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| Ollie. Photo Dan Mathieu |
Canadian skaters always appear to be extremely humble and
Charles Deschamps is no exception. In a time where skateboarding may not be
considered unique, Charles’ tricks and attitude are both welcomed and
refreshing. It’s always good to talk to someone that is just stoked on any
opportunities given to them through skateboarding and it’s because of this Charles Deschamps’ is definitely one to watch!
What’s a regular day for you at home in Montreal, Quebec?
These days have been really slow, its still pretty cold outside. The streets are all fucked up from the weather and there is salt everywhere in the streets. So there isn't much to do other than go to the indoor parks and chill with the homies. We are all waiting for the snow to melt and for the spring to come. Hopefully, it should be good in a month.
As good as Le Taz skatepark is do you usually try and escape Montreal during the winter?Yes, Taz is pretty sick, we just rebuilt a big section last summer. Definitely a good place to skate during winter. The only thing is that it is full of scooters and bmx's and they have helmet police who make sure you are safe. There is also the new Spin Skatepark that just opened on the South shore of Montreal, which gives us a couple options during the brutal 6 month winter. Skating indoor parks is fun but its not the best, I usually try to get the fuck out of here for a good amount of time. Or at least try to skip the worst part of winter.
Could you ever see yourself leaving the city? Barcelona and LA are always top of the list for skaters.
I'm pretty satisfied with Montreal, but I would like to see more. I just got back from SF and I really loved it. Even though its pretty expensive, I think it's a really good place to skate. Good weather, unique spots, good people, and the vibe of the whole city is just amazing. LA is a fun place, the city has a lot to offer, really good spots and a lot to explore. But I'm not the biggest fan of all the driving and stuff. The spots are usually far and most of them are only skatable on week days, which make its hard, but I really enjoy it, every once in a while. Barcelona, Spain and Europe ((in general) are really good places to travel to. Amazing spots and it is really refreshing to get out there, but I don't think I would like to live there. I would like to visit NY, Philly and more of America's East coast but I haven't been there enough to tell you if I would like to live there. I'm still looking around for a good place to live, but in the end I'm always stoked to come back home. If I get a good opportunity to move out to one of those cities with some homies, I think I would.
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| Backside Noseblunt. Photo Alex Hart |
It seems fitting that you’re from a Montreal and also ride for Cliche, how did that sponsor come about?
Yeah it is definitely a good fit, I'm stoked on Cliche, they make really good boards. I was riding for Skate Mental through a distribution in Canada and they ended up losing the brand. I wanted something stable and reliable and one of my friends were working for Dwindle in QC and hit me up. I wasn't really interested in any of the Dwindle brands other than Cliché. I thought it would be a perfect fit you know? I told him that I wanted to try it out with Cliché, so he put me in contact with the right people and it all worked out. I'm still really stoked to be part of Cliché. We'll see how it goes.
Back in January you featured in an advert for the DC Trase with Cyril Jackson that must have been fun to film?
Haha, Yes it was pretty fun to shoot, it was a lot of work and preparation. I think it took them a full week to get all the shots that they needed to do the video. We were only there for 2 days, it was a long process to get a good shot, like 20-30 min per try and maybe 2-3 hours between different colors. They poured paint and a bunch of stuff on our grip and wanted us to do some flip tricks. We pretty much had to do it first try or they would have to clean everything and start over. It was a fun to work with those guys and to see the whole process and behind the scenes. Definitely a good experience.
The ad had some awesome visuals, do you feel that skateboard video’s should put just as much emphasis on its aesthetic nature just as much as the tricks?
I think the goal was to get a good visual montage more than to show the tricks of the skaters. It was definitely shot to make the shoes look good but as a skater I would prefer to see some raw street skating for a commercial. But they have different clienteles to aim for and I think for this shoe it was appropriate to do those crazy visual effect.
We’re treated to new video parts on a weekly basis, do you think that full length videos are becoming a thing of the past?
