‘Biscuits’ – Serious Adult

We’re proud to present a new 9 minute edit by the wonderful people at Serious Adult Publishing House Co. Top fella, curb destroyer and Serious Adult CEO Greg Conroy tells us more about their new video:

‘Biscuits’ features the highlights of the first 6 years of Serious Adult, comprising of footage from our 14 video projects. Filmed on location in London, Bristol, Peterborough, Rotherham, Barnsley, Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Pula, Fazana, Osaka, Tokyo, Mexico City, Heredia, Jersey and Porto. Starring Tom Delion, Sam Earl, Jasper Woolf, George Booth Cole, Greg Conroy, Luka Pinto, Jack Soden, Jeremy Jones, Lukas Kacevicius and Sebastian Lemus, with appearances from Dan Tomlinson, Conor Charleson, Angel Esquivel, Glen Fox, Cam Barr, Chris Garcia, Joe Coward, Louis Woodhead, Max Critchlow, Leo Briggs, Marco Cordero, Dillon Catney, Valentine Katz, Daisuke Kagoshima, Cam Allen Snow, Darwin, Miguel Castro, Rich De Courcy, Lewis Bell, Harry Turner and Elliot Wright. Filmed and edited by George Toland.

Read an interview by our very own Guy Jones with Greg Conroy and filmer George Toland below and then go watch their brand new visual treat. Also go show Serious Adult some love and support their sterling company here.

Interview by: Guy Jones

Videography by: George Toland

Photography by: George Booth-Cole

Artwork by: Greg Conroy

Firstly, how are you both? What have you been saying?

George Toland – I’m good thanks man. Yeah it’s been a tough year for sure, but I’m grateful to still be here and hyped that we’re beginning to see the light hopefully! Editing this video has helped me get through it; it’s been very therapeutic going through the archives and reminiscing about life pre 2020. I’m so excited to see the gang in London, have everyone over here in Bristol and go on some more trips in the not too distant future.

Greg Conroy – I’m good man! Definitely got thrown a few curve balls over the last year but I’m really excited. I’m stoked that things are starting to get moving again, clothes are in the shops (click here to shop) and we’re starting to film a new video.

Where did you first meet and did either of you tell the other one to “Do one!” whilst finishing a ciggie?

GT – I was first aware of Greg from his shared section with Dan Tomlinson in the ‘Getting By’ video by Ross Lidgey, before meeting him in late 2013, a few months into the LLSB campaign. I think the first thing we filmed together was a line at SB with a front board 270 out up the cheese, when I was still on the shitty little HD handycam. Come February 2015 Greg asked me if I’d be keen to film a short promo for a company he was starting, and here we are 6 and a bit years later, 14 videos deep!

GC – George got me in a headlock and stole all my lunch money. Nah, We met at southbank. I think we first properly started chatting when we were both working on the LLSB petition table at SB and just hanging out, and pretty soon into it we started filming the first Serious Adult video.

So can you confirm that this mega beast is from 5 or 14 videos?

GT – Yeah it’s from 14, with a couple of unused clips that slipped between videos too. The Serious Adult promo, Loudpack, Serious Adultery, Liquid Lunch, GCSA, GCSA II, Gachi Otona, Oranje, Vladimir 2017, Vladimir 2018, Teddie, Adulto Serio, Es Muuucha Galleta and Corona de Ville (watch some of them here).

GC – So I guess there are 5 videos that we’ve gone on trips for and planned in advance (Serious Adult promo, Loud Pack, Serious Adultery, Liquid Lunch and Teddie) but there’s footage from 13 videos from shorter edits from trips, and international long haul stays like Tom and Boothy’s stay in Japan and Toland’s 2 part Central American series. Maybe this is video 5 1/2?

What are both of your preferred mega mixes music wise? George I bet you have some bangers and Greg please tell me you and Faruso have a classic mix that slots in perfectly into any car park sesh scenario?

GT – Mate I love a bit of Bruce! Yeah there’s definitely a bit of a running theme music-wise through the videos. To be fair Greg was responsible for 50% of the selection in this edit which was nice for a change. The soundtracks of the clips generally just reflect what we were listening to at the time and are intended to put a smile on your face.

