Phil Marshall Interview

Over many skate trips, countless meals and numerous hours spent at airports, I’ve learned that Phil is no one but himself. From his style on the board to his Ramen addiction, he’s a completely unique individual. Like a lot of us, he's a goofball but also one of the most dedicated and productive people I’ve ever met.  If he’s got his mind on something, he will make it happen.

Being one of the best Australian skaters for well over a decade, Phil has recently extended his natural skills and style into the world of graphic design. His finesse, vibrant fashion sense and creativity are manifested into his design work and we’re honoured to have him behind the "Flora & Fauna" capsule collection.

We caught up with Phil to discuss his rich history in the Australian skate scene, travelling the world and the ins-and-outs of graphic design. Enjoy! -Casey Foley

Photos: Tomoki Peters

For those who don’t know you, introduce yourself.

My name is Phillip James McDiarmid Marshall, I’m 29 years old and like to do tricks on my skateboard from time to time.

What was it like growing up in Perth?

I grew up playing a lot of Soccer with friends from my neighbourhood in Craigie, a Northern suburb about 20 minutes from Perth CBD. My best friend (Maciek) bought two skateboards from a security guard, we’d sit on the boards and bomb hills throwing rocks at each other and making obstacle courses out of bulk rubbish.

A little while after that we’d discovered you can do tricks! I met Tyson May while skating an undercover car park at my local shops, who introduced me to Ben McCormick, who was filming for ‘Scratching the Surface’ a fun homie vid. I started going into the city every weekend with all those guys, filmed about 30 seconds of footage and had a small part in the video, from then on I just kept skating. Perth is a nice place to grow up, blue skies, good weather, epic beaches and a friendly, unique skate scene.

I was introduced to you in around 2010 when “No Strings Attached” came out. You really made a name for yourself with an incredible shared part that put Perth skateboarding on the map. How was filming for that project and how was the Perth scene at the time?

Oh man it was amazing filming for that video with Chris Yow. I grew up watching Attempted Depiction & People Like Us religiously, so being able to skate with him felt like such an honour. The scene at the time was showing a lot of potential. I remember at the premier being blown away by Nick Boserio’s part. Alex Campbell’s section skating to Marvin Gaye and Gift of Gab is too good! It’s still one of my all-time favourite videos. I knew that everyone who had a part in the video was about to “make it” or go on to do something great.

You were a chef for a while when you were living in Perth right? How was it working in that industry?

While I was studying Commercial Cookery, I met Chris Skinner and Tristen Crook at Crimea skatepark. They were Head and Sous Chef at a hotel restaurant in the city. They said once I've finished my studies to come work for them. A year later I took them up on the offer and started as a dishy/junior chef and worked my way up over the next 3 years, until new owners took over. There was a lot of shady business going on so everyone went their separate ways.

I continued to work a few chef jobs after, at hotels, steak houses, food trucks and a brunch café.
The hours can be disjointed, work stressful, but it’s rewarding when dockets come in and meals go out smooth, like a well-oiled machine. In the end working full-time as a chef took time away from my stronger passions, skateboarding and design, so I felt like it was time to make a change and I could always go back to being a chef if things didn’t work out.

A few years ago, you had a board company called Stamps Collective. Tell us a little about that project.

I started Stamps Collective in 2015 with the help of Joe Bothams, Alister Bell & Barry Mansfield.
Things with Palace Skateboards fell through and I didn’t feel like any Australian board companies were really doing anything exciting at the time with the exception of Passport, so I felt like it was the right time in the industry to give it a go.

I had a lot of good times filming clips, travelling, organising events, making ads and working on board graphics at Barry’s place. 2 years later and Joe moved to Sydney, I moved to Melbourne and Barry stayed in Perth. Barry had plans to start his own board company, The Details Co, which meant he didn’t have time to work on Stamps anymore. Joe had invested half of the money into Stamps and Barry had the graphic design skills, so with everyone being in a different city and having their own goals, it was too hard to continue running the company. This is what ultimately led me to realise I shouldn’t rely too heavily on others and sparked my journey to start studying graphic design.

You moved to Melbourne in 2017. What inspired you to make the move from Perth?

I felt like around this time, the Perth skate scene was kind of falling apart. Chris Yow had moved to China, Quentin Guthrie moved to London, Josh Roberts was working on international edits and was planning to move to Melbourne, Luke Thompson & Aiden White weren't focusing on skate photography and most of my mates moved to either Sydney or Melbourne. The only people left that were actually filming and contributing to the scene were Ethan Delancy and Tyson May.

I was hanging out with Elizebeth and Tobi Stanley a bunch and one drunken night at The Bird we all collectively had the idea to move to Melbourne. A month or so later, we packed up a suitcase each and drove my Holden Commodore across Australia.

