As the thoughtful podcast dedicated to “the actions and interests of skateboarders beyond skateboarding” reaches its hundredth instalment last week, Beyond Boards host Quentin Delille shares his high points from the show.
Words by Farran Golding
Portrait by Erik Wannerberg
Graphics by Tiffany Cooper
At 16 years old, professional skateboarder Anthony Van Engelen worked behind the bar of an establishment in St. Petersburg, Russia and served drinks to figures who, although gentlemen in their dress and manners, all but wore a name tag with the word “mobster”.
The clientele were that of Van Engelen’s stepfather who had moved to the country to pursue the hospitality business (restaurants and nightlife being an indulgence viable for the few of well-off means in 1980s Russia, according to Van Engelen). Bordering on teenage delinquency, Van Engelen’s ex-marine stepfather suggested he come work for him in an effort to get his act together. Amongst the notable stories of Van Engelen’s career — his departure from Alien Workshop to launch Fucking Awesome with Jason Dill; a decades-long game of cat and mouse chasing a giant Green Bench around Los Angeles — his teenage stint in Russia is well known. It has been recounted in interviews from Transworld to Juice to Epicly Later’d yet never, however, had someone named, let alone asked, Rudy Mosqueda — Van Engelen’s former stepfather — about his youthful stint slinging cocktails to individuals of wealth and nefarious means.
Such, however, is the level of care and attention to detail that Quentin Delille puts into Beyond Boards, his podcast “dedicated to the actions and interests of skateboarders beyond skateboarding” which hit the 100th episode mark last week with an episode featuring Van Engelen.
“It was actually pretty easy, AVE’s mom just shared his number,” said Delille in response to the enthusiastic praise I sent his way, breaking off from episode mid-listen. As a great fan of Van Engelen, having authored a near-biography of his Mind Field years and interviewed him myself, Delille getting in contact with his stepdad approached Jimmy Breslin and JFK’s gravedigger levels of journalistic inquiry.
“My goal was to get a mix of well-known and lesser-known people from all areas of skateboarding culture that you didn’t see or hear in other skate podcasts”
Beyond Boards began four years ago as an extension of a previous podcast Beyond Bars that was born out of Delille, now 37, becoming sober. Mostly operating outside of (but not exclusively) skateboarding’s pro ranks his conversations span an diverse range of guests including Lucy Raemers (sister of the late Ben Raemers and co-founder of The Ben Raemers Foundation); esteemed photographers Jonathan Mehring and Fred Mortagne; filmmakers Aaron Meza and Greg Hunt, media luminaries including Thrasher’s Michael Burnett and Closer’s Jaime Owens, activists and academics Dani Abulhawa and Indigo Willing; and many more.
“My goal was to get a mix of well-known and lesser-known people from all areas of skateboarding culture that you didn’t see or hear in other skate podcasts,” says Delille of the show’s initial intention. “Of course, the 13 year-old me is stoked to get to talk to Josh Stewart, A.V.E., Scott Johnston, Aaron Meza, and so on. But I’m as excited to talk to people who do interesting things around skateboarding without being ‘famous’ or heavily invested in the industry.”
For the majority of its episodes Beyond Boards features heavily researched and career spanning conversations which are closed out by questions from friends and colleagues of the episode’s guest. Recent episodes have taken the latter element into feature length proportions as Delille’s knowledge of the lives and output of his guests are reflected in his considerate approach to contacting those closest to them, eliciting informal yet intimate anecdotes.
Mark Gonzales shares questions about parenthood for Anthony Van Engelen’s Beyond Boards episode. Tia Romano
“I was most surprised to get a question from Mark Gonzales,” says Delille, regarding the hundredth episode with Van Engelen. “Anna-Katerina, AVE’s wife, told me I should reach out. I was, like, “I’d love to but I have no idea how to reach him,” and she gave me Gonz’s wife’s email address.” A couple of hours later he received a portrait of Gonzales holding a piece of paper. Scrawled on it, in trademark misspelled handwriting, were three questions about skateboarding and fatherhood for Van Engelen.
With no prior connections in skateboarding media the scope of Beyond Boards is heartening, refreshing and encouraging for those interested in their own creative pursuits even if removed from skateboarding as an industry. “Whatever project someone wants to embark on, try to come up with something somewhat different than what already exists. Ask yourself what is this bringing to the table? What are your goals? What is the “why” behind all this? For me it has been the same thing since the very beginning: what I want first and foremost is to have nice, inspiring conversations with people I admire,” says Delille. He adds that Instagram and Linkedin have been the two main tools for reaching out to guests, building a network within skateboarding after four years of the show. “Also, be patient. Don’t rush into anything. I’ve learned over time that being kind and patient in all areas of life opens up so many opportunities.
To celebrate Beyond Boards hitting the hundredth episode mark, Skate Bylines asked Delille to choose ten highlights from the show.
