MAT LLOYD

In this episode I got to sit down with skateboarder, teacher, educator, and Documentary Film Maker Ms. Kelli Watson. Straight up, Kelli is an awesome human being. Her love of skateboarding comes from a slightly different angle than most and in part due to working with skateboarders who are also her students. She's developed a passion for the culture and is about to premier her second Documentary 'We Can Fly 2' about skateboarding and creativity. I was stoked to be featured in her first film 'We Can Fly' along side such awesome artists such as; Ben Gore, Ed Templeton, Eloise Dorr and Barry Kay (to name a few)!

Check out the episode and then come down to the premier of 'We Can Fly 2' at the Doomed Gallery (65 Ridley Rd, London E8 2NP) on the 7th of August from 6pm! Free beer, free art and good vibes!

Either way I'm off for a skate with Kelli.

Find out more info on instagram via @wecanfly17
And follow him on facebook via www.facebook.com/wecanfly17/

Official website wecanfly17.com

Stay up to date by joining our Facebook page www.facebook.com/skateboarderandpodcast and following the host Mat Lloyd on instagram/twitter @matlloydpoet

Music used with permission from Mr. Brown, the intro track is from from his colaboration album with CONFUCIUS MC 'The Art Form', outro track from the album Beats for Days 2', buy them from all good record stores, iTunes, Amazon and direct from Mr. Brown via www.westaytrue.com

Follow Mr. Brown on instagram @westaytrue

Sixty years ago, a man wandered into a surf shop on the beach in Southern California with a homemade wooden board, with four roller-skate wheels attached. An insignificant beginning for a culture that would eventually influence communities all around the world. You might see the skateboard as just a toy, but in 60 years, the people who skate have created a culture that has had a profound influence across business, art, architecture, education and gender equality.

Now, in this programme, skaters from around the world tell the BBC World Service the global story of skateboarding.

You’ll find skaters everywhere, from California to Kabul, Madagascar to Melbourne. Skating back alleys, under highways, in skateparks, in drained pools. In the 1970s American teens became celebrity skate icons, while in Norway anyone with a board was a criminal. Then, unexpectedly, in the 80s and 90s, professional skaters carved out new territory with their own multi-million dollar businesses. Skating became profitable, and possibly respectable. And now, skateboarding is set for the Olympic park in Tokyo in 2020, controversial for some.

It’s been one heck of a ride. After years of never really belonging to the mainstream, turn on and tune in your radios: skateboarding is 60."

I'm absolutely stoked (and humbled) to be featured in Kelli Watsons new documentary 'We Can Fly', which explores creativity in skateboarding. 

It premiers on the 22nd of August at the Doomed Gallery in London!  Come down on the night from 6pm to enjoy work from Ben Gore, Eloise Dorr, Barry Kay and a performance or two from me!  Here's the press release...

"WeCanFly is a is a unique collaborative project about creativity and skateboarding. It is a New Form multimedia film project that centres around the artists: Eloise Dorr, Ben Gore, Mat Lloyd and Barry Kay. Also featured in the film are Ed Templeton and Grant Hatfield with short interviews with Rich West and Rohum Pourtahmasbi

The event at Doomed Gallery in Dalston on 22nd August will feature art works from Ben Gore and Eloise Dorr; bespoke high end furniture designed and made by Barry Kay of Skate Interiors, a spoken word performance from Mat Lloyd as well as the premier of the Short Film version of WeCanFly. The film is available in an interactive format and you will have the opportunity to view the additional parts and profiles of the artists that are featured in this version too.

This event celebrates the creativity that is at the heart of skateboarding culture."

Photographer Ben Gore also has a 'Snippet' out.  If you don't know Ben he was the first artist I interviewed on my podcast.  Both a great skateboarder and artist/photographer he talks about obsessing over projects and how he got into skate art through board graphics.

The film maker Kelli Watson is a teacher completing an MA who has a unique connection to skateboarding culture without actually being a 'skateboarder'.  Working with her students and for her MA she is having a positive impact on the culture many skateboarders (including myself) work hard to protect from 'outsiders'.

To find out more about 'We Can Fly' visit http://wecanfly17.wixsite.com/wecanfly

Also check out the 'We can fly Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wecanfly17/