Real Skateboards: Harry Lintell video part + interview
‘I quit riding for _________________ (insert US skateboard brand), because I was never going to get fully on the team. I’m hyped to ride for _________________ (insert European skateboard brand) now, because they’re nearby, they’re my good friends and we skate together all the time.’
Basically you can fill in the blanks to match the responses of dozens and dozens of European sponsored skateboarders. Are Europeans increasingly giving up on the American dream of skate stardom? Not entirely, case in point is one Harry Lintell.
Hailing from southeast England Harry has just landed a spot on Real’s Am squad. Not the ‘international team’ or the ‘Euro team’ or flow from a European DLX distributor, but full on Am for Real Skateboards.
So why has Harry chosen to stick it out as an Am whilst his friends all around him are getting pro boards on European brands? In an effort to answer this we enlisted Dan Magee and Kevin Parrott (who’ve been filming Harry the past year for an upcoming project) to help out with this interview. Banter aside, we think you’ll get a pretty good idea of what makes Harry tick.
Ph. Anthony Acosta
Interview by Will Harmon, Dan Magee & Kevin Parrott
Will Harmon: Where do you live now Harry and with whom?
Harry Lintell: I live in Manchester right now with my girl. It’s a weird situation.
WH: Because you are travelling all the time?
Yeah, because I don’t really have a place myself. But it’s a totally rad situation. Don’t get it twisted.
Dan Magee: Not for us, it’s not.
Well, no. Not for you guys it’s not.
DM: I preferred it when you were with your old mental girlfriend. You’d get all angry and go skate and take your aggression out by just killing it.
I guess. I could still do that.
DM: I think you should hook up with the old girlfriend.
No. No way. I’m not going back to that.
DM: Harry speak about America…
WH: Yeah, he’s spoken about that in another interview. I’m not sure we need to go over that.
DM: But Harry and his parents lived in a straight line just seven minutes from my auntie’s house. Out of the house, down a straight road and you are at my auntie’s house. I’d go out there every summer.
Yeah, that’s a crazy thing.
Kevin Parrott: This isn’t really a Harry interview question, is it? That is just about you, Dan.
To be honest, I don’t keep in contact with my parents as much as I should.
WH: Where do your parents live?
They both live in Ashford, Kent. I’m pretty useless. I don’t keep in contact with them. But like Dan was saying, I used to live in Texas as a kid. Just circumstance as my dad got a job out there and took us with him. So yeah, Dan used to stay seven minutes away from my old house in Allen, TX.
Frontside 5-0 grind London. Ph. Alex Irvine
WH: Have you had any jobs before or have you only ever lived off of skating?
Yeah, I’ve had jobs before. My first was McDonalds, embarrassingly.
WH: Nah, that’s a lot of people’s first job.
True.
KP: Didn’t you have a good deal going on there?
Ha ha. Yeah, I used to date the manager there. I used to go in and tell her I had to go on a trip to skate or something and she’d just be like ‘Yep. Okay…’
WH: Sick!
But I’ve worked in skate shops and stuff. Little things here and there.
(Everyone then begins asking about Harry’s go-to McDonalds DIY burger setup.)
I try not to eat McDonalds. I used to eat the worst shit there. Double Big Tasty. Slap it all together with crisps in there…Or a Chicken Deli with crisps in it. I just liked to put crisps in it.
KP: New menu shit.
DM: Drive thru. Three Chicken Selects and a Cheeseburger. Boom. Done.
WH: OK, so in some of your older interviews you mentioned you were hooked up on Real but you weren’t in there like you are now. So, I wanted to ask you how it has been riding for an American board brand? You are full Am now right?
Yep.
WH: But what does that feel like when your friends around you in the UK are getting pro boards and there you are just recently getting Am status?
Fuck man…I don’t know. It’s pretty crazy. That’s a really tough question. I have an answer; I just can’t get it into words.
Backside nosebluntslide Bromley. Ph. Alex Irvine
DM: I’d say it is pretty commendable.
I dunno, dude. I guess it is what it is. It’s still fun. When I was starting skating I used to ride for local board brands in the UK and after that I just started getting some boards direct from Real…
WH: But did you feel like you needed to go to them for them to take notice of you?
Yeah, I feel like I had to do that. And I am glad that I went because the guys are so rad. Everyone I’ve met has been really sick and it has worked out pretty cool. We are starting to do more stuff together. I don’t know…
KP: You had some big worries before you went out though, right?
