Sweetheart (Full Length) + James Bush Interview

Get Lesta’s mind blowing full length video ‘Sweetheart’ by Callun Loomes! To accompany James Bush’s incredible part Callun conducted an interview with this productive fella.

Featuring: Lucas Healey, James Gazzard, Dion Lock, Oliver Lawrence, Mark Stern and James Bush with guest appearances by Rianne Evans, Eric Thomas, Charlie Elmer, Kyle Goodwin, Marcus Palmer and Josh Hay.

Absorb the goodness below!

Introduction & Interview by Callun Loomes

Photography by: Jamie Harold

Videography by: Callun Loomes

I’ve genuinely never heard a bad word said about James; maybe he’s annoyed you to scrounge a fag at some point, but that’s about it. I’m sure everyone’s bumped into him at Buszy one time or another and he definitely would have got you in on the session. His skating is non-relatable to most and makes him seem a freak – just call out demands and watch him reel them off grinning. It’s upsetting that he won’t come to the club with me anymore, but he’s got his missus, cats and a vegan ready meal at home so I’ll let him crack on with that. I’m extremely proud of him for this part, and what he’s done off the board the past 3 years. Anyway, I’ve been relatively nice here so I’m going to go give him a rinsing in the WhatsApp group, cheers!

I’d like to pre-empt this interview by saying that your Outlook profile picture is very entertaining Cal.

So James, are you relieved to finally get the video out? Three years is a long time to work on a part in this day and age.

For sure, it’s been a long time coming. To be honest though, I miss the era when 3+ years was the norm! There’s a lot more memories to look back on when you work on something for that long. 

The part is ten minutes long (with the assistance of Mark Stern), so I’ll let you off taking so long.

Haha cheers mate. It doesn’t help that you no longer “work two days and film five”. Big shout out to Mark, I’m honoured to have his footage alongside mine and also stoked that someone could actually bring some style to the part haha.

We’ve been filming for nearly 15 years straight, for a total of five sections. This is the first where you’ve been sober, what difference did that make? Did you find it easier? 

Those are mad stats! It feels like it’s only been a couple of years. It made a massive difference, I felt way sharper both physically and mentally for this one. Stuff still definitely didn’t come easy, but easier for sure.

How long have you been sober for? What was the tipping point to make the decision? 

It’s been not far off 4 years now, which is pretty mad. To be honest I think you probably remember the tipping point a little better than I do haha, but it had definitely become a major problem. Looking back at footage from that time is gnarly, my hair was all falling out and that. Thankfully I have great friends and family who supported me during that change. Massive shout out to everyone who helped me through the early days, I truly appreciate you all. And to everyone who’s battling with that shit; you got this!

How was the premiere in your home turf of Milton Keynes, being able to remember the video the next day for the first time? 

Aye it’s funny, I never used to remember the videos at all and always had to rewatch them the following morning on DVD to remember what went down haha. And I was stoked, it was a great turnout with loads of homies there. It’s always a pleasure to see everyone in the same room you know, and I was stoked Chris and Ellis made it down from Leeds too.

When out skating does it bother you if everyone else is drinking?

Not anymore man, it was tough at the start but I intentionally put myself back in those situations really early on to get used to it and it worked well. I’m definitely not recommending that for everyone though, each person is different and that may not work for others. Having an alcohol free beer every now and then also helps for me, but I’ve heard that some people find it makes it harder so again I can’t recommend it for everyone!

As you are a fully functioning member of society now, who can be on time and answer the phone, you got to come on missions more with the crew. How did you find having a new lineup, so to speak? I can’t imagine you had met Gazzard, Ollie and Dion before filming this? 

You’re not wrong, I genuinely could not answer the phone haha. This was the first time I’d met Gaz, but I’d briefly met Ollie and Dion not long before. It’s always dope skating with those guys. Gaz looked like a footballer from the 80s for a while, which was good. Ollie’s attire will also be permanently entertaining, the Ali G fit was actually next level. Jokes aside, they’re all incredibly talented skateboarders and it’s incredible witnessing them first hand! Gaz’s first part is going to blow people away.

I enjoyed that Gaz was a threat to your ledge dancing, how did you find skating with him? I heard you mention waxing his wheels to slow him down at one point. 

I love skating with him because I always get to see a trick I’d love to be able to do, but can’t. The heelflip crooks in Brum was a fucking joy to watch. What a guy.

Goose and Gaz in a fight, who would your money be on? 

This one’s actually hard, as I doubt either of them would ever punch another human being, but even though Gaz is ripped (see video from prem night), I reckon Goosey would have him – he spends all his time lifting and sawing wood (Goose is a carpenter, and a very good one at that). Plus Geese are well lairy, so I reckon he’s secretly got a bit of that in him. 

During this video you bought a house, right? Whereabouts and how are you finding being a homeowner? 

I did, with my partner. I’m living in Northampton these days, not far from the park which is nice. It’s dope, I’m really enjoying doing the place up with Hannah and it’s looking pretty decent now. It can be tiring and stressful for sure though.

Does this make returning to Milton Keynes and Buszy more exciting now you don’t live there anymore? 

For skating, yeah. There’s also a few new spots about, after a bit of a drought. Old stuff got torn down and there wasn’t anything new getting built for a while, but in the past 5 years loads of spots have popped up and some have a little more character than the classic MK granite. 

What’s with the new obsession with punching your board? 

Haha, brilliant. That day sucked so bad. 

“What even is wind?” – Alex Waynforth

Obviously it’s no secret you love the drop down mannys at Brown Bar; in your last few parts you’ve always squeezed one in, and for this you have 3. Do you just love using it as a manny pad?

Haha no I absolutely fucking hate it. Literally every time is an absolute ordeal. Originally we’d got an idea to try a handful of them as a multi-trick ender sort of deal, because it’s a bit of a running theme getting a manual there now. But we’d also been talking about doing the mirror section thing, and I think I had 3 manuals at that time? Then we decided to sack off the half cab manny (because I did it absolutely honking) and try and get the mirror manual to close that section, which then led onto the final clip.

How did the frontside flip switch manny come about and how many tries did it take? 

If I remember correctly, we were just skating there to film some other bits. I think it was me and Mark skating? I was doing frontside flips and tricks off the curb, but I kept landing with my foot just over the bolts onto the nose and my weight on my left leg. I think I tried to lift one manual and it felt like it could work, so I just started going for it. I don’t know the amount of tries exactly but thankfully it was one of the quicker ones we’ve filmed (hence you were still using the fisheye). They’re normally fucking horrible though. I put my back out a couple times, almost all of them have taken hours. I’ve definitely done permanent damage to my knees and spine.

A few weeks before the premiere we heard the spot was under construction and the bar had been removed.  Are you upset or relieved? 

A little from column a, a little from column b. Nah, I’m truly gutted. I would’ve loved to have seen more stuff go down from other people in the future. It’s always sick to see other people pushing it at spots you’ve grown up skating. Hopefully whatever remains after the building work is done creates new opportunities there.

How did the mirror sequence at the end come about?  

Well I was always into mirror clips, and I think we’d grabbed a few of them relatively early on. You suggested we try for a mirror part and I stupidly agreed to it. Every time I’d save the ‘easier’ option for last, and it would become a soul destroying battle. Travelling the country, particularly to Manchester for the hardflips, the pressure was wild. The switch hardflip was super tough but I didn’t want to have to spend hours in the car going back and forth for it so I had to just take the beating and stick it out. A lot of battles, and a few that I didn’t manage to finish!

I hit Selley up to get some old clips to throw in as nostalgia, how old were you in that first back tail tre flip at Buszy?  

I think I was 17 there, maybe just turned 18. That was the Motive era. Mad shout out to Selley for the good times over the years. He’s a true hero of mine, so I’m honoured that he took me under his wing and guided me through those years! Also shout out to Leo Sharp and everyone involved with DC back then. 

Why is the video called Sweetheart?

Mate I literally have no idea what goes on in your weird little fucking mind, you tell me haha.

What’s your favourite clip in the video?

I can’t give you one. Mark’s ollie up hippy jump in LC, Ollie’s biggie front blunt flip in LC, Dion’s flip gap to front board in Bletchley, Goose’s ollie into that cobbled bank in LC (literally not possible) and Gaz’s noseslide nollie heel in MK (I won’t blow that one out).

Have you been working on anything alongside this? 

The start of this coincided with filming for the second Station video, ‘All Change’, which we released pretty recently. That was a fun project too. Massive thanks to Kiz, Jarvis, Waynforth and everyone who came to film with us. More recently I’ve been trying to film some bits for this next project, but we keep getting rained off. Hopefully we can get some more time in and come out with some more clips.

So here it is! We’re so hyped to be hosting “Sweetheart” by Callun Loomes for Get Lesta. Everyone involved has put the effort in and come out with something they should all be truly proud of.

Featuring Lucas Healey, James Gazzard, Dion Lock, Ollver Lawrence, Mark Stern + James Bush. Guests appearances by Rianne Evans, Eric Thomas, Charlie Elmer, Kyle Goodwin, Marcus Palmer + Josh Hay.

Props all round.

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