Interview: Andrew Currie

(questions by Drew, Photos by Rome, Adair & Chami)


stale - photo: adair

It seems heaps of shit has happened in your life in the past couple of years. You've changed shoe sponno's, board sponno's, worked in a skate shop, started a magazine, ended a magazine, started a board company and now working for Skateboard Australia. Like fuck, where do I start?

Yeah - it's been turbulent to say the least. The GFC hit and Volley's whole skate program got canned, Kewday started to struggle, and it became even harder to sell ad spaces in Fuknoath which meant we put it on hold until the industry is hopefully in a better place to support it. In the middle of all that my Mum got really sick and then passed away in February of this year, which is when I hit my really low point.

Yeah I heard about your mum, I was gonna send some kind of message of condolences but I'm real shit with sincerity. I heard she ran a shop somewhere and sold copies of Fuknoath. Am I tripping there?

She owned a takeaway food shop in Taree and used to give copies of Fuknoath to a few of the local skaters that would come in. She thought the 'zine was great and just couldn't get over the fact we called it 'Fuckin' Oath' - that cracked her up.

Sux about kewday especially considering how good that "promo vid" was that was put out before it went under with you chad and joe pease etc. That flicks under-rated. Did it ever come out on an actual DVD because I want a copy?

Yeah, we had a tight little team going and we got to do a super fun trip to the States along with Scotty Standley and Karl Bayldon. That vid never did make it to dvd , which is a bummer because I was really stoked on it.


method transfer - sickquence: rome

Was it just the demise of the kewday that made you turn hoon into a board company?

I'd always wanted to do Hoon as a board company, so I guess with Kewday ending it definitely fast-tracked plans a bit.

Are more guest models on their way? I heard you were gonna get sued or some shit because of the Duncombe board? Trev emailed me all crazy wanting me to remove any picture of it.

Yeah - Dustin has the next one, with graphics by Blair Heath. We already showed Dustin his graphic and he was stoked. Um yeah, I got some text message from Trevor saying I was going to get sued by Globe and Dwindle, but when I hit up Weiss and GV about it they said nobody ever mentioned suing us.

How did you feel when you got offered a pro model board on hoon? Were you nervous when you rang yourself up or did you tell yourself in person?

It was definitely a surprise, especially considering how old I am. We did it all in person, face to face - I think giving myself a wristy definitely sealed the deal though.

How long are you and Dorfus gonna hog those big fat royalty cheques for?

Well, ability-wise, Reece Warren is a better skateboarder than all of us, but he's only just starting to get the coverage. So, in the meantime it will just be me and Dorfus living large. I heard Tim bought an extra case of beer this month. Yep, we've made it.

Is there gonna be a new hoon vid anytime soon?

Yep - she's on-line this week. It's an 8 minute promo vid called 'Bogan' which we're gonna package up on a free dvd with all our other web-clips from the last 2 years, including the last couple of Oz Hoon Runs.



You were working at Darkside for a while there. How'd you go dealing with civillians?

It was fine. I mean you'd get a lot of spuds coming through trying on 15 different New Era caps, but Darkside is a pretty damn legit skateshop so you'd always have crew coming through you could talk skate with.

How do you see the future for Legit Skateshops?

Man, it fucking sucks for these guys right now. They're pushing shit up hill from every angle. I just hope that when times change for good again, and they will, crew remember who the guys were that stuck with skateboarding through the tough times. It's these little skate shops that really make the scene and without them skateboarding loses a part of its soul.

I guess you got some good insight now into retail. Will 3/4 length baseball tops remain popular? Can cupsoles really come back?

Coming from Queensland I'd doubt it's fair for me to make any calls on fashion trends. Up here we're all skating in budgie smugglers and double pluggers.

You're working for Skateboard Australia now, how did that happen and what does the new job involve?

I'd met Glenn who manages SBA through doing some demos for them. He seemed like a legit bloke and he got me paid properly for some demos, which was a nice change to having some dodgy kunt trying to rip you off for spare change. After that I started to pay a bit of attention to some of the stuff they were doing with introducing skateboarding to kids in regional and remote areas. I'd always thought the concept of coaching skateboarding was kind of lame, but when you go to a skatepark and teach a kid how to step on a board and push properly, and then see that kid amped on skateboarding rather than scooting, it's pretty rewarding.
Anyway, I saw they advertised a position on skateboard.com.au and I threw my hat in the ring. It's the first time I've submitted a resume' for anything in my life. So, now I'm the Events Manager for SBA. Basically I'll be running all their comps, from the Dew Series for juniors and opens, through to some bigger events for the pro / am guys, along with some pretty cool conceptual ideas for guys that maybe aren't keen on skating in front of a crowd - more video orientated stuff.


lippy to 5.0. - sickquence: adair

Do you think skateboarders in australia get taken advantage of? Want to name any shonky operators dudes should stick clear from?

I don't want to generalise about such a broad topic - some guys do well, others maybe not so well. It's always been my belief that skateboarding owes you nothing, so any financial benefit is merely a bonus. On the other hand it sucks when fly-by-nighters jump on the band-wagon offering kids the world, only to disappear into the void and onto the next potentially profitable 'action sport' or rodeo championship. Nah, no names to mention, just to say be wary of anyone offering you the world, telling you what they think you want to hear just to get their way, especially if they claim they want to 'manage' you.

Do you think your role with sba running comps will have an impact on your ability to run the betting. Who has lost the most amount of money to you and Darren in one go, and who did they throw down that cash on?

Well I'm looking to bring Kaehne on as our sanctioned bookmaker - just got a bit of red tape to cut through on that one. Remy Stratton was a pretty keen punter when it came to Cuptab - he threw down a couple of pineapples on some Volcom riders like Jakey.

Did you guys always finish in front on that or did you lose out? Were there any circumstances where a certain winner would have you stuffed and had you guys stressing out?

Let's just say we did alright. Yeah, there were a couple of moments where a wildcard could've seen us in the red.

Good to hear we havn't necessarily seen the last of Fuknoath. How have you been managing to hang shit on people with that medium currently unavailable? Mainly through more traditional channels like getting maggot at the bar and making an arsehole of myself. It's definitely a more personable approach, and I get the added excitement of potentially getting my face punched in.


front rock - photo: chami

Did you vote in the last election? If so were you rootin for Julia, Tony or Micellaneous?

I did vote. In fact it was the weekend of Shauny Eaton's Goldy Bowl weekend, so with Flaz, Anton, Kilderry, Parms and all the Melbs lads crashin' at my pad we called an impromptu 'erection' party. I have to admit that my vote was significantly swayed by the fact that I think Julia Gilliard is hot as fuck.

If you had to vote for someone to president of Australian skateboarding who would it be and why?

Simon Oxenham from Convic Skateparks. I believe he possesses true leadership qualities and an objective diplomatic outlook. I'm also impressed by his refusal to trim his ear hair - he's like skateboarding's answer to Bob Hawke.

What will be the mandatory must have go to trick for 2011?

I'm really hoping that thanks to Gonz in the Krooked vid bonelesses off curbs make a come-back. If I can avoid popping ollies all-together I might stay sponno'd for another year.