Tony Gale

Born and raised where?
Derby, England

Current hometown (and best thing about it)
Tunbridge Wells. The best thing about it is that it’s close to London without being *in* London – I get to dip in, do fun city things and attend skate events, and then leave. 

When not skating, I’m…
Shooting, developing, and printing from film. I have my own darkroom; it keeps me sane. It also helps keep me poor; Leicas are a pricy addictionShooting, developing, and printing from film. I have my own darkroom; it keeps me sane. It also helps keep me poor; Leicas are a pricy addiction.

Languages spoken
English

Favorite skating disciplines and skate spots
Freestyle – i.e. flatland shortboard dancing – will always be my first love, and one of the best things about that is I can do it anywhere, so I don’t really have a favourite spot for that. But I also adore slalom (even though I don’t do it enough) and bank skating. As a result, one of my favourite spots in the world is a place we call the Secret Bank, which is made of bricks and is so steep it’s like hitting a wallride and trying to do tricks on it. Like the Iron Sheik would say, it “keeps you humble”.

Favorite skaters to ride with
I love all the Moonshine Skateboards crew, but I’ve got to give a special shout-out to Ikkei Nagao. I’ve never known anyone go as fast into big tricks as he does, and I love watching him skate. Outside of the Moonshine team, one of my favourite guys to ride with is Turi Zoltan. The guy is built like a tank and it’s always fun riding with him and exploring weird trick ideas. Some of the best sessions I’ve ever had have been with Turi at freestyle contests.

One last shout out has to go to Daniel Adam. He’s one of the nicest and most humble guys I’ve ever met through skateboarding, and I could watch him skate all day. Super funny dude, too.

Sponsors
Moonshine Skateboards, Seismic, Offset Skate Supply, Synopsis Bearings, Jimmy’z

Favorite Seismic products
Gotta be the 95a Focus! Best urethane in the business

Skate heroes then and now
Fun fact: it was actually Dan Gesmer, head honcho of Seismic, that got me into freestyle! By default, he’s one of my biggest influences and heroes, so I’m stoked to have represented Seismic for so long.

Other big influences: Pierre Andre, Don Brown, Darryl Grogan, Toshiaki Fujii… and any other freestyler who knew what rolling was and how fun going fast could be

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All-time best skate vids
Marvelous 1 and 2. Japanese freestyle DVDs from the early 2000s. Look ’em up..

Favorite skate-day snack
Dried mango. The pure kind, without added sugar. It’s like fruit jerky. So good.

Top artists or tracks on your current playlist
I’m finally going to see the Notwist when they come over to England this year, so I’ve got their stuff on loop at the mo.

Most memorable achievement
I won the World Championship in 2017, but winning the Eurocana Reunion in Stockholm with a broken elbow in 2016 (with Per Welinder MCing!) was arguably a much cooler moment.

Goals for the future
Keep skating, keep figuring out weird variations on the original kickflip, and keep travelling the world with a board and a camera.