Yeah. I was definitely worried I’d go out there (California) and everyone would think you were a dick or everyone you meet is a dick. What if I couldn’t get along with anyone? I’d just be stranded. Just crazy worries you have travelling alone to a foreign country. But it was good. I am just skating – it’s not like I am trying to go pro.
WH: Has Real ever talked to you about that?
No, definitely not. This whole Am thing was just out of nowhere. I was just there skating with Mack (DLX filmer) – he’s an absolute legend, for the record.
WH: You seem pretty ‘in there’ now.
Well, anyway – I was just skating with Mack and I was just trying to keep going back as I went once and SF was way more fun than when I’d been before to LA. Real didn’t even hit me up as I had a broken phone at the time. They just put it on their Instagram that I was properly on. Hermann Stene and I.
WH: Oh, okay.
Hermann is stoked too. We were talking about it while out there. We are hyped to be on.
WH: Yeah, it’s really hard to get in there with some of the American board brands.
Yeah, because of that some people would rather find a European brand and go that way and that’s cool. I have had offers.
DM: Who?
(Harry ignores Dan.)
It’s happened a few times. I dunno. I just wanted to stick this out.
Frontside crooked grind London. Ph. Alex Irvine
DM: It’s a pretty gnarly team.
I love the team. I’ve known most of the crew for a long time now.
DM: But what I am saying is that Real is a really hard one to get on. I mean, how many people are on the team now?
I guess a lot.
DM: And like, how many SOTY’s?
Ishod. Kyle Walker.
WH: And then there’s Busenitz who is the dude who should have got it over and over.
For sure.
KP: Eternal SOTY.
I know what you mean, but I don’t know what to make of it. Like, I could have gone and done the British thing.
WH: Yeah. I remember there was a point where you were almost going to ride for The National Skateboard Co. right?
Yeah. I definitely thought about it.
KP: Eh? Thought about it?
WH: Yeah, I thought it was more than that.
Well, I rode for them for a weekend.
WH: A weekend?
Yeah, I guess. But that was before I was getting Real product. I rode for them for one weekend and then ran back to my old sponsor so fast.
KP: What happened?
Heavy partying with Rye (Ryan Gray, part owner of TNSC). I got influenced. The National is sick, though. I was just a chicken. I don’t know – I guess I knew what I wanted to do (try to get product from Real) and thought I should try to stick with that.
Switch kickflip San Diego. Ph. Gabe Morford
KP: Just to skip back a bit – when you said you went out to see the Real dudes the first time, who did you travel with?
I just went on my own.
KP: That’s pretty gnarly, right?
WH: But they paid for you to come out so you knew they wanted you there.
Not really… I guess it came about really after I met Ryan Garshell from GX1000 when they were in London.
WH: OK. I did wonder how you linked with them.
It was actually through my friend Brooks. He was filming the Palace video and was showing them around. He hit me up to come skate so that’s how I met those dudes.
You know how it goes… It happens on trips when people are like ‘Come out’.
WH: Yeah, yeah. ‘Come out to SF!’
Yeah, and then you turn up and they are like ‘Oh, shit. We didn’t actually think you’d turn up’ and that’s the shit I was worried about. I’m not pointing a finger at anyone. I just feel that happens sometimes.
WH: Totally. People just say that.
I was always worried but when Ryan said it, it made sense to go. He hooked it up amazingly. I got off the plane, made it to his house and he gave me a spare key, a jar of weed and then he left for Japan for eight days.
WH: Ha ha. That’s crazy. So did you then just skate more with the DLX guys as you were there?
Yeah, I skated with them loads when I was there. I mean, I’m in town and Ryan was in Japan for eight days and I ride for DLX. It was a good idea to go say hello… I’d switch on certain days, you know? Sometimes Ryan would go and do his thing and I’d go do mine.
WH: How is it different going out with the DLX guys compared to the GX1000 crew?
Ha. It’s a different operation. When you go out with DLX, there is the van and water and wood and whatever you need to fix a spot, Bondo – all that shit. It’s like being on a trip, which is cool. It really works.
But then when you go skate with Ryan it’s like you just jump on your board at the front door. Bag on your back. Go meet the crew to grab a coffee and bomb Twin Peaks. You just charge. Bomb hills. Don’t pick a spot. Pick an area. They are always crew deep.
WH: How was it skating those hills for the first time?
