Seems like Element has undergone some changes in the last several months. The official team is tightened up and the am team is charging hard. Nick Garcia, though a relatively new face in skating, is one of the Element am team's veteran riders. Putting in work and paying dues, Garcia earned his spot on the Element and DVS teams the old fashioned way: hard work. Working on a new video and enjoying time skating on the road and at home in Long Beach, we dropped in on Garcia to see what else is new in his world.

How long have you been skating and who was the first person to hook you up?
I've been skating for 10 years and the first person to hook me up was this crazy hippy guy who worked at the swap meet. He made these terrible long boards and normal boards with these corny airbrushed graphics. Ha ha! A bunch of my friends and I rode for it though. I even worked for them at the swap meet on the weekend ... Defiant skateboards, dude.

How did getting on Element come about? I know you had a longer time on the flow team proving yourself than some of your teammates have.
Chad Tim Tim pretty much got my foot in the door, and was always pushing super hard for me ... and then I dunno, I just got to know everybody more and things just kind of fell into place. I guess it did kind of take a while to work my way in there but I totally understand ... I was just some random kid. Ha ha!

Did you play a big roll in getting your cousin Julian Davidson on the team?
I suggested it to them, but other than that he did it all by himself. He smashes it.

With such a tight am squad right now, Element is really redefining itself. Are there plans for a video and, if so, when can we expect to see it and how long have you been working on a part?
Yeah we're working on an am video right now and it should be out by the fall, but you know how premiere dates are. I've pretty much been working on this part since I finished the little DVS welcome video I had.

Your full-on sponsorship with DVS is still fairly new. That squad is a litle different from the Element team. How did you get hooked up with them and how do trips with DVS compare to trips with Element?
Tim Tim actually got me in there, too. He gave this dude Jeff Ringler my tape and he got it to Gabe Clement, the team manager. Then one day Chad's all, "You like DVS?" and I'm all, "Yeah." And he's all, "Cool, they're down to give you shoes." I was on flow for a while there, too and then [DVS President] Tim Gavin hooked it up and I'm super stoked. But yeah, Element trips are pretty different than DVS ones. I think we just party a little more on DVS trips. Skate just as much, but party more for sure.

What do you do to keep busy on tour when you're not skating?
Um, usually we're just sitting in the car doing things you do to pass time in the car. Know what I mean?

Who do you look up to in skateboarding and why?
Too many people. Just all my friends pretty much ... I mean I could name off all my favorite skaters and the reasons I like them but that would take forever.

What do you think it takes to go pro in this era of skateboarding and how much more do you think you have to work to get there?
Damn, I don't know. Just get coverage and skate ... and don't be a Munson. I think that's pretty much what you gotta do. I think I probably have a ways to go, man. I don't even know.

In an era of lots of skateparks and personal training facility parks, how important is true street skating to you?
I don't really know what the difference is between true and untrue street skating but, yeah, I think all the training facilities and stuff are cool but we didn't really grow up with access to places like that. Now that I think about it, I still don't have much access to places like that. Ha! Gotta be in the streets.

What something about yourself that fans of your skating would never know about you?
I don't have a driver's license, neither do many of my close friends.