Late Nite Stars — An Interview With Alan Bell

🔑 Intro + Interview by Adam Abada
📷 Photos by Alex Uncapher & Zak Anders

We have said it before, but Alan Bell seems to keep a steady pace of finding new ways to skate many of New York’s proving-ground spots, so just under a year after Late Nite Stars’ ◯ video, we figured it’d be good to get him on the line.

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Good to catch you Alan, how you doing?

I’m chilling bro, just got off an ASICS trip to Minneapolis. Everyone on that trip did really good. Pat G. was there – the GOAT. Skating with Pat G. was epic.

If you’re in the Twin Cities, you gotta…

Yeah man. The locals held it down: Rob Sissi, Ty, Jasper, Conor and everybody. I went there before with Late Nite Stars and stayed more downtown, but we got to go to St. Paul this time and hit up a bunch of other spots. Davis [Torgeson] invited me on this trip, and I was so excited to pull up.

That L.A. video was gnarly, too. I can’t believe you kickflipped into that bank in Beverly Hills. What was that like?

The idea of an ollie in the middle of a bank is sick to me. When I was living in Austin, I had a little phase of landing in the bank and doing a trick [mid-bank]. That was always fun, but when the spot sets that up for you, and you have to do it, it’s so sick. So I ollied into it, and I thought if you could ollie into it, I could kickflip into it. We hit the kickflip. I was hyped on how it came out. But on the first one, I feel like one of my wheels was lipped over. I wasn’t gonna redo it, but someone was like “Yo let’s get Burnout [Michael Burnett] out here to get a photo.” I had known Burnout cause he’s Texas and we’ve interacted on that. He was down to pull up, we shot the photo and I did it a second time. I was hyped on it more.

Speaking of Texas, I know you’re from Midland, Texas. How’d you start skating and what was it like growing up there?

That classic shit that happens to everybody: my older brothers. Both of them skated at a certain point. There was nothing to do where I grew up besides skating. I eventually went off to school in Arlington. I was in the West Texas bubble, so I was avoiding Austin and thought it was funny to not go there. I went to school in Arlington and was skating mostly transition. In 2019, I moved to Austin because I had a girlfriend transferring to UT, and that’s when I met Nico [Marti], and most of the Austin community. That’s when I started getting clips for the first time that were really considered clips.

“If you’ve been skating and you’re in a Dallas, Houston or Austin – the scenes there are so connected. Everybody knows everybody to a degree.”

As a Texan, who are your top three favorite Texans? They don’t need to be skaters.

Damn! That’s a strong one.

Sorry, I should have given you that in advance.

Ok, first one – Jeff Phillips. He’s a skater, but come on.

This is hard, but DJ Screw would probably be number one. Screw is one, Jeff Phillips is number two. My mom’s not from Texas, so I can’t cop out.

You know what? For the third: Turtle Tom. People might not know him or know that he’s Texas. That’s a skater right there too, but if you meet him — man, he is the best dude. He is such a joy. There are few people in my life that I get together with, and almost like this persona comes about you. It’s not that you’re faking it, but you don’t really tap into it unless you’re around that person. It’s mad enjoyment, bro. He’s a sweetheart.

Photo by Zak Anders

How’d you end up in New York? There seems to be a lot of younger Texas skaters in the city now.

That’s definitely true. That wave is occurring.

During the pandemic, I went back to Midland and didn’t want to go back to Austin. Then, at Nico’s suggestion, we took a trip to New York and it was so sick. Nico was born in New York and his dad has always lived here, so he always had a plan to get back here and I just came along with him.

He came out beforehand, got the crib right and handled business, so I could have a hella soft landing. I picked up some of his shit from Dallas, so I helped out too. Then I met other Texans here because we’re so connected. Jordan McCullough got me work and I met everybody from the Houston crew: Chase [Walker], Trung [Nguyen], Zak [Anders]. I knew all of them before, but not really. If you’ve been skating and you’re in a Dallas, Houston or Austin – the scenes there are so connected. Everybody knows everybody to a degree. Even the Dallas scene is aware of what’s going on in Houston.

Why didn’t you stick around in Austin?

It was my first real taste of a city. Where I grew up was considered rural, flat and desert-y. I was hyped on Austin and my time there, but something during the pandemic switched when I went back to Midland. It felt like going back to Austin was a regression rather than a step forward. I don’t think that was about Austin itself; I just felt like I had my time there.

When I moved to New York, I knew I wanted to be there. That was in January of 2021. It’s dream shit, you know? I’m from West Texas. People in West Texas live in West Texas and have families. To be able to live here [New York] feels like such a blessing. I never felt like it was possible.

Photo by Alex Uncapher

So you save up a bit and move to New York – not the cheapest place, especially compared to Texas, I’d imagine. As a skater, what do you do for money up here?

