Cole Middleton Interview

You are known for always skating the spot at the park that no one is skating. Do you prefer to skate alone or is it just coincidence?

It’s probably because I love skating parks and I want to skate everything all at once, like too excited to settle down (kid in a candy shop?). Especially a good park, if it’s a fun park I want to skate it until I’m exhausted. That’s why parks are fun, there are always weird things or new things you haven’t skated before, so why not skate it all. It’s not very fun to me to just sess. the stairs or rails for a long time, that’s when my OCD boosts in. Also I feel I’m not very good at stairs or rails, maybe my demo antics suck; so i’ll space off and skate something else.

What is your favorite sk8 team memory?

Every demo or trip we do is so much fun to me. If it’s the demo that’s crowned the smallest crowd in history or Thunder Bay or something, I’m having fun man. Favourite memoryÉ (NOOO!! I hate this, my computer always switches the question mark to the French E thing – sorry, i`ll try to avoid question marks) Favourite memory would be that Thunder Bay trip actually. That park is amazing first of all! I dunno i think we had most of the team on that trip too, so that was cool. Everything was just awesome, everything from somehow getting those fat chicks crammed in the hotel room (literally), to the big party at Hopkins house. Nickoshie`s back disaster on the vert ramp, damn. Ya, that`s defiantly my favourite.

What is your worst sk8 team memory?

How Adam Lecker has yet to come on any Minneapolis trip that we`ve all gone on; he gets me stoked. Haha, there`s never been a bad sk8 memory for me, we always have fun.

Since you've been on the team you've always been one of the hardest working guys on the team with filming, coming to demos/comps and generally just being motivated. Where does the drive come from?

I`m in skate mode alllll the time, I`m addicted man. I only want to be involved with things relating to skating. Any demo, trip, or comp, I want to be there just because I know I`ll be skating. I`m a better man if I get to skate every day. With filming, ya getting tricks gets you stoked, its a continuous stoke-cycle that never ends.

In regards to the last question when everyone was ready to go to the hotel and drink in Minneapolis, you called everyone out by saying if my mind serves me correctly "Genico paid for us to be here and we have a photographer, I don't want to go back to hotel room and drink, I wanna skate". Did I remember that one correctly?

Ya I remember saying that, I meant it too. I just appreciate things alot, like Genico definantly doesn’t have to help us out as much as he does. Ya it`s fun to get a good buzz on after a day of skating, but I always feel like I need to deserve that buzz. Minneapolis is amazing, we don’t get to skate there every day, so why not give`r while you`re there. That`s how I think though, some people probably got bummed on that remark. Especially with the photographer, that was cool. That was a first time I think, I still feel like I blew it on that trip.

How was filming for Times Change? Anything different you would have done?

I had fun man! I wish I didn`t try to subtly one-up that nose manual down that hubba thing by trying to nollie into it, then I maybe would have had 2 more months to film. That was kinda stupid, i dunno, i guess it woulda been cool to do that rather than get injured. No, we went on quite a few trips, and got hyped off each other; thats how filming a video should be. I`m stoked that we put together a good length video with a shit load of bangers in the 7 months of dry weather we had. That`s what`s cool about prairie skaters, the winters get us sooo stoked then summer we give`r tits. I love it.

How did you feel about your part?

Same answer as any skater who gets asked this question... shoulda woulda coulda. There`s always the tricks you wish you got or tried before the snow fell. I was pumped to skate to Black Sabbath, wasn’t Ozzy Sabbath but I was still pumped on the song. It happened to be used in Fubar 2 too, that got me stoked. I dunno, I got stuff I was happy with but now that I see it I feel I didn`t try hard enough; even though I did.














Any good stories from the premiere night?

I don’t really like seeing myself skate or on a screen for that matter, so I kinda crushed some beers a little fast, which lead to a pretty sick feeling night... haha. That`s not a memory though, It was just cool to see everything we did from the past months on a screen with some bangin music. I liked how after 7 minutes of arriving at the bar after the video, Jesse Hilderman was slouched on a chair out like a light. It looked like he was getting a hair cut, ya know when your head in awkwardly tilted over the sink and it hurts like shit, he was passed out like that. I couldn’t stop laughing at that, it wasn’t even that late and he was oooouttt, hahaha. Maybe I`m the only one that found this funny.

Who had your favorite tricks in the video and what were they?

