Shaun Currie is a skater who lives in Sheffield, England, who’s quick-footed style and slick bag of tricks have seen him become one of the most standout skaters in the UK.
But everybody knows that there’s more to Shaun than his skating, he’s humble, hilarious and has a creative mind and talent for comedy.
So we thought it was the right time to sit down with Shaun and chat about his skate career, sponsors, his skits and his video parts.
Read his interview below to find out what it was like growing up in North London, Skating with Hold Tight Henry for Concrete Poets Writers Block Video, going to Southbank, getting inspiration from Nick Jensen and Jerome Campbell, hanging with Timmy Garbett and Ash Hall,moving to Sheffield, going in for the Ravenous video for Slugger with Martin Kennelly and Tom Knox, getting sponsored by Vans and Skateboard Café, making friends with Mark Pritchard, filming with Rich Smith and James Cruickshank, making his own comedy skit videos, his favourite photos, videos and skaters of all-time and much more.
How did you start to skate Shaun?
It was when my next door neighbour brought his board out for the first time and I saw him skate on it.
It was one of those really cheap boards but it was then I realised what a skateboard was. I didn’t have a go at the time but I wanted one.
What year was that?
I started skating in 1999, so when I was 9 years old.
Where did you learn to skate?
I skated outside my house before I went anywhere. For some reason I always remember getting a brick and a piece of wood and setting those up as a ramp and trying to skate out of that. I remember when I figured out why I was hitting the wood that I kept falling off. One day, it just clicked in my head and I was like oh shit!
I figured out why I was decking it so hard, I realised I that I had to lean back a bit first. It really tripped me out at the time.
Where did you go to school in London?
I went to a primary school in Edgware, in North West London and I went to high school in Harrow.
So you grew up in North London?
Yeah. I still remember there was a tune for the area I was from North Wheezy; it went like ‘Where are we from? North Wheezy? How do we make money? It’s Easy! I’d always hear my older brother listening to it.
Who was in your first skate crew?
I didn’t have a ‘crew’ but I had this one friend who I started to skate with called Aidan who also lived in Edgware.
When was the first time you left Edgware to skate?
We would go to Harrow Skatepark, which wasn’t too far from where we lived. But for us back then, that was us exploring!
Yeah, the idea of getting on The Underground at the time felt like getting on a plane! I don’t know man, I didn’t know too much about skating at the time. Started going to Harrow and then I learnt about a skate shop there called HSC.
What was the first skate video that you saw?
The first videos I saw were Squadrophenia and the Reaction Skateboards video and Reaction was the first ever proper deck I ever got too.
When did you first skate Central London?
The first spot I went to was with Anthony Demascio. He was the first person that I went into Central London with. One of the first spots I skated there when I got the confidence was the Moorgate eight stair.
What trick did you try down it?
I was just Ollieing it at first. Yeah, there’s footage of me breaking my board and stressing at Anthony because he laughs at me. I start to kick off and my voice is so squeaky and I sound so young. Then, he just starts going off at me and I say I’m going to punch him; it was ridiculous you have to see it to believe it.
When did you first go to Southbank?
I can’t remember exactly when but I remember I was there with Henry Edwards-Wood and Jin Shimizu.
I met Jin first at PlayStation and I went to Southbank and saw him there and then I met Henry there, through Jin.
What was it like filming Concrete Poets?
Henry just took us around when it came to filming in the City. I had no idea where I was going in the city.
I always remember how I felt when he took me to Canary Wharf, that Cabot Square spot. I was like what the fuck; I couldn’t believe it was real. A perfect marble ledge going across a two-set! As if I could actually try and skate it. I got a Kickflip 5-0 Grind across it and I was super hyped.
I’d seen it on skate videos before I went there but I still couldn’t believe it was in London. I saw Jensen skate it in Lost and Found.
What were you most stoked on from your part?
I was stoked on the Tre Flip I did in that video, it was in the line where I do a Tre Flip a three stair and then Front Shuvit down a seven set.
Did you watch Lost and Found a lot?
Yeah, I watched it too much! I really wanted to be Nick Jensen at one point.
He opened my eyes to the ideas of wearing cords! I started buying cords once I saw him wearing them.
