Diggs English – Extracurricular
Dan [Fisher-Eustance] and I were kindly asked by Free to catch up with our pal Diggs English. Diggs happens to be East Sussex’s most mischievous and nimble-footed export. On the drive over to his house, Dan and I were gleefully anticipating being on the other end of a skate interview. Especially with someone we’ve watched grow from a minuscule, pad-covered ripper doing 540s in the bowl, into a cheeky chap with a well-crafted style and a distinct vision of how and what he wants to skate.
-Albie Edmonds
Photography by Rafal Wojnowski
Albie Edmonds: All right. How’s it going?
Diggs English: What?
Albie: How are you feeling this morning?
Diggs: I’m pretty good. How are you guys?
Dan/Albie: All good.
Albie: Okay, Dan you wanna kick things off?
Dan Fisher- Eustance: Yeah, sure. So, I remember the first time I saw you at the Level, maybe you were six? Already doing kickflips off the quarterpipe. What age did you start skating?
Diggs: I started skating when I was five, but I would just push around the house, and then I think I probably went to skateparks when I was like six, and then to the Level maybe when I was seven, but we used to go really early because it was scary.
Dan: Scary?
Diggs: Yeah, well, you guys, bro. The big dogs are scary.
Ollie to backside wallride, Redhill
Albie: I remember being scared of the Level.
Diggs: You’re still scared of it.
[Everyone laughs]
Albie: First question and you’re outing me already… I am still scared of the Level.
Dan: We were all scared of the Level.
Albie: I mean, when it was wooden, it was actually really gnarly. There were needles on the floor and stuff. My parents were not hyped on me going there.
Dan: Yeah, I think I went there once.
Diggs: I never got to go.
Dan: Good.
Diggs: It looked kind of fun.
Dan: It was fun as a skatepark.
Diggs: But it was cracky. It’s still quite cracky. When did the new one get built?
Dan: 2013.
Diggs: When I was three.
Ollie into the bank, London
Dan: So now at 15, how is it going on Converse trips with people like Louie Lopez?
Diggs: It’s insane. It’s so sick, and all the Converse dudes are so nice. I’m so lucky to be able to have those opportunities. And I couldn’t ask for anything better. It’s so good. Super stoked to be out there. Exactly what I want, hell yeah, haha.
Dan: Do you get starstruck?
Diggs: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I definitely sometimes get kind of nervous. But, I mean, I don’t know, it’s hard not to.
Dan: Yeah, of course. It’s Louie Lopez.
Albie: Your dad, Ben, defies all skate dad stereotypes. He’s easy going, not pushy, and he actually skates and kills it. Am I right in thinking he started skating again when you did?
Diggs: Yeah, he used to skate when he was maybe my age, and then quit because apparently he was too busy. I don’t know, whatever his excuses were. He said he could ollie bins when he was my age, I don’t believe it. Nah I’m just kidding. Yeah, he started again when I started, and it’s nice, because we’ve just been skating together since I was five. Yeah, I remember his first board. He had a Nyjah Element board.
Dan: Nice.
Albie: Obviously you’ve got this part coming out soon with Cons. How have you found the process of filming that?
Diggs: Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s also been pretty hard at times, like balancing filming with school, my dad’s got work and just like normal kid shit as well. It’s hard to balance it all out, but I don’t know, it’s been hard, but also good, and it’s worth it because I’m really happy with how the part’s looking.
One-foot, London
Albie: And Harrison [Woolgar] is editing it? (Editor’s note: The editing was ultimately done by Chris Emery.)
Diggs: Hell yeah. That villain.
Dan: Yeah, top villain haha. Okay, so Will at Free mentioned to me about how interesting the spots you choose to skate are. Is that something you actively look for? Or do you think that just growing up skating in Sussex, where there are certainly less conventionally perfect spots, has made you open your eyes to more?
Diggs: Hmm, I definitely don’t want to skate spots that I don’t think look cool, but it’s probably a mixture, because obviously Sussex has some interesting spots, and like not really the classic ones. So yeah, I also like to skate kind of weird stuff. I don’t really skate big transitions, but then I don’t really skate big rails and hubbas. So finding the right spot for me is sometimes quite hard. So, a lot of the ones aren’t as seen because they’re not like the famous ones that everyone would skate.
Dan: Because no one wants to skate them? Haha.
Albie: Are you doing Google Maps spot hunting sometimes as well?