Dude Jamie Mospanchuk is a straight killa his part rules! I gotta say his nollie heel over the wall at woodsworth takes the cake, that`s nothing short of amazing! Colin, your smith grind on that cairo foster rail in Minneapolis, that`s seriously fucked; talkin about nipple high on me. I could make this answer an essay...

Top three favorite skaters of all time?

Arto Saari – he`s the only skater I`ve consistently liked for as long as I can remember; that Sorry part is my favourite part ever. 2 Bowie songs and the best style, man oh man! Scott Kane – He`s so sick! Ive liked him for a long time. Kickflip front noseblunts and switch heel front noseslides on handrails. Thats legendary, that doesn’t happen still do this day. Mike Carroll – Thats a given. He`s the man for endless reasons. Always good songs in his parts and just skating thats so enjoyable. This is more in the past 2 years, but Vincent Alvarez. He`s my favourite skater right now, everything about him gets me so hyped! No one else skates like him, its awesome.

Top three Canadians?

Derek Swaim – hands down! I`ve been a fan of him for a long time. His shit is so proper Nate Roline – I still feel unbelievably shitty at skating around him Cayden Stoddart & Colin Burnett – that`s the most amount of fun you`ll ever have Screw it I`m throwing in 4... Antoine Asselin. I like his skating alot.

Top three Winnipegger's

Jeremy Gelfant – it just has been ever since I`ve moved to Winnipeg. ``The one and only`` Chris Guzzi – I feel like he`s one of those dudes that no one can hate on, no one kinda like Biebel. Guzzi’s just the sickest.... Cain Lambert – We`ve got the same mentality about skating, nothing but getting hyped – and Geurts

You're not a fan of "show boating" but you are a fan of really sick tricks. Whats the difference in your eyes?

I actually left this question last because i don’t really know what you mean. I think its the mentality behind the trick, like theres obviously tricks that will ``wow`` people like backflips and shit like that, tricks that ya are insane, but theyre only learned as a show off kinda thing. Like i would personally feel stupid doing a backflip fly out, i would. That kinda crosses the line of sick trick and a show off trick. I still don’t really know how to answer this question. There's gunna be tricks that impress most people, then there's gnarly tricks that are gnarly for that person personally. Like doing a trick that your not hyped on what so ever but you know will be liked by everyone else i think is a show boat trick, but if you're actually hyped on it personally then it`s all good.

You're working at the airport and recently decided you want to be a pilot. How is that going?

I`m still on the fence about that one, my mind always thinking in different directions. Planes get me stoked man, the sound of em and the aerodynamics, its sick. I can seriously see myself being a pilot, but i havn't signed up for schooling or anything like that yet for it. It`s the only career i've thought of that i'm excited about, but not for sure. I think i'm at that stage in life where you've been out of high school for a little bit and feel like you should have some direction to a career. I don’t know. I read peoples facebook statuses about university and stuff and everyone seems stressed out and having no fun at all, i guess that's my only thing; i don’t want to be suffocated by school and give up skating. Seriously, i cant pass up skating for something else, Pilot school isn’t easy and it takes a lot of time and effort. My best answer is seriously, I don’t know... Maybe taking a couple classes and slowly working towards something, but still skating as much as possible is best for me; that seems manageable.

Who do you want to be on the team next?

Good question, there are a ton of good people in Winnipeg. I`d say Guzzi man, he`s just so fun to skate with and always surprises you...always. Every time I skate with him or see him skate I can`t help but smile.

Whats the best part about the team?

We get along really well and we always have a fun time together. I feel like we`re all skate rats, that`s what I`m about, talking skating but skating even harder.

Do you want to call anyone out for being a dick?

Hahaha, can`t say that I can actually. Maybe the first skater I ever saw which was when i started skating in Edmonton. I lived a few blocks away from him, but i knew he skated and he always skated this box in front of his house. When id get a ride home from school and see him skating, id get on my bike and peddle over to near his house and chill behind a bush and watch him skate, he was seriously sooo good actually. Still to this day i remember him being amazing. But when i had the balls to go try and skate with him, he kinda ignored me and didn’t talk to me, probably because he was doing kickflip backtails and i wasn’t even able to get high enough into a slappy noseslide hahaha.

You're the man Cole, any last words?

Sorry guys if these answers are paragraph like, if I`m on the topic of skating I got alot to say. Besides that, the age ol` answer, Skate or Die. And throw them horns in the air.