Interview: Ad McEvoy
- 18 October 2021
Interview 27 is with founder of Drawing Boards and new author, Ad McEvoy. We’ve been stocking Drawing Boards pretty much since we opened back in 2015, the graphics have always offered something with a bit more depth and meaning and Ad does them all himself along with running the company. He recently applied his artistic skills to publishing a book, which just launched. You can buy it HERE
Thanks to Ad for doing this for us. Check it out below.
Can you give us a brief introduction?
I’m Ad McEvoy. I draw all the graphics for Drawing Boards which I have been doing for the past 17 years. I just wrote my first book “101 Uses for a Skateboard”. I also do loads of organising and filming with the team.
101 Uses for a Skateboard. Photo: Si Bernacki
What are you currently working on?
I just Released my kids book “101 Uses for a Skateboard” over the last week or so currently working on promoting that.
But the current ongoing project is The Drawing Boards video, which has turned into quite an exercise. Loads of amazing and unrepeatable adventures … Some rad spots such as Amsterdam, London, South Coast, The Peak District and Madrid … There’s some nimble footed trickery in there for sure, definitely takes a while to piece together a full street video amongst all my other responsibilities not to mention Rona .. New team members coming in and leaving injuries etc etc … The filming side is pretty much done and Liam Teague is busy editing it .
Phil Batch hards Madrid. Photo: Chris Dale
Ash Challis Feeble in the Peaks. Photo: Chris Dale
Favourite skate related possession
I have collected one of every deck I ever designed, so I have well over 100 decks stashed at the last count … So yeah, got to be that I guess.
The boys at Campus Exhibition
Something about you that is not related to skateboarding that people might not know?
I’m well into making up stories … When my kid was a little younger, I would make up a story every night I put her to bed … Imagination can form reality and I love that !!!
To many kids stuck to screens , biggest gift we can give them is the right to imagination.
Wheel of Life
What did you do yesterday?
Early start took my daughter to school .. Came back and worked on these animations for the vid and some book promotion stuff .. Then I went to the skatepark where I work and managed to get a little skate in .. Got home around 11.30 and worked on some new stuff till 2 am .. Full day haha
Elemental Spirits
Favourite period in skate history that isn’t right now?
The 90’s ..I used to love going into my Local skate shop BFD (Big Fucking Deal) .. Checking out the latest New Deal and Underworld Element Graphics … Learning new tricks, wearing massive clothes, small wheels, discovering herbs and music from skate videos, parties etc … Fanning out over how amazing other people were at skating .. Yeah, I really feel like the my early years just blew my mind and introduced me to my longest ever passion …. Just the freshness of it all blew me away … I remember my uncle taking me to Southbank in 92(ish) and seeing Simon Evans do a nollie heel on the bank for a sequence for RAD magazine, I thought it was the best thing ever .. Now I see some random kid do it with ease, things have evolved but yeah the 90’s all day mate …
Favourite skate spot of all time past or present
Fairfield Halls Croydon .. You can’t front on that place in its heyday … I used to skate there every day and made some life long friends , who I still skate with or chill with to this day .. Seen so many amazing skaters pass through there over the years … Penny , Cario Foster , John Rattray , Rob Selley obviously Shier and the Panic/Blueprint teams for starters .. It was like a skate community where we looked out for each other . It was the longest stretch of skateboarding in the UK , big blocks , small blocks , sets of 3 ,4 ,5 and a double set .. Don’t think anyone twigged just how lucky we were … It’s the kind of place I could talk about for ages haha … Fairfield Forever
What’s next in skateboarding?
Well right now it’s bloomin’ massive … I think females will start to play a bigger role in the game. It’s rad to see so many girls out skating
Kinda bummed on this Olympic mentality creeping in with skate parents if I’m honest … Sooo yeah hopefully newbies will be schooled that it’s just a new strand of what we do but there’s far more to skateboarding .
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