Quickfire Interview with Gabz Temara
Where abouts are you living?
Rotorua, New Zealand
You guys have an epic indoor skatepark down there that has just finished being built, can you tell us a bit on how that came about?
When growing up we lived right next to the indoor skatepark in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and since moving over here we always dreamt about building one here in NZ. In Rotorua it was hard for me and my brother Dante to progress at all, our parks are super rough and outdated and there is nowhere to skate on the rainy days. Mum & dad would always end up having to drive us a long way to the Mount or Cambridge skateparks to finally be able to skate good features like down rails, hubbas etc. but that was hard to manage. So we kept pushing towards our indoor skatepark dream, eventually finding a small warehouse space we could use and biting to bullet to make it happen. It’s brand new still but we are so excited to have a space all year round and be able to make the obstacles we always dreamt of skating.
Who are your current sponsors/supporters?
Kingsley at Stem Distribution has really helped by lining up Santa Cruz, Independent Trucks, MOB Grip, OJ Wheels & Bronson Bearings flow
Volcom OZ/NZ
Vans New Zealand
Willoughby Fire Solutions
Of course I couldn’t do any of it without the huge amount of support my Mum & Dad give
and now Boardertown!
Do you have any hobbies outside of skating?
Yeah I actually play piano, so I play that everyday, and I also do CrossFit 4-5 times a week which is great for building strength and staying in skating shape.
Who are your favourite skaters to watch and get inspired by?
Inside New Zealand Theo Clarke & James Huntly are always a treat to watch. And Internationally I’m a big fan of both Basral Graito from Indonesia and Sora Shirai from Japan, they are crazy.
Favourite videos to get hyped?
The Tahi video from Def always gets me hyped, the boys all absolutely ripped in that! Also really liked Julian Agliardi’s Monster part from earlier this year.
Favourite city/spot you’ve ever skated?
LA was amazing to skate and see, but our local warehouse spot we have just finished building is my favourite currently.
Last new trick you learned?
Kickflip bs tail bigspin
Dream trick to land one day?
Would love to learn Cab front blunt bigspin
Any goals in mind for the year ahead?
The World Skate events are a big focus right now, we are currently travelling to Paraguay for the next event and I would love to break into the quarter or semi finals.
Aside from them I really want to film and put out a street part this year, I will be getting my drivers license so really looking forward to that and being able to travel and skate all around the country more.
