interview by Jura
photos by Renan Garcia

How is it going brotha. Who are you? Where do you come from?
Doing good! My name is Gabriel Ferrero, I’m 22, and I’m from Madrid, Spain.

I know your mom is American. Were you born and raised there?
Nah, she came to Spain a long time ago. Me and my sister were born and raised here.

Would you live in the US?
Yeah, for some time. I like it out there but I think the lifestyle here is more chill, you can just take the train or the bus, or just bike anywhere instead of having to drive. 

What are you up to these days? Any interesting projects?
Just finished a big project that took the whole year to film, so right now I’m just thinking on my next move. I have a couple of project ideas for this year though.

What do you do if you are not skating? 
Mostly just chill, maybe eat something with my girlfriend or bike around the city looking for new shit to skate. I’m trying to find a new hobby though. Lately I’ve been filming a bit, that shit’s fun.

How is it to have a girlfriend that skates? Do you ever play S.K.A.T.E. with her? She ever won against you?
Yeah, she’s sick. Usually the casual warm up game of S.K.A.T.E. Nah, not yet, she got four letters on me the other day though, I was pretty impressed. 

Seems like the Madrid scene is at a good moment right now. Tell me a bit about it.
Yeah, I think it’s getting bigger. Lots of people are coming to film and others are moving here. It’s pretty cool to see, especially after a couple of years ago when it seemed kinda “dead”. I think Welcome shop and Santino did a great job putting Madrid on the map again.

What’s your favorite place to skate in the world?
That’s a hard one, probably any Japanese street, it just has a different feel to it. 

Are you still into all the Olympics, contests etc?
Nah, not anymore. I go to some contests once in a while to get some extra bread, but I don’t take them seriously.

What made you kinda quit that shit?
Honestly, the people that run that shit are wack. Just old dudes in suits that have nothing to do with skating, looking down on you cause you didn’t do good. I mean, it’s pretty cool to travel for free and get to skate, and I would do it again, but it’s that weird business guy/coach dad aspect that kinda kills the fun.

Let’s test your skate knowledge. Do you know who Sean Sheffey is? And Alan Gelfand? Who’s your favorite skater from the ‘90s?
No and no (laughs) Not really aware of any ‘90s skaters. Maybe Reynolds or something. I don’t even know if he was poppin’ back in the ‘90s. Sorry to all the old heads out there, don’t mean to disrespect.

As a Gen Zer, are you on TikTok?
Yeah, I use it to look for shit when I’m out of town, like a nice view or a good restaurant, not for posting vídeos. You’d be surprised with the cool shit you can find by just searching on there. 

Would you ever become one of those skate YouTubers to make some money if the skate shit doesn’t work out?
Nah, I think that’s kinda corny. I do watch a few dudes that talk shit about skating and post it on YouTube though. I find it hella funny. Maybe that’s the move if this doesn’t work out.

My girlfriend keeps telling me that cyclist is the second skater evolution? What do you think about that take?
Could be! It’s pretty fun to just go somewhere you’ve never been and get kinda lost sometimes to see something different. And it’s easy on the body, or at least more than skateboarding, which is nice once in a while.

You live in Usera which is the historic neighborhood of the Asian community in Madrid. You’ve also traveled to Japan, Thailand, Korea and so on. How is the food in Usera? Can you recommend us some places to go if we visit?
Yeah! It’s all a big coincidence, I don’t have an obsession over Asian culture, I just happened to find cheap rent here. You can find some sick food spots here, like OG Chinese restaurants where the workers can hardly understand you, those are usually the best. 

How did the whole FTP thing happen?
Welcome started getting boards from them to sell, and they asked me to film a quick trick for their IG to let people know they’re selling FTP at the shop. Next thing you know Chris offered me to ride for them. I’m grateful for Chris Drysen and Zac, it’s sick to ride for a brand like FTP.

It’s been raining here for a month, what does Gaby do on rainy days? 
Usually just chill at home. Maybe watch some shit on YouTube or something. I’m trying to get my driver’s license, so I’ve been doing that these past days. 

What’s on your playlist recently?
Been listening to a lot of doom metal and heavy psychedelic guitar lately. Getting into new music or anything similar is pretty cool, it’s like there’s a whole new genre to discover that seems to be endless. You can never get bored listening to new music.

What is you favorite skate part or skate video ever?
Fuck, I’m not too sure if I have a favorite part. Any Bobby Dekeyzer part is insane. One of the first full length videos I’d watch when I started skating was Flip Extremely Sorry. I loved Bob Burnquist’s part, when he jumped off the Grand Canyon and shit. 

Any last words? Shoutouts?
Shout out to Renan and Jura who made this interview possible and everyone that has supported me in these past years, it means a lot.