Dylan Hughes
April 24, 2007
Right then Dylan, tell us who are please.
I’m Dylan Hughes, I’m 16 and I live in Bridgend in Wales.
You started skating at a really young age, in fact there was a whole crew of you rolling fetuses at one point; how does a 9 year old kid get introduced to skateboarding in your home town?:-
I was probably in year six at school and my older brother moved onto the Comp nearby and all his mates were skateboarders; I just wanted to know how it got off the floor likes.
So was your brother part of a scene then?:-
No, he didn’t really know that many other skaters outside of his mates, so I skated with him and then eventually we met some of the older skaters, Morph and that.
What did you do with yourself before you had a skateboard?:-
I used to play loads of sports, rugby, football, swimming
Were you any good?:-
At swimming yes, I swam for Bridgend in competitions. I’d travel around to different events, won a few contests in England; I was well into it for a while.
What’s the swimming scene like?:-
Pretty serious - not much of a laugh, you know. I had to get up before school to train every day at some ridiculous hour. Then I got into skating which was a bit more relaxed, (laughs), that was the end of my swimming career.
Have you got any trophies?:-
Yeah, I've got a box full.
What was your special move?:-
Probably the butterfly, that was my signature move back then, (laughs).
I remember seeing footage of you, Caradog and Taylor on one of Dykey’s old videos, you were all so small, it was crazy to watch. What’s the story with the mini Welsh boy crew then?:-
At first it was Taylor and Caradog, they were the cool kids, I wasn¹t in the cool crowd to start off with. Me and Chris Wilson, (my mate), we were the outcasts for a long time. Then all of a sudden, I got sponsored and they started hanging around with me, (laughs).
So that was you becoming the “cool kid” then?:-
Yeah, Caradog and that, I was friends with them anyway, before that, but they didn’t really accept me until I got sponsored. Until I’d proved that I was as good as them I suppose.
Why? Because of some snide little kid competition thing or something?:-
(Cackling), yeah: totally because of that. It’s all-good though; they’re my best friends now. We were just little kids then, we didn’t know any better. Caradog’s on Kill City and Taylor’s just started up skating again; I skate with both of them all the time.
Was there some kind of dwarf skate army infesting Bridgend back then?:-
(Laughs) there were so many of us at one time. Jeff, my next door neighbour, he’s sick, Chris Jones he’s from round here, he’s amazing too. These were all kids who started up skating round here at a young age and got good.
Chris (Jones): he wasn’t part of the cool kid clique either, he was an outcast like me, (laughing).
Are you getting sick of the little kid questions yet?:-
You can ask me a couple more, but they do get annoying though, (laughs).
Yeah well Dylan, that’s what happens if you film multiple video parts as a two-foot high human.:-
I suppose.
Which tricks used to be impossible when you had baby legs and which ones were easier?:-
When I was really young I was definitely guilty of the illegal hardflip, the through the legs front shove one. My tiny legs couldn’t handle a proper one. I reckon kickflips were a lot easier when I was smaller though. They used to just naturally ninja flip back then; these days I have to try.
How old were you when you first got sponsored, and who was it by?:-
I must’ve been about 12; I got on Osiris and Minute on the same day actually, through Gibbsy. I didn’t know anything about it until the day I got the phone call (laughs), kind of a surprise like. I didn’t really understand what it meant at first. When I got the first box I was panicking because I didn’t have any money, I thought I had to pay for it.
Did it go to your head a bit? Be honest.:-
Erm, it probably did a bit honestly, but I was 12 you know, of course it did. The same thing happened to Taylor too, he got hooked up back then too and kind of took it as the “wait was over”
Seems like a lot of people do that: they get sponsored then stop trying, you know?:-
Yeah totally, whereas you should be pushing yourself even more once you get flowed free stuff, like you say, seems like a lot of people use it as an excuse to stop trying a bit. You know, I’ve made it now.
So you’ve been surrounded by pissed up adults ever since you were a small child, has hat had a negative effect in anyway?:-
Mmm, I suppose in some way, but I do hang around with lots of different people, not just alcoholic lunatics, (laughing). I just adapted to being around older people I guess. I kind of grew up around people who drank too much so I was used to it anyway. It’s just funny really.
Am I allowed to ask you what kind of carnage you got exposed to at that age then? I mean you’ve known Pritch since you were 10 or something, you must’ve witnessed some Dirty Sanchez shit first hand, right?:-
(Laughing) loads of stuff over the years: Pancho used to always give me slaps when I was little, one day I’ll get him back.
When you’re taller than him?:-
(Laughing), nah, I was taller than him when I was twelve. I meant that I’ll get him back when the opportunity arises.
What about Pritchard? You’ve known him for a long time too?:-
Yeah, we did that “Day in the City” thing together didn’t we? That was pretty funny. Pritchard would do stupid stuff even when the camera wasn’t on him. He’s a bit nuts. We were into this park and he just ran full speed into this log against his head for no reason, (laughing). He hung me off a bridge once before too, just for a laugh like, well, a laugh for him.
Didn’t you go on one of the massive Osiris tours when you were 12 too? Who was on that one and what do you remember?:-
Yeah, we went to Scotland, London, all over. This was the Louie Barletta era Osiris; that was a really good experience, most kids my age would’ve been watching stuff like that on video and I got to actually go on it. Brandon Turner was friendly as hell, really in your face friendly, (laughs). He might’ve been a bit much for some people back then but I was a little kid so I was just super stoked.
You got lost in Paris with Dykey and Morph when you were only a wee nipper too didn’t you?:-
That was sketchy: it was me, Luke Thomas and Taylor. Basically I lost my luggage that was why we ended up getting lost. We were on our way to the hostel and I left my luggage on the train. So we waited for the train to come back around, we all ran on the train to grab my stuff, at this point the doors started to close so we all jumped off, except Taylor who got his head caught in the door, like actually stuck in there, (laughing). So the train alarms go off and we’re all panicking and then some weird couple started trying to get us to go off somewhere with them. It was dodgy man; I think they were trying to kidnap us or something. We ended up just ignoring them and running off, we were scared though.
