Thrasher Magazine

Photo: Matreno

Interview by Alex Papke

Hey, Jamie, what are you doing right now?

We’re just chilling in this hotel room in Miami, trying to figure out what we’re doing later. I’m trying to go get food. 

What are you dudes doing out there?

They just did this international grand opening event at that new Lot 11 park. It’s really fun. 

That park looks insane. What’s your favorite thing there?

The long flatbar down the bank. The whole park is sick, though. 

You staying down there for the holidays?

Nah, I’m gonna leave tomorrow and then come back. 

If you need to learn how to hold a front crook, ask Jamie. They don’t call him Big Pinch for nothing           Photo: Matreno

Sick, well jumping right into this, Red Bull made this project based around you Midler and Zion being really good friends. How old were you when you met those guys?

I’ve known Z longer than Midler, but I’ve known both of them for awhile now. I think I met Alex when I was probably like 12 years old.  Zion and Midler were friends and then I became friends with Midler through Z. But yeah, it’s wild. 

Had you heard of either of those dudes before you met them? 

Yeah, Alex Midler, I had heard of of him before but not Zion. Because I’ve known Zion since we were like babies, you know? I just met him going to his local skatepark when I would go there to practice for some contests. Yeah, the only bowl was like an hour from my house so I would go there just to skate the bowl. 

How old were you when you got hooked up with Red Bull?

I think it’s only been two years, so I was probably 20 years old. 

Switch feeble pop over. Don’t look surprised, Foy          Photo: Burnett

Were you hesitant to jump on an energy drink sponsor?

Kind of but not really. It was a surprise to me but it was also a no-brainer like, I might as well do this. They have a lot of perks of being on the team like if you get hurt they take care of you. They have rehab and all this type of shit so there are a lot of positives. Might as well take advantage of all that, you know? 

Do you take advantage of going to PT a lot?

Only when I really have to. I don’t take giant advantage of it. I just do it when I’m actually hurt. Zion goes there all the time. 

How often would you say you drink Red Bull?

Me? Ah shit, I drink one once every four or five months. I have so many that I just don’t really drink ‘em. 

All you dudes have to run the hats. Is there any way around that if you’re not feeling a hat one day?

If I’m skating, it’s gotta be on my forehead. They kind of own my forehead, as of right now. I always wear a hat when I skate, so fuck it. I just wish they had more color options, but we’re getting there. We mainly do beige, navy and grey but I want some other colors, some cooler colors. 

No filler for Foy—taking backside through the kinks to new levels           Photo: Aponte

Maybe we can change that with this interview. You guys got to go on some sick trips for this one. Which place was your favorite for skating?

I would say Taiwan, for sure. It was the most fun and the most productive. So many spots in Taipei city. You just go there, skate around and get a bunch of footage. It’s amazing. 

Was it weird starting this project and not having Midler there at first?

Not really. It kind of happens with videos. Not everyone can be there all the time so I get that. 

Injuries are a bitch.

If anything, I was kind of bummed Midler wasn’t there in the first place because he would have fucked shit up, too. He would have had more fucked-up footage than he already had!

Was it a stressful situation when Sheckler was getting up there for that tail drop? That thing looks like no joke.

I wasn’t there when he did it so that wasn’t too stressful for me. I was getting food. It had to be such a solo mission because when he first got up there, someone called the cops on him so we left and he wanted to go back. We all thought it would be better if he went back solo, just with as low-key of a squad as possible. When I saw him up there the first time sussing it before we got kicked out, I was like, Damn, this is gnarly. Hopefully we just get some good traffic control going. But when he did it, he didn’t really give a fuck; he just went for it. It was insane. So sketchy. 

Was it tough filming a part in just ten months? Is that a normal timeframe for you?

Nah, it was pretty mellow because we got to go on a bunch of fun trips and it was all new areas for me. If you had to film ten months in LA, that would be fucked. But going to new places all the time, you don’t have to really worry about tricks that much. You just go to a new spot, feel it out and do some different shit that you would be used to. It made it pretty easy to film a good amount of footage in ten months. I’m not gonna lie. 

Maybe not the first dude you’d think of for this frontside wallride, but don’t let Foy fool you. He can do it all          Photo: Haruta

You were jumping on some insanely big spots for this one. What was the worst slam you took?

Probably that bail in the intro. I tried to front lip that kinked rail and was too much on my toes. I was leaning forward on that quick kink and just sacked the very end of it on my pelvis. I didn’t sack it like you usually would sack a rail from the bottom, I sacked it forward. It bruised my pelvis so bad that I couldn’t walk for three days. I bruised my left nut, too. Yeah, it sucked. Then after that I couldn’t skate for three weeks because my muscle in my thigh sparked these weird spasms, so that was almost a month out. But it happens. 

I heard you bruised your dick.

Nah, not my dick, just my left nut. Maybe there was a little discoloration in the shaft, but just slightly. 

Was that the worst slam you’ve had in the last year?

You know what’s crazy? That slam on my face was about a year ago, but that slam on that kinked rail took me out way longer than when I slid on my face. I was only out for ten days with that one. This one was way longer. 