But after Jensen it was Colin Kennedy’s section too, I loved the song he had.
What was your favourite trick in Jensen’s part?
I’m not sure you know. It’s hard to think when you’re put on the spot.
What about the opening line he does at SB?
Yeah, the line with the wallie at the start. Also just all the mix of heavy tricks and tech stuff he did always played with me when I watched Nick’s part because he was this skinny guy, who did all these sick tricks and skated down huge handrails.
Personally for me, he had this thing about his wrists, it was just something about that man, I always loved that, I wish I could do shit like that, with that style. It made every one of his tricks amazing for me.
What was the Concrete Poets premiere like?
I was just stoked to be a part of it really but I actually never went to the London premiere of the video.
Why not?
I was too young to go to it! Hold Tight sent me the DVD at the time though.
When did you move from London to Sheffield?
I moved to Sheffield when I was about 16. We were still filming for Concrete Poets when I moved here and the video came out and was promoted by the Story Store in Sheffield that Mark Baines used to run here.
I was so stoked when the whole crew from London came up to Sheffield to come see me and skate. They had a video premiere in Sheffield too when the video came out that I did get to go to as well.
Because it was in Sheff, it’s a smaller scene so the whole city saw it. I feel like if it it was in London only a few people would have seen it but here in Sheffield, everybody saw that one. It was good to have the homies there too!
What was it like skating with Jerome Campbell?
Jerome is such a down to earth guy. I’d see him and talk to him normally but I was fanning out on his skating hard. Because I saw him skate before I moved to Sheffield and I met some of the people who rode for Story like Danny Beall, Timmy Garbett and this filmer called Matt Hirst.
There was a trailer for the story video Matt was making and Lucien Clarke was sponsored by Story and he was in that video.
Yeah Matt Hirst’s videos were sick
Yeah, he helped to film some of the footage that was in Lost and Found.
I remember Lucien came up to me at Southbank and he said you’re moving to Sheffield aren’t you? He was like these guys are from Sheffield.
That day I met Danny Beall and Timmy Garbett and the first thing Timmy said to me was do you want a game of skate?
He didn’t even properly say hi to me or anything! He just wanted a game of skate and the first trick he did was a Switch Double Heel and I was like what!? I can’t fucking do that! I’ll always remember that. I just gave up mid-game and was over it.
What a first impression!
He’s not even from Sheffield; he’s from a small town nearby called Chesterfield. You can only imagine how he felt when he came to London, like yeah I’m going to show these Londoners what it’s all about!
Do you have a favourite trick by Timmy?
Probably. He’s got a lot of great tricks. He’s got a banging Switch Heel. He’s got them down; he’s got the pop, the flick and the catch down. That’s his signature.
Yeah, he flicks them like Bryan Herman
He’ll be stoked to hear that, Herman and Reynolds are his favourite skaters.
Jerome skating at Dev Green is sick. What’s your favourite trick by Jerome at Dev Green?
My favourite trick has to be him doing a Tre Flip Nosestall on the bank to sub-block. I remember seeing him do it first go. The timing and the flick, he just knew when to pop it and connect it to the wall.
There are probably other things but the Tre Flip Nosestall, he times it so well, the pop out is timed so well, it’s like he’s on a bouncy castle. He doesn’t stand there, he’s in and he’s out.
Did Jerome influence your skating in anyway?
A lot of the tricks I do, I do because of the way that he did them. The Treflip Nosestall thing, I do that at Dev because of him. The way he did it on the bank to block, he makes it look so comfortable, and it made me want to do it too.
At what point did you get sponsored?
I got hooked up by Vans, through Nic Powley. I think he saw me skating at the House comp. I remember I asked him a year or two ago why he hooked me up. He said I had a nice Kickflip and he thought I was a funny guy and it was as easy as that.
It’s crazy how long how I’ve been on them now!
How long have you been skating for Vans now?
It’s got to be like over ten years now. I just want to stay loyal to them. They take me to places and the amount of shoes I get are decent. So why would I turn that down? They’ve been so nice to me; nobody’s going to offer me a better deal than them!
With Vans, if I need shoes, I can just hit them up and they will send them to me.
What’s the best thing about skating for Vans?