Diggs: Yeah, I’m on Google Earth, and then also Al (Hodgson) has his spot map, which is good. There are a few decent London ones as well…
Albie: You mentioned you got Al’s spot map for Sussex, when I looked at it I thought wow, this is like a treasure map. And then you actually look at some of the spots… When you get to the treasure, it’s just like a pit, with spikes at the bottom.
[Everyone laughs]
Ollie to frontside wallride, London
Diggs: Yeah. I mean, I think there’s some really good shit on there, and then there’s also some questionable shit. But, like, I mean fuck it, that’s what we have around here.
Albie: He’s done the graft, shoutout OWL and Debris.
Diggs: Yeah, he’s been grinding.
Dan: Okay, on a similar line of thought. Of course, Harrison has an idea of the kinds of spots he wants to skate and film at for his videos. Maybe he’s been partly inspired by Al. Do you have any skaters or particular videos that you admire how they approach different types of spots?
Diggs: I’ve been watching Eddie Cernicky’s GX part in Right Here for Pablo. That part is so good. I’ve been watching that most times before I go out and film because I just really fuck with it. He’s got really nice flow and spot choice. Yeah, just all of those dudes are really cool. I also watch a lot of the Brighton VX vids as well. It’s nice, every time I’m looking for spots I’ll probably put on HEADZ, haha. Like hmm, which one? Haha.
Albie: Not that there are loads to choose from.
Diggs: I think the Brighton spots are maybe overhated a bit. Like, there are spots, but I feel like a lot of them you’d struggle to make look as good on HD. I think they look quite good on VX, but there are a lot that are quite grey on HD.
Albie: Yeah, I think they’re suited to VX. I seem to remember a bunch of comments on HEADZ were like, how are these guys making these spots look good? They all look so bad to skate.
[Everyone laughs]
Taildrop 50-50, Brighton
Albie: What else do you get up to when you’re not skating?
Diggs: I just hang out with friends occasionally and chill. Sometimes I go to the beach. It’s nice. I like climbing sometimes, I like painting as well, occasionally.
Albie: Nice. For a small town, Lewes has always had a strangely active skate scene. How do you think growing up here shaped you as a skater?
Diggs: Hmm, I think the local in Lewes is quite a unique park. So it gets you used to skating different kinds of obstacles and thinking outside of the box, especially skating with Stevie Thompson, it will definitely make you think about stuff differently, which is pretty sick. And, yeah, it’s got a pretty good scene for how small it is. Shout out Evan and Albie, hell yeah. Olly Todd’s here now, pretty sick.
Albie: And Tom Delion’s grandma lives in Lewes.
Dan: And Dom Henry’s mum.
Diggs: Damn, we got a scene bro.
Dan: Big Lewes skate scene.
Albie: Are you going to do A levels? Or are the streets calling you in?
Diggs: Streets are calling… Nah I have to, I think, legally you have to be in education until you’re 18.
Dan: You can’t study back 3s?
Diggs: Haha shut up, are you saying I do too many back 3s? No, I think I’m gonna go to college, hopefully, if I get good GCSEs, I will probably need to revise some more. I have mocks in a week.
Dan: What year are you in?
Diggs: I’m in year 10, so next year I got GCSEs.
Albie: What would you want to do?
Diggs: Maybe art, or I studied textiles at school. So maybe like a textiles course, making clothes and stuff.
Dan: That’s really good if you’re a skater.
Diggs: Yeah, it would definitely go hand in hand.
Albie: Making the perfect trou.
Diggs: Hell yeah.
Dan: Impossible.
Albie: You used to complain to me about being too short to skate ledges, but recently you’ve had a growth spurt. So is this the beginning of your ledge skating era?
Diggs: Yeah, you could say that. I wouldn’t say I’m tall, but I’ve definitely grown in the past few years. So it’s nice to be able to skate more ledges, and also flatground. I’ve been skating flatground recently because before I could only kickflip and stuff, and it’s nice to be able to get a little bit more pop.
Dan: You might be taller than me soon.
Diggs: Hopefully.
[Everyone laughs]
Dan: I knew that you’d answer that.
Albie: When are you gonna grow out of this skateboard stuff and get a real job?
Diggs: Fuck you, bro.
[Everyone laughs]
50-50 shove-it, Shoreham
Diggs: When are you gonna bro? And you Dan?
Dan: Ah, yeah, that’s good.
Albie: All right. You want to finish it there. You got any last words? Shout outs?
Diggs: Hmmm, Nah.
Diggs then texted us a long and grateful list of shout outs:
Shoutout Chris Emery, Rafski, James Cruickshank and Yarris for helping me get out shooting, filming and editing; these guys are the goats! And thanks to Free, and you two for interviewing me!
