Lucien Gourdal

Lucien Gourdal hails from a small village in the south-west of France, just outside Hossegor - an area better known for its waves than its béton - but one that has a bubbling skate scene of talent at its core. Lucien’s path was set early, following his brother’s footsteps onto a board. After quickly rising through the French and then European contest scene, he stepped away from contests around 16 and shifted his focus to the streets, trading pressure for process. It’s this process that has defined Lucien as the skater he is today. Whilst many of his peers are focused on putting out clips for social media, Lucien invests time into the process of filming parts such as Taking the Plunge. And, with a penchant for big spots - which earned him the cover of Free Skate Magazine last year - a bright future lies ahead for the unsung hero and quiet achiever from south‑west France.

Give us a little background on yourself.

Who am I? That’s a good question… My name is Lucien Gourdal, I’m 19, I’m from a small village called Tosse in the south-west of France, not far from Hossegor – and I skate.

Talk us through your journey in skateboarding?

I started when I was 6 or 7 as my brother was skating, and everything that he did, I wanted to do. Whether that be soccer, tennis or anything – I wanted to do the same as my brother. One of my earliest memories was skating at La Barre in Anglet – or trying to skate - just getting on a board wearing a red helmet – it all started there. I just kept skating every day, in and out of school. All of my friends were skating. I started to get into small contests in Biarritz and Hossegor and it went kind of far – maybe too far – all the way to European contests. I guess that’s what got me where I am today in terms of consistency and confidence, even though I am really not that into contests anymore. It didn’t make me that happy and it wasn’t that fun, it was a lot of pressure.

I did that for 2 or 3 years until I stopped when I was 16 or 17. I started getting shoes from Sam Partaix a year or so ago, and now I’m really stoked to be on the Vans team. I was on my first Vans trip in Alicante a few weeks ago with the big boys – Willow, Chris, Axel, Alexey and Notis, amongst others - which was insane – a dream come true. I’ve always preferred street skating and going on trips and I’m happy that’s the direction I’m on now.

Describe your local scene.

I mean the region is more famous for surfing and more people are into that, but I have a few friends that are really into skating. A few years ago, we bought a camera and started filming for no real reason with our crew and the edit ended up on Bubble Skate Mag. There’s a lot of really good skaters that live here and I think that’s a good influence for sure, but it’s hard to get our little crew of Aaron Penna, Lukas Larrue and Noé Balsamo together as people have moved up to Paris or are always away on trips. I used to go up to Bordeaux a lot - there’s a lot of good cities to skate around here.

Talk us through your Free Skate Mag cover in Bordeaux?

Yes, with Clement Le Gall. I told him I wanted to back nose blunt this giant Hubba which is quite famous at the Meriadeck in Bordeaux. He asked me if I had seen it before, as it’s pretty mean looking. I said, “Yeah I have seen it, I think I can do it”, but actually I had never seen it before. I was so scared when we got there. It was my first time shooting with Clement as well, so I had to throw myself down this thing and make it happen. I felt so much pressure, I’m glad it worked and I’m not dead… It was my first photo with Clement, my first photo for Free Skate Mag and it ended up on the cover – I’m stoked.

Did that change your approach to spots?

For sure, I was so scared of dying – but I kind of liked that feeling. It was the first time I’ve skated a big spot like that and I felt like, “I have to do more like that”. That’s what I want to skate now, big spots forever – it’s what makes me feel alive.

Talk us through your most recent part; “Taking the Plunge”

I started filming this with Thomas Courteille from Paris and at first I didn’t want to film a part, we were just stacking clips for the sake of it. At one point Thomas said “Let’s just do a part” and I was down so I went more often to Paris to film - as well as the U.S a couple of times, including Sacramento with Pizza who helped me a lot with this one. We filmed there, Paris and around Les Landes over a year and a half or so. We really worked for it.

Despite your peers releasing stuff instantly on social media, you are more into taking your time filming, why is that?

I want to do my best and I want to show my best. I don’t want to drop things that I’m not happy with – it feels useless to me. I would rather take my time. I think I can be quite hard on myself, I’m trying to find the balance of that and being happy with what I have achieved.

What are you working on now?

I want to try and drop a new video at the end of the year – that’s the goal. I want to go up to Paris and Nantes as there are a lot of spots up there. I’ve been on a lot of trips for sponsors, such as Australia with Volcom which has been amazing but I feel that I haven’t had that much time for me to film, so I’m excited to start. That’s what I love. I want to go on trips forever.

Could you see yourself living elsewhere than the south-west of France?

I thought about living in Paris for a while as I spend a bit of time up there but it’s a really expensive city and I am not sure I would really enjoy it. There’s a lot of people. I like how the south-west is really chill – taking my bike to the beach and chilling with my friends. It’s a great place to relax - I feel in Paris it’s hard to relax.

You’ve been to the States a bit, how do you find the difference between skating there and in Europe?

It’s so different. In the States there is a lot of driving, there’s nowhere really to warm up and the spots aren’t that friendly. It’s still good to skate there for the industry and the exposure and it’s a cool experience – I would still rather skate in Europe though. I love skating in Paris for example, it’s so easy – you can just take a bike or jump on the metro and hit so many different spots.

What and who inspires you in skating?

The problem is, everyone inspires me. I love people who send themselves on big stuff the most – I find it so insane. I think, “what are you doing?” and I want to do the same thing. Willow is a good one like that, as is Doobie. Sometimes I think, “wow you must have a death wish – why would you even try that?”

And outside of skating? What gets you fired up?

Anything in the art world, whether that be painting, filming, photography or screen printing – I like to see all my friends with creative minds who are in that universe. I wish I could do that. I also can’t live without music – it helps me every day.

Coming from the South West of France, we have to ask, do you surf?

Funny you ask, I used to surf a bit when I was a lot younger but I recently got back into it, actually yesterday. I ate it so bad as it wasn’t that small but I loved it. I went with a friend and I think it’s time I got back into it. When you are in the water you really don’t think about anything else – it’s a great way to clear the mind.

How’s the vibe on the Vans team?

The vibe is so good. It’s giving me positive vibrations all the time. It’s all about skating and having fun. The recent trip I did to Alicante with the boys was really one of the best trips ever, everyone was so cool, so chill, so funny – but still serious at the same time when it came to skating. I want to skate with those guys forever.

What’s your favourite Vans shoe to skate in?

I’d say the Authentic is the one for me.

What’s next for you?

Keep skating, keep dropping videos. I want to get my own place and keep travelling as much as I can. Keep doing what I’m doing, I guess.

Any last words? A message for the internet? A message to your former self?

Try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Tell your friends you love them. Keep smiling!