No way to know if you’re going to land in a notch and get pitched or not, but there’s only one way to find out! Heavy frontside nosegrind in Taiwan          Photo: Haruta

All of the dudes seem to look at you as almost a coach sometimes. Why do you think that is, just because of experience in the field? 

Yeah, I feel like experience comes into play, but I just always think about cause and effect. I’m a big guy, so learning from my mistakes, if I’ve done something and it didn’t work out, I’ll change it up to make it right and will learn from it. I want other people to learn from it, too. If I can help someone else out and if they don’t have to go through what I went through, then I’m gonna help out, you know? I just love analyzing stuff, thinking of the best way to get through something and the quickest way to get something done. I always think, Don’t work hard, think smart. 

And from personal experience, I know you always try to skate every spot even if it sucks. 

I usually try to. Gotta figure something out. 

Everyone was telling me how having you around is great because you motivate the squad and always bring up the hype, no matter what. 

I just love having a good time with my homies, and pushing them. I didn’t make Midler do some of these tricks he did, but I would tell him, “Yo, Midler, you should do this!” And then he would just do it. I love seeing the homies progress and pushing themselves and it pushes me to do better for myself. Keeps the days going. 

Add a sketchy run up and roll away to an already terrifying back lip with a head high drop and Foy is in for some fun. “Gotta get these clips!”            Photo: Matreno

I head you were responsible for him trying his last trick, that crazy drop-down grind. 

Yeah, I found that rail. We were right next to the skatepark and he’s sitting on FaceTime with his homie. I’m just like, “Hey, Midler! Call them back, bro, I found a rail over here. It’s really sick and it’s doable and I would try it but it looks better for goofy!” He was on the phone for awhile longer and then I went and grabbed him and then he just warmed up and went for it. I can’t believe he did that. Well, I can, but that shit was gnarly. 

You can tell he didn’t plan on skating that day with that shorts outfit he was running. 

Yeah, dude, he was chilling. He was vibing out. And that was the thing too—just non-stop gnarly skating the last few days and he was hella sore. We just kept telling him, “If you’re sore, take some ibuprofen, stretch it out and let’s go! Gotta get these clips!”

It’s gotta be motivating for them to see someone skating all these huge spots and they gotta be thinking, Shit, Jamie’s killing it. I gotta step my game up. Do you do that for yourself or do you do it to hype up the session for everyone else?

I kind of do it for everyone, myself included. I just love looking at spots, and I mean, the more spots we go to the better chances we have of getting some footage. We can go to a spot, and we don’t necessarily have to skate it, but the more spots we check out the more possibilities we have. 

No veggies? No problem. Foy has all the juice he needs for this lengthy back 180 nosegrind shove out           Photo: Haruta

Do you get anxious if everyone is lagging on a nice day?

I would love to be skating all of the time, but if everyone is lagging, I do like to chill sometimes. But I wake up early and sit in my bed for two-to-three hours. Somedays it’s good for the soul to be on a lag but if I’m in a new place and it’s a beautiful day out, I’ll get anxious and wanna go skate some shit.

I heard you’ll even find time to cook up your signature breakfast on these trips. What does that entail? 

Well, I mean, it’s hard to cook breakfast for myself when I’m on trips. I did when we were in Portugal, but I go with the classic eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and/or pancakes and/or French toast. 

No greens?

No greens, no vegetables, none of that. 

Kickflipping over a bump to bar is never easy, but add a quick metal wheelchair ramp as the bump and it gets even harder. Foy fires it up for the squad in Lisbon           Photo: Matreno

When was the last time you ate some veggies?

I eat little vegetables sometimes. Like some little stuff in mixed rice and stuff, every now and then. But eating a vegetable, me choosing to do that, it’s probably been 15 years or something. 

Fifteen years?! If you had to eat a raw veggie right here right now, what would you go with?

I don’t know, probably a carrot or something, something I can dip in a ton of ranch. Anything that doesn’t really taste like anything and I can mask the taste with sauce. 

Would you say you’re a picky eater?

I can find something to eat everywhere. Say I order a burger and they forget to take off the lettuce and tomato, I’m not gonna send it back or anything. I’ll just take it off and continue my day. 

He’s big in Taipei             Photo: Haruta

Oh, so you’re one of the dudes who just gets everything plain. 

Kinda. I mean, if I can get a burger, I’ll get an egg, some bacon on there with cheese and sauce, just no lettuce or tomato. 

All protein, baby. Well now that this one is wrapped up, what’s next on the list for Jamie Foy?

Same old thing—a lot of contests since the Olympics are coming up, so I’m trying to do all of that. And then also filming for the Deathwish video. That comes out this time next year so we’re just on the move working on that. Always onto the next thing. 

Who are you most stoked to see in the Deathwish video?

Probably Pedro or Dickson. It’s gonna be insane. 

It’s gonna be a crazy one. Stoked to see what you’re gonna do next, my dude. Anyone you want to thank to wrap this thing up?

Yeah, I want to thank Tom, Ira, the boys and obviously everyone who helped us out traveling—all the second angles, all the photos we got taken by the homies showing us around. And obviously Red Bull for making a good thing happen. 

When Jamie Foy sees a tasty spot, nothing alive can hold him back. Another “Stop the car!” moment, another kinked monster slayed             Photo: Burnett