then stuck. I don’t know if it’s a questionable make, but hopefully it looks good. Moki actually found that spot and it’s such a gem. It’s not too far from the city and looks like it’s been there for a long time. We experimented with using an angle grinder to smooth the edge of the ledge and it worked a treat.
What about your curved crooks next to the Yarra River?
That spot’s been there since forever and it’s right next to City Park. I’ve looked at that thing for my whole life and thought about how fun it would be to noseslide it. So as COVID started to hit, it wasn’t that serious, but the city was empty, and I decided that it was a good time to make that thing skateable. So I uncapped that and did the crooks. I showed Riley [Pavey] the spot and he skated it a few weeks after when he came down. His board slipped out and went in the water. We tried to get it out with Geoff’s tripod and it snapped in half [laughs]. He managed to fish it out and fix it with Knead It though. That spot’s real risky with your board going in or getting your foot caught in the fence.
While an all-ages pole dancing class at Burt’s Dance Studio sounds pretty suss, this boned kicky out of the bump and over the bench was totally legit. Ben reckons flip tricks don’t come as easy for him as ledge tricks, but here’s proof that the dude can still flip his board over a bench with the best of them. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER
I remember in your New Gen, two years ago, you talked about your love for uncapping spots. Are you still Melbourne’s hardest-working spot uncapper?
I definitely wouldn’t claim to be the hardest working uncapper in Melbourne, but I have uncapped some ledges at IMAX that haven’t been skateable for a long time now, so we’ve got that to skate during lockdown. Basically, I just want as many options of things to skate as possible. It’s also really rewarding sliding through a ledge that you just made skateable. It gets you hyped to skate in general.
Do you uncap just for yourself or as an act of community service?
It’s kind of selfish. I uncap the stuff that I want to skate and then anyone’s free to skate it. But I mostly uncap the things I want to skate. It’s a good feeling though, seeing a spot I uncapped in a video and knowing that the trick wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t have uncapped the spot.
The noseslide pop up to noseslide is cool and different.
Yeah, Max [Couling] actually showed me that spot. I think he made that thing skateable. I’m hyped on that. I just saw it and was like, man, someone needs to do that. I practised it and managed to pull it off.
Popping out of a noseslide is one thing, but popping out and into another noseslide on a higher ledge is something else entirely. Clearly, this man knows how to skid his nose. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
With the backing of the government’s JobSeeker program, LC has the financial security and time to gap out past the rail and into a stylish frontside tailslide. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
You smashed your teeth in recently. What happened?
Yeah, so I was skating this spot called Weird Noise with Gabbers [Gabriel Summers] and Albert [D’Urbano]. It was this out-ledge that drops onto this other out-ledge, and in between shots I was nollie nosegrinding this two-stair out-ledge. On one of them, I got so unlucky. My board popped up into my teeth and it was all over. Two teeth got knocked into the roof of my mouth, and they were fully displaced in the roof of my mouth. Another three teeth got chipped as well. I had a hole in my face. It was so gnarly. As soon as it happened, I was like, “Fuck, I just fucked my shit up so bad.”My mate Albert was like, “Can I have a look?” and then he says, “Whoa, your teeth are fucked!” Gabbers was like, “Get out of here, Albert. You’re supposed to keep people calm in this situation.” That was so scary. But it didn’t hurt at all, which was the weird thing. So I had to catch a tram to the hospital with my teeth up in the roof of my mouth. I couldn’t close my mouth properly.
Why not get an Uber or a taxi?
My mates wanted to call a taxi for me, but I just didn’t want to do that for some reason. I wasn’t in pain, so I was like, “I’ll just catch the tram.” It wasn’t too far. But I started freaking on the tram so I probably should have gotten a taxi or an Uber. Everyone on the tram was giving me weird looks because my lip was split open and I had blood gushing out of my face. I looked pretty gnarly.
Ben says, “The tiles at this spot are super wobbly, so it’s kinda sketchy to skate. On one of the attempts, I slipped out and copped the peak of the ledge to my arse. My board went flying, bounced off the wall and hit me in the face.” Luckily, he didn’t lose any teeth that day and he eventually he managed to put down this uphill frontside lipslide pop out at RMIT. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
Hectic.
Yeah, and I got to the hospital and the receptionist was like, “Yeah, you’ll leave here in a few hours and your teeth will be perfect. You’ll never have to worry about them again.” Then as soon as I get out the back, they’re like, “Nah, we can’t fix your teeth here. You’re going to have to make an appointment with your dentist and go to the dentist in a few days or something.” I’m like, “Man, how am I supposed to sleep with teeth in the roof of my mouth? I can’t close my mouth right now.” It was so gnarly. They were like, “We’ve just got to make sure your neck’s not broken, and then you can leave and make a dentist appointment.” So I somehow convinced my mum to walk out of the hospital with me and find an emergency dentist. We had to go all the way to Moorabbin, which is really far from my house. It took ages to get there and then they pushed my teeth back out of the roof of my mouth and back into place, just with their thumbs.
