Hi Deven, how are you today? Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Hey Taryn! I'm doing great, cheers for asking. I recently turned 29, born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. Lived in other parts of Alberta, 2 years in Scotland and Ireland, and a bit in the States. I love traveling and the outdoors, camping and hiking is big in my life. Loved sports since I was young. Anything to do with board sports is also a big part of my life.
Started to skateboard when I was around 8 years old with a Jar Jar Binks Star Wars board from Walmart haha (really bad quality board, even with plastic wheels!). Skated till I was 17/18. I stopped for a while because of a near death accident when I was 16 holding onto a car going 50 km/h. All I could remember was seeing the back left tire about 5-6 inches away from my head until I passed out, was concussed, and had my first and only seizure I've ever had. Parents weren't too fond of skateboarding after that so I switched to longboarding and snowboarding. I've been able to snowboard at over 17 different resorts, in places across Canada, the US, Europe and Asia! I progressed quite quickly in snowboarding, but that also came with the price of landing myself in the hospital not once but twice over the years. The first time was at "Sunshine Village" in Banff, then over at "Kicking Horse" in Golden (one of my favourite places to shred). With any board sport I have mad respect for anyone that can take a massive hit to the body or melon and still somehow get themselves back at it!
I'm a DJ as my side business and 2 years ago during "Go Skateboarding Day" my bro Brian, owner of "Boarderline" skateboards here in Lethbridge asked if I could provide music that day at our local Northside skatepark. He had a bucket with new decks in it and told me to pick out a deck. I was stoked cause I saw a sick Element board in there with a cool design and two hummingbirds on it. I always rode Element or Enjoi boards growing up (it was an Element board I was on during my accident at 16). With my decade of not skating and Brian hooking me up I got back on the board once again and have proved myself with not only tricks I found hard to land when I was younger, but newer tricks I've never imagined or tried to land now being added to my tickle trunk of skate tricks that I'm able to land now! Super stoked on that for sure.
What inspires you to create your pieces?
My first board is the "Nova Scotia" flag. I made it in honor of the recent mass shooting for people that lost their lives there. I think the flag is also quite unique since living in Scotland the St. Andrews flag is a white cross with blue background while the Nova Scotia flag is the opposite colors with the famous rampant lion in the crest. I was really pleased how my lion turned out on the board and surprised myself since I simply looked at a picture on the internet and went from there!
On the top half of my other board I painted a space man that's similar to YouTube's no wifi character and Cat painted the beautiful octopus on the bottom half. I picked out some cool grip tape from Boarderline, Topless Pizza, and Zumiez and my friends at the local shops helped grip the boards for me. I wanted my boards to stand out with the different grips and I added my DJ name as well on the top of the boards to add a custom touch. So I had a lot of help from a lot of people with a lot of hours behind the two boards that were put together. A shout out to my wifey for helping me glue the veneers together!
The next couple of boards I want to paint some local mountains on them, some Celtic knot designs on some and one in the future of my Dad's 69' Shelby GT 500 that he spent 7 years to restore! Dad if you're reading this sell the car already lol! PS it's actually up for sale ;).
Do you use Roarockit products in the making of your work? How did you find out about us and what got you into skateboard building?
When I was scrolling through YouTube videos I came across a guy who built skateboards with the Roarockit kit out of veneers from pallet wood. His Youtube channel is called "Jackman Works" I do believe so go check out his channel/subscribe! I was blown away for sure by his idea and had to get my hands on one of your sweet kits!
That “Jackman Works” video really inspired me to get the kit. I showed my wife and was like "I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE ASAP" haha! She's probably thinking “Great, more skateboards in your life!”. I ordered the kit probably around half a year ago and got the Street Deck Double Kit. I think I've always had a special place in me to work with wood since being in woodworking class in Junior High & High School.
The only work I have the Roarockit products on so far are the skateboards I've made. I did see things like guitars or surfboards that people have made which are super cool since I think the guitar one was made out of old skateboard wood?! There are a ton of creative ways to make new things out of old decks. One thing I've seen and would love to attempt is making rings made out of old decks!
We love how you combine all your passions together! How did you come up with the idea to combine DJing and skateboard building together?
Music has always been a huge part of my life. My dad has been a DJ for 35 years now so I lived on classic rock’n’roll, old school techno, and other genres like easy listening or R&B. It wasn't until I came back from the 2 year mission in Scotland and Ireland through the Church I go to that I went to "Axe Music" in Calgary (which actually isn't there anymore), and bought around $2500 worth of new DJing gear. So for me it's been almost 6 years now being a DJ and I've loved it ever since. I've had the pleasure to spin at some places in Scandinavia, Japan, the US, and here at home in Canada.
