Nick Murphy Interview

Nick, Photo_Mike Edwards

Interview and Photography by Nick Nicks (except where noted).

The first time I saw Nick skate was at the Creature/ Santa Cruz “Saints & Sinners” Tour demo at Orlando Skate Park (OSP) this past October. He was charging so hard, it was hard not to notice! The following month I was back at OSP for the launch of the Demon Seed “Brewery” Pro Model line of boards and was again super-stoked on Nick’s skating. I asked Rich Payne who he was, and he said “Oh yeah, that’s Nick Murphy, he rides for Demon Seed, he rips”. At the end of the night, Rich introduced me to Nick, and just like that we were Facebook Friends For Life (FFFL)! No, seriously, I did hit Nick up on Facebook, because I knew I was going to want to shoot photos and do an interview with him at some point. Then, back in December, just a few weeks after I started No Comply Magazine, Nick was asking me about the mag one day, we chatted for a little bit, decided to do the interview and that was that. Anyway, I am still very new at this interviewing thing, so I don’t know if it is normal to get so many sick photos in such a short period of time, but when you skate as good as Nick does it definitely makes it easy on the photographer. So, enjoy the photos and the interview and watch out for Nick because he will be skating past you at 100 mph!

How old are you? I’m 20 years old.

Where are you from originally? I am from the “City of Champions”, Brockton, MA.

How long have you been skating? Since I was 6, so 14 years.

What brought you to Florida? I was going to school at Boston Architectural College and I felt like it just wasn’t working out at the time. I needed a change and my brothers were already living in Apopka, Florida, so in December of 2009 I moved down and moved into my oldest brother’s house.

Who are you currently riding for? I ride for Demon Seed Skateboards, Orlando Skatepark (OSP), Guano Wheels, and Percent Apparel

Kickflip to Fakie, OSP.

So, tell me the story about how you got on Demon Seed and OSP? Well, it was last summer (2010) and there was a Vans Warped Tour Qualifier and Demon Seed Best Trick Contest at OSP. I ended up qualifying for the Warped Tour and I took first place in the Best Trick! I won the Best Trick Contest with a pivot to fakie on the vert wall at OSP (Which, by the way, is insane! If you have seen this vert wall, you know why!). After I stuck the pivot to fakie, I was trying a blunt to fakie, I popped out too far, landed too low on the tranny and slammed straight to the flat. I just remember waking up to people asking me how many fingers they were holding up. The helmet that I was wearing was a souvenir plastic Boston Red Sox batting helmet, and it just shattered. So, Demon Seed and OSP pretty much put me on right after that.

5-0 to Fakie in the deep end of the OSP pool!

Do you have a day job? I have had a few different jobs since I moved to Florida. It has been really rough finding something decent that pays well, especially nowadays. I am currently unemployed, but I have something in the works that basically allows me to be my own boss and pays really well. I think being my own boss is going to work out better for me.

Feeble Grind through the corner, SPoT Bowl.

What’s on the radar for Nick Murphy? My dream, just like a lot of skateboarders coming-up, is to go out to California and see how far I can take my skateboarding. Transition is definitely my strength, but I would like to take my street skating to new levels, so that I can be an even more well-rounded All-Terrain Vehicle. I love skating anything and everything, if it’s fun I’ll skate it. I definitely want to go back to school for architecture or art at some point also. I took architecture and art classes in high school and I really liked it, so I would like to do something with that. Other than that, just keep skating and have fun…I don’t ever want to stop skating!

Gap up to Tailslide, OSP.

Who are your top 5 favorite skateboarders? Dan Drehobl, Peter Hewitt, Daewon Song, Tony Trujillo, and Mark Gonzales.

Wallplant, SPoT Bowl.

What’s playing on your ipod right now? Audioslave, but I listen to everything and anything if it’s good. I listen to hip-hop, rock-n-roll, whatever. Probably my favorite band of all time would have to be The Beatles. My parents and especially my uncle used to listen to The Beatles all the time when I was growing up.

Wallride, SPoT.

Any last words, shout-out’s, thank-you’s? Yeah, first and foremost, I would like thank my parents for being supportive and my brothers for teaching me how to skate. When I was growing up, we had a “wicked awesome” 6 ft mini-ramp with an 8 ft extension with pool coping and a 4 ft spine in the backyard. I would also like to thank Johnny King at OSP, Wade at Demon Seed Skateboards, Keith Whetstone at Guano Wheels, Shawn at Bikebarn Skateshop in Whitman, MA (first shop sponsor), Dave at Skater’s Edge, No Comply Magazine for the interview, and last but not least, Dutch Masters & PBR!

Paul + Carol Bradford

Dear Nicholas and No-Comply:

Love this page. It’s dramatic, it’s real, and it’s really wonderful.

As Grandparents of Nicholas, we are extremely interested in his professional efforts, and this is really creative and an excellent addition to his already prolific resume.

Here’s to you, Nicholas, you are really a great addition to the Champions of Brockton, and great luck!

January 30, 2011 at 9:21 am