Cody Wilber in "Niche"

We're always stoked to help promote independent and underground videos and skaters here at TOA. But it's especially rewarding when it centers around a city, state or area that gets little to no attention by skate media and hasn't gotten it's time in the sun. Gainesville, Florida has gotten PLENTY of actual sun, but very little shine from the greater world of skateboarding. But the moss covered city, filled with swamps, college students and endless vape shops has been filmed in over the decades for quite a lot of videos. But since the city is primarily a college town with residents coming & going and skaters typically only passing through on their way to bigger cities like Tampa and Miami, the local scene has always struggled with maintaining a consistent roster of skaters as well as getting much attention. But thanks to the hard work of Alex Baucom, we're finally getting to see a proper showcase of what the scene has to offer. This is actually not the first Gainesville video by Baucom, just the first we have had the pleasure of viewing and we're stoked that we did. 

Long time Gainesville resident, and Magenta flow rider Cody Wilber has been a friend of ours at TOA for a couple of years and when we found out he had a full part filmed all in Gainesville so we told him we had to host it on the TOA Youtube channel. And thankfully he and Alex were down. So we checked in with Cody to ask him some questions about the project and learn what it's like skating/filming in the humid swamps of a transient college town. Check out the interview below and then make sure to peep Cody's part at the bottom of the story.

Interview by Josh Stewart

Gator at Paynes Prairie

OK....I JUST watched the video only minutes ago for my first time so I'm hyped to ask you some questions!

 

First of all can you tell me did you grow up in Gainesville? 

Both yes and no. I lived in a rural area outside of Gainesville when I first got back into skating in middle school. There were not many spots and no skateparks, the closest ones were in Gainesville or other surrounding cities. My dad actually built a skatepark at our home when we moved back and that's what kept me interested in it without having any real places to do it. Middle of the woods, with all dirt roads but with a park that had everything. Quarter Pipes built up to the side of the house, a rounded bowl section at one end, and lots of movable features. That place honestly helped me survive in the situation that I was living in. After I graduated high school, I quickly moved to Gainesville and stayed there for another 8 years or so.

Do most Gainesville locals even know that Rodney Mullen invented pretty much every flip trick and the flatground ollie in some random barn in their hometown?

Maybe not EVERY local but it is pretty common for skaters to know that. I used to give skate lessons, and the first parent who had hired me showed me her yearbook when she went to school with Rodney. Someone just did a mural of him for the local skatepark event but I'm unsure if he's aware of that. 

No way! That's amazing! They should have his old barn registered as a national landmark.

Ok, so during what period of time was the "Niche" video filmed?

All the footage for this video came after Alex's last video, Souvenir, which came out at the end of 2016. The first clips put towards Niche were from July 2016 when I did that wallie over the bump to the bar using the grate set up. Souvenir was already done and I was ready to move to the next project. Everyone's motivations towards the next video were different and Alex wanted everyone to get enough and what they wanted before putting it out. Hence, the longer timeline and finishing in 2021.

 

Alex Baucom, John Belote, Steve Spence and Dante Debose contemplate the next spot

I can certainly relate to the elongated filing timeline. For people who don't know, Gainesville is pretty isolated. There aren't really any other real cities closer than 2 hours in either direction. Can you explain what the skate scene is like there?

Gainesville is somewhat isolated but that's kinda what makes the scene great. There is a huge sense of community, especially now! I love seeing everyone continue to skate together and grow the scene. Everything that happens in the skate community there is built from within by locals. There has never been a long lasting skate shop but more so transient setups that stay for a short time and promote the growth during that time. It's also a college town so the generation of skaters that come also leave after some time. I'm part of a generation before another and there have been 2-3 new generations since I left. Each one adding and contributing to the skate scene in some way.

 

Yeah, I always noticed that. Skate shops there were always random. Last one I saw there was like half smoke shop half skate shop. But I'm hoping Samurai lasts (Billy Rohan's shop).

Yeah, my mom wasn't too excited to take me there....but I think Billy's shop is  the best so far.

Was the video filmed 100% in Gainesville or did you guys do some traveling for it?

I would say 90% is Gainesville. Some of the guys in the vidoes went on a few trips to Tampa and other surrounding cities. 

 

Cody wallie over rail: Photo by Edward Guerra

Now, I've skated Gainesville a dozen or more times over the years and we never considered much of a skate spot mecca. What compelled you guys to film an entire video there?

Nothing particularly motivating. The skate scene there is always doing something and there alway seems to be someone filming at some point. Different people have filmed different groups of skaters there since as long as I have been aware of it. Some of Colin Read's Mandible Claw was filmed there. The generation before mine did numerous videos, edits and "capsules" that are all on the internet if you go looking. Since 2009, I've filmed with several friends and have put out lengthy edits and full length parts. Gainesville is just sort of under the radar. Alex was filming HD for a while before he started filming VX  for his last 2 videos. Maybe the overall trend is to show what is possible there. There are quite a few spots that people travel to Gainesville to skate, like the billy rail, other UF spots and some gems scattered throughout the city and surrounding areas.

For your part, I feel like you made an effort to "make something out of nothing" if you will, meaning that a lot of spots you filmed on weren't really "spots" but you found a way to make it interesting. Was that a conscious decision? To kinda skate a lot of "non-spots"?

