Skateboarding
The harder he works, the luckier he gets.
Starting out getting flowed boards by local pro’s he slowly worked his way to the top, humbly jumping in the van when he could and making a name for his self ripping some of the most difficult spots to skate. Picking up a few more sponsors, travelling the world, getting married and now his own color way on Etnies, Nick Garcia goes to show that a good attitude and a strong work ethic can take you far in skateboarding.
You've recently turned pro for Element and have a color way coming out with Etnies, seems like things are busy and good, how's all the recent change been? Yeah, I guess I haven't noticed much of a change, except maybe within myself...I guess I’m taking it a bit more seriously now, and when i get hurt its a bit more devastating...but aside from seeing my name on things, my day to day life doesn't feel much different.
How did you initially get on Element? It started with Tim-Tim giving me boards out of his boxes, and bringing me out skating....i just weaseled my way in from there.
Shortly after you got on DVS you switched to Etnies. What made you decide to switch over to Etnies a few years back? I loved DVS, but I guess I always felt pretty disconnected from the company, especially as some of the people I knew within the company started quitting or getting laid off. I had a fair few friends over at Sole Tech, both on the team and within the company, and I don’t know, it wasn't an easy decision, but when i looked at myself I just felt that Etnies was a better fit for me in the long run, I knew that anyone who was a real homie wouldn't be mad at me for too long.
You've travelled pretty much all over the world, what's been some of your favorite places to travel so far? Definitely Australia. It’s a comfortable place to spend a long time in, for an English speaker at least. It’s one of the only places that I'm never ready to leave when the time comes. Plus, I met my wife there.
What's one story from your travels that sticks out the most? There are endless stories from the road but one that sticks out in my head right now is this weird hotel we stayed at in Costa Rica. It was on a lake that was surrounded by a rainforest and two volcanoes. The owner was a sketchy character who’s name I forget, but he was American, and him and his employees seemed to have a pretty obvious pill habit. haha. Anyways, he built a massive skatepark on the top of a hill on the hotels property. It was an amazing place, amazing, but weird. Amazingly weird. Most of the employees were young, fucked up American girls who were the last people you’d expect to see so many of in the middle of the jungle in Central America. The owner had been there for twenty years, and had picked up a strange accent and about 12 kids along the way. The leader of the kids, his oldest boy, was about 12. He mixed his own jack and sodas at the bar, sold weed, and regularly de-pantsed grown women and pulled their boobs out. Oh yeah, and he tried to drive us off a cliff in a golf cart. Super weird place, super weird weekend. Are you originally from Long Beach? I was born here in Long Beach. When I was around 5 we moved to New Mexico and then Arkansas for a few years. We moved back to Cali when I was in third grade, and then I started skating a year later when a neighbor showed me 'Fulfill the Dream'. Life was completely different in Arkansas. There was no skateboarding, and there probably never would've been if I hadn't have moved back and had that kid as a neighbor. I didn’t even have neighbors in Arkansas.
Do you think you'll ever leave Long Beach? Maybe when I’m older and a bit more reclusive. I'll never leave California though.
How did you initially get into photography? Lots of my friends are photographers, so i guess I’ve always been "into it", but I never really tried my hand at it until two Christmases ago when my buddy let me have his old AE-1.
Who are some of your favorite photographers, both skate and non skate? Skatewise I love Brian Gaberman, Oli Barton, Sam McGuire, David Broach, John Bradford, Anthony Acosta, Atiba. I dunno man i love them all. Lots of photographers end up being the homie and lots of homies end up being photographers. Non skatewise i like JP Witkin, Robert Mapplethorpe...dudes like that. The shockers.
I take it your own photography was a big inspiration behind the new colorway? Yeah, when they asked me to do a color way I had just recently started shooting a lot. It was the first and only idea I came up with, cause it was really all I was doing. It turned out nicely I think.
You just use the Canon AE-1, do you think now that your Pro with this shoe you'll upgrade to say a Leica? No not yet. I can’t bring myself to spend that much money on something so small yet, haha. Oliver [Barton] let me play around with his Leica recently and I will say, there are not many other feelings worth that amount of money. They’re fine pieces of machinery.
Currently you’re living with your wife Becky and your dog Paco, where did you get Lil Paco at? Yeah, I found Paco at a spot in Covina, CA. He was running around at that gap off the stage that Jimmy Carlin did the Jimmy Carlin flip on in his new TWS part. That was the day we found him actually, the day Jimmy got that clip. He’s turned out to be the best dog I'll ever have probably.
One last question, guest editorial from your favorite German, Willow. He asked "Ask him what it's like to be married and young because I'm so old and not so married?" Oh hey ze Villow! It’s amazing being married! It was an obvious choice for me, I wasn’t gonna let this one go, and I never plan to. That being said, Ze Villow is not very old, but he seems pretty married to me, what with ze kids and all [laughs].
