Aly – Tell me a little about yourself Benji Galloway…
Benji – I was born in August, Georgia, and raised in South Carolina. I moved to Charleston (SC) after my second year in college, to skate.
Charleston, at the time, was like a living episode of the Jerry Springer show.
Aly - Is that was made you leave?
Benji – I left because I wanted to see new places; skate new places. Met a girl, moved to Baltimore, where I lived for a year. Then I moved to Cali. Really, I left Charleston to broaden my horizons.
Aly - How do you get your kicks (fun, not shoes)?
Benji - Riding motorcycles, skateboarding, working on my house, playing pool. I've started reading a little bit again.
Aly - What is the most rewarding part about being a pro skateboarder?
Benji - The travel. For me, as a young man I wondered what the world had to offer, sights, places, and people. Now I travel the world on my skateboard. Truly a blessing of the desires of my heart.
Aly - How long have you been skating?
Benji - 21 years +
Aly -Who do you skate for?
Benji - Bacon skateboards, Kronik energy, Ninja bearings, Split (flow), Type-S (flow)
Aly – Now for the dirt…What was your first impression of Dirt City?
Benji – Dirt Tona is kind of a redneck party central. My first visit was Thanksgiving of ’97 with friends John and Thrasher. We picked up on it right away. It was a town about skateboarding and drinking beer; nothing going on around here. Actually, the first time I passed out at a party was here. We were at the Team Glug house for some skate party ramp festivity when we headed to the International house. I got trashed, passed out around 6 or 7pm with Buck Smith yelling at me to wake up; “Better not be caught slipping!” he says. Yep…a lot of drinking here.
Aly – What’s your perception now?
Benji – Not much different. I do different things now though; like the Bike Week motorcycle events with Nash. There’s more of a broad spectrum than just skateboarding here these days. Skateboarders used to come here to skate Stone Edge, work Bike Week backing beers at Foggy's, and make a good bit of cash. Then take the loot and go on a skate-road trip for a few months in the summer. The Dirt is a party town for sure. The history and scene of the older vert-skating crew is still here. The history of it all gives some reasoning to be willing to travel back and stay. Plus, it’s a good place to use skateboarding to promote motorcycles. It’s nice to see history being kept alive. I believe Martin Ramos has a hand in that by scooping Stone Edge up; keeping it from being completely dozed over.
Aly – Find anything that made you want to pack your shit and get the fuck out?
Benji – Never lived or stayed here long enough. I just don’t see me putting roots down here, but you never know. You really never know what’s going to happen in the future. Never say never.
Chris Collet once told me “Don’t go back man!”
Aly – Who’s Chris Collet?
Benji – He’s the Keith Richards of skateboarding. He actually convinced me to stay in Charleston rather than come to the Dirt to skate. He said it’d be a better outcome; as far as skateboarding was concerned. I love the Charleston Hanger. It’s where my heart is.
Aly – Would you say he was right about the outcome?
Benji – I wouldn’t know; can’t calibrate hindsight. Not much happening in Daytona.
Aly – Have you found an inspiration here, maybe some sort of enlightenment?
Benji – Enlightenment comes with the opening of the eyes in the morning. There’s nothing spiritual here. I try to keep that aspect as far away from here as possible.
Aly - What do you want from this life, right now in this exact moment?
Benji – To travel, skateboard, surround myself with friends, make new ones…and oh yeah, did I say skateboard? ::laughs that “Benji” laugh of his::
I’m also working on remodeling a house.
Aly – Where?
Benji – Vancouver, Washington. I’m pretty much rooted for a while. It’s my launch pad.
Aly – Out of all the places you’ve visited, where’s your favorite?
Benji - ::no hesitation:: Bondi Beach, Australia. I’ve only been twice, but I’ve got this special affection for that place. I can relax there. I don’t feel the constant need to be productive. I can be idol there. I always feel like I have to be doing something; makes it hard for me to relax. I don’t know if it’s the water, the sun, the people, the beach…I’m not trying to pinpoint, it might ruin it.
Aly - Where are you now and what have you got planned?
Benji - Right now, I am home in Vancouver, Washington working on my "fixer upper" house, and preparing to travel to California for the Vans Protec Pool Party. Should be a good contest this year. After that I am heading to Sweden for a road trip with Bacon's distributor for two weeks.
Aly - Where do you get your inspiration from (skateboarding and life)?
Benji - I have been lacking in that department lately. I know that with out my friend Tree, I would not have the motivation to work on my house sometimes. I end up just staring at the walls and thinking about what all needs to get done and not doing anything. I guess that I get inspiration from my friends!!
Aly - What is your advice for kids who are trying to get sponsored?
Benji - Advice? Don't worry about that bubble gum and sparky tail skidder stuff. Just skate because you love it. If you have what it takes to represent someone's company, then your skate talent will speak for itself.
No really, find an old man that hangs at the local park and has a "New Skate Company". Make sure he is weird and really creepy. Then, accept his advances to skate for him. Get free stuff when you just get in his Van and play video games. That is how to get sponsored.
visit http://www.baconskateboards.com
“Be yourself and no one else. Enjoy your life cause no one else will enjoy it for you!” -BGGGGG
It's always a treat to have some new faces roll through the Dirt and skate at Stone Edge Skatepark. I'd like to thank Benji for his time and patience, as well as the words followed by photos. I love how universal skateboarding really is. Would you have thought that it could innertwine with such festivities like Bike Week? It just goes to show that really, you can do ANYTHING, if you put yourself into it 100%
