#gnarlygirlgang interview with Squid Kjellberg
It's been a minute since I did one of these (my bad), this months feature is on Squid! The southwest has so many skaters coming out of it right now. I'm lowkey jealous, I need to live somewhere where weather doesn't slow down progression. Anyways, on to the feature <3
Hey! How old are you and how long have you been skating?
I just turned 19 back in April! It’s been almost an entire year now that I’ve been skating consecutively rather than just trying for a week and then giving up haha.
What made you want to start?
I’ve been around skateboarding for a long time. Whether it was hearing stories from my dad from when he was in high school to just being at the local skate park with my friends in my early childhood. I’ve always had an interest but it wasn’t until recently that I really decided to pursue since I thought it would help my social anxiety and to meet new people. Which it definitely has.
It's helped with mine too! Glad to know I'm not alone with the whole social anxiety thing.
Where's your favorite spot?
My favorite spot at the moment is a ditch on the east side of my town. It’s probably my favorite right now because I love the wideness and the concave of the ditch, it’s really fun to do bert slides on!
Do you have friends that you skate with or do you mostly skate alone?
Skating with people is one of the reasons I absolutely love skateboarding. Don’t get me wrong having a sesh to yourself is nice, but I love hyping people up and watching other people because every style is different. I mostly skate with my two friends, Aria and Samantha along with my boyfriend Spacoli.
What do you prefer, street or vert?
Definitely vert. I love flowing and using my hands!
What goals do you have in regards to skating?
I don’t have any long term goals at the moment. Short term is really just; competing in a competition, and to keep progressing. Mostly I’m just here for the memories with my friends and that feeling you get when you finally land that trick that’s been driving you insane.
That's the best feeling! It's like a high.
What’s your style like?
If I were to base it off anything it would be late 70s skating for sure! I love Venice and Dogtown. When you’re carving it feels like you’re floating, it’s an incredible feeling. Just being able to manipulate my board and feel it flow under my feet is almost euphoric.
I can definitely see that when I watch your clips.
What's your set up like right now?
I’m currently riding an 8” Stay Cute deck, with Venture trucks, Spitfire formula 4 wheels and two different grips; Flik & Cloud9.
Have you faced sexism when it comes to skating?
Sadly yes. Whether it be in person or on social media. I tend to delete negative comments and just go about my day. Sometimes it is hard to not reply but all it causes is aggravation for everyone at the end of it all I really just try my best and simply just skate with my homies.
Yea I've discovered that's the best to do too. But even when I don't reply I still think about the comment and what I wanted to say like allll day lol.
What's the worst slam you've ever had?
The worst slam I’ve ever had was in a ditch about 8 months ago now. I got ahead of myself and convinced myself I could nose stall the ledge we were at. As I come up to try, I completely chicken out and jump off my board not realizing that I’m jumping on an angle, which then resulted in a rolled ankle, two very bruised knees, and a minor concussion.
Ouch.
What's the next trick you wanna learn?
Right now I’m working on fakie shove it and perfecting my bertslide distasters in the bowl!
What advice do you have for other women who want to skate?
My advice to other women who want to skate or are already skating is to believe in yourself, you’re going to feel better on a board if you believe you can do it. You need to be your biggest fan, hype yourself up!!! Also to be willing to accept positive criticism from others who want to see you succeed. Ignore the negative criticism from those kooks. If you get too overwhelmed it’s OKAY to stop and come back tomorrow, only you can admit your defeat, no one else.
Solid advice!
What’s the hardest obstacle you've had to overcome when it comes to skating?
The hardest obstacle would have to be myself. I’ve had anxiety and depression for as long as I can remember, I’ve lived with it my whole life and it really has caused me to miss out on a lot of things most people grew up doing. When I first began skating, I wouldn’t skate if the park wasn’t empty. I would’ve preferred to skate in my backyard then be around people. Now almost a year later, I can’t imagine not going to my home park, I’ve opened up a lot, I thank skateboarding and the close people around me a lot for all of the support they’ve showed me. Somedays it’s still hard to get out of bed and to face the out of control world, but then I remember that I at least have control over two things, myself and my skateboard.
Do you have any favorite skaters or people you look up to?
My favorite skateboarders are probably Nichole Hause, Richie Jackson, Samantha Navarez, and Yndiara Asp. Not to mention a lot of the 505 skaters that I look up to as well!