Vincent Bressol 5 W's!
Photo: Kevin Couliau
Interview: Benjamin Deberdt
"I must say that I am now living my best years in skating."
How are we going to introduce Vincent Bressol? You should remember him from his part as “The Parisian” in the now classic Europa, and he could also claim being one of the very first European sponsored skater to move to The Mecca, I mean Barcelona. And he meant it, since he still lives there, years later. His discretion in media might have make you believe he hung up the dream. But no!
Here he is, coming back with the second coming of French company Metropolitan skateboards, and even a board with his name on it. And here is what he has to say about it all!
Where are you in life, would you say?
Still in Barcelona, and working as a Nike rep!
Why join the new Metropolitan?
When Chloé Bernard and David Couliau offered me to ride for Metro’ as a pro, I felt flattered, and I told them I appreciated that they thought of me, but that, maybe, it would be in their best interest to take someone younger, and up and coming in the current skate scene, like most companies do. I kindly told them I could represent the brand by skating the boards wherever I would go, but having a model… Not that I don’t skate anymore –don’t get me wrong!– I actually spend a lot of time on my board. I am as passionate as ever, I am learning tricks, and I must say that I am now living my best years in skating.
That’s when they told me that the idea for the new Metropolitan was to built a team of 30 and over skateboarders. That’s when I started to dig it. A board brand with a team of “Over 30 skaters that all know each other, have a job, but never stopped skating, and are still passionate about it”: I found that quite original, and it’s true that I still had to see a company positioning itself like that. Plus the idea of doing collabs with artists for cruiser boards and the fact that Marke Newton would be the art director, I liked the whole thing. I thought they weren’t stressing it, but everybody was super motivated. My deal with 5Boro was coming to an end, and I’d like to use the opportunity to thank Luidgi Gaydu and Steve Rodriguez for hooking me up all those years. This is a brand I really appreciate. I was happy to start afresh with Metro’, and see where that will take us.
What are you looking for, nowadays, in a sponsor, with your experience?
“Nowadays”, as you say, things have changed a lot. If you take an objective look on how things are, with the recession, you cannot expect what we could get from many companies, in the early 2000’s… Like a salary, gear, a traveling budget, a lot of tours. I see many kids, today, with a great level, that don’t receive a quarter of what we used to get at that time, and I find that sad. Nowadays, with just gear, you are already stoked, and if you get to travel, you’re in heaven!
When will you move back to France, you think?
I don’t really know, for now… If I should move back, it would be for work opportunities, I think. And probably, also, for the yogurts, the fruits compotes and the cheese, I do miss them… Oh, and the pastries. You can find good ones, here, as good as in France, but it’s so expensive. Let’s not even think about crêpes here: 4,50 € for a Nutella crêpe! Say what!?
Who would you like to chime in at Metropolitan?
I do have a bunch of friends that are in their thirties and are still ripping, but you can’t add everybody! Hmm, I’d say a Vassili Ritter or a Frank Barattiero, and for an American, how about Ricky Oyola? I know he has his own company. Well, I don’t really know, this a weird question… Are you trying to get me in trouble with coach Couliau!?
Beware of the thirty-something! Proof here:
