Thrasher Magazine

Jamie Foy is not fat. Not even close. But with his Lego man-like build and popcorn waterfall of hair, he’s got a look that pokes the bear in a lot of ways. And though he’s a pioneer of the modern rail pinch, it’s hard to pin down exactly what his specialty is. I learned he was King of the Groms as a child in the mini-ramp division, for instance. The most important thing to know about Jamie Foy is that he doesn’t back down. If he wants something, he’s gonna get it. But there is one thing he doesn’t want: vegetables.

So you’ve been on the road since we got off that trip, right?
Yeah, it’s on. I just extended my trip an extra two weeks.

What?!
Yeah. I’m filming for Ty Evans’ new video. We’re out here with Ty filming until June 8th in Barcelona. ‘Cause I’m in Madrid right now. It’s so sick out here. I don’t give a fuck.

Big Boy Foy, back 50 past the fence. What’s the worst that could happen?

You don’t mind traveling at all?
Nah. Well, not right now. I’m still new so I’m hyped on it.

What’s your favorite place you’ve been so far?
I haven’t been to a lot, so shit I’d probably say Barcelona. It’s the sickest place ’cause everywhere you go there’s a skate spot.

So our trip was through the South. I know you don’t dig veggies. Is Southern food more up your alley?
I would definitely say so. Hell yeah. I definitely favor toward the South because it’s where I’m from so that shit is always good for me.

What was the place we didn’t get to go that you kept asking to go to?
We went to Sheets. We went to Zaxby’s.

You kept asking about Publix.
There you go. I was just thinking. Yeah, Publix.

A rare moment off the rails, 180 blast over the bar with a board-crunching ride away

Half of the places you mentioned are, like, grocery stores or gas stations which a lot of people don’t think of as the best places to eat. But you’re into it, right?
Hell yeah. I definitely don’t have the best diet but that food goes.

Do you think that you’ll outgrow that? Do you think someday you’ll be, like, “Fuck it. Gimme the kale salad.”?
I mean, shit. I’d hope so. If not I don’t know how much longer this is gonna be good.

What’s the healthiest thing that you regularly eat?
I’d say probably like fruit. Probably bananas or something like that.

The first time I ever saw you I was, like, “Holy shit! Look at the big guy!” But you said you used to look even bigger because you wore giant shirts.
Probably yeah, ’cause I’d always wear bigger shirts. That way I’d fit in them longer and it was more stuff to be in the way of me falling; just way more free flowing. I never really could do tight clothes.

What was it like when the Pissdrunx thing was big and everyone was wearing the skinny jeans?
I always watched a lot of their stuff and I always thought, “I don’t know how they could just bend down and skate with that stuff on.” I feel like it would be so constricting.
Impossible Foy into Brock’s ATL gap. This thing is terrifying!

Obviously you rip, you’re one of the best ams, otherwise we wouldn’t have invited you on the trip. But do you feel like it took you longer to get hooked up and find your sponsors because you weren’t a traditional body type?
Possibly. I’ve definitely dealt before with people who didn’t really know me so they didn’t get to see me skate as much. I’ve noticed that they didn’t really expect me to be that good. People were surprised, you know? I don’t know if it prolonged the process or anything. I mean, it didn’t seem like it was too long being on the East Coast but, yeah, I’m not too sure.

But you said you’ve been skating your entire life since you were a toddler basically?
Yeah, I’ve been skating since I was one.

So does that mean you were kickflipping at three?
Nah, first ollie was at three, though. The kickflip didn’t come around ’til I was like seven. That was a hard one. I couldn’t get it all the way around. That shit was so annoying.

That’s so sick that you’ve been skating that long. How long did it take for you to get decent? Like, were you one of the better kids in your town?
I’m not too sure because me and the homies would always skate together kind of at the same level. All of the homies skated together so we’d progress together but I started doing better in contests and stuff probably when I was, like, 14 or 15. That’s when I started going around more and learning more tricks from watching a bunch of other people.

The biggest kid with the gentlest touch. Poised front feeble in Charlotte

Let’s talk about this trip. What was the general vibe?
The South handrail tour.

We didn’t set out for it to be a handrail tour but, man, we went to some big-ass handrails.
Yeah well, that’s what happens in North Carolina. I love that place for that reason. They just got a bunch of handrails everywhere.

What about the level of the skating on this trip?
The level was insane. It’s just, like, everywhere crazy stuff was happening. It didn’t matter if it was a handrail, some giant kink rail that Ducky can handle or some crazy weird rail that Winkowski could skate or something like that. And then we found bumps, like, bump to bumps and ledges for Mason and Axel and all that. We had it all covered.

This is one of the heaviest trips I’ve ever been on as far as how hard people were shredding.
Yeah, dude, it was so dope. Pretty much for me too. ’Cause that’s one of the first ones that was pretty much all skating. Just trying to get photos and video all day every day.

We were out at ten in the morning, every morning. Do early mornings bother you?
Yeah, that’s the Sinclair regimen. That one’s kind of harsh sometimes ’cause you’re all stoked and stuff, you want to try to wake up. You’re, like, “Ah shit, here it goes again.” But sometimes you don’t have time; you’ve just got to wake up and go.

