In December 2016, I showed up to the West LA Courthouse with Daniel Policelli for a session. There were only two other people there that day, one person skating, and one filming. The skater was Tanner, I had recognized him from seeing him around at contests in the past, and come to find out, he recognized me as well. Since it was such a small crew that day, I figured I’d say what’s up. I chatted with Tanner, and the filmer, Bryan Betz, for a few minutes, and went on with my session. A few months later, Tanner posted that he was in San Diego skating, so I hit him up, and ended up showing his crew some spots.

Fast forward four and a half years, and here we are. Tanner and I have traveled together to places like San Francisco and Toronto, we skate as often as possible, and nerd out on just about every skate video that drops. Working on a project with such a close friend makes it even more special. We had a long conversation about why his part is titled “Welp”, how he finds spots on Google Maps, escaping from the cops, his obsession with Takis, and more. Enjoy, oh, and give “Welp” a rewatch while you’re at it.

🌀: How are you feeling now that your part has dropped? I know it’s been a process to film, edit, and get it released, but it’s finally out there!

It feels really good. Originally we were working on a different project, which didn’t end up working out, but obviously we still had the footage and wanted to put out a part. This seemed like the easiest way to put it out, with you. One thing that the footage was going to go towards was a Thunder part, but with Covid that got pushed back a little bit, so we were waiting trying to figure out what to do with the footage, and Nate (Thunder TM) said to just put this part out, then start working on the Thunder part, so we aren’t sitting on this footage for too long.

Continue reading “Behind The Part – Tanner Lawler “Welp””