So scary. The first day I went bombing, Pablo Ramirez and P-Spliff were out. They are pretty notorious for the hills. It blew my mind. I was following them. They are literally pushing down hills and I am there trying to keep up. It was scary, but fun. I love every second of the hills. As soon as you ride it out after the speed wobbles, it’s like…’Whoooooaaaaaah!’
I totally get why their missions are different to the DLX guys.
Frontside 50-50 Hitchin, England. Ph. Alex Irvine
DM: Who do those guys ride for?
I mean a lot of those dudes don’t really ride for anyone. I mean I can’t speak for everyone. I mean, they get hooked up a bit but they just go trimming weed and go skate. That’s it.
DM: Kinda sick, though.
KP: Yeah, like those guys are at the forefront of their kind of skating and they aren’t even fully hooked up.
They are just doing it. Everyday.
WH: Have you ever thought about living outside of the UK?
Loads. I’d go anywhere… Spain, America, Italy. Just to get away from the cold. I’ve never done it though.
WH: What about that time you stayed with Victor Pellegrin for two months around Biarritz?
Hossegor. Where there are no skate spots.
WH: Yeah, Hossegor. ‘Where the European skate industry is…’ Ha ha ha.
It was fun. The language thing is hard down there. I picked up a bit. The Volcom Surf House there was a pretty sick place. We’d just stay there. It’s for the surf team but Victor managed to get in there.
WH: But what did you guys skate over there?
I didn’t skate. We skated flatground.
Ollie out past the pillar to noseslide London. Ph. Sam Ashley
DM: You could have been finished with your video part.
But I was there because of circumstance. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to be filming for the part. I just broke up with my girlfriend. I had to move out straight away and had nowhere. I packed my stuff into bags and headed for France, as I knew that was somewhere I could live. Otherwise, I would have stayed here. Actually, some of my stuff is at Sam Murgatroyd’s house.
KP: Didn’t you drop it for one night, nine months ago?
Uh huh.
DM: Is there anything you would want to keep in there?
Uh huh.
DM: Name one thing.
Hmm. Actually, I’d probably just write it off now. I stayed at his for two days, nine months ago. He said he opened the bag. Dirty laundry. All of it. Fuck you guys… Sorry Sam.
WH: One of the reasons I wanted to get you all together was to talk about this video you are filming with Kevin and Dan.
DM: Yeah, explain it, Harry.
I don’t know. I just go skating.
WH: When they approached you what did they say? Or did Magee have some grand plan?
He always has a grand plan.
DM: Kevin has a chip on his shoulder.
KP: Mate…
DM: I’ll tell you what it was. Originally, I just filmed skating for content and ads for ages. It’s cool because you get money but it’s never really how you want to do it. I hadn’t done anything myself for a decade. So, to get back into it we started skating at Jazz Square. I needed to relearn how to film properly. I could film but not like how I wanted – just because HD cameras kept changing and finally it mellowed out. Anyway, I don’t want to talk over Harry.
You just wanted to get back into filming skating itself…
DM: I want to do it under my terms and then do the jobs when they come up. Just have some fun because a) I was hanging out with Kev and you know, he’s alright…
KP: That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.
It really is.
DM: And b) all the people that are rad who were not being filmed are Jake Harris’ boys…
WH: And you are too old to film them, right?
DM: Nah, nah, nah. I mean, I draw the line filming young children. But those lot are being filmed by Jake now.
KP: So, Dan – where did you grow up? How did you first get into skating?
DM: That’s what I was saying – I don’t want to interrupt Harry.
Frontside nosegrind London Ph. Alex Irvine
WH: Harry when did you start filming with Kevin and Dan?
Start of 2017.
DM: Ha ha. Stoked, Kev.
KP: Umm, yeah. We filmed once or twice before that, right?
Ah, yeah. Ha ha. I mean for this project that’s when we started. I filmed with Kevin since forever. I’ve known Kevin since I was a newly sponsored skater.
WH: So who else is going to have parts?
I was skating with Manny Lopez. We started filming with Dan and getting more clips. Then more people started to get involved like Jak Pietryga, Charlie Munro, Sam Murgatroyd, Korahn Gayle, Conor Charleson…
DM: Hmm, maybe Conor.
I mean, they are all involved. We are just filming and it is becoming quite a big thing for us. But I don’t know what it is going to be.
WH: What is the name of it?
I don’t know.
DM: We don’t really know yet. We’ve talked about ideas.
WH: So, how is it filming with Magee?
DM: You gotta bring Kev into this. He is going to be pissed that it looks like it’s my video.