GC – George is about 95% percent responsible for all Serious Adult music choices so the mixes have to be left up to him. I would fucking ruin it. We would all be listening to Bachman Turner overdrive or something. I put on some Springsteen at the end of a long sunny day at the Borough ledges a few years back and it didn’t go down well.

To George, what is the most serious and the most adult thing Greg has done and Greg same question to you but about George?

GT – I mean the obvious answer is having a kid and starting a family, but I’d have to the say the most adult thing I’ve seen Greg do is humbly accept the hour plus wait time from the guy on the phone for a 3AM ‘meateor’ pizza at Bristol Bill’s house a few years ago. In all seriousness, he’s a super responsible person, and without being able to name a specific act either, it’s been inspirational to see him knock drinking on the head in the last couple years and absolutely smash fatherhood!

GC – George is super laid back and also the most reasonable and responsible person I know. His most adult quality is managing to steer ten plus people in a foreign country to only decent spots, not allowing detours to skateparks and vortexes without coming across as rude or pushy. You don’t even realise he’s doing it. Proper zen. No, actually along with Woodhead, Stu, Matt and a few others he kept Long Live Southbank going and they collectively spearheaded it in the later stages and saw the reopening of the old banks. Which was very grown up.

These videos are obviously documented so well and has a banging balance of underground spots and underground rippers. How has the crew developed since the start of these filming expeditions?

GC – It’s pretty fluid, there’s some people that haven’t filmed as much because of injuries or life but it’s pretty much the same crew as the beginning. Theo Hughes (had the pop shove tailgrab in The Grove edit on Grey, with a photo of it in the mag) and Josh Mason will hopefully be getting involved with this video, I’m really chuffed to have them in the mix.

Theo just fractured his wrist, but we’ll still be filming by the time he’s healed up so I’m sure he will have stuff. Rest up Theo!

What are your personal favourite clips in the mega mix and how many clips do the Kings College Hospital cargos make an appearance? In my eyes a very positive advert for the institution!

GT – Greg’s fakie hardflip in a line at aforementioned Job Centre is one for sure. My favourite has to be the Lukas gap wallride at Fairfields though. The trick and ensuing pile-up are both amazing and were part of a blissful long summer’s day spent in Croydon with a big crew. Jack’s nosegrind on the Dulwich rail in ‘Teddie’ was a relief too. We’ve rinsed that spot and went there countless times over that spring/summer but it didn’t work out for various reasons, until finally one day in September it clicked and Jack landed a couple, almost back to back.

GC – I wish I still had the work cargos, they had to get retired sadly. They might only have one appearance, at my second favourite spot- Forest Hill Job Centre. Best trick is Luka Pinto- really long half cab board, nosegrind 180. He did it super fast, out of nowhere and his trucks are rattling!

Regarding spot choice, my lord is it amazing! Who had the most influence on the spot choices and did you ever just want to skate a picnic bench in Sydenham?

GT – Most of the random crusty stuff that features in the earlier videos I found doing Deliveroo, especially when I was living in Crystal Palace. Then it was a case of trying to persuade people to trek up the hill to come and skate those areas. Greg has definitely supplied a load through street view trawling, Shakes and Boothy have unearthed a lot of treasures too.

GC – I was just saying yesterday to Sam Earl and Tom Pickard that I think I could never skate a school again just because of how stretched school budgets are and that cost of repair for a splintered picnic table or something is just too selfish to justify. And it looks shit. Spot choice, I think we both have similar tastes, I might try to blag a few more boring ledge spots but I think we both just really enjoy finding new things. We’re both actively looking for stuff all the time and probably both have similar influences in terms of videos.

With the travel restrictions, it has meant filming more locally. Having already covered 99% of all of the crusty aesthetically gorgeous terrain in South London, have you been going to old haunts and have you discovered any new blue oyster cult’s (good spot)?

