Thrasher Magazine

If the house is boarded up, anything goes. GT hops a fence to kick off Constant     Photo: Atiba

Injuries, parenthood and a damn pandemic, the cards weren’t exactly in the Constant crew’s favor. Despite the struggle, they put out one of the best vids in a minute and still made it home for dinner. Atiba checks in with the cast to see how they powered through. As seen in our July ‘21 mag. —Atiba Jefferson


Despite the hurdles, the crew pulled off an instant classic with the newest Nike full-length

Why did you move to LA?
We moved to LA because we had a couple of really close friends who lived in LA and every time we would come visit we would always get the bug. We could kind of see it working. Shortly after our daughter Coco was born, I was injured and it became clear that Lilly wasn’t going to return to work at her job in Atlanta, so I was like, “Well, you’re not going to work and I’m hurt. It’s kind of the perfect little window if we were going to move. Let’s do it now.” Once we started looking it got really exciting and it was like, Ooh. It all happened really fast. I think we moved when Coco was only three months old. We rented a place for a year—that went by really fast—and then we bought a place and decided to keep it going a little bit longer and see how it panned out.

Photos: Atiba

What are some things you really love about living in LA?
I love all the different parks—not specifically skateparks. But there are tons of skateparks that are awesome and I haven’t even been to all of them, which is always fun to explore. Sometimes I’ll get in my car with my daughter and just type in a random park or find something and just go because it’s all still so new for us and we’ll just sort of explore and get lost. I like that feeling of just getting lost. And that’s how you end up finding spots or new parks, playgrounds or places to go. All the food, too. My wife and I love trying new things and eating out or getting take-out now because of COVID, so that’s always fun. Also being able to hit the beach in 30 minutes is new for us. We’ve never really had that option, so that’s been really fun. And new friends, too. Since we’ve been living here we’ve made a lot of new friends in our area and I keep seeing people I haven’t seen in ages who live around here. That’s been cool to have that going.

The owners were out but the neighbors weren’t too hyped. Gap to back lip—it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission      Photo: Atiba

That’s awesome.
Yeah, two kids and a dog.

Is your life different than what you thought it would be? When I met you 16 years ago, if I’d told you this is what your life was going to be like…
I probably would’ve said you were crazy.

No celebrities in the alleys, but there's some treasure among the trash, frontside 50-50    Photo: Colen

Have you seen any celebrities since you’ve been here?
Dude, you are the celebrity. Are you kidding? Going out with the Atiba it’s like, Damn, we got Teebs on the sesh. People flock up to you like, Yo, all the time. I love seeing that. Eric Koston is also a celebrity.

I do not count.
It’s so funny seeing Koston out in public and people come up to him all the time. But as far as actual non-skate celebrities, I’m the worst with that. It’d have to be someone so obvious for me to recognize them. But no, I haven’t really spotted any A-list celebrities or whatever you want to call it. I don’t really see or pay attention, I guess.

Backside 50-50, down and out—this is definitely a spot      Photo: Colen

When you were younger did you ever make plans to live the skate dream and come to California?
I think as a kid I was like, Fuck no. I don’t even think I really understood LA until I was much older. I didn’t even consider moving out of Atlanta until way later in life, or even moving at all. But my wife and I are both born and raised in Atlanta and have never lived anywhere else, so it was just a good opportunity to switch things up for a little while. Skateboarding didn’t really drive it that much, but it’s definitely exciting to be able to go check out so many areas and spots and there’s new people to skate with all the time. It’s exciting, for sure.


What would you say are the differences between skating in Atlanta versus LA?
Well, the difference is there are more pros. There’s more industry-driven people around and that’s definitely different. Going to a park in Atlanta, you just see locals, kids, homies and stuff. Going to a park in LA, you might see a couple of different pros, so that’s something that definitely stands out. Even without hitting anybody up, you could see a couple of different people that day, which is totally different. That was new for me. I wouldn’t hit anybody up and next thing you know—I mean, pre-COVID—you’re skating with ten homies and it was like, Damn, this is crazy. I think I enjoyed that, too, because everyone who’s living and skating in LA, I think they’re there to rip. They’re there to skate. I mean, some people are born here so that progression is there. I think that is also something I enjoy—feeding off each other and going to a spot with a couple of different heads and you feed off the energy.

When did you start filming for this project? It started taking shape during the pandemic, right?
I think it was right at the start of the pandemic. I was coming off of a long-term injury—I had a long-term bone-bruise injury in my foot and I was coming back around, and the next thing you know all the travel was cut off. Everything was on a lockdown scenario. So we kept it tight—at first it was just Ant and me and we were just filming some stuff just to do it. I guess it was like, The streets are empty. Let’s try to go hit some stuff up. I just kept saying, “We’re filming a video,” and just joking around, but it eventually took shape and we just kept at it until they accepted that we’re going to do a video with Ant. I like skating with Ant. He’s easygoing and he’s always open to the idea of skating anything, anywhere. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the other side of town or whatever. And he’s always available; he’s always around; he’s not too hard to track down.

Ready for anything, GT pops off the downhill runway to frontside nosegrind     Photo: Atiba 

You find a lot of spots that aren’t typical spots. How are you finding these things that normally aren’t skateable?
I think it might’ve had something to do with the lockdown and being close to home. You kind of work with what you’ve got around you instead of venturing out super far to see spots that are well known. I was just in my area and I think everything’s so new to me. Half the time I don’t even know where I’m going or where I’m at, but I’m always trying to find or look for something on my bike or in my car. So I don’t know, I just sort of keep that eye out and sometimes things pop out. It’s usually 50/50. Either it’s like, Damn, I can’t believe this hasn’t been skated, or you get there and it looks perfect from the car but then you go and look at it up close and you’re like, This is not a spot, which happens a lot. I’ll go there with Ant and I’m like, “Yo, I got this thing,” I’ll send him the pin, we all meet up and I’m like, “Yeah, this actually isn’t skateable. What else do we got?”


I feel like half of the spots you find are house spots, but you’re always very respectful.
There’s a lot of good house spots around here. It’s hard not to look and want to try to test the waters, but it is their house. You can’t come in too hot, guns blazing, fucking speaker on. You’ve got to tread lightly on the house spots.

From ATL to DTLA, Grant’s on the grind no matter where he hangs his hat. Pop shove nosegrind 180 out      Photo: Colen

I’ve noticed you have a lot of patience. Is that from growing up in the South?
I guess it sort of depends. I never like to escalate with security too much, but it does depend on how close the person is to landing the trick or what is being done. Living here, it definitely changes things because when you get kicked out you can just come back. You have another day, which is different for me. I’ve never had this much around me. Like with Ant filming the video part and living here, it’s different. Sometimes it’s almost harder that way, because normally when you’re trying something you’re like, Fuck, I really don’t want to have to come back here. But being here, it’s like you almost take the easy way out by being like, Oh, I could come back another day. Whereas if you’re on a trip you’re like, I’m never coming back to this parking lot. I don’t even know where I am. I need to fucking land this. So with security and people’s houses, I feel like it’s nice to say, “What up?” Let them know what you’re doing. Ask them, “Can we get two more minutes?” Sometimes they’re down.

The triple set across the street was still guarded, but the pandemic freed up this stack. Double-barrel kickflip, street GT goes       Photo: Atiba

There’s something different about this video part than the other ones you’ve done. Obviously COVID affected it and it was a shorter timespan, right?
Yeah, I thought there was going to be a bigger window on this project, but it turns out it’s pretty much just one year, which is good—short and sweet, you know? Just kind of hammer it out and you get what you get. I’d say it’s different, too, because usually you kind of group who is in the project together and then maybe you do a trip somewhere together, which hasn’t happened. I know some of us met up in the streets here and kind of did our thing that way. But sometimes when you’re on a trip, it’s more like shit just pops off because you’re in a van all day looking at spots and you get a lot more done. I think not traveling is probably the biggest thing that’s different for this video part.

The move from Atlanta was nothing compared to this flight. Ollie over the hydrant, GT is a GD cannonball      Photo: Colen

What’s it like skating with Carlos Ribeiro?
His footage is amazing and he’s always super chill with me. And we got the dad connection going, so that’s what we talk about when we’re together—kids and stuff.

What about skating with Oski?
Skating with Oski is insane. How he rides—it’s just on the go and he makes it up as he goes. Even if he had a set line, somehow it’s different each time he skates. He doesn’t really get stuck trying something for too long—he just keeps it going and switches it up, which is awesome.

Skating's always better with friends, boardslide fakie      Photo: Colen

What about Daan?
I don’t even know the last time I skated with Daan. It’s been a long time. It was probably right when he hurt his leg and he was spinning 540s like no one’s business. But he’s insane, too. We always say, “Calm down, Penny,” because he’s super chill and relaxed like Penny but he can get crazy tech with it. But he can also skate a vert ramp. Daan’s a little bit mysterious, a little magical. I think he did a lot of his filming in the Canary Islands.

This dumpster jumper is more than a little magical     Photo: Colen

Do you surf? Seems like something you’d get into living here in California.
I know Koston’s been going a lot. I think you sort of get the bug, like going with your homies and then they let you borrow some of their shit and you can go acquire your own stuff. And I haven’t really had that—the homie surf experience. I’ve done some surf lessons in weird spots here and there, but I think it looks fun to do. A lot of people out here do it.


How has it been on the pool-skating tip?
I knew there were a lot of pools out here, but I didn’t realize how many there were that were accessible, especially through Ozzy. It’s insane. It’s really fun to look on Google Maps—you can just see all the pools and all this stuff. You don’t get that in Atlanta. You get the occasional abandoned apartment pool, but the pools out here are insane. They’re all so good.

The coping’s jacked but Grant’s bag is stacked. Frontside tail tap, there’s a trick for every spot      Photo: Colen

How’s the vibe when you’re with Ozzy?
We’re both from the East Coast and he still has that excitement—that little kid excitement when the pool is really good. Because it’s still a special thing. Each pool is different and has its own vibe and when it’s good, it’s really exciting. Everyone’s feeding off each other at the session. So those are always fun sessions.

There have been times where it’s just me and Ant on the session and you’re flying down a street into traffic with no spotter. Is that stressful?
A lot. Probably too much. I should probably hit more people up to skate, but at the same time it was during fucking COVID. So it was like, You guys are available and this is my little window. A lot of people aren’t really getting up and leaving the house at 10 AM to go skate. So the people I would hit up either wouldn’t answer the phone or wouldn’t be around to skate at those hours. I remember that one alley we did, we flagged some random person off the street. He was on his phone and I was like, “Can you stand right here and tell me if there’s a car coming?“ We had that total random citizen watching traffic for us. But trying to get it done solo is tough sometimes.

Those alleyway bike rides are paying off, crooked grind      Photo: Colen

But do you prefer to be on solo missions?
I prefer one or two other people. I mean, you can get it done solo, but midway through if it’s really becoming a battle, you’re like, Fuck, maybe I do need some other eyes, another viewpoint. I remember coming back to this street gap a couple of different times. This was probably my third time going and Jake Anderson was with us and he saw what I was doing and he’s like, “Get it in front of you.” Just some words from another person and you’re like, Yeah, you’re right. And then—boom—within four tries I landed it. This was after hours and hours, multiple other days trying to get this thing done. And that’s when you know that people on the session really help.

Maps to the skateable homes! Gap to back 50-50, last try before the cops got called      Photo: Atiba

I was talking to Ant and he said there isn’t going to be much pool skating in this video.
We were skating pools a lot this past year. We’ve been hitting them a bunch and we had that Stratosphere project come up and we sort of needed to fill the gap there and I think we just decided to give them all the pool stuff and then just try to keep the street shit for this project, just keep hammering that out. But it didn’t really start out that way. When it started, everything was about pools or like, Oh, this dude’s got a vert ramp? I want to skate that, too. But it ended up turning into more street, you know? Finding stuff around the neighborhood and just skating whatever is around.

A small sampling of transition to satiate the bowl trolls, frontside noseblunt     Photo: Atiba

Is that exciting for you to have a video part that’s different from previous projects?
Yeah. It’s been a long time since I had like—’cause sometimes you go on trips or people set up these trips and we’re camping and we’re skating parks, parks, parks. But I haven’t really put myself in this position where we’re only looking at street shit all day long. There is Garvanza around here, but it’s not like there’s a whole lot of transition in this area.

GT may be on a street mission, but this hairball transfer at Garvanza was too gnar-gnar to pass up     Photo: Atiba

How do you pick a song for a video part? Ant was telling me that “Cars” by Gary Numan was one of your possible choices.
Yeah, that song is on the list because my daughter Coco, she fires up when she hears that song. She screams and drops everything and starts dancing, so I thought that would be funny if I used it because she’d get to see the skating and the song together. I thought it would be really funny. But I just start throwing random ideas out and seeing what works well with video parts. I think it depends on how you edit things.


It’s cool to mix it up. People have these ideas of what to expect from you.
Skating to Slayer in a ten-foot bowl.

He's packin' more than Smiths and Slayer, but we still love the hits   Photo: Atiba

Yeah. Are you excited to break those expectations?
I mean, that’s one side of things, for sure. I love both of those things a lot, but I feel like we haven’t really gotten to do this since Debacle. We were doing a bunch of street skating when we were filming for that video and there wasn’t a whole lot of tranny footage in there. At that time it was exciting to go out with Jason Hernandez and he’d be like, “Let’s film these lines. Grind this rail.” He was showing me all these untouched spots in LA and I was blown away. I was like, What? This hasn’t been grinded. Fuck yeah, let’s get this. I’m excited to get that energy going again, to go check things out that I haven’t looked at in years or things that haven’t been skated or whatever. But yeah, it feels good to just be in the streets getting some footage.

Unleashed in the streets and straight to the cover, Grant graces the front once again—kickflip      Photo: Atiba

If skating goofy is good enough for his daughter, it’s good enough for him—switch back Smith by poppa Ribeiro      Photo: Colen

GT: How many kids do you have, Carlos?
Carlos: I’ve got one daughter who is two and a half years old and I’ve got twin boys in mama’s belly right now.

Do you find skating is more scheduled now?
C: Definitely, but I feel like I take more advantage of the time I have when I’m outside skating. So I try to be productive, try to do what I have to do and then be out.

No dickin' around, switch crooked grind and he's out      Photo: Atiba

I used to dick around for so long. I’d be at the park for a few hours, just killing the day and then I’d be like, Oh shoot, it’s getting dark. We should go look at a spot.
C: Yep. Now it’s like 1 PM, get the clip, stoked, then bounce.

Do you have a board for your daughter?
C: Yeah, I have one. I set it up for her probably when she started walking.

 Only one way to hit this front tail—haulin’ ass     Photo: Atiba  

Yeah, same here. Does it have grip or anything special on it?
C: It was no grip for a long time, then I put grip on it and she rides it but she’d rather ride on my lap. She likes that. She’s just starting to go down the ramps at the park, but I have to run next to her if I’m holding her hands.

Yeah, my daughter Coco gets intimidated at the skatepark, but she likes to go down this alleyway right by our house. She’ll sit down on her board, I’ll sit next to her on my board and we’ll just bomb it together. It’s insane. She hasn’t really slammed yet so she doesn’t know like, Yeah, we’re hauling ass right now.
Atiba: Are your kids the same stance as y’all?

She hasn’t chosen a stance yet.
C: Mine chose right away. I was trying to make her regular just because I’m regular and, dude, she would turn by herself. She is just naturally goofy. I’m like, Okay, alright.

Carlos, back tail heelflip to regs at Beneficial. Nothing good happens after 1 PM 

Crazy. I started skating goofy because I saw my dad skating switch one day, pushing mongo. I was like, That looks cool. So I started skating goofy because he was pushing switch one day and then I had the mongo foot forever. When I was like ten, dude, I pushed mongo.
A: That’s so dope. Is there a rad dad you look up to?
C: Now that I’ve met you, Grant, you’re definitely one of them. Oh, I got one—Sammy Baca. I was just in Vegas a couple of weekends ago and I bumped into him at this spot and he had his three kids kitted up. He’s sick; he’s definitely one.

Dad can't decide on a stance either, switch flip crooks     Photo: Atiba  

Yeah, no doubt. He’s one of the raddest out. I’m going to go ahead and say Koston. He’s got a Suburban now. He’s a full-on soccer dad. Shout out, Eric.
A: Yeah, Eric is definitely the world’s best dad, that’s for sure. Grant, since you grew up with your father skating, do you hope your kids become skaters? Is that something you’d be stoked on?

Oh, I’ll definitely be stoked on whatever they want to do, of course. I wouldn’t ever apply too much pressure in any field. You let them go as hard as they want on it and you try and steer them in the right course. I think that’s how my dad played it with me. It was like, You want to go skate? Because I’m going to the park. So I just tagged along and we did it together. So yeah, of course I would love to go to the skatepark with everybody and I’m sure we will.
A: What about you, Carlos?
C: Yeah, same thing—no pressure at all. But it’s definitely sick; even when I take Luna to the skatepark, I feel like it’s super fun to see her with a little helmet on, stoked to ride. I’d definitely be stoked, but whatever she does. Sometimes she’s got her skirt on and she’s like a ballerina, dancing ballet baby style and that’s sick, too. Whatever she does, you’re just stoked. If she’s happy, we’re happy.
A: Everyone’s happy.

Nollie inward heel over and in, everyone's happy with this one

Photo: Veldman

GT: When was the last time I saw you in person?
Daan: It’s been like two years.

Well, thanks for keepin’ everybody updated on your new hobbies. You’re either putting a golf ball or fucking throwing a line. I like it.
D: Loving it.

So where did you film your part?
D: What part?

Daan switch front heels into very unforgiving territory      Photo: Veldman 

The one that you’ve been filming for this video. I saw a couple minutes of some hammers. Where’d you film all that?
D: Oh, just in Holland—in Eindhoven and other cities around there.

Keeping it close to home, huh?
D: Yeah.

What about that other trip you did, that surf trip? Did you go to Canary or something?
D: Yeah, just before the lockdown hit and all, I booked a plane ticket to the Canary Islands. I was on the island for three months.

Holy shit.
D: All by myself.

Just solo, huh? No homies out there?
D: I met some of the locals. They showed me around and I had a good time.

Didn’t catch any surfer beefs—snake the wrong dude?
D: Heavy surfing experience.

I bet. So you’re a surfer. Can we expect any barefoot tricks in your part? Any last-minute barefoot ripskis?
D: I don’t know. I want to go surf with Koston. He’s been peaking it lately.

Slashin' a vertical swell, so pitted

Right. We probably won’t get any barefoot tricks off of him, though. So you’re back on a second lockdown. Are you stuck in the EU?
D: Yep. In Holland, actually. I can’t leave.

Damn. Well, plenty of coffee shops to keep you occupied, I’m sure. Do you know when you can come visit? When you can, I got a room for you at my house.
D: Alright. They say May 15th but they keep extending the date. So hopefully mid May.

You’re 21 now, right?
D: What, 21? No, I’m 25.

I thought you were 21, dude. That’s a lie.
D: I was born in ’96.

If you were 21 when we were hanging out, you must have not had your ID or something ’cause I feel like you were never allowed to get into the bars. Every time we’d go out, you’d be like, Nah. Or something would happen at the door and then you would just not go in.
D: Because I look 12. They always said I needed a California ID or something. I have a passport.

And it never worked. You would just get pissed and go back to the van.
Atiba: How was it skating and filming during the pandemic?
D: Pretty weird ’cause I’ve been on some solo missions, basically. So yeah, it’s weird skating alone with a filmer and stuff. That’s been weird. All my friends are still working during the day.
A: Were you able to be more productive during the pandemic or less so because of it?
D: I guess less. I can’t travel. I mean, there’s not many of my homies that I can just grab and go film stuff.

Backside nosegrind to nollie back heel. Try that on your surfboard     Photo: Veldman

You’re on the working-man’s schedule.
A: Do you miss being able to skate with Grant?
D: Oh yeah. It’s been too long. He still thinks I’m 21.

No doubt. We need to skate together ASAP ’cause I have this question written down: Can you teach me eggplants? You still got eggs?
D: Nah, my wrist is fucked. And I’ve been skating with the broken-ribs thing for four years.

So no eggs going down?
D: No eggs going down.

What’s your brew of choice at the moment?
D: Sparkling water.

Clean. I like it. Where’s the first place you want to travel to once everything opens up?
D: San Francisco and Grant’s Atlanta.

We need to kick it soon, Daan. But I don’t live in Atlanta anymore.
D: I know—LA life.

Photo: Veldman

Yeah, but ATL is the first place I want to go when shit opens up. I got one last thing: give me a good P-Stone quote.
D: “They are just like a potato chips, Daan.” P-Stone was talking about the fucking little crabs on the rocks. He was just collecting them and eating them.

Eating live crabs?
D: Yeah, I couldn’t bite into one. I tried.

That shit is rock hard. That ain’t no potato chip.