WH: I have! Anyway, but the questions around Magee are like ones where he has asked you what outfit you are wearing before going to skate. I heard he has been pretty rough on Korahn.
DM: Nothing to do with me, mate!
Nope. He doesn’t do that to me. Because I am useless. But you know what – at one point, the group chat was called ‘Deposit’. I’ll explain that.
WH: WhatsApp group?
KP: Yeah, one main one and then about twelve offshoots which all have Dan in where he tried his best to manipulate people into saying the right thing in the main chat when he isn’t getting the answer that he wants. But explain ‘Deposit’.
Yeah, well Dan is pretty militant and because Dan claimed he would have to spend £12.50 to come into the city to film and as such, we would all have to chip in to make up £12.50 between us and if we get to the end of the day with a clip, he will give us the deposit back.
DM: Actually, it’s more than that because you got to add £6 minimum for a Pret lunch so it’s more like £18.
KP: So, you just rounded it up and called it £20.
DM: Yep.
So, for the longest time the chat and the name of the video was Deposit.
Frontside 50-50 grind London. Ph. Alex Irvine
WH: Does Dan have rules?
Oh yeah, definitely. You can’t wear certain things…
DM: Bullshit. Mate…
WH: So he did do that to you?
I’ve not filmed a trick with my braids in, so I don’t know how that is going to go down.
DM: It’s an urban myth! This dude is sitting here wearing black fingernail polish and pigtail braids. If there were rules, that wouldn’t be the case here now, would it?
WH: What about if he took his beanie off to film? Oh, wait… the cornrows have gone.
He wouldn’t have filmed me with the cornrows.
DM: I mean, I wouldn’t have filmed in any ethnically diverse areas with him.
KP: Oh, man…
WH: Did you get them done in SF?
No, Manchester. I wanted to get them done in SF though.
KP: Do you remember when Dan first started coming out? Like, we had got some stuff but didn’t have a grand plan. It was an unformed project and then Dan wanted to get involved and you were just not down for him after the first few missions just because of some of that stuff like rules.
Yeah, because he is so militant.
WH: But the gilet has gone.
KP: Oh, that thing. I’m glad that thing has gone.
DM: It’s for his own benefit. Everyone sees that video and it’s sick tricks but then he killed it for himself by wearing that sleeveless jacket for the entire thing. I am in effect helping him out.
KP: Yeah, and that’s basically what I had to explain to Harry when you came on board.
DM: Yeah, but you were the one who filmed him in the gilet.
KP: Yeah, and back then I was working for Volcom, too. It wasn’t made by them and I used that angle to get rid of it but he wouldn’t budge. I tried so many reasons.
Ha ha ha.
WH: What about Daryl Dominguez. Let’s say you wanted him as a special guest with a trick in this clip.
KP: You gotta ask Dan that.
DM: Daryl has blown it, mate.
KP: Do you know the Daryl story, Harry?
No.
DM: He’s done.
Oh God…What?
DM: Well, basically Daryl looks like me but with shit clothes so I am not going to be into his style because he is a fucking midget.
WH: Erm, I think the correct term is little person, ha ha.
DM: Yeah. But Manny tried to talk me into getting this trick with him and it was really gnarly but it didn’t happen. It took like twelve hours of trying to get it, which I am never getting back.
KP: Well, it’s more than that because I was there filming and so was Joe Buddle trying to shoot photos. It’s not just all against you all the time, is it?
WH: But I heard there was more to it than that.
DM: Yeah, because Daryl looks like he has been stripped naked and kicked through Fat Face. Know what I mean?
(Everyone cries with a fit of the giggles)
Jesus Christ, Dan.
Backside 180 kickflip London. Ph. Sam Ashley
WH: So, did you make him wear your ‘stylish’ outfits?
DM: No, I just did what I do with Korahn. Every morning I FaceTime Korahn and get him to show me what he is going to wear for the day – with options…
WH: …and you deny Korahn the orange Supreme trousers?
DM: It works for some people.
WH: But the Aladdin blue scrubs pants are fine?
DM: He can wear them but I am going to desaturate them in the edit.
KP: I like them.
DM: That’s the thing, Kyron (Davis) wears them and he looks dope. Korahn switched up so much. He’s amazing but you look at him in a part and he looks like Rizzle Kicks and then the next part he has this massive upper torso because he has been working out. Right now, though he is in a sweet spot where he looks like…
KP: Drake Jones.
DM: Yeah. If it looks good, stick with it.