GC – We’ve been pretty divided this year with George being in Bristol and most of us in London so we’ve been a bit lazy and gone to The Grove DIY loads. I’ve been mapping out a few cities pretty religiously on street maps so we’ve got a few out of town trips planned. But theres always new shit to find in south east London. People just scrape the surface with it still, no one really goes that far out. Dan Kreitem is fully on it though, he’s always got great spots.

You’ve been one several exploratory missions to areas that seem ideal to your whole vibe. Where would you like to go next and yes I know it’s a tease.

GT – 2021 might well be the year Greg drags us to Peterborough. Yeah I’d definitely like to go back to Glasgow too, a couple of my best mates are up there and I’ve never been there in the summer so that’d be sick. Manchester’s been on the list for a while as well. Outside the UK, I’d really love to revisit Marseille. The dream is to get the whole gang over to Mexico sometime, but that’s a little ambitious at the moment I reckon.

GC – BACK TO PETERBOROUGH. We didn’t get to go in 2020 so I’ve got my heart set on a 2021 return to god’s country. Remember Blueprint would always go out to Mallorca? I’m angling for Peterborough to be serious adult’s Mallorca. I love it there. The guys went to Glasgow a few years back and I sat it out, with a sprained ankle but I really want to go there. My friend Shaun just moved over from Australia and is living in Manchester so I’m keen to try and link up there and get a filming mission on the go. I’d love to go to Plymouth too.

Do either of you have any fond memories of your travels whilst going on missions? One of my favourites is when Greg wore full camo to the airport and got questioned in Marseille.

GT –  Ah man there’s too many. Every trip we’ve done has worked out so well. Marseille might well have been the best one yeah. We had such a big crew, with people coming and going over the 10 or so days, met some amazing people and filmed a load of stuff for the ‘Teddie’ video. That BBQ at Yulka’s on the last day was the perfect way to end the trip. Zaragoza was great too, bar Darwin’s horrible slam. Both Vladimir Film Festivals I’ve been to; 2017 and 18, were amazing. The first year was with a small squad, just Shakes, Dylan, Greg and I, but it was magical seeing that fortress spot for the first time and bombing round Pula. 2018 was really special in that we got the honor of premiering ‘Teddie’, in a beautiful little square in Fazana, with pretty much the whole gang present amongst all the different crews at the festival. Fazana was also where Greg infamously dashed an egg on some pasta, seemingly without much prior thought. His culinary expertise is a regular topic of discussion at home and abroad.

GC – Yeah they deffo thought I was up to no good. That trip was great, we were in Marseille and it might have been the best trip we’ve all been on together maybe. Croatia the year we premiered ‘Teddie’ at the Vladimir Film Festival was a highlight for sure. It’s just beautiful there, our girlfriends came and a few of the Manchester lads were there with their partners too and it’s just a real nice pace. Everything is laid back, everyone’s mixing social circles and having a good time. Nikola, Marina and everyone involved are so great too. The festival is the perfect example of DIY skateboard culture.

For a specific story though, Our friend Remi Luciani took us to a spot in Marseille. you have to walk up the steepest hill. It took us about an hour, drinking beers and chatting and enjoying the evening. At the top, you have to walk through a private road and hop a fence and you can climb up onto a little hillside and look down onto the whole of Marseille. It’s beautiful, looking at the lights of the city below and having a drink and a smoke and just chilling out with all your mates. Then, you bomb the hill back to town. Honestly, I had my foot down the whole way, I’m awful at taking hills but we were back at the bottom of the hill in about 4 minutes and it took us so long to walk up it. It was mental. We were gonna call it a night before but everyone was so hyped from the hill bomb we just carried it on. Shakes got a rad wallride clip straight after.

Serious Adult is releasing some lush new merch as of now, how would you describe this beautiful entity to someone who isn’t familiar? 

GC – Serious Adult is a group of friends that spend a lot of time looking at skateboarding and documenting it in various forms. The merch is to help fund the creative projects that drive us. Designing the gear is really really fun and getting into shops has been a real buzz. The purpose of this whole thing isn’t just to try and start a clothing company, it just happens to be that selling clothes merch is generally the best vehicle to fund creative video and print projects in skating. The aim is to split each run into two parts, merch and a creative project… be it a photo book, art zine or video. I love that all my mates have these strong creative drives and we all skate and have fun together so Serious Adult is morphing into something that can try to give this platform and pay to get stuff produced, off the back of the merch in shops.

