Tom’s recently received his own highly deserved pro model shoe for New Balance Numeric, hand in hand with scoring covers, a Dickies collection, his own “retrospective” zine of amazing skate photos he scored in his career, and his face in ads all over the place. That being said, here’s us doing our small part in adding to the pile of media attention and honoring one of the most unique skaters out there by collecting some wisdom he gathered during his stellar and ongoing career.
Just taking everything one day, one trip, and one trick at a time. I like having longer goals I want to achieve, and that can give a motivational hum in your brain. But skateboarding for me is about trying to feel good on the board and getting the most out of the days you have. Also being and staying fit, so the body works when the motivation comes.
It differs all the time – sometimes I can’t [laughs], but I guess I do find a lot from my family and friends. Also music, exercise, anything that shifts your thought patterns.
Well, I have an amazing wife who understands what I’m trying to do. That helps a lot. In terms of balancing, it’s about time management, trying to make the most out of the time you get to skate and the one you get with the kids. Skating for me has always felt better when it’s light-hearted and not so serious, so I try and keep that philosophy. Like when I’m out filming, I put pressure on myself, but it can’t always work out, and sometimes just playing about with your mates is all you need to get that feeling back.
It’s a lot easier these days with the kids, I have so much purpose between healing, physio, and then spending time with them. I definitely get down sometimes when I’m hurt, but once I’m good enough to do proper exercises, I start running and that usually helps with the mental health side of it.
It depends on the city, some city’s are hard to stumble across good spots, like LA where you really have to go out in a car and drive for miles and miles down random streets. I’m lucky to be from a more cramped city, where you can just skate around from spot to spot and keep your eyes peeled. That’s how it tends to work on trips in other cities, you go towards a spot you know and just keep your mind open. The best cities to skate are the ones where you never make it to the spot you were going towards.
The last couple years, I’ve been traveling more in the winter and trying to be in London for summer, which has been nice. London is a strange city. The winters are bad, but not like other places where it’s minus degrees and snowy for months, so you can get shit done here in the winter if you’re up for dealing with the elements. Sometimes they can be more productive, as when there’s a dry day, everyone’s trying to skate. When there’s a bad patch, I just go for runs, cook food, and hang out with the family.
