Deep into our phone conversation, 26-year-old Gailea Momolu remembers something when discussing his sponsors “Capix helmets. I’ve still got a helmet with them,” he says, laughing. Immediately, I begin wondering if there’s a contract requirement that stipulates set-hours for monthly helmet usage. Just as quickly, I discard the thought of him punching that fictitious and ridiculous clock. Regardless, the soft-spoken Gailea is a good representative for any company he rides for and possesses solid views of skateboard industry realities. He probably has an edge; having grasped the game from a less-common perspective of functioning for most of six years as a Canadian street pro under the warm California sun. Here, Gailea enlightens us with tales of polka-dot slip-ons, some AM advise, and getting “downloaded” at Aaron Snyder’s house down south.


Where are you from originally?
Well, I was born in Boston, and my family’s from Liberia, West Africa. I’ve also lived in North Carolina, and Ottawa—that’s where I spent most of the growing up part of my life.

You’ve spent quite a bit of time living in Southern Cal, correct?
After I got picked up by Darkstar, yeah, I lived in LA right away. That’s probably the best thing anyone can do, especially being from Ottawa—getting the chance to go to LA and skateboard. Then, I was living with a bunch of friends in Huntington Beach for about 4 years and they moved back to Canada and whatever. So, I started coming to Vancouver to skate for the summer, then would go back down there for the winters. After traveling a lot, and going back-and-forth so much I just ended up posting up here [Vancouver] and preferred that over living in Orange County. Come up to Canada, relax, and get some sanity back.

Switch Lipslide

So, now you’re ready to head back down there and hit LA?
Exactly. Vancouver’s great and I try my best to skate as much as I can. I go to random parks where no one’s at, to dork around and learn tricks. I’ll film here and there but as far as getting coverage in US mags, Vancouver isn’t the place to be. I love to come here and chill Canadian-style, but at the same time you need to keep up with your friends and the media down there, and they’re down for you, so you need to be down there. When I’m in Canada, its been good with SBC and Concrete, so now I need to go down and make sure its all good with the US mags, too.

Aside from things being solid with Darkstar, how have things been going with the shoes?
Big up to Osiris shoes. In all my years of skateboarding, they’ve been one the best sponsors I’ve ever had, every single person there skates. The marketing person skates as much as me or more. Same with the TM—so it’s really easy to talk to them about stuff. They know how it is, how hard it is on your body, and they have a refined taste in skateboarding. It’s like talking to my peers because they like the good stuff about skating; like style. I’m really stoked to be a part of the team, and the team is super open minded and good to skate with. I can call Osiris about anything as opposed to having a surf sponsor—riding for guys that spend most of their time tied behind a desk and not on a skateboard. The relationship can be different, you know?

Is there any behind-the-scenes stuff you’re involved with in terms of shoe designs and such?
Yeah, I just did a colour-way on an Osiris slip-on. It’ll probably show up in an ad I’m working on. All the guys have been getting their own colour-way designs on certain team shoes. I’ve got one on a slip-on—polkadots with a suede piece on the toe so you could actually skate it. I always ask for slip-ons every month, so they decided to make one for my and I’m pretty stoked.

What would you say to AMs on the quick come-up?
You need to be able to go places on your own and get the job done: getting coverage and spreading yourself out there—keeping your face on the scene. It doesn’t get easier and easier to get in the mags. It gets harder. Right now, my advise to an AM would be not to try and turn pro until you have a legit clothing, and shoe sponsors with your board sponsor that all agree to turn you pro. You don’t want to turn pro, while you’re flow on a shitty company [laughs].

For you, what aspects of skateboarding remain exactly the same as when you started out?
I like getting a new Transworld video or mag, and that’s never going to change for me even when I stop skateboarding. The new SBC, the new anything—that excitement won’t change. When I go to California and stay at [Aaron] Snyder’s house or wherever, I still get downloaded with, “Here’s the new Slap; here’s the new that; this guy just did this down Hollywood High; this guy just got on that company!” Just getting downloaded for the first few hours. My hard drive still gets filled with info every time I go down to California. That will always be the same every time I go down there. That’s how it is. Learning new tricks is always sweet, then calling up a photographer and locking up a spot. Learning new tricks—that’s never going to change. Learning a trick at the skatepark, then doing it at a real spot the next weekend. That’s the best. Shooting a photo and having it come out in a mag is still a really good feeling.



Frontside Noseslide