Gavin Heaney | E-Skate Inspiration
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Gavin Heaney is a musician and the founder of many bands including Latch Key Kid, Slack String, Kurtvana and Cobra Cowboy but he is also an avid and life long surfer, snowboarder and skater. Gavin's music has graced the screens from the title song for the Hollywood hit "I Love You Man" to national commercials, to indy shorts to a number of surf and mountain bike films. Gavin has recently become intrigued by E-skating and how it can reinvigorate your love for skateboarding.
Q: Tell us about your board sports background?
A: I grew up surfing, skating in Manhattan Beach and skiing and snowboarding in Mammoth back when you had to fight for your right to party. Helmets and pads weren't the norm back then and in fact were considered kooky. I'm so grateful that the new generation has turned that around and embraced sanity, protecting themselves while advancing board sports beyond imagination.
Q: Tell us about the filming of this run in Mammoth?
A: Mammoth has so much to offer besides the snow. On the last day of the season, I skated up the Lake Mary trail and found the road closed. Game on for a car free mountain run at evening time. Up and down round and round!
Q: What do you love about E-Skating?
A: I had mainly quit skating, sadly as a lot of grown ups do. I still enjoyed surf skating, but was pained by the laborious pushing, especially on those more elevated trucks. I think this is the main reason people quit skating, not enough juice for the squeeze. I had the idea to put an estate truck on the back of my Carver and it worked amazing. It's a magic carpet ride, a never-ending wave. It has 100% brought skating back in my life.
Q: What are you looking for as an ideal E-skate location?
A: I envision e-skate parks with big banking sloping waves that you can glide and carve like surfing double overhead J-Bay. Unfortunately they don't have these yet because most parks are designed very tight for push skating. I do take my set up into those parks, but prefer the ones with banks. It's pretty cool in the Mammoth park actually. I hit the bank half-pipe going downhill and uphill in a never-ending run, no resetting. It's wild!
Q: What do you feel is missing in modern day skate parks?
A: I want a cruiser wave park, not an extreme death park. As with snowboard parks, skate parks are either too extreme or too minor it seems to me. How about parks that cater to the majority of skill level which is mellow/ intermediate?
Q: What is your current board set up?
A: I have a Revel e-skate truck on a YOW surf skate and an S1 Lifer Brim Helmet.
Q: What is the song in this video and where we can we find it?
A: The song is Wheel of Life by my band Latch Key Kid. I just released it on all streaming platforms. Check it out at latchkeykid.org