São Paulo’s Gabriel Leandro came to Zurich for 3 weeks over the summer to jam with Kilian Zehnder, Sven Kilchenmann and their crew. Upon arrival, he was arrested by the border police on the basis that he didn’t have a return flight to Brazil locked in yet, nor did he have enough money to be in Switzerland, according to them. They didn’t speak Portuguese, and he didn’t speak English, but instead of providing him with an interpreter, they just chucked him in a cell, without making it clear to him what the next steps would be… It wasn’t until the next day that he was allowed to contact his friends to come pick him up.
Was the trip ruined by this depressingly dehumanising nonsense? Nope, not even slightly. He just took it in his stride and got stuck in with the locals (despite the language barrier), stacking away like a maniac with Jon Wolf until he had enough for a full part. That’s 25 clips in 21 days. 16 of which involve him throwing himself down shit. That averages at a huck every 1.3 days, with lines and shit in between. Mental.
At the end of his trip, he was asked what he’d take away from it, and this is what he replied (translated from Portuguese into English by Marcos Roberto de Souza):
“If you want something, you have to go after it, but you must have sincerity, humility and respect. Don’t fuck it up for other people, respect the places you are going to. That way, you are building lasting relationships. Seeing new places and meeting new people is what makes your skateboarding evolve. No dream is too little, no dream is too big.”
Bonus fun fact: Aside from some very broken Spanish, which acted as a confusing middle ground for Gabriel and Jon, their only real connection, verbally, was Westside Gunn ad-libs. Jon, whose day job is currently driving rappers around when they come to Switzerland, told Westside Gunn’s cousin, Benny The Butcher this a couple of weeks ago, who found it hilarious. Pretty nice.
Filmed and edited by Jon Wolf
Watch in: Freeskatemag.com