Talking With The Team #14 - Colin Lambert

I'm 31 and I ride for Sk8 Skates, Zero, Fallen, Altamont, Independent, Bones and Brigada

I got on when I was 16, so 15 years.

When I was around 13 years old I started bringing in my sponsor me tape to Jai and the other guys at the shop. It was terrible, every time I filmed a new trick I would add it to the tape and bring it in. They had to watch the whole thing over again to get to the one new trick at the end. It was probably so irritating for them. Anyways, when I was 16 I was hanging out at the shop looking at boards and Jai walked up behind me and dropped a Sk8 team jacket on the counter in front of me and walked away. He didn't say anything, but I knew what it meant. I was so stoked. It was definitely one of the best days of my life.

It was the team that had the best skateboarders and the coolest image. All of the other shops had teams, but they just weren't as cool as Sk8. The Sk8 team just seemed bad ass. I really looked up to them, they seemed like celebrities to me. I remember the first time they took me out skating we went to McDonalds and I paid attention to what everyone ordered. I was like "okay Paul Spencer likes Big Macs, Big Macs are cool" etc. I looked up to them so much and wanted to be on their team. Back then you didn't care about getting a deck sponsor or shoe sponsor, I don't even know if we knew that was a thing, the ultimate goal was to ride for Sk8. 

Jared's board slide on the Hydro rail. Kinked rails are the gnarliest things in skateboarding, never mind one that seems endless. 

There are so many good kids out there, and there's a bunch that really care about Sk8 Skates. To me the most important thing is if they truly love the shop and team. I don't want people to ride for us just to be sponsored, I want them to ride for the shop because they want to be a part of it. The people that hang out at the shop and support it will get my vote before anyone else. We also look for people that we want to hang around. We go on a lot of team trips and before we put someone on, we want to make sure that the new guy or girl can hang with the team. It doesn't matter how good someone is, if they're not a sweet person, an eight hour drive to Minneapolis is gonna suck. I think that's why we're all best friends, we put on people that not only are good skateboarders, but are sweet people to be around.

To answer the question, there isn't anyone that I would put on the team right this second, but there are definitely guys I'm keeping an eye on. Fane Smeall, Logan Esquash, Erik Penton, Joey Braun, Craig Anderson, Jack Davis and many more.

That's like asking a mother to choose what kid she likes best. I'll just say everyone on the Sk8 team ha.

I have so many good ones, but the 1987 premiere stands out the most. Seeing how hyped everyone was at that premiere meant so much to me. Everyone just seemed so ridiculously happy and stoked. I've been to tons of Sk8 Skates video premieres, but that one took the cake.