Who is Austyn Gillette?
You could say Austyn Gillette has aged like a fine wine over the years. But in reality, when you look at his skating and style, it’s always been pretty perfect. Austyn is, of course, known for his graceful approach to skating and thoughtful songwriting, but many may not know he is equally thoughtful when it comes to working within the industry. Over the past few years, Austyn has been diligently figuring out how a brand like Globe can re-enter the core skate market, while also playing a major role in the running of Former clothing. All of this alongside filming video parts, releasing albums and answering questions from keyboard-bashing oafs such as myself.
Never one to shy away from giving honest answers, we were super excited to get the opportunity to ask Austyn some questions about everything mentioned above and much more! Check it out.
Hi Austyn, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. What are you up to at the moment?
Well, right now I’m back in Los Angeles for the winter, working on a couple of projects. I just finished recording an album, Globe has a few photo shoots this month, and Former always has me doing something behind the scenes. It’s always quite busy, but overall nice to be home near friends and family.
How is/was Paris treating you?
Paris was or has been a great experience. My visa was for a year, which was up in January, but in the process of renewing that. I’m always up for a new experience, so I don’t know what the future holds as to where I’ll be, but my time spent there was enjoyable. I was always scared of the place due to the language barrier and overall stigma around the city. I was pleasantly surprised with the warmth from everyone and the ease of living in a major city like that.
Who were you skating with out there?
There’s an endless amount of people coming in and out of that place, but the day-to-day was mostly with the Rassvet team. They are always working on projects with the team, and it’s just exciting to see how differently everyone skates.
How do you split your time between music, skating and brand responsibilities?
Haha, that’s the life juggle I’ve yet to figure out. It’s all very intertwined and almost always has been. I think the Zoom meetings with the brand and timing that globally has been tricky. Getting off those calls isn’t the most inspiring for music. Excel spreadsheets and projections don’t get me that excited, but it’s part of it. I never knew how much energy it would take, and just mental bandwidth. Overall, it’s become my normal, and I like doing all these things.
A lot of people discovered Future Islands from their performance on Letterman; however, many other skaters and I found them slightly earlier through your ‘Austyn Unlimited’ part – thank you for that. How much say did you have in that song choice?
I actually wanted a different song for that part, but at the end of the day, the skating decides what song fits. You can love a song, but as soon as you put it in the timeline and it doesn’t match, the best thing to do is move on and not force it. It’s pretty wild how many people mention that part to me still. The Future Islands moment was quite short for me, but I think at the time it worked, haha.
Would you ever skate to one of your own songs?
Never with vocals, but I don’t mind making instrumental stuff. I’ve done it for friends in skating and surfing, but it would be a little too self-indulgent to use my own music for skating.
Is recording an album similar to filming a video part?
I’ve actually never thought about that. With skating, there’s a lot of stuff externally that is out of your control, but what you choose to skate or which trick you choose to do is a direct connection to your personality and sensibilities. I would say with music, it’s quite the same. Which instruments you use, what melody you use. You want it to be original to you.
How important is originality to you?
It’s everything. There’s always inspiration we all pull from, but the interpretation and evolution of it all quickly felt. You know when you’re stealing, and you know when you’re on to some uncharted waters. You have a choice to blend in or risk being judged. Up to you if you’re up for the challenge.
I think a lot of people think you have life pretty figured out. Is that something you would agree with?
Haha, not in the slightest, but I’m grateful for the experiences I’ve been able to have through skateboarding. It’s allowed me the freedom to develop a view of the world, to see how people live, what’s possible in life and how much there is to learn. I just watch, listen and ask questions.