Two years ago, in LC’s New Gen, he was pictured boardsliding this curvy rail contraption. Now he steps it up with a long and winding noseslide. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
Heavy.
Yeah, one of the teeth that got knocked out of place got snapped in half, so the root of it was stuck up in there, but the actual tooth was out in the wrong place. So I’ve gotten the bottom half removed and then I have to get a fake tooth put in there.
Was it your front teeth?
One of my front teeth got chipped completely in half, and the one next to the front on the right side is completely gone right now.
Did you have dental cover?
Nah, my parents have had to pay for it, and I’m going to have to pay them back one day when I have money. But I’m lucky that my parents are paying for it now. It’s cost five grand so far, and I’m still missing a tooth.
It sucks that that’s not covered by Medicare.
Yeah, I think if I could have gotten it done in the hospital, then it would have been free, but because of COVID, they weren’t doing any dental work in the hospital.
I’ve seen you skating in a few of the Nike Quick Strikes lately on Instagram.
Yeah, I’m loving Dunks so much right now. I’m a pretty tall guy and I’m pretty heavy, so vulcanised shoes get real floppy real quick. It’s good skating Dunks because they keep their shape for a lot longer and they skate the same when they’re old as when they’re new. You can just finish skating a pair, put on a new pair and they’re exactly the same as the pair you just had.
You were even skating the Travis Scott’s. They’re worth a few grand a pair, right?
Well, I skated them but I only popped my board twice. The tricks I did in them, I did first shot, so I didn’t actually really skate them. They’re still brand new. I’m definitely saving them for when I’ve got something that I know I can land pretty easy and get a secure clip.
Do you think the sneakerheads like seeing you skating in them?
Yeah, people really want the shoes and then they trip when they see people wearing them. I guess it’s a really easy way to be more seen – just wear some shoes that everyone wants. So many people are trying to buy the shoes and they can’t even buy them. Then you can make an Insta clip in a pair of Travis’ and do some easy shit and everyone will freak out because of the shoes. They don’t even care about the skating, just do a weak trick in some good shoes.
Did you get followers out of that?
Yeah, with the Travis Scott ones, sneaker pages repost it and shit. So I guess your clip goes further when you’re skating those shoes. It’s good to do that, but I guess it’s kinda wack at the same time.
Flattening the curve is the main priority, but in the meantime, a switch front crooked grind around this curved ledge will do. PHOTO: BRYCE GOLDER
Sneaker culture is crazy. It’s like a fetish.
It’s popping off so hard right now, especially the Travis Scott’s and the Ben and Jerry’s and the Grateful Dead Dunks – they’re all popping off so hard.
Are you a collector? Have you got some shoes stashed away for a rainy day?
Yeah, I’ve got a couple of pairs for a rainy day. Someday I reckon I’ll be able to buy a house with all these Dunks that I’ve been saving. I definitely want to skate in a lot of them though. But I need to know I’m going to land something if I’m going to skate in the expensive shoes.
Tell me about the video that you’re working on with Geoff. Where are we going to see all your recent footage?
Geoff’s working on a Nike Melbourne video, which should be coming out by the end of the year. I think he wants to get the Sydney guys down for one more trip to Melbourne – if that’s possible with the COVID situation. I think he’s got enough footage already, so it should be good. Keep your eyes out for that video. It doesn’t have a name yet but Rowan [Davis] and Squish [Jack O’Grady] and Noah [Nayef] have done the most insane shit that’s ever been done in Melbourne. Rowan’s cover [from Slam issue 226] is so fucked. The gap to back 50 – I was there, and Sean Malto was there, standing behind me, and when Rowan landed it Sean grabbed my shoulders and was like, ‘What the fuck?’ I turned around and in my head, I was like, What the fuck? It’s Sean Malto.
So it’s a Melbourne video but with Sydney guys too?
Yeah, so the whole video is filmed in Melbourne, and it’s got the Nike riders from everywhere in Australia. It’s got most of the Nike Australia team and I think Sean Malto has a guest trick.
As a final question, have you grown out of the nickname Lincoln Child yet? You’re 23 now. You’re a man.
Nah, I’m still Lincoln Child. Everyone still calls me LC. And I’m still here at Lincoln Square, right now.
It’s a good feeling … knowing that the trick wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t have uncapped the spot,” says LC. Ollieing over the blind bumps and into this lengthy crooks around the bend must have felt phenomenal. PHOTO: TOMOKI PETERS
Stay tuned for Ben Lawrie's SOTY video dropping next week on the SLAM YOUTUBE.
SLAM SOTY RECIPIENTS
2004: Cale Nuske
2005: Shane Cross
2006: Jake Duncombe
2007: Chima Ferguson
2008: Lewis Marnell
2009: Andrew Brophy
2010: Dane Burman
2011: Shane O’Neill
2012: Nick Boserio
2013: Tommy Fynn
2014: Jack Fardell
2015: Gabriel Summers
2016: Jake Hayes
2017: Jackson Pilz
2018: Alex Lawton
2019: Jack O'Grady
2020: Rowan Davis
2021: Ben Lawrie