When you look at Sinclair do you ever sometimes get worried that maybe you’ve got to watch yourself?
Nah, not really at all because I know his story. He likes how he is right now. That’s how he wants it.

So for some reason on this trip, beside handrails, we just kept bumming out religious people at churches. Do you ever feel bad when you know somebody’s getting really upset about skating?
I don’t really get too bummed out unless they’re nice about it and then it’s just kind of me trying to be nice about it in the beginning and then me kind of becoming the bad person. But if people come out hot and all disrespectful I don’t give a shit. I’ll just keep skating until the cops come. That’s about it.

We had a lot of that on this trip. There was that janitor who tried to arrest you. What was that like?
Yeah, it was great.

He could stick you in the mop closet.
Yeah, dude, it was crazy. He was really trying to grab my arm. It was, like, “What the hell?”

We had some guys on the trip that people maybe haven’t heard of or gotten to see that much of yet. What’s Ducky like?
Oh, man, Ducky’s definitely a hard one to describe. I had just met him one of the first times I came to California in San Francisco and ever since then he was just jumping on big handrails. He just isn’t scared to try. If he can see himself doing it, he’s gonna jump on and see what happens. But yeah, he’s one that people should definitely know because he’s crazy. It’s so sick.

Not a quadruple, but a casual single-kink boardslide

What did you think when you saw him take that header off that quadruple kink?
Ah, man, that was crazy. He just dove off the top. That one’s always scary ’cause it looked good all the way until randomly one second you’re, like, “Oh shit,” and then he ends up in the ground. You’re, like, “Oh God!”

Yeah. It was crazy. He got so fucked up and then by the end of the trip he’s grinding giant rails again.
He was so bummed because he couldn’t skate, yet he got a bunch of clips before and then stitches in his head and, like, a collarbone that wasn’t working for a little bit and he still managed to get on his board and get clips after the fact. He’s insane.

Yeah, he’s one of a kind. Had you ever met Erick Winkowski before?
That was the first time I met Erick. That was dope. He fuckin’ kills it. He can skate anything and anywhere and it’s you just sit back and watch. It’s so much fun to watch; it’s crazy.

Have you ever done any handplants?
Nah. I’ve definitely gave my fair share of shitty attempts at them but definitely nothing like how he can do them. I’m just trying to stay away. I don’t really got the upper-body strength.

When you see him skate it makes you want to learn handplants so bad, you know?
Oh my God, he makes them look so easy and so fun. It’s just like an axle stall. He’s just, like, “Alright, handplant, take my time,” then land, set-up and he can do whatever else he wants. It’s crazy.

We had three Floridians on the trip including you, Zion and Tyson Peterson. Are you tight with those guys?
Yeah, I grew up skating with them at contests a lot because we’re all from Florida. I mainly get to skate with Zion, not Tyson too much on trips. So being able to go out and just be in a new area with the homies is so good. Just being able to skate big handrails and everything we like to skate.

Tyson’s definitely got his own fashion sense. What did you think when he showed up in that all-mint full suit?
Oh, he was killing it. It’s great because it’s just something you wouldn’t expect and something that looks so sketchy to skate in. He doesn’t give a shit and then it just turns out looking dope. So funny.

You know Zion really well. What’s that dude all about?
Zion’s the shit. He just loves skating a shit load and having a good time. So he’s always trying to crack jokes, turn up and just jump around. His fuckin’ laugh is crazy. You just can’t help but die. I love when he’s around because he’s the best.

What’s something about Zion that nobody would know about, that only his close friends would know?
Oh, that if you’re around him be a good person and return his cell phone. Because a lot of the times he’ll just get up and leave his cell phone at some random place. So look out if you see Zion and there’s a cell phone lying around ’cause it’s probably his.

Out of the Scramble crew who do you think is gonna be the first to go pro?
I would say first to go pro out of the crew would definitely be either Mason or Axel. ‘Cause it’s time. They’ve been am for a while and the time’s a comin’.


Is one of your goals to be pro someday?
I mean, yeah. I’d say it would be a goal because I’ve been skating forever and it would be super sick. But I’m just hyped on where I’m at right now being able to go skate with all the homies. It’s the shit. So I’ll just keep on skating and see what happens.

What do you gotta do to turn pro these days? What do you think makes it obvious that it’s time to be pro?
I don’t know. It’s getting harder and harder these days, but honestly just someone that looks good skating and has some good tricks. They obviously don’t even have to be the hardest. I mean, they can just have fun. Watching them in a video part or in a contest, they don’t have to kill it as long as they’re having fun, pretty much, on the board. That’s what I think’s the best.

So you want to see a guy who looks like he’s having a good time and doing it his own unique way out there, right?
Yeah, exactly. Someone who’s killing it, who’s got his own tricks and that just looks super sick.

Well, cool, man. That’s great news. I was looking through the quotes and there’s so many funny ones. One of the quotes from you is, “Gravity doesn’t fuck with me.”
That’s a good one. I’ve definitely said that my fair share of times. Usually when I’m trying to get over something I try to put that one out there.

What’s gonna be the memory that’s gonna stick with you from this trip?
Sinclair doing pushups, 100 percent. At around five or six and his arms and legs were shaking like an earthquake! It was crazy!

Crushing a switch feeble, Foy goes