You're right to assume that since it's pretty true. It sort of came naturally and from necessity. After burning through all the typical spots, rails, stairs, plaza, etc, you have to find something that keeps you interested in trying more. I quickly learned that I can't skate the traditional stairs and gap spots, I suck at them and never got enough practice to be good without getting hurt. I'm not tech, and don't have the patience for it. I like challenging myself to make something from nothing and that just comes from the environment I grew up skating in. Since I've lived in Gainesville, I have always just been looking for spots. Even if it's a crack in the ground or a slight bump, looking at things from different angles to do something new, that's how I still skate to this day. The fun in skating is from finding things that no one else would think to skate and then filming it in a way that makes you think about how and why. I've scoured the entire city and can tell you every spot, no cap.

John Belote Front 50/50

I'm assuming a lot of the spots in the video are on the UF campus. Back in the 90's we always had a hard time getting any time at campus spots. Is it still really tough to skate there? Any wild moments or incidents of dealing with campus police or anything while filming the video?

It's still pretty bad with skating there. The cops on campus are aggressive towards skaters even with it being an open campus and typical for people to use skateboards as transportation. Safest thing to do is look like someone who doesn't know how to skate while skating through, if you do a "trick" they'll be on to you. I had my own terrible run-ins with skating there so I've avoided any UF property since 2012. It sucks because it's pretty random, some people never have an issue or you get maybe 3 strikes before they fully arrest you for trespassing. Almost everyone who skates in Gainesville has gotten enough strikes to not go again, or have been arrested for skating there, even during the filming for Niche. If you're visiting you can get away with going once or twice, but not a safe place even with the spots they have.

That bump to bar trick in your part, it's kind of a new step up on the "Kilty McBagpipe" concept that Gonz invented. There have been a lot of new variations on that trick over the past couple of years. But what gave you the idea that it would be possible to do the one you did?

Haha I forgot that was what it's called. I was just messing around with that spot and figured out it bounced off the bottom rail with my back wheels. I can't do it the Gonz way or like Max Palmer but have done enough bouncy hippy jumps to get it to work sorta consistent. That one shot just came out the best. Wish I could do it like Gonz, Gottwig or max though!

 

I know you haven't lived in Gainesville for a while, you actually moved as far away as possible while still being in the United States, haha...so did you travel back to film for this project off and on?

Yeah,  I moved to Seattle in January of 2017 and my family still lives in Gainesville and the rural area outside of it. Both my grandparents lived out there and that's what brought my parents back. They have all never really wanted to move and I couldn't wait to travel. I  would come back for holidays and kept filming with Alex during the time that I was backI used to go back every 6 months but now I go maybe once a year. So everything I filmed was during a few week increments throughout each of the year.

 

What's up with that brick bank spot? That looks so fun!

That's a new one and it's surprisingly perfect and challenging! I don't want to give the city too much credit but it seems they sometimes build spots for skating without skate-stopping them. That one is on a bike path and you can't even get kicked out since it's public.

 

Alex Baucom on the VX

For such a small town, it seems like you guys were quite lucky to have a VX filmer like Alex Baucom around who was motivated to make this happen right?

We are all lucky to have AB there! He really loves filming VX more than skating himself sometimes, but he's so good. His dad was an old vert pro and I didnt even film or skate with him for many years when I first met him. I can't really remember Alex's motives to start filming when he did but it has helped the Gainesville skate scene tremendously since. He put out a HD video in 2015 and after that we started filming together. Then he completely focused on VX for the last 2 videos and has filmed the people he wants to film. Both VX videos feature more or less the same people as we've all gotten older, better at skating and Alex's filming has gotten more sharpened.

What does it mean for you guys to have an all Gainesville video like this out in the world? 

It means this chapter in Gainesville skating is done. But it comes on the cusp of other videos that either never got shown to the outside or have been completely lost. In order, there was a RipReaperzzz blog that focused on smaller videos, photos and updates. My friend Corey Flanders and Bryan Reynolds both filmed full length VX videos. The most important one, called Gainesvillians was lost to harddrive failure and would have been what people would remember Gainesville for. There's still a trailer for it on Youtube that I go back to to remember that time, it would have been incredible. Another video called STBY by Sean Devlin was almost lost the same way but was slowly recovered tape-by-tape and can be seen on VIMEO still. After that, Alex's has had the grip on filming the Gainesville scene and I think it's in good hands.

Luke Pallone and John Belote Dap for another of John's FS Flips

What's next for you? And should we expect to see anything more coming out of the Gainesville scene?

I'm always filming, skating and looking for my dream spots. Some video parts are in limbo, and some are still ongoing. I've been filming with a friend in Portland for the last year and that part should be done whenever I decide to do the next thing. In the next few months I'll either decide to take this grad school opportunity in CA or focus on my professional career a little more. The Gainesville scene is thriving now. There are multiple groups of people doing things to promote the community from all ends. The local skatepark scene is well documented, there's a skate shop called Samurai run by Billy Rohan in the center and my friend Solomon Sanders runs a clothing brand called Hobby that you can see on almost everyone's shirts, just to name a few. And Alex is on to the next project that won't last nearly as long as this past one. I check in periodically with everyone and I'm happy to see the community flourish the way it has. I've never been more proud of my city!

 

Any last words or comments?

I wanted to thank you for promoting the skate scenes across the east coast and appreciate you letting me tell my side of Gainesville skate history. Hopefully this video continues to promote the next generation of skaters in Florida to look for new spots in new ways and keep the communities tethered.