Tylo, combining heavy skating and a creative approach

The first time I met Tylo was at the B(ee)R Halloween Jam. I was messing around trying some pretty dumb hippie jumps down the six stairs at the Palais de Justice when, all of a sudden, this guy came out of nowhere and threw the biggest bs flip I’d ever seen! He bailed, got back up with a huge smile on his face, then went back further and further until he finally landed it all the way to the bottom of the spot, way beyond the stairs. My first impression of Tylo? I thought he was completely fucking insane! Then, over time, I discovered a great friend, a total sweetheart, with a limitless creative mind. I love bouncing my ideas off him. When I suggested he drop off a tree trunk, he agreed without hesitation. What I love about him is that he just goes for it, while always bringing his own unique touch to my vision. We test, we explore, we experiment.

This interview was conducted in 2023 for our former magazine, Sundai <3.

I didn’t see you at the Bagnols-sur-Cèze Contest this year? That’s where I first discovered you, back in 2023.

That famous gap helped put me on the map a little bit in the South of France. I wasn’t there this year because some friends of mine were organizing an event on the same day. I’d been looking forward to it for a while, so I chose to go to their event instead.

Your skating is very instinctive and creative, but you also do quite a lot of gaps. Where does this duality in your skating come from?

I started skating with the idea of really letting loose and burning off some energy. I needed to blow off some steam, so I’d skate big gaps and throw myself into the air, basically doing whatever came to mind. A lot of stupid fucking jump-outs. Whenever I saw a wall or a roof, I wanted to hit it. That’s pretty much what my first three years of skating were like.

The creative side came with time. When I moved to Montpellier, I met Alexis Greusard and Jérôme Beroizin, a duo who are never short on imagination! They always pushed me to look at things that other people don’t see. I love the idea of really thinking hard about tricks and looking for something original. It’s genuinely fun to rack your brain. During a session, my instinctive side is often fueled by doing stupid shit: I wonder what dumb thing I could try on a spot, thinking, “Someone’s gotta hit this, otherwise no one ever will.”

What goes through your mind when you’re looking at a spot?

That’s where my duality comes into play. Sometimes it’s instinctive and I immediately find the perfect trick. Other times, when I’m facing a spot that’s a little too heavy for me, I’ll spend 30 minutes, sometimes even an hour, trying different tricks until the right one naturally comes to me. Other times, it’s the filmer who comes up with the right idea for the spot.

Do you have a series of tricks you do before committing to a big trick?

When it comes to gaps, I always have a ritual. I start with a early grab. If I don’t land it first try, it means the spot is pretty gnarly. After the grab, I do an ollie, a melon, and then a flip. If I don’t have those four tricks, it’s hard for me to commit to anything bigger.

Then I start throwing tricks. It can be anything—a nollie laser, an inward, a bs flip, whatever—and then I narrow it down from there.

It reminds me of Gabin’s photo, where there’s a sequence of me doing a 360 early grab at first. Before that trick, I wanted to try a bigspin flip followed by a switch drop. I’d been hyped on it for a whole week, but once we got there, things didn’t go as planned. The spot was heavy, but I still went for it. I spent thirty minutes grinding on a bigspin flip without ever being able to land it. I’d land it but end up in the stairs.

After an hour, I told Gabin, “We didn’t spend an hour here for nothing, so we might as well try something.” So I tried a fakie ollie. Fakie stances always make me feel more comfortable because I find them easier to do over gaps. Then I finished with a early grab. I do that trick when the fear starts creeping in—I need to grab my board to reassure myself.

Down South, you’ve become kind of the poster boy for committing. The B(ee)R guys told me that whenever they have to skate gnarly spots, they think of you.

That’s what Loubar told me last time too. He really made me laugh. He said, “Before I skate something big, I think, ‘I need to get on that Tylo mindfuck.’” It probably comes from the Best Tricks contests B(ee)R used to organize in Montpellier. It was often first try, or sometimes completely beyond what I would normally do. That’s probably where my reputation as the impulsive guy who throws himself at stupid shit comes from.

Where does this urge to skate gnarly spots come from?

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved climbing all over the place, jumping around, and doing stupid shit. Despite getting injured plenty of times, I’ve always kept that recklessness that pushes me to keep going. Over time, though, fear slowly starts to creep in, especially after some pretty heavy slams to the head.

I heard you’ve had several concussions.

I’ve had seven, maybe even more, and some of them happened outside of skateboarding.

Outside of skateboarding?

You know, those slightly crazy things you do when you’re young, with a bit of alcohol in your system. I got a few of them rollerblading, because I went through a period when I was doing a lot of it. My dad was a roller hockey goalie and I was on his team. Because I was pretty small, I took quite a few hits, which probably got me used to taking a beating. I also remember one day when I tried a front flip on rollerblades and got knocked out instantly.

And in skateboarding, what was your worst concussion?

Just before FISE, we went to a drop at Antigone in Montpellier. There’s a little wall you can drop off, and it’s made of spaced-out bricks. I set my tail on one of the bricks and, when I dropped, the board got stuck and I went over the front. I was told that I started drooling, shaking all over, with my eyes rolling back. I woke up in the hospital. The next day, even though I was wearing a neck brace, I was back on my board to go watch FISE. I was dying to skate.

