Skater Dredd is a well known South London skater who has been a prominent figure in the urban skate scene for several years now. I learned about Skater Dredd a couple of years ago from skaters who were singing his praises [in big ways].
After several conversations with skaters he'd completed conversions for, I began recommending him to my own roller skating students. I've since met and spoken with him on many occasions, and realised for myself what a genuinely warm, respectful — put your best foot forward — kind of person he is. I've no doubt that such first rate personal attributes only add to the service he provides for our skating community.
So there it is, it just goes to show how creativity, while being intentional in upholding key personal values, goes a way towards building good reputation and success.
"Obviously there's a monetary value to it, but it's deeper than that. All of these people that I've built for, I'm a very small part of their skate journey, and that means a lot to me. And seeing when they progress and grow and so forth, I'm a very small part of that and I appreciate that."
~ Skater Dredd
7 Questions
Q.1: What's your story? How did you get into skating?
"I first got into skating at 38, that's literally the first time I ever jumped on skates. I'd never even considered skates before that. I was always into gym and training — callisthenics. My brother who's like13 years younger than me ...I saw a video of him skating in Vauxhal— the indoor place, way before everyone started skating in the car park. My brother and his friend were doing a dance routine, and I was just blown. Literally, I'd never seen anything like this before. And even though he is my younger bro, we didn't move together like that. So I didn't know what he was actually on. So I've seen this video on YouTube and I was just blown. The following week, I went out and bought a brand new pair of Bauer skates. I just spent my money and jumped straight in ...yeah, all in. My brother's like, why d'you spend so much money etc.? You know, when I'm passionate about something, I throw myself all in.
So this is the crazy thing, my brother was dancing. They were doing a routine on skates. Once I got my skates, I never skated with them for years. I literally skated by myself, cause there wasn't a community like this at the time. I learned how to go straight, forward fast, and a T stop, and that was it.
I literally taught myself through trial and error, old school. Yeah, bombing up my road because it is like a quarter of a mile long, so I just bomb it up there, T stop, and back down again. And that was what I did, up and down, up and down.
And then, late 2019, I was working and a guy that I worked with saw my skates and he's like, oh wow, I'm a skater, and we got together. It was just prior to the lockdown that we linked up, we started coming to Crystal Palace, yeah, this spot here. We started recruiting people, just pulling people in. We were kind of like part of the grassroots at that point, but only the lockdown grassroots, cause remember there was a community way before us that had been into this for years. So we were part of the new gen, even though I'd been skating for years by myself off and on. He was a bit younger and wanted to start a group on instagram. We just started getting people involved and it just grew from there. And that was it, five, six years later now we we're still here."
Q.2: Out of interest, what was it about the street skating that caught your attention, and not the rhythm skating?
"Think just being on the street, there's a feeling once you street skate, you know it, you understand that feeling of freedom. There's just a just freedom, and that's what I found being on the street, you know? And yeah, it just become that. At the time, I couldn't do nothing, no tricks, no backwards skating, then I slowly started getting backwards skating together."
Q.3: I've seen you backwards skate and you're very proficient, was that something that you had in mind from the start or did it just happen organically?
"So as you know yourself, London backwards skating is a big part of our skating culture. It's a huge part of how we skate. So the guys that I started skating with could skate backwards. They were a bit more advanced than myself, way more advanced to be honest. I started just practising slowly, getting it bit by bit.
It's taken a good few years to get to this space and get to this level, some people get it super quick, some people take time. I took a long time to actually get it, you know? and then once it clicks, you get that momentum. Because it's like anything, I guess there's the basics of skating, then there's kind of like that attractive side, and backward skating is very attractive, you know? So obviously, naturally I wanted to do it like most Londons skaters.
We were out here every day, and I haven't really stopped to be honest. I've been going solid since, but I've really progressed I would say over the last year and a bit. It's been a lot of street skating, predominantly in groups."
Q.4: What is it that keeps you street skating?
