Welcome James Fleay AKA RichGang Gucci to the Blak team, we could not be happier to support such a huge frother. Living in Western Australia he travels further than anyone one else we know on the hunt for that perfect shred session.
We sat down with James upon getting him on board to ask him a few questions.
First of all, Hello and welcome aboard!
We will start with a nice easy one,
When did you first start snowboarding and how did you get into it? Especially seeing tho you live about as far away from any snowfield as you can anywhere in the world?
Well, i grew up and still continue to live in a little country/coastal town called Bunbury. It is located at the lower tip of Western Australia and is very very isolated especially when trying to go snowboarding, around 3712km to the closest snow resort to be precise but hey, we seem to make it work!
I started snowboarding 4 years ago after my mum bought me a Contiki tour to New Zealand for my 21st birthday. We got to snowboard for 6 days as part of the tour.
This is where it all began and by god has the last 4 years been a truly amazing experience!
You have clearly fallen in love with the sport, why do you think that is?
I think the passion for this sport stems back to me spending a big chunk of my life on a board, whether it was skateboarding or surfing I have been riding boards close to 20 years now….. wow! that seems crazy to think.
What snowboarding has given me in return blows my mind, Its not just the actual snowboarding that draws you in, it is all the little perks that come with this great sport. I have homies all over the world now, learned and embraced different cultures & become very independent. This sport has taken me to locations that the mind can not even comprehend….. Hollywood movie type shit!
Tell us about your ride? brand? size? bindings? and why?
Board: 152 Arbor draft
Bindings: Solomon District
Boots: Adidas Samba boots to give me that skate feel.
Stance: Regular, 20.85 inches wide, front 12°, back -12°
This is a very playful setup, very impressed with how well the Arbor has held up and can not fault the thing #Onehunnie
Whats your most memorable experience snowboarding?
It was the 2014/2015 winter season, I was living up at Big White Ski Resort located in British Columbia for the 2nd season in a row. With record low snowfall the mountain was very bare, I found myself wondering off a lot with nothing more than a shovel in one hand and a snowboard in the other. I did this one street build which stood out from the rest of my builds, it was a re-direct into the side of the construction site wall. With security lurking during the day, we could only shoot at night. I called on a few