Lucas Healey Interview

When I first met Lucas Healey, he was this tiny kid who could pop his own height with ease. He’s always had this really funny sense of humour, which often manifests itself in his skateboarding – a juxtaposition of unbelievably technical, impressive skateboarding, with daft, silly fun tricks which give you a chuckle. In my mind, this is what makes Lucas super likeable and great to skate with. He will skate anything, at any time, and always keeps you guessing. I asked him some questions about screen printing, being called “Goose”, and skating with the Get Lesta crew.

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What name do you prefer: Lucas, Goose or Trollboy?

I haven’t got a preference, call me what you want. Lucas, Goose, Trollboy, Knobhead, whatever. I might not respond if you call me knobhead though. To be fair, we will have to try it out. I do like Trollboy, because it’s like my OG nickname: trollboy still lives on.

I find people in Cov generally call me Lucas, and people in Leicester and other cities call me Goose? No idea how that happened. I guess it depends on how I’m introduced to people?

I know where the name “Trollboy” came from (I can’t remember but I think maybe I coined that one), but what’s the story behind “Goose”?

That’s right: you came up with “Trollboy”. It fit pretty well considering my trolling history. I can’t remember if it was Callun Loomes or Mike Simons who came up with “Goose”. One of them asked the question “What nickname do you hate the most – Weasel or Goose?”, and I said I thought Goose was worse than Weasel.

As soon as I said that, that was it. The Get Lesta lot started calling me Goose, and then other people started to use it too. It was all a ploy to try and wind me up basically.

Are geese your favourite waterfowl?

They are now, haha! The more the name got used, the more I’ve grown to like geese. Since I got given the name, I’ve weirdly developed the ability to communicate to geese. I’m like a goose whisperer. They treat me like one of their own. I’ve had some great conversations about eating bread with geese before.

I honestly don’t remember a time where you weren’t really good at skateboarding – Where did you first learn to skate?

What a compliment, thank you. I first learned to skate in my back garden really. I just used to watch videos and I’d go into my garden and try to kickflip for hours. They took me ages to learn: I’m talking like a year of holding onto the trampoline in my garden, trying to flip the board. Learning whilst holding onto the trampoline was a bad idea looking back, but I got there in the end.

Eventually I ran into some local skaters, like Duffman, and I ventured out to the streets near me. Daimler Green Leisure Centre car park used to be the go-to spot.

You kinda skate everything – what’s your favourite discipline of skateboarding?

There’s no way I can decide a favourite. I skate street mostly, but that’s just due to Coventry’s lack of parks. I like to mix it up. Some days I wanna push around town avoiding cracks, and other days I like not having to push and wanna skate a ramp. 

Is there one area of skateboarding you wish you were better at?

I’d love to be able to make my way around a bowl without getting as lost as I do. I struggle to think of where/what is coming next, my brain is slow when it comes to stuff like that.

You’ve bounced between a few skate teams over the last few years – who’s currently hooking you up?

Currently get bits from Ride skateshop, Lovenskate and Lakai. I got a lot of love for the people that hook me up, and the people that have in the past too.

How did you end up skating for Lovenskate?

I remember being keen to try the boards out, and I’d mentioned something to Alex Halford about it. A couple of months after I got a message from Stu asking if I’d like to try one out and he’s been hooking it up since then. I’m stoked on Lovenskate, everyone involved is rad!

Who are some of your favourite people on the team?

I find it hard to pick favourites, but after watching Diggs English skate on a recent trip to Newquay, I gotta say he’s one of my new favourites.

As well as skating for Lovenskate you’ve also started a screen printing side hustle (printing shirts for a few different clients, including this blog) – how did you get into that?

Yeah, I’ve been doing it on the side of my 9-5. It’s been hectic, but I’m loving it. It’s always intrigued me, and being a skateboarder probably plays a big part in that. A lot of skateboards are screen printed and I’d always kinda been obsessed with how the artwork is put on the boards and other things.