I honestly don't know anymore. Skateboarding is evolving so fast these days, like 3 minute montages can be as good as a 30 minute video. It all depends on the company, the skaters and how everything is put together. And what do people want to see? I don't lurk online as much anymore so sometimes I'm stoked to see a really good montage and sometimes I like to sit down and watch a long video. There is so much skateboard content online these days and a lot of it is really gnarly and a lot of it is garbage, you just have to filter it. Since a lot of it is online and free I think maybe eventually it will become something of the past, but you never know; bleach hair and rails are back. If dvd's are going be a thing of the past I wouldn't be surprised to see it come back to life eventually. One thing is for sure VX1 will never be a thing of the past.
Are you currently working on any new parts?
Yeah, I'm working on a bunch of stuff at the same time, working on a full VX part for a video called 'Duluth' and I'm trying to get a couple clips in the next Dime video. I'm also working on an HD part, but I don't have any plans for it right now, just trying to skate and see what happens.
What are your plans for the future?
I study Architecture and I'm currently working on a couple of skatepark designs so I would be really happy to stay in this field. I've always been a fan of skateboarding and I would love to keep my work related to skateboarding. I would like to get involved in some future skatepark projects, maybe one day Montreal is going to build one of those mega skateparks and I'll get involved. I'll keep travelling and skating all around the world, and hopefully, I'll get some opportunities to grow in the skateboard and skatepark industry. Things are going well right now so I just have to keep the ball rolling and everything is going to be just fine.
Thanks Charles!
Yeah it is definitely a good fit, I'm stoked on Cliche, they make really good boards. I was riding for Skate Mental through a distribution in Canada and they ended up losing the brand. I wanted something stable and reliable and one of my friends were working for Dwindle in QC and hit me up. I wasn't really interested in any of the Dwindle brands other than Cliché. I thought it would be a perfect fit you know? I told him that I wanted to try it out with Cliché, so he put me in contact with the right people and it all worked out. I'm still really stoked to be part of Cliché. We'll see how it goes.
Back in January you featured in an advert for the DC Trase with Cyril Jackson that must have been fun to film?
Haha, Yes it was pretty fun to shoot, it was a lot of work and preparation. I think it took them a full week to get all the shots that they needed to do the video. We were only there for 2 days, it was a long process to get a good shot, like 20-30 min per try and maybe 2-3 hours between different colors. They poured paint and a bunch of stuff on our grip and wanted us to do some flip tricks. We pretty much had to do it first try or they would have to clean everything and start over. It was a fun to work with those guys and to see the whole process and behind the scenes. Definitely a good experience.
The ad had some awesome visuals, do you feel that skateboard video’s should put just as much emphasis on its aesthetic nature just as much as the tricks?
I think the goal was to get a good visual montage more than to show the tricks of the skaters. It was definitely shot to make the shoes look good but as a skater I would prefer to see some raw street skating for a commercial. But they have different clienteles to aim for and I think for this shoe it was appropriate to do those crazy visual effect.
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| Wallie Crook. Photo Alex Hart |
I honestly don't know anymore. Skateboarding is evolving so fast these days, like 3 minute montages can be as good as a 30 minute video. It all depends on the company, the skaters and how everything is put together. And what do people want to see? I don't lurk online as much anymore so sometimes I'm stoked to see a really good montage and sometimes I like to sit down and watch a long video. There is so much skateboard content online these days and a lot of it is really gnarly and a lot of it is garbage, you just have to filter it. Since a lot of it is online and free I think maybe eventually it will become something of the past, but you never know; bleach hair and rails are back. If dvd's are going be a thing of the past I wouldn't be surprised to see it come back to life eventually. One thing is for sure VX1 will never be a thing of the past.
Are you currently working on any new parts?
Yeah, I'm working on a bunch of stuff at the same time, working on a full VX part for a video called 'Duluth' and I'm trying to get a couple clips in the next Dime video. I'm also working on an HD part, but I don't have any plans for it right now, just trying to skate and see what happens.
What are your plans for the future?
Thanks Charles!
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