Kyle Wilson is a skateboarder hailing from East London who went pro for Palace in 2021. At the young age of 14 Wilson was raised skating South Bank; London’s iconic skate spot situated beneath the Southbank Centre along the Thames River. As a central spot in British skateboarding, it has been a home for skaters, graffiti writers, and urban culture since the early 1970s. 

From working at Madlands, a temporary indoor skatepark created by Palace Skateboards in London, Wilson went on to join the esteemed Palace team and since then has had multiple pro model decks bearing his name. His skating can be seen in videos such as “Beta Blockers” and “Laust in Translation”. 

FRANKLIN — So first off, thank you for doing this. Appreciate you a lot, man. I want to start out with your relationship with South Bank and what it means to you.

KYLE — My relationship with South bank has always been a love / hate one. I grew up skating it when I was maybe like 14-15 and I was pretty intimidated when I first pulled up because the vibe was a little bit different. But I had a few friends that I grew up skating with who all skated together. So then it made it a bit easier, like, I don’t know, integrating a little bit so it’s fun.

FRANKLIN — Right?

KYLE — Yeah.

FRANKLIN — So how far away from here did you grow up?

KYLE — Oh, I grew up in like east London. Close to Hackney, like Homerton.

FRANKLIN — How would you normally get here?

KYLE — I usually just cycle. Cycling’s not too bad. I feel like it’s like a 15-20 minute cycle. So it’s easy.

FRANKLIN — So you were intimidated the first time you came here?

KYLE — Yeah, everybody was just nasty, mad good. And I feel like back in the day the vibe was different. Cause people would just raise people’s stuff. You couldn’t leave any of your things out in the open.

FRANKLIN — Oh, for real? People were getting robbed?

KYLE — Yeah. It was pretty common. One of my friends had his camera bag stolen as well. It was just common shit.

FRANKLIN — Who were some of the first heads you used to see skating here that got you hyped?

KYLE — Probably have to say Chewy Cannon. For sure Chewy is one of the big influences, probably. I’de probably also say like, Benny, Lucien Clarke. Lucien was definitely a big inspiration for me when I was growing up.

FRANKLIN — How do you think South bank has influenced the London skating scene? Is it just like the center?

KYLE — Yeah, yeah, it’s more like a, it’s like a hub innit? It’s a good spot for people to just link up before going out skating street and filming. It’s a place that has bred a lot of good skaters, like a lot of good people have come out of here but strangely, it’s like a mix between a skate park and not being a skate park.

FRANKLIN — Like a street park.

KYLE — Yeah. So, like, people have actually filmed crazy shit here over the years.

FRANKLIN — Do you think South bank is the most important part of London skateboarding?

KYLE — One of the most integral parts for sure. Definitely.

FRANKLIN — Did you getting on Palace come from skating here? Is there a correlation?

KYLE — Funny enough, it came from skating the skate park that they made in south London in Peckham. A skate park called Madlands, and that was the indoor park. That was my introduction to Palace in general, because I didn’t really know much about it when I was growing up. So I started working at the skatepark and funny enough, that was how I was introduced to them and me and a friend of mine, a good friend of mine, Charlie, we both ended up getting on through the skate park. They had a lease for six months, and they were going to get rid of it, and we were, like, running out of ideas of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do for work. So we contacted Brady, which is our connect at the time as well, and we were like, “Oh, like, hey, could we maybe, like, work at the shop or, like, do any work in the office? Like, any.” But then they were like,”Nah, that’s cool. You can just, like, skateboard. Actually rather, like, we’ll give you guys boards.” It worked out.

FRANKLIN — Sick. All right, half serious question. Who is the king of South Bank?

KYLE — Previous king of South Bank, I gotta say Chewy.. still Cannon. I probably say, like, Chewy’s like the ogden king of SB. But, like, recently, at times, probably say, my boy Twiggy. Twiggy’s like one of the big press, like, people that regulate it here.

Full interview, featured in Issue 8, Living Proof Magazine.

photo / interview: Franklin Carbonatti

intro: Angel Cheng