The classic New York skate hustle – doing fashion P.A. [production assistant] shit. I just freelance rock that, shout out Jordan McCullough – Texas legend. Shit, he should have been on the list! Make my list four. Any Texas homie you meet out here has met him and they’ve helped them out. PAing is my shit – I’m a sweetheart on set, I drive the truck. Driving the truck here is beast. It’s a blessing to be crossing these bridges. I don’t know how long it takes to get over seeing this shit – I’ve only been here for three years – but I always get hyped when I see those bridges parallel and shit. It’s amazing.

“Everyone is always like “L.A. is burnt, New York is burnt, Paris is burnt.” Bro, these places are ginormous. You can always find something to skate; they’re growing and changing.”

It seems like you and your crew are skating a lot of variety in the city. It’s not just trendy new things, not just the classic downtown spots, not just borough nugs, but a good blend of all the terrain the city has to offer. What’s your process for going out and skating in a city that’s been skated for so long?

I feel like I still have trouble seeing spots in the street and recognizing them. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t grow up with that eye from skating transition for so long. Having the Stars family, I trust what they want to skate, and I’ll find what I can do. Lately, it’s got to speak to me immediately for me to try something or it’s not worth it. Sometimes there’s tricks I have in mind or spots I like going to like Con-Ed or the Columbus Park set.

I’ve been a lot more specific lately. For this new video with Nico, I’ve got a list and I’m trying to check shit off, add to it and be more thoughtful about it. But at the same time, we’ll just go out – you don’t get clips if you’re not going out and skating.

It is super sick to get something on a spot a lot of people have seen and skated, especially if it hasn’t been done. Especially in a place like New York – this place has been skated for so long. Everyone is always like “L.A. is burnt, New York is burnt, Paris is burnt.” Bro, these places are ginormous. You can always find something to skate; they’re growing and changing. It’s impossible for everything to be skated.

Can you go through your thoughts behind the tricks at Con-Ed? That’s a notoriously difficult-to-skate spot.

The first time we skated that, I was really into back tails. It might just be my transition background, but I love a bank-to-bank: being on non-horizontal ground, doing a trick, and landing on non-horizontal ground. That spot was always super sick to me, and I was always surprised more people haven’t done back tail stuff. The first time, I did that back tail front shuv. I don’t really know why – I don’t really do that trick much, but something about doing the shuv sent it up the bank and it was fun to do.

I figured out I wanted to do more; I want to get three clips on it. During the filming of ◯, there were so many Con-Ed tricks and it was getting frustrating, but I really wanted to get another trick on there. Anything you can get on there, even if you can just 5050 across it — it feels so cool. I got a third trick on it and I’m so hyped. I’m already thinking about a fourth. And now I’m like “Yo, if I could get six tricks on this thing?” Aight – no bunt, no bunt. But it’s fun to double-down on things or one-up yourself.

You mentioned in a Skate Jawn interview about a year ago that you wanted to be a bit more thoughtful about how you’re being perceived in skating. Is that something you’re still going for?

Being conscious of “that’s me” is pretty trippy. I try not to make that important, but I know it’s something that my brain is going to think about. At the end of the day, you can’t change anyone else’s perceptions. After ◯ and whatever else, there’s more eyes on your skating. I trust that as long as I’m really trying as hard as I can before I get to a point where it’s too much on my body or mind — if I do that, it doesn’t matter however people perceive me.

Photo by Alex Uncapher

What are your goals with skating as you gain more opportunities?

I’ve been given so many more opportunities than I ever expected from skating and I feel blessed. I’d love for some kind of monetary angle to become a part of it. This shit’s hard. Working, paying rent, and trying to get clips is hard, so any little bit of help would be dope. I want to be able to have this time in my life to be able to skate and do it as much as I can. When that’s done, I’m not going to be asking for a check or anything.

You’ve mentioned your past with transition skating. You can skate vert! Talk to me a bit about that.

It’s so fucking fun to fly! Everyone did fly-outs growing up. In Midland, there was just a skatepark and it was mostly transition. When I was 13 and 14, I remember getting super into Raney [Beres] and 1-8 shit.

I loved the niche-ness of certain brands like Scram based on 80s vert skating, lip skating and all that sick stuff. That was all, I feel, because at the park, we had a nice eight-foot ramp with a little bit of vert, good hips and shit, and I was able to learn airs.

“Skate what you were blessed with, you don’t need more.”

Usually that day-glo 80s vibe isn’t exactly what people of your generation are attracted to.

I know! I was really hyped on it. One of the first photos I ever took with a real photographer was this ho-ho that Burnout took. I was skating a Jesse Rodriguez board and some Airwalks. I don’t think he was throwing shade, but I was 18, and the article [the photo was in] was called “The Winkowski Effect.” And there was definitely an effect going on; a lot of people were handling some Winkowski business, myself included. I was on the huge boards, then at a certain point, I switched back to popsicles when I saw Turtle Tom riding them. I was skating like 10-inch, fat ass Scram boards for at least two years. Then, I moved to Austin and that got me into street. The summer before that, I had some street twinges, but then I met Nico. God’s plan.

The dopest shit that I got to experience from being a fan of all that shit was Four Down skatepark had the Clown Ramp for a time that Jeff Phillips, John Tex, Craig Johnson and all these fools skated. That shit was up and I skated it with Texas legends. Auby [Taylor] was skating it. Those were some beautiful-ass moments.

Photo by Alex Uncapher

Sounds like you’re a bit of a student of skate history and culture.

To a degree, yeah. Transition and vert skating has a ton of tricks in common with street skating, but there are certain other rules that I thought were cool. I liked how shit had to be proper – how you had to tuck your knee. I wouldn’t say that I’m as historical with skating these days as I used to be. I skate how I skate, but my brain is trying to progress into a more current era. At the same time, I’ll be pulling from different shit. When the Love Letters were coming out, that was the type of skating I was into. R.I.P. Grosso. He taught me everything I knew about that era of skating. Not even just the rules, but the nuances of everything and then you can decide what to do. Like, “Neil Blender would never do that!”

In your “AB” part, you slam so hard as your ender. How do you even get up from that and make it?

Bro, that slam fucking sucked. That slam happened after I landed it. It was me getting greedy – I was nervous at the beginning and should have just taken what I got. I did it and you see in the clip how I kind of grind and get out. The goal was to go all the way off the end.

I tried a few more and then I fully was gonna commit to riding down the bank that try and the wheels got caught. Just took that one straight down. My hand folded under my chest. Didn’t get an x-ray, but didn’t break nothing, thank God. I had the classic “uh-uh-uh-uh-uh” breath fully taken from you. Poor Nico was so worried because it was just me and him that day. At the end of it, nothing was too bad. It hurt to breathe for like a week. I don’t think I broke a rib, but I probably bruised something in there.

The clip – knock on wood – I kinda love it. I love the slam, shit wakes you up, but that shit doesn’t happen every day, so it was cool to capture it. It shows the tale, man: you got fucking greedy. Skate what you were blessed with, you don’t need more.

I feel like people are always wanting to know this, and I’ve seen you’ve been asked before, but pushing about a year from ◯, has there been more pressure to sort of “define” what Late Nite Stars is?

I feel like we’re still able to keep it what we want. “Brand,” “collective,” whatever. What it isn’t is a skateboarding company. I’m like nah bro – it’s just Late Nite Stars. It’s family. We make shit sometimes. I think we’re gonna make boards, I’m pretty sure. That’s gonna be sick. It’s becoming whatever it becomes and that feels beautiful. People want to buy shit, and that goes towards us going on trips and getting flights for people who can’t get them picked up by a sponsor. Chase makes a lot, if not most, of the shirts. Zak’s on the graphics. It’s a blessing.

I had a skate crew growing up, and I feel like at a certain point, people get older and stop skating as much and you lose that. I didn’t know if I’d ever have a crew like that again, and getting to meet Nico, it just felt so organic and such a testament to Jah or whoever that some good shit’s happening in the world.

“Music has always been such a good way to supplement skating. I’m trying to get on my Ray Barbee shit.”

You also talked about making music in that interview. You’re still making music, it seems, yeah?

The music has been so blossoming in the last year. I got a new drum kit that my dad got for me on some grown man, “Yo what do you want for Christmas?” vibes. I showed him this drum machine and he was like, “Yo, I got you.” I’ve been on a tear learning that and making these beat tapes. I’m trying to make 20.

I’ve gotten to use some music for skating, too, and that was out of the blue. We were having trouble finding certain tracks cleared for that ASICS Paris trip. I didn’t know there would be any money in it, but I guess there’s a music budget for certain corporate things, so that was so cool. Chase and I were just in my room cooking up, he had his laptop with the timeline and he was moving it around giving me points in time where to have certain parts of the track, like certain guitar hits.

Photo by Zak Anders

Do you want to pursue music more?

I’d love to do more in terms of making music for videos. I know it’s been done before, but it sounds like such a sick challenge of having a video edited, and after the fact, making the music to make it cohesive. Music has always been such a good way to supplement skating. I’m trying to get on my Ray Barbee shit.

What’s next for you? I heard you were getting some WKND boards.

Yeah! I got them right before the Minnesota trip, thank God. I did some research – I watched all the WKND videos. I was just trying to see what was going on. But Grant [Yansura] is real. They’re fucking with Jacob, who filmed on the trip, and other people I’ve gotten to meet that they’re in contact with and hooking up. It’s super early; I want to meet Grant and feel everyone’s vibes. It’s cool getting an opportunity.

In terms of goals, I’m trying to work, pay the bills, eat. Eat in the street – stack clips. Read more. Keep myself on this path and I’ve been good on these last few trips. My brain’s getting settled in it. I want to handle business.

Listen to Alan’s latest beat tape that he made with the drum machine he got for Christmas here.