You’ve started filming a new video and we’re fucking hyped! George what is your camera saying and can you give us a brief history of essentially keeping it on life support? Especially filming so well and so close to some mad situations!

GT – I recently got my VX back from Zach (@vx1000medic) who gave it a good servicing, so I’m hyped to get back out there. Massive shout out to him for helping me out on numerous occasions! I’ve lost count of how many I’ve gone through since 2014, I reckon 6, roughly one a year, but I’m not entirely sure as there’s been some frankensteins created out of some of them. Quentin has kindly sorted it out a couple of times too.

I think something worth mentioning is the persuasive aspect you both have of getting incredible people to film something, it seems your videos go beyond just documenting and are more street skating guidance counsellors.

GT – I just love filming with my friends and am so happy that everyone I grew up skating with are still my best mates. It’s helped me get through this year a lot, going through all the old footage, reliving the best times and kind of realising how many hours we’ve all put into this. Jack for example, it’s made me so happy rewatching all the stuff we’ve filmed together, seeing his progression and the sheer amount of clips he’s got over the years.

GC – We’re really lucky that we don’t have to try and coax anything out anyone, skating wise. We just go out and it’s always fun. Even the shit, wet days are fun when you’re with your mates. I think we’re maybe just lucky to be around and with a camera when our mates are doing stuff.

Greg you’ve recently stopped drinking and somehow look even more beautiful, you’ve also been slaying it on the roller plank! Have you got some bangers planned for the next vid and what made you stop? Aside from the above I bet the benefits are incredible!

GC – Yeah I knocked it on the head about a year after my daughter was born. I’m an alcoholic and it was just too exhausting trying to juggle a stressful job, not sleeping much and trying to be on point at home, all while constantly running on drained batteries from having alcohol in my system all the time.

I have wondered whether I’m a fraud for drawing beer bottles and cans now that I’m off the booze, but I still love it. I can’t help it. Beer and skateboarding belong to each other. I’m just watching from the sidelines now, but in full support.

Yeah, I’m hoping I can get some clips for this video. I’m really planning on being on filming and trip planning duties but I’m hoping I can still sneak some very low impact tekkers in there.

You’ve already started filming for the next vid, are you hyped?

GC – A few days after this interview comes out, hopefully George will be with us, or a trip to stay with us will be on the horizon, dependent on the government guidelines. We’re all hyped to be back together and skating  together… it’s gonna be marvellous. Also hyped on all our mates and the shops that have got behind us, so a big thanks to everyone that supports us, Bryce at Parlour and Daphne and Val at Baddest for hosting our video premieres in the shops. Thanks to the crews in France, Bristol, Sheffield, Zaragoza, Holland, Peterborough, Mexico and Costa Rica. Quentin Guthrie and Zach/Panasonic Youth and everyone else that’s helped fix a camera or discussed camera tekkers with us. Yourselves at Vague for always backing us and all the friends we’ve made over the past 5 odd years

‘Biscuits’ – Serious Adult

Greg Conroy: ‘Biscuits’ features the highlights of the first 6 years of Serious Adult, comprising of footage from our 14 video projects. Filmed on location in London, Bristol, Peterborough, Rotherham, Barnsley, Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Pula, Fazana, Osaka, Tokyo, Mexico City, Heredia, Jersey and Porto. Starring Tom Delion, Sam Earl, Jasper Woolf, George Booth Cole, Greg Conroy, Luka Pinto, Jack Soden, Jeremy Jones, Lukas Kacevicius and Sebastian Lemus, with appearances from Dan Tomlinson, Conor Charleson, Angel Esquivel, Glen Fox, Cam Barr, Chris Garcia, Joe Coward, Louis Woodhead, Max Critchlow, Leo Briggs, Marco Cordero, Dillon Catney, Valentine Katz, Daisuke Kagoshima, Cam Allen Snow, Darwin, Miguel Castro, Rich De Courcy, Lewis Bell, Harry Turner and Elliot Wright.