Did that make you think twice about skating gnarly spots?

Not really. But five years ago, I jumped from a floor of a building.

Why did you jump from a floor?

I was at a friend’s place. We were partying and, as usual, I was messing around doing a saut de chat—a parkour move where you jump over an obstacle—over the railing of his mezzanine. When I went for it, I leaned a little too far back and slammed my head into the corner of a chimney. Knocked out instantly. I ended up in intensive care.

When I woke up, my mum and my sister were crying in front of me. That’s when I realized that if I was going to take risks, it would only be through skateboarding. And I have no intention of slowing down. Since I was 15, I’ve dreamed of being as committed as Milton Martinez.

What are your biggest influences?

The parts that still inspire me today are Cheese & Crackers with Daewon and Chris Haslam, and Tea & Biscuits with Jordan Thackeray and Alex Hallford. I love Alex. The way he skates is just beautiful. Evan Smith also had a big influence on me for a while, after I discovered him through King of the Road. I watched that series at least three times, and it really shaped the way I see skateboarding. It made me realize that, above all, skateboarding is about a bunch of friends coming together around a shared passion, simply to have fun.

Gabin also told me there’s a kind of “thrash/cute” duality to you. In what ways are you trash or cute—or maybe both?

A lot of my friends tell me the same thing. Personally, it’s hard to have an objective opinion about myself. I might have a pretty direct way of talking, but at the same time, I show a certain sensitivity in the way I interact with people. My mum always taught me to welcome everyone with kindness, no matter who they are. Those two sides are part of my personality, but deep down, I just feel like I’m being myself.

Is it true that you have little phrases you repeat to yourself to get psyched up?

[Laughs] For about a year now, I’ve gotten into the habit of yelling before my tricks, because as I get older, fear is starting to creep in. That ritual helps me loosen up before going for it. There’s one phrase I yell a lot: “No pressure, no depression,” even though it doesn’t really mean much. It comes from a friend called “Sianure,” a real punk who drinks a lot of beer and skates insanely well. Sometimes I also yell, “Don’t touch my fucking world.” Those phrases help me focus and clear my head. My skate friends think it’s funny, but it tends to scare the shit out of passersby.

Do you have any other rituals?

I’m obsessed with nose bumps. That’s why there’s one in the photos. I’m constantly looking for a nose bump to hit, whether it’s at a Best Trick, a contest, or when we’re just going to a street plaza. I’ll find a nose bump to hit. I love the feeling of that trick.

What’s it like skating in the South of France?

The weather in Montpellier is ideal: it only rains about 30 days a year, and the winters are especially nice. Unlike Marseille or other coastal cities, we don’t get that sea wind, which makes skating even more enjoyable.

But skating in Montpellier has its own particularities. There aren’t really any street plazas anymore, and since the end of COVID, spots like Albert or La Grille have seen fewer and fewer people gathering. These days, it’s mainly events that bring skaters together. Outside of that, crews tend to skate on their own, hitting spots that suit them. With my crew, for example, we prefer dirt spots or even just a random piece of parking lot.

Is it harder to get noticed by brands in the South?

Definitely, but it all depends on what you want to achieve with your skating. If you want to put yourself out there, it’s possible, but it also depends on how much you’re willing to push yourself. Obviously, there are cities like Lyon, Bordeaux, or Paris where the skate scene is much bigger, so you’ll meet more people, make more connections, and progress faster.

But if your goal is to build something on your own, you can stay in the South and try to make a name for yourself on your own terms. There are no excuses anymore with social media!

How did you connect with Bisous?

After the Bagnols-sur-Cèze contest in 2023, a friend told Théo, one of the co-founders of Bisous, about me. Not long after that, I got a message from “Med Dogz” inviting me to come by the Bisous shop. Once I got there, Théo asked me to join the team.

It’s cool to help build a brand that comes from Montpellier. I can really feel Théo’s passion for skateboarding.

I heard you’re giving yourself ten years to make it in skateboarding. Otherwise, is it true that you’re considering becoming a Laughter Yoga teacher?

I started skating in Millau when I was 14. The mother of my best friend Mathéo, aka Mathatac—big up to him—is very spiritual and a Laughter Yoga teacher. One day, she suggested that we take the certification.

It’s basically a form of meditation based on laughter. If I gave you a session, I’d start by asking you to fake a laugh, like “ahahah,” and then, normally, it triggers a more natural laugh. It’s an activity that causes a big release of dopamine.

I don’t have my high school diploma, but I do have a Laughter Yoga certificate. [Laughs]

Do you have any projects coming up?

We have a video coming out soon with skaters from Nîmes and Montpellier. There’ll also be a Paris section with Abel and his crew. It’s being filmed by Basile Marion, and above all, it’s a project between friends.

Then I also have a project with Jérôme Beroizin. It’ll mainly be an Alexis Greusard part, but I’ll have a few tricks in there too.

In the meantime, No Fate No Hate and Pavillon 41 are available on YouTube.