I've been to "Shambhala" here in British Columbia 3 years in a row, then over to "TomorrowWorld" in Atlanta, Georgia two years in a row. Seen multiple different DJs in local venues and clubs and have really used my energy to feed off the crowd and the vibe. I'm the one Shazam’ing half the sets and adding new music to my library on the daily! One of my most memorable sets was seeing one of my most favorite DJ's named "Bassnectar". He spun a while back at the big 4 building in Calgary's world-famous yearly Stampede. When I went to his set at 19 I didn't know him and went with some friends. The amount of bone rattling bass was literally unreal to me. Why I think Lorin Ashton (Bassnectar) is one of my favorite DJ's is because his mixes are so diverse, he can take many genres and crossfade so well for his transitions that truly make it art! I recently got the "Neon Reloop" by Serato and I'm able to do so much more for my mixes than I could on my old school CDJ Numark mix-deck express I own.
I live on the west side of Lethbridge ("The West side is the best side!") and the city built a nice new skatepark 2 mins from my house. It's been there for a couple of years now and the concrete is way smooth to ride on. I thought with my ever-growing passion of skateboarding and music, why not combine the two and have locals in the community enjoy beats and the raw talent of riders at the same time! So I came up with the idea of hosting my own annual skateboard competition while I host and DJ for the crowd! I've had so much help, love, and support from the local shops here in town, I couldn't have done it on my own. My bro Chris (the owner of "Abnormal" skateboards) travelled in from out of town from the Crowsnest pass just to come and support. He's also getting into making custom snowboards too so I give him support on that endeavor! I couldn't do it without the help of these wonderful owners who provide prizes for the winners in each category.
I recently became a volunteer radio host for the University radio station "CKXU 88.3 FM" and I'm stoked to eventually have my own personal show, a side to music I've not yet explored and following once again in my Dad's footsteps since he also was in radio for a bit! I also recently met a lovely woman who teaches at the University that wants to have an awareness night and have me come with 3 to 4 boards from Roarockit that I will make to help support a good cause. I was thinking of writing the "Serenity Prayer" across them and she wants to have me DJ the night as well, so yes music and skateboarding definitely goes hand in hand in my life!
Tell us more about the event you hosted! How did it turn out?
This year's competition was different for sure! This year's comp I got together with Cat, the owner of "Space Mint" art. I first saw her art at our local farmers market and kept one of her cards. Months later I sent her a message seeing if she wanted to collaborate on a board with me? She said yes and was stoked to help since painting on a skateboard was a new project she's never tackled before! The night of the competition I had anyone who was 14 years old or younger get together and said I had a mystery board to give away to the first person that lands a kickflip. It was really fun and exciting to do this year and I definitely want to do it again for next year's comp!
This year's comp compared to last year, I feel like there were a lot more spectators to come and watch, with less riders in the categories. Maybe because of Covid-19?! I did put a lot more posters and ads out this year than last year's comp so I was a bit puzzled on the turn out. The last age category is 25+ years, and since there were only a couple in that age group we didn't end up doing it. Last year I had way more riders but less spectators. Then again though, last year's was way cold, I remember me and my bro Taylor shovelling snow off the skatepark for a couple of hours the day before haha! This year I had it earlier and it was a really nice night to hold it on, and even though that famous Lethbridge wind blew hard through the night, we all still had a sweet time jamming out and riding hard! Can't wait to see what next year's comp will bring!
If people wanted to find out more about your work, where can they see your creations and contact you?
To be honest I've been on the down-low from social media lately. I had a goal to not use Facebook for a whole year and I've almost completed that. Thought it would be harder, but the longer I've been away the easier it got. I did have an Instagram account but haven't used it in a while. Everyone lately has asked for my account for my DJing and the skateboarding side to my life and I'm like, you know I really need to use these social media tools again to get the word out and utilize it for the business side of things!
Just yesterday at the gym, Justin the front desk guy placed an order for me to make his brother a custom deck of his band and paint their logo on it because he was so impressed with the two boards I made and showed him the day before. While at the gym I did re-download the Kijiji app and made a post about how I'm making custom skateboards to get the word out as well! All I've got going for myself is self promoting and networking really. I've ordered a bunch more business cards from Vista Print and I hand them out like candy for my DJing business. My car has my DJ name on my license plate and custom window stickers for advertising. I've also had this couple who own a sticker making business make me some custom DJ stickers with my number on it to advertise as well.
Keep your eyes peeled for my mixes to be uploaded to my YouTube channel and smash the subscribe button, my channel name is "Neu kid on the block". If anyone would like to call or text me my number is 1-587-599-0247, or shoot me an email @ "dee.neu7@gmail.com".
Thanks again for your time Deven, any last words for the readers back home?
Cheers again for all the love and support from friends, family and the AMAZING Roarockit team I truly appreciate it! Much love from Deven, aka DeeJDee! Keep jamming out to beats and skating hard, peace! ☮️
Taryn O'Grady,
Social Media Expert, Roarockit Skateboard Company