I used to go to the Third Foot studio to get boards and that’s probably when I first saw the process behind it. Ever since then I’ve seen more of it and learnt more about it. If you look at the way we (skateboarders) try for hours to get tricks, I think we all quite like a process which produces an end product. It was about a year ago when I bought my own equipment and started printing things myself.

You did a sick, limited edition, T-shirt for Ride with a classic Jim The Skin Front Smith photo – how did that come about?

I was just playing about and testing my prints. I needed an image to print that wasn’t a logo or spot colours, and remember being stoked on that photo when I’d seen it. Thought it would look rad on a t-shirt, but never ended up taking it further than the test prints. They are very rare!

Have you ever wanted to work full time in the skateboarding industry, or do you prefer dipping your toe in with screen printing for other skate companies?

Without moving out of Coventry I don’t think I’d be able to work full time in the skate industry. There’s not much of that happening in Cov. Screen printing for other skate companies is probably the closest thing to it I reckon.

You were heading up the Cov Skatepark Project in Coventry for a while – for anyone who doesn’t know, what was that?

The Cov Skatepark Project was a community interest company set up with the goal of opening and running a skatepark in Coventry. We started that in 2016, and we managed to raise about £20k in total which all went towards events/activities for the local community. 

How have you found campaigning for a skatepark in Coventry?

It went so well for the first couple of years, but as time went on we slowly lost momentum. As I’m sure you know from your past experiences trying to achieve a similar goal, it takes a lot of work, time and energy to try and bring something like this to life. It’s a shame really – this city needs a place for skateboarders.

Do you think that skateparks might get a much needed boost once the debut of skateboarding in the Olympics finally happens?

I think so. In other cities. Probably not in Coventry though, haha. I’d like to see it happen, I just think I have my doubts that it will change the council’s mind on funding a skatepark. Elsewhere, I can see it having a bigger impact. Some councils really seem to back it and see it as important to have a park.

You skate a lot with the Get Lesta crew – how did you met Callun and get involved with them?

Callun had been coming to Cov to film, and I’d seen them about quite a bit, and shown them some of the spots. One day I’d shown up to Herbert, the local spot, when Mark and Eric were skating down the 3 block, and I joined in and ended up getting my first clip with Cal. We met up after that and filmed some other bits around Cov.

Eventually I started to get the train out to other cities to meet everyone and skate. That’s basically what I’ve been doing since then. It’s great to get about more and meet people and skate some different spots.

What’s the craziest trick Callun Loomes has filmed of you?

It’s gotta be the 90 degree Front Board at the back of Cov swimming baths – I’ll never do that again, haha.

You’ve dabbled in filming your own videos before – is that something you would want to do more of or are you happier not being behind the camera?

I can see myself doing more of it in the future. I’m into it, but it can be a lot of work. I’m happier not being behind the camera at the minute, but keen to make something at some point when I can put the time in.

It’s crazy how much work goes into videos! As I’m sure you know from making numerous full lengths and other edits in the past, it takes a lot of dedication, whether you’re in front or behind the lens. Big ups to yourself, Callun and anyone else who has put in the work to make a video. I don’t think I’d be out there filming parts still if it wasn’t for being involved in the Terribleco videos whilst growing up. It introduced me to the world of filming missions and video parts.

After this interview are you going to down a carton of cold custard like when you were a kid?

Yeah, I’m heading straight to Aldi, coppin’ myself some of Ambrosia’s finest and glugging the whole thing. Easy. I did indulge in a carton of it recently, it was the best. Bun warm custard.

Anyone you want to thank?

I’d like to thank everyone who shows love! So many names to mention. My mum, dad and sisters, Chlo, Callun and the Get Lesta lot, Jim the Skin, Stu at Lovenskate, Tom, Matt and the crew at Form  Distribution, Tom Sly, all the Herbert mandem, and I can’t forget you as well. RIP City News.