You’ve mentioned in the past that the internet is not something that benefits skateboarding. There are talks in the UK of banning social media for kids under 16 years old. Do you think this will help skateboarding? It would be so cool if physical skate media became as important to kids nowadays as it was for my generation…
You know, I just get sad when I see kids on their phones. They are looking at life through a straw. Boredom is important. If the world or your experience of life is something that makes you bend your neck so you have the physique of a question mark and the personality of a dishrag, then that’s concerning. As for skating, I still wonder if it’s a good thing. It’s all very diluted, and the opportunity to make a good living is becoming less realistic. I think if you enjoy skating, but you know that the world is much bigger than that, then you should be just fine.
I find how candid you are in interviews super refreshing. So many skaters refuse to give honest opinions about certain topics in case they burn bridges, I guess. Has your honesty ever bitten you on the arse?
It definitely has bitten me in the “arse”. I think through having a company, employees and emailing nonstop, you develop better methods to gently voice your opinions and communicate. If it’s interviews for magazines and something online, I think it’s best to just be yourself. It’s quite fun to just open up the valve and have a good time. You want it to feel like you’re in the room chatting with your friends, which is actually what’s happening.
It feels as though you have moved around quite a lot when it comes to board sponsors. Is there any reason behind this?
That’s a tough one to answer. I think just like any other job or relationship, after three to five years, you start to take inventory on the future. You ask questions like… Is this good for me? Is this propelling me forward and allowing me to be a bigger version of myself? I think it’s healthy to consider those things, and it’s quite normal outside of skating. I have great relationships to this day with everyone that I’ve been sponsored by. I’m endlessly grateful for their support and what we did together.
You said that before you got the opportunity to skate for Globe, you were contemplating taking a step back from skating and focusing on running Former. Do you think it would have been a genuinely reduced time spent skating, or did you just mean skating in front of a camera?
At that point, I was completely consumed by the brand and getting it off the ground. There really wasn’t much time on the side to skate, and there weren’t many options that I had for a future in skating at that point. COVID just hit, the world was in a much different place, and I was just trying to be realistic with what was in front of me.
Did Globe come to you with a regular sponsorship deal at first, or did they come to you with the idea of you heading the skate program from the get-go?
Well, I actually pitched Globe with a deck that showed how we could redesign the whole program. There wasn’t really an idea on their end, and I wanted to show what was possible through a different scope to better display the brand. There are plenty of ways to rebrand, and people do it all the time.
What were the important features for you when designing your pro shoe for Globe?
The most important thing was to design something entirely unique to the brand and myself.
I believe we had six different versions of the shoe before it landed where it is today, but I’m happy with the final product. The shoe simply needed to be comfortable and stand out on the wall amongst the many other brands.
We designed a custom PU insole with arch support, a side profile with a resin wrap, which is what people would call the “wavy” detail you see and added wax canvas laces to ensure that it would take a bit longer for the laces to rip. I just like making stuff where, if you see it, it’s highly recognisable without having to put logos everywhere.
How come you went back to laces with your most recent pro-model for Globe after skating the Dover when you were first on the Globe team?
I think the Dover is a niche shoe. A Chelsea boot or Blundstone isn’t for everyone, so just being realistic with what people are wearing and what skaters are more willing to slide their feet into.
With endemic brands such as DC making decent headway back into the core market with their reissuing and new releases of chunky shoes, was it hard to sway Globe to look into making slimmer shoes rather than trying to inject models such as the Sabre or Fusion back into the core market?
It was actually something they were looking for. Their heritage collection is just part of the DNA and wasn’t going anywhere, but they wanted something new, and I just happened to be there during that void.
Aside from creating new products, how do you change the perception of a brand such as Globe?
I think if the shoes, team and forward-facing marketing looks clean, then people will gradually see it as something new. I can’t control people’s association with the brand prior to getting there, so I just focus on what we can control and try to push the boundaries within the brand.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be heading back to Europe in April for a music residency in Switzerland and then maybe spending some time in Spain to film and work on a video project. I don’t know for whom yet, but I’m guessing it will be with whoever has the old “marketing budget” to fund it, haha.
Awesome, thanks Austyn and good luck with everything!