WH: Well, Harry’s interview is going great.
DM: Don’t put any shit in there from me. I’ll have Illuminati assassins coming to kill me.
WH: Harry what’s the deal with social media? Sometimes you’ll have back-to-back stories every forty minutes and then it’ll go quiet for a month.
I don’t know, dude. I’m just useless. I sometimes just try to think of something to post and I am not very good at it.
KP: Yeah, views out of a window for days.
I am just not that bothered about social media.
WH: Do you want to talk about Dyspraxia? Is it something you’ve read up on or tried to figure?
No, because I am Dyspraxic.
WH: No, that’s fine. A lot of people are like that – it’s the same with dyslexia. Reading up on it isn’t really an option.
Yeah, I have both. I used to go to lessons as a kid but I don’t think it worked… At all. I don’t even know tons about it.
WH: It affects sense of direction, right?
KP: That can be part of it. You know how with Dyslexia you know all of the letters but can’t get the order right? Well, Dyspraxia is the same but with organisation and other processes like direction. Like, you know you have a bunch of stuff to do today but you can’t get the order right and it becomes a problem in itself which leads to anxiety – but from the outside it kind of comes across as careless or lazy when it really isn’t.
DM: So, I am Dyspraxic as well, then?
KP: No. You’ve got far bigger problems.
Frontside smith grind San Francisco. Ph. Chris Robles
WH: So, do you keep up with all of the skate edits, interviews and stuff?
No. I just don’t. I’m bad. In an ideal world, I’d like to. But I look and I realise I have missed a whole load of stuff and just be over it. It’s really bad when everyone is talking about clips they’ve seen and I am just out of it.
WH: With your own footage, do you think about separation? Like, figuring what is for a part or just for Insta, etc.?
I don’t know. I just try to skate. I don’t really like to know what it is for.
WH: Are you trying something different here to what you would try on a Volcom trip? Or with the DLX crew?
It’s just skating. I mean, aside from Instagram stuff I’d probably just try the same level. I’m really bad at asking people to take my phone and film me for my feed. I can’t be arsed with that.
KP: So, is that whole approach pressure related? I don’t mean in a bad way – just in managing it.
Pretty much. I’m a fragile egg.
DM: He’s so angry! We filmed him the other day. I forgot how gnarly it is.
KP: He’s way better than he was.
I don’t know – I’m not as angry as I was before and I don’t really want to know what the footage is going towards. It fucks with me. So long as I know I am on the trip and am going to be fed, and we can skate, then it’s cool. But sometimes you have to know and be involved – obviously with trick ideas, but other things as well. But I’d rather figure that by just going to skate.
DM: So, why do you flip out?
Because I think loads while trying stuff – loads of crazy shit. Not just skating. I’m just not really in control of my thoughts when I’m trying that stuff. I can admit that. It is what it is.
WH: What are your interests outside of skateboarding?
I don’t know. I like music. This sounds terrible… I don’t do much outside and it makes me sound like a really lazy dude…
WH: Or, someone really focussed on skating. There is nothing wrong with that.
But I feel like I’m not. I feel like I am actively not involved in anything.
WH: Do you worry about that? Do you worry about what you will do in your forties after skating?
DM: What are you talking about? Forties?
WH: Skate career, I mean. Or, fifties…
Definitely. But there’s that pressure again. I crack like an egg. I can’t think about it.
WH: How old are you now?
27.
WH: So young. You are all good.
That’s what everyone keeps telling me. It’s all good. I used to worry about this sort of thing a lot more and now I just don’t think about it and I am a lot less stressed.
WH: So, you just think about what is in front of you?
After that stuff with my ex, shit just went down the pan.
WH: So, you got to get to Manchester before you fuck it up with the new girl?
I just got to go and skate so I don’t blow that. I’ve blown where I live; I’ve blown my current girl off. I just need to skate. I have two bags with my stuff in.
DM: One at Sam’s, right? So, it’s just disposable shit?
No. One has some keepsakes in. I had to get rid of a lot, though. I kept a few special boards and some photos. I don’t know. I don’t really have any plans after skating. I just have right now. I met this really rad girl. I’m really into her and no, Dan, she’s not mental.
WH: Magee prefers mental.
Yeah. I prefer this one. But I don’t have my own place.
WH: Is that in the plans to get at some point?
For sure but I don’t know what I am doing now. I’m just figuring it out minute by minute.
DM: We will figure it out for you.
Click through the gallery below for all the photos from Harry’s interview:
