An Interview with Michael Sommer

Hailing from Oslo, Norway where there are no skateparks, Michael Sommer's done pretty well for himself landing himself a handful of sponsors. With him recently joining Nikesb and two video parts in the works, the future is definitely looking bright.

Hey Michael you’re currently living in Oslo Norway, is there quite a good scene out there in terms of; spots, parks, crews etc?

Hi Tim! Yeah, Oslo is pretty cool. We have a lot of street spots around town but unfortunately no skate park, indoor or even outdoor. Hopefully we get one soon even though there has been talk about it for more then 10 years now.  This means we need to escape the long winters. Maybe try travel to Spain,California or China would be sick to check out. 

I heard during 1977 – 1989 skateboarding was banned in Norway, did you notice the impact of this when you were growing up skating? 

HAHA! Yeah, so stupid! Don`t really know the whole story behind it getting banned. But I think it  was something about  it being dangerous and that in the US they had troubles with skaters/punkers just being destructive, doing drugs, tagging and destroying things.  When I grew up as a kid there was only a handful of kids skating in my whole school. I always felt different  from all the other ones because of what I was doing. I kind of became the skater in school that was always late for classes and didn't care about anything but skating. I met one of my old teachers from when I was 14, he said, "Did everything work out for you?" Like he had no beliefs in me at all! HAHA, those where the days I guess.

Oslo, Norway I think is the most expensive city to live in, in the world is this actually the case or is it mellow if you know where to shop?

Yupp, the case is that people make a lot of money here even in basic jobs. But the prices is off course adjusted up to that.  The good thing about this is that if we travel outside of Norway our money is worth a lot. The bad side is that almost no skate teams choose to come here. Pretty sure it is the price that makes them back off. Typical things that are expensive here are; eating out, buying cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol, rent etc. There is also a lot of foreign people coming to Norway to work as waiter, kiosks, bartenders etc. “The jobs the Norwegian people are to lazy want to do”.  

By the way the Germans love to come here and see our nature and do some fishing. They fill up their caravans full of food,drinks, beer etc. So they end up not spending anything here but gass money in Norway! HAHA!

You’re pretty much fluent in English did you learn the language at school or did you feel you had to become fluent to keep up with all the skate news?

Thanks mate. I really like to talk English and I guess that has a lot to do with it. Everything is easy if you like it. Like it makes sense to work on it. Hehe. I read English every day. Maybe more then I read Norwegian. LOL. I just enjoy staying updated on football news and skate news.

Are you still getting hooked up with Smoothie Exchange, free smoothies sounds like a dream? I mean how does a sponsor like that eve come about?

Yeah, best sponsor in the world! My friend Jølle “Jørgen  Johannessen”  has been friends with the two guys behind it for a long time. And they are stoked on skateboarding and wanted to hook some skaters up. So Jølle hit me up one day and asked if I was hyped on it. So now I have been skating for them since 2008. Wow, 6 years. And the smoothies they make are really healthy and good for you. I try to go there every day when I'm home in Oslo.

How do you deal with skate injuries? Do you get up to much when you’re not skating?

Injuries come and go. I use to stress more about it before and have way more trouble with injuries. Usually that just makes it worse. I try not to focus on the pain, or else it never goes away. What you focus on ,you will get more of. And I try to do some basic balance training for my knees and ankles. 

How are things working out for you now that you’re on Nikesb? Do you see a lot of differences to DC shoes?

Things are going good. Colin Kennedy  “Nike sb EU TM” is helping me out alot. DC and nike are both two big brands that pay their skaters good.  I like that Nikesb have a really big skate team with so many different styles.  Something for everybody. Like there is no main Nike SB style. They have everything from Koston, Janoski, P-rod to more underground skaters like Grant Taylor, Gino Iannucci and Daniel Shimizu.  What I like about Nikesb is that they support both main stream and underground skating. And that is dope!

You've been all around Europe and to the states, does all the travelling ever get a bit tiring? Or is it a great way to avoid the Norwegian Winters?

Haha, traveling is a fun and educational is my opinion. I just like to see different cultures, cities and scenes. If you seen that, you can start comparing it to your own scene.  And that is pretty interesting. Yeah, Norwagian winters are so long and cold. Winter last for about roughly five or six months a year. I always try to get away from it. If not for the whole of winter at least for a month or two.  

Do you have any projects you’re working on at the moment? 

Right now I'm working on two parts with the same filmer. Pretty funny. Trying to make a City Hall plaza part, shoot photos for a Dank interview and a street part from Oslo. Hopefully I will get them done before winter hits hard. And that can happen fast up here. LOL

Cheers Michael any last words?

Not really but I would like to thank you for making this interview possible. and thank everyone for helping me out and having faith in me. First of all My family , Bernhard sports, Almost skateboards, Luis Cruz, Dank, Colin Kennedy, Nike SB, Smoothie Exchange, Oakley Lasse, Session, Eilif, ,Pekka, Bliss wheels , The Homies and everyone that I forgot. -Michael


Michael Sommer 2014 part