Vans are about their events and they want you to be there. I’m stoked to be on Vans and be a black skater from the UK on the brand. It makes me feel unique because you don’t really have many skaters who skate what I do and have the sponsors that I do. In a way, where I can skate street and I wear Vans in the UK, it’s not something that you see very often and I’m happy to be a part of the brand in that way.
Pfanner and Chima are black skaters from Austria and Australia on Vans but your skating is more low impact
Yeah, I like Ray Barbee as well. I love to watch him skate. He was always having fun and I was always like I wanted to skate and look like I’m having as much fun as Ray on my board.
Yeah, Ray’s tricks have changed skateboarding
Yeah, I remember seeing his footage in 411’s on VHS.
Do you have a favourite 411?
For some reason Bam Margera’s 411 I had on DVD. I liked Bam. I buzzed off his footage. Some people don’t want to admit it but Bam was the shit at the time.
When it came to out the box tricks, he was on it
I loved his Nollie 3s over hips and that Kickflip at FDR
Why did you start making comedy skits and put them online?
I think Ash Hall who used to work at the House. He persuaded me to get Facebook and when I got on there, he was trying to get me to post some funny skit-type videos.
I don’t even know man. I’ve done so many random things. Honestly I wouldn’t even be able to tell you the first one!
What motivates you to make your comedy skit stuff?
I just stopped caring about what other people thought one day, I thought I liked doing funny stuff in real life anyway, why not try to do it online. I wasn’t thinking about everyone who followed me, I just wanted the people that I know in real life, who actually know me, to see them and to get a reaction from them. But then people who didn’t know me found it even funnier!
You and Tom Knox had a joint section in the first Ravenous video, what was it like filming it?
It was super laidback. It wasn’t anything too special. Other people were filming for it. So there would be days were Timmy would be Switch Heeling down big stairs and we’d all just be watching him and then the next day someone else.
Making that video was way more Sheffield scene orientated, it was never like ‘oh this is The Ravenous Crew’.
Although it was called the Ravenous video, it was way before they started a skate brand. It was genuinely just the Sheffield skate scene, skating together.
Do you have a favourite trick from that part?
It’s probably the Shifty Kickflip that I did over that bump to bar spot in Sheffield?
How did that one go down?
I think that was the first time I ever went there. It was just the same day; I got a Frontside Flip over it too. I liked the Kickflip over the Frontside Flip though. I didn’t mean to Shifty it, it was just natural the way it happened. As I was Kickflipping the board shiftied by accident because I was putting so much effort into the pop and that made it kind of tweaked to the side.
Do you have a favourite trick of Tom Knox?
The Nollie and the Back 3 he does on the same spot in the Ravenous video. Tom Knox’s just talented he was a natural. The spot he does it at is just awkward to skate, it’s just so good.
Do you have a favourite story about Kennelly? He’s always been doing a lot in the UK Scene.
I don’t have a funny story but I definitely have had a load of good experiences with him. At the beginning of the Ravenous video, where I got my coat caught in the door handle. He was saying that I couldn’t skate it because that spot’s so awkward and that I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I kept trying.
That day I was bigging up my coat and when he filmed me getting caught on that door you could tell he was stoked.
He was cracking up because he told me it was going to go wrong before it happened. You can hear it in his voice. The way he laughs, he’s a joker. You can tell that really made him laugh.
As a person, he’s super down to earth. He’s got his own distribution and skateshop called Slugger here in Sheffield and he’s been able to hook people up and he gives me Shake Junt grip when he can. I just see him as a friendly dad! He’s rad.
Who was your first board sponsor?
Science. After Concrete Poets, after I moved to Sheffield. Ash got hooked up around the same time.
I was excited to go down to London get on a coach and stay on his couch and go out and skate and film. We’d never really plan anything. Go to Southbank. Chris would just let us stay there for as long we needed to and those were some of the first proper skate missions that I ever went on then. It was cool, going with Ash too, going with a new friend who’d never really been to London before.
How did you get on Skateboard Café?
Mark Pritchard came to Sheffield for University and we got along so well, it was crazy. We’ve got the same humour, he told me how his friend Rich Smith from Bristol was coming down.
I was hanging out with Mark every night at the time basically and I met Rich when he came down to visit Mark one time. We filmed a couple tricks, were hanging out, drinking beers, here and there at Dev.
It happened really naturally. I think back then it wasn’t like a board company as much, they just had T-Shirts.
Mark hit me up with a shirt and said Rich asked me if you’d want to rep this and I was so quick to say yes because it made sense. I was the first person to skate for Skateboard Café who was from outside of Bristol, who wasn’t a friend of the main crew at the time.
You’ve seen Skateboard Cafe grow from the start, how has it been for you?
It’s super positive. I give so much props to Rich, I don’t know how he does it man! Handling the brand, coming up with ideas and filming? I wish I could help out more, I help out with ideas but he kind of knows what he wants you know?
Rich is really persistent. Just like with his filming. He won’t take any camera. It’s always been on VX. Sometimes he’ll be on VX and he’ll be like ah man, the colours aren’t right.
If there’s footage of me in Sheffield in a Café edit, it will be because he came to Sheffield and filmed me.
Yeah, I saw that James Cruickshank filmed a few clips of you in Sheffield in the last Skate Café video. How did that 270 flip over the bank go down?
That was one of the best tricks that I filmed so he had to put it in despite the colours being different to his setup!
What about the Wallride at the start of your part?
I found that spot. I went spot hunting one day and its right up the road from that hip spot in Sheffield. It’s built on loads of hills and I just loved it. I’m a big fan of San Francisco spots and stuff like that so when I saw that, I thought this is like the SF spot of Sheffield, I’ve got to film something.
Yeah, you did it in a line
Yeah the hill is so steep, you don’t have to push. I just stepped on my board did a Half Cab Flip and then had enough to speed to do the Wallride.
Yeah, I think one of the most memorable things is you talking to the camera at the start?
I was with a load of mates and there was this girl called Kirsty and she was trying to hype me up and stuff. She just started hyping me up till the point I started saying dumb random stuff to the camera and then I was like on this one, I‘ll say something and send it.
So saying that made me want to do the Wallride, for a lot of the time I was Wallriding on it and jumping off, I wouldn’t come out off the Wallride. But after saying that to the camera, it made me relax and I just went for it. I stuck it and I ended up riding it away! Like what the fuck!
What about the 270 Flip over the hip?
When I said this one for a pint of black ale before I did the 270 Flip that was the only one that I actually stuck and I ended up riding away. As I was trying them, James Cruickshank was saying that I looked like maybe I wasn’t on it and telling me to stop and that maybe we should try it another day but I said that stuff about wanting a Guinness to make him laugh.
That was all down to Harry Ogilvie. He loves Guinness. We were chatting on the phone that day and Cruickshank and I we were just talking about drinking it all that day. James loves it and so does my dad. So we were cracking up, it took my mind off it long enough to get the trick.
Who’s your favourite skater to watch right now?
Jahmir Brown! He’s in this new Bronze edit. His style is amazing, there’s so much character to it. His style is sick and kind of sketchy but that’s what I like.
What’s your favourite skate video of all-time?
You know the first Document Big Push video? Probably have to choose that when I think of UK videos.
Section-wise- I’d have to say, Nick Jensen’s section in Lost and Found.
Favourite skate photo?
My mate Mark Pritchard, doing a sick nosebonk off a wall down a drop, on a big white wall. Reece Leung shot it. I really liked that, he’s a good friend of mine so it adds to the shot.
Yeah, Reece is a great photographer. Any last words for anyone out there reading this?
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has ever helped me out, my mom and my dad, Rich, all my close friends. My parents helped me out so much; I’m epileptic so I have seizures in my sleep so it’s hard for me to be able to hold down a job and stuff like that. If it wasn’t for my parents I wouldn’t be able to lead a normal life.
I’ve got to give a big shoutout to Korahn Gayle for when I stayed over at his in London and I had an epileptic attack in my sleep. He helped me out so much.Even when the paramedics came they said he did the perfect things. He’s the best guy, with such a great attitude to life and skateboarding. I’ve got nothing but love for Korahn. From the first time we chatted, we’ve always got along.
What are your plans for the future Shaun?
I’ve always wanted to get my name on a skate café board but I definitely have to skate more and harder in general and so I’m just trying to do that as hard as I can right now.