I’ve travelled with you to London, Milan and Sicily on Butter Goods trips. You’ve always been so fun to travel with and always skate the wildest spots. Things that seem impossible, you’re willing to try out. Is there a trick or story from either of these trips that really stick with you? That wall ride in Milan was wild!

Haha thanks! That wall ride was such a relief to ride away from, especially with security rocking up right after.

A stand out was meeting Wes from Rock Solid Distro in Bristol who ended up coming back with us to stay at the Butter airbnb in London. I think it was Alex Schmidt, Wes and myself drinking and smoking in the backyard when we ran out of drinks so we raided the fridge and found a fancy bottle of wine which belonged to the owner. The next morning Garth found the bottle and researched the price so we could replace it. To our surprise it was valued at something ridiculous like £500.
A few days of stressing out about replacing the bottle we found out that wasn’t the price for a single but for a 10 pack, so drama averted.

 

Photo: Casey Foley

I remember that. Garth was gonna kill you guys ha-ha. You’ve done a bunch of traveling outside of skateboarding. Tell us about what happened with your bags in Barcelona?

I was travelling around Europe with my ex Twiza and her friend Fazarna. We booked a bus from France to London which left at around 4am, we had been doing a lot of drinking prior and were super hazy. Anyway, half way across our journey the bus stopped to refuel and let everyone get supplies. We went into the shops for snacks, Fazarna checked on the bus which was still there, the girls had to go to the bathroom and when we came back out the bus had taken off without us. We were stranded in the middle of France with no luggage! Luckily Twiza and I had our passports, wallets and phones on us but Fazarna had only her phone.

We caught the next Flexi Bus which was nice enough to let us on for free, but it was going to Belgium, so it could only take us so far. We ran off the bus to get a taxi to try to catch up with our original bus and my legs were so tired after being on the bus for hours that I rolled my ankle running off. I told the girls to go on without me and to arrange the taxi. I hobbled into the taxi and we were off. The taxi driver understood our situation and was speeding around, driving in emergency lanes and taking short cuts through random towns. But alas when we made it to the euro tunnel our bus had already gone through and that was unfortunately the last time we saw our luggage.

That’s so insane. What a nightmare! When did you get into Graphic Design and what inspired you to study it?

As a kid I always enjoyed drawing and once I got into skateboarding I was fascinated by board graphics.  I played around with making my own brands, logos and graphics and always thought I’d study design after high school, but I suppose I was nervous and thought my “art” wasn’t good enough so I studied youth work then fell into the chef work. It’s taken a while, but I finally had the courage to give it a proper go and eventually found there wasn’t anything to be worried about.

Who/what are your favourite designers or brands and why?

Some of my favourite designers are, Evan Hecox, Nina Chanel, Don Pendleton, Cleofus, Nick Slater, Alex Steinweiss, Saul Bass & Neil Fujita. Brands that inspire me would be early Chocolate, Stereo, Habitat, AWS & Flip graphics. Nowadays I like what I’m seeing from Studio, Evisen, Passport, Butter, Hopps & Magenta.

What is important to you when making a graphic?

For me the number one thing to consider when designing a graphic is ‘meaning’. Once I’ve figured out the idea and target audience I can start playing around with design. I tend to be more drawn to geometric simple shape designs with bright, harmonious colours. However there’s a lot of different art and design styles that I love and would like to explore.

The board series you’ve designed for Fast Times is so dope. Tell us about the process and what inspired each graphic. 

The inspiration for the Fast Times boards came from digging around op-shops and looking at old record covers, books and music sheets. I think Jazz and skateboarding have similarities with freedom of expression and movement, plus I love the look of old Jazz covers from the 1940’s to 60’s, especially by Blue Note or Columbia Records. I’d buy some of these things or take photos then try to recreate them in my own style. For the Flora & Fauna series inspiration came from old record covers and to try recreate some of Australia's most iconic animals and plants in a geometric, contemporary style.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into graphic design?

Always keep an eye out for interesting design, it's everywhere! Take photos and buy things that inspire you and if you want to go study, go for it, don’t be afraid. Everyone's there to learn. Also always get feedback on your work and don’t take it personally if they don’t like it or suggest changes.

Thanks so much for your time Phil! Appreciate it. Got anyone to shout out or give thanks to?

Thanks to Anthony Mapstone for reaching out to me to work on the designs for Fast Times & Lars for helping out on the graphics. Shout outs to Garth and Matt at Butter Goods, Dave Chami at Adidas and my other sponsors, Picture Wheels, Free Jazz Co, Independent Trucks and Modus Bearings for giving me so many opportunities within skateboarding to express myself.

All my friends & family, much love and thank you!

We’re stoked to have Phil as both a team rider and a staff member in our Chadstone store. Say what’s up & pick his brain on design and check out his board graphics!

Check out the "Flora & Fauna" release clip below & CLICK TO SHOP THE FULL COLLECTION HERE.