Beyond Boards Episode 22: Yann-Xavier Horowitz (2022)
“I had been a big fan of Yann for a long time and he is one of the rare openly gay pro skaters out there. He’s also an artist exploring fashion, painting, DJing and he was very much like I imagined him during our chat: authentic, unfiltered, humble, fun. I remember feeling very inspired by how free he seems to be. He is going through life on his own terms, with no fear of other people’s judgment.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 42: Eric Swisher (2023)
“To me, Eric’s Chrome Ball interviews are the gold standard of skateboarding interviews. He’s been doing it for over fifteen years and has interviewed the most iconic people in skateboarding. I didn’t know much about him prior to this interview so I was very curious to learn more about him and his process. Our chat felt more like a conversation among peers than a formal interview. He was funny and witty, super humble. He’s since become a mentor to me and has helped me a lot. It’s one of the most meaningful connections I’ve gotten to experience through doing this podcast and I’m very grateful for it.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 99: Sarah Anderson (2025)
“Sarah is the founder of Deckaid, a non profit which raises funds for youth-centered community organisations through skateboarding art exhibitions. She’s married to Tim Anderson who is known for his ‘Bobshirt’ video interviews of pro skaters handing them boards and other cool artefacts from their careers. I knew very little about Sarah prior to this interview but was wonderfully surprised. She’s very enthusiastic, funny, she loves music and works with teenagers teaching English as a new language New York. Her energy and how committed she is to helping others is inspiring.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 77: Patrick Kigongo (2024)
“Patrick is part of the Mostly Skateboarding podcast and also the board president of the Harold Hunter Foundation. I was always impressed by Patrick’s views and opinions on everything skate-related and he’s also a talented musician and music connoisseur. He spent a little bit of time studying in France in his youth and speaks excellent French. Quite frankly, he’s one of the most intelligent guys I’ve ever met.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 89: Dan Magee (2024)
“Dan’s Blueprint videos are cult classics. Everything about them is so dope. I was a little intimidated before and during our chat because he is very sarcastic. I really enjoyed our conversation, although, I must say, I sometimes had a hard time understanding everything he was saying. First because the volume on his mic was very low but also because he speaks so fast and has a very thick British accent. Regardless, it made for a fun episode. He has stories for days and I found his approach of filmmaking, editing, and music selection to be absolutely fascinating.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 35: Aram Sabbah (2022)
“Aram was one of the very first skaters in Palestine in the early 2010’s. He’s the local manager for SkatePal’s operations in Palestine and he recently represented Palestine in the street competition at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. Exist, a documentary about his Olympic journey is coming out soon. The situation in Palestine was already challenging prior to our interview but of course it has escalated to unbelievably horrifying proportions since. It was very inspiring to hear his perspective on skateboarding in his home country, how people perceive it over there, how it broadened his horizons and created opportunities for him.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 92: Norma Ibarra (2024)
“Norma is a talented skate photographer originally from Mexico but has spent most of her adult life in Canada (whenever she isn’t traveling all around the world). She aims to shine some much needed light on the “non-traditional” skateboarding community, basically anyone who isn’t a white straight cis-male. She’s very driven and I admire her greatly.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 96: Bobby Puleo (2025)
“I was honestly a little intimidated to interview Bobby. I felt like I couldn’t do justice to the icon he is. For a long time I didn’t even consider the possibility until we exchanged a couple of DMs regarding another interview I was working on. At one point I just thought “Fuck it, I might as well give it a try.” It took a little bit of time to set it up but I’m stoked on how it turned out. He was very generous with his time and stories. He’s truly a unique character in our little world.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 97: Takahiro Morita (2025)
“Another unique character in skateboarding, I was honoured to talk to Morita. His videos and vision of street skating are fascinating and have influenced skaters all over the world for over two decades. I didn’t consider the idea of an interview with him for a long time but at one point someone told me he can actually speak pretty well. I contacted him and he was down immediately. He made a huge effort to do the whole interview in English and shared some very interesting stories and insights. One thing that stuck with me from the very beginning of our chat is he said something along the lines of “Whatever I do in life, I do my best, I give it everything I have. I always choose the hard way. Even for this interview. I’ll do my best.” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Beyond Boards Episode 34: Raphaël Zarka (2022)
“This interview sticks with me for a few reasons. Raphaël is a great, talented visual artist. I enjoyed reading his books and exploring his work. This is also one of the only interviews I’ve actually recorded on site (instead of over a video call). It was during the summer of 2022 and he invited me to join him at his work studio in the 13th arrondissement in Paris. I got there and I was excited and nervous. He welcomed me, showed me a little bit around the studio, then as I was pulling out all my recording gear I realised that I had forgotten to bring my two wired microphones. Fortunately the recording device had two tiny mics on top of it but they’re not designed to record a conversation between two people. We ended up having a great, interesting conversation, but the audio recording is terrible. Plus we were speaking in English, although we are both French, so that added a bit of awkwardness. I learned a valuable lesson that day: always make sure you have your gear before you head out to do an interview!” — QD • Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Quentin Delille, based in Paris, France, is the host, editor and producer of Beyond Boards. You can keep up with the show on Instagram via @_beyondboards_ and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Farran Golding is the founding editor of Skate Bylines, a senior correspondent for Quartersnacks and the associate editor at Closer Skateboarding. His writing on skateboarding has also been published in GQ and GQ Sports. In 2023, he appeared on Beyond Boards Episode 55 and was humbled and grateful for the experience.
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