Satta Skates - From These Hands

Joe of Satta Skates

Meet Joe. Joe makes things with his hands, a talent that is often overlooked until you need something fixed, or feel creative and want to make something, only to learn you have no idea what to do or how to do it. Joe's creations fall under the name Satta Skates. Having recently acquired Satta here at the shop, we felt it proper to tell the whole story, and better understand what Satta is all about.
Satta Skates // Huck Magazine - The Working Artisans' Club from SHADEmedia on Vimeo. Joe: Im Joe, 24 years old, grew up in London, and I guess felt pretty trapped by the city. Through this feeling developed a deep love and respect for the natural world. As soon as I finished school I headed to Peru, staying with an amazing shaman in the Amazon Jungle, forging a deep relationship with the plants which has continued to inform my day to day life to this day. After some more travels through Asia I began working as a landscaper, designing and building gardens in London, this led to my love for working with wood, so I studied furniture making. Satta Skates is an organic merging together of my woodworking skills, and passion for skateboarding, communicated through a stripped back aesthetic, inspired by nature. I guess its a yoga, a union, of what happens to be in my life at the moment.

Where the magic happens

Thalia Surf: How long has Satta Skates been around?
Joe: Its only just sprouted, the seeds were sown a few years back but the shoots sprouted out the soil to the world in November 2012.
TS: Story behind the name?
Joe: So satta in Jamaican patois means to simmer down.. to chill. In Sanskrit it means presence or existence. Both of these meanings go hand in hand to the way I feel when skateboarding.
TS: Why make skate decks by hand? How did you come up with the idea to start the brand, what inspired you, if anything?
Joe: I guess making the boards to me is an extension of skateboarding itself, for me skateboarding is something of creation, not destruction. I made my first solid wood cruiser because I've always had a deep love for the roots of skateboarding, the evolution from surf to skate.

Handmade. Nothing better.

I guess it was a desire to strip everything back to the roots and experience what it felt like to ride a plank of wood on wheels, and it got me so stoked on just rolling again. I got into skateboarding pretty late as it goes, and often felt phased by the technical wizadry going down in the footage I saw. I hope Satta can be embraced by those who just wanna roll for the sake and stoke of rolling.
TS: Favorite skate spots?
Joe: Brixton Beach all day everyday.
TS: Hometown?
Joe: Brixton, London
TS: Where is Satta based?
Joe: In the soil and the stars, the branches, the leaves, the concrete and the seas!

The Workshop.

TS: Whats next for you and Satta Skates?
Joe: Got some exciting collaborations coming up, but who knows, slowly slowly, and as organically as possible.

Each deck is handmade. By Joe himself. Dude's only 24... what are you doing?

TS: What music is getting heavy rotation at the Satta HQ at the moment?
Joe Ani Choying Drolma & Steve Tibbets – Cho Bambu Station – Break the Soil Barrington Levy – Englishman Tinariwen – Aman Iman: Water is Life Tito La Rosa – Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor Count Ossie – Tales of Mozambique

Peace and positive Livity!

We're stoked to support people like Joe, and even more excited that people like Joe want to support a shop like ours. To see his limited Visionary Series Decks, check out the Skateboard Page of our shop, or cruise in and see them in person!