Willow Interview – Sprankles and Furry Bandanas

First Etnies Trip, then skatedeluxe tour and now again with LRG on the road – Willow has spent a lot of time on the road recently. But now he needs to put his feet up for a few days because he rolled his ankle real bad on the last trip. However he already has umpteen projects in his mind.

Tell me Willow, how was the LRG Tour?

As always super chill. Christian (Welther) is kinda the dad of the team. He looks after everything – you can count on him as friend as well as a organizer a 100%. The tour itself was a lot of driving but it couldn't work differently because we wanted to visit every shop. In Trier we did a demo at a streetspot, as to the rest we've been mainly in Skateparks. In Nuremberg we've been in a shopping mall but unfortunately I couldn't be there because I was hurt.

A shopping mall?

Yeah, the skateshop is located there. They set up a few ledges and blocked the way with barrier tape.

Varial Heelflip in Trier

How did you get hurt?

At a spot in Salzburg which already exists forever but everybody passes by because it's actually insane to do a trick there. You'll need a lot of luck to nail it but I actually felt certain, that I could land a Kickflip there. It's an 11 stairset with a small grassgap behind it and then there is a square meter of concrete where I wanted to land. And there is a a downhill close behind it. I ollied too far and would have landed directly on the grass instead of on the concrete. So I kicked the board away and wanted to come to a stop. But the grass was dampish and went downhill, so I stepped into a pit and my foot wrinkled up backwards. As a result I overstretched all my ligaments in my midfoot.

Would that have been for the LRG Tourvideo or do you have already a new videoproject after

Where We Come From?

Etnies Video! 100%! Nine months to go. I already have been 3 weeks on filming mission before LRG and skatedeluxe. That's only the second Etnies video in thirty years (here the first one) and therefore I'll try to do my best.

So the Australia trip in two weeks is also because of the Etnies video?

Exactly, but first of all it goes to the States where I meant to acclimate and warm up in the Berrics. Then I'll fly over to Australia for street skating.

So you got to be fit till then.

Yeah, I'm stocked on ice at the moment and Stephan, my physiotherapist, comes every evening around and does a laser therapy. The swelling has to be gone before the next NMRI to see if really no ligaments ripped off. But we can manage that.

Did anything special happen on the LRG tour apart from that?

Puh. [thinking] Burny is something special. A fine and special breed of men. He was always a positive pole and motivated all of us. When you witness Burny for one day only, you know what I'm talking about. I've spend as part of the skatedeluxe tour almost one month with Burny on the road and that naturally binds together. He also said that I'm more than just a skater for him, I'm one of his really good homies now. And this is how I see it as well.

How was it with Niilo Nikkanen, he was on tour for first time, right?

He's a deep one. But if he says something it's always funny. I heard him once or twice speaking and then it was always something funny. You just have to look in his face and then it's enough information for me. If he grins it means that he's doing well and thats how it should be.

"I thought about to wear a bandana like a laundress, over it a beanie and let the bandana still hang out for a bit. Gangster style."

Now that you are hurt and hanging around at home, you probably got time to putter around. Are there any news from the garage?

I just build little dollhouse chairs and sofas for a waldorf kindergarten and started to glue some kind of alien patterns on my old guttering.

I saw that you also do shirts for kids now.

Yes, because I think there are barely cool shirts for kids and I want to do clothes that my kids like.

What else is trendy in Winter 2015? Is your fur hat fashionable again?

Nah, Bandana. Fur-Bandana. [laughs] Nah, I don't know yet. But something will come to my mind, I will think about that. I thought about to wear a bandana like a laundress, over it a beanie and let the bandana still hang out for a bit. Gangster style. But maybe Nicole decorates me this winter and I look completely different. Maybe I will wear an Onesie then. [laughs] White shoes, black Onesie, huge backprint logo, that would too sick. Maybe I even get a cover with an Onesie? Let's do this!

You could also print a nude photo on the Onesie, so it looks like you would be naked.

This would be insane. Preferably with the tattoos. So everybody thinks: “Sick, he even skates naked in the wintertime!“

And what's going on with Willows World? When does your Youtube Show start?

That's another story. I need Janosch (Pugnaghi) to edit all the stuff but at the moment he is busy with your Untergrund video. But I think, that the first episodes will come in October.