"Because of the different terrain, it's totally different to being in a park you've gotta be switched on at all times. You just learn to be comfortable in all spaces. Once you come to sort of like a smooth space, indoor dancing, etc, it becomes a lot easier, that's what the street game has done for me.
It's dangerous, it's not joke at, it can be very, very dangerous. You're going at speed, you've got cars, you've got bikes, you've got so many pedestrians — so much going on, and you can just open things up so much more.
I feel like this is the beautiful thing — everyone expresses themself through their skate style, you know? And for me, it allows me to open up and express myself on the street. I think we express ourselves and our character through our skating. I think for myself, it's an expression of my character."
Q.5: When you started, you were very much a solo skater, and now you're very much into the group street skates. How did that shift come about?
"I think, in the beginning it was solo because that was all I knew. I didn't know there was a scene as such, especially over south like this. And then once you get into it, you kind of get drawn into being with people at all times. And I've kind of got to a stage now, having been in it for a good few years, I'm kind of starting to gravitate to spaces where can skate solo too, you know — a balance of both. We sometimes get drawn into all of the excitement, and everybody else ect. and then kind of forget yourself and just being comfortable in your own space at times — you grow in a different way. So I do choose my times where I just solo skate. I always say to everybody, your best friend out here is your music and your earphones. Yeah, if you've got your earphones on, you just zone.
I guess it's just different stages of my skate journey, I feel like when I first got into it, I needed to be at every event, needed to be everywhere, involved in everything. And having been there now and done it kind of thing, I guess, you kind of appreciate solo moments —it's just peaceful. It can be very peaceful or as loud and exciting as you want it to be."
Q.6: So how did the skate conversions begin?
"So skate conversions. I have to big up my guy Skater Billsy' from LDN Rollers. That's, who I originally skated with at Crystal Palace since about 2020. He was the first person I ever saw do a conversion. He actually converted my son's first skates on this very bridge — Crystal Palace. I watched him do it. The next pair of skates I bought was my own pair and I decided to convert them myself. I started seeing skates cheap and I thought, why not? I just start converting them, one skate led to another.
I became more passionate with it, I'm quite a creative, I like colours and I'm very hands on. So, it's sort of a creative outlet. I'm also a bit obsessive, once I get involved in something, I go all in. In the beginning, I was doing spray jobs on the plates, trucks and heels, like bringing in a different customised look. I started taking photos, I'm very visual — considering the background, the angles — presentation is very important, It's everything. No disrespect, but the people that were converting prior, they didn't really bother with that. They were photgraphing in their bedroom with everything in the background, etc. so I decided to take it a next step and use different places outside. And I guess that attracted people as well. Yeah, I'm a bit of a perfectionist.
I'm very, very passionate about it. Obviously there's a monetary value to it, but it's deeper than that. All of these people that I've built for, I'm a very small part of their skate journey, and that means a lot to me. And seeing when they progress and grow and so forth, I'm a very small part of that and I appreciate that.
I'm big on energy. I think energy is very important and that transcends. I've had people say that with regards to the skates, the energy you're putting into them, you know, it's very deep. I like realness, I'm genuine, I'm sincere, and I like that. So, that's just what it is, you know."
➡️ Watch a video: Skates Converted by Dredd
Q.7: So what now for you then, do you have a next move in mind?
"It's kind of just ...it wasn't planned in the beginning, it was just organic how it happened. And, it wasn't from a business mind perspective, it was just from the love of skating perspective, and it still is very much so. I haven't really made plans and, I'm just going with the flow. I enjoy skating you know, and converting people's skates and being a part of their journey and so forth. Skating's about just having fun, being free, and expressing yourself."
➡️ Listen to Skater Dredd's Audio via YouTube
➡️ Follow @skater_dredd on instagram.
➡️ Previous interview: 7 Questions With [Skate OG] Wayne
Kelly
Cranial Osteopath | Wellbeing Coach | Roller Skate Instructor
🗯️ What did you take away from Skater Dredd's story? Are you looking for someone to convert a pair of boots or shoes for you? Share your thoughts and comments below, or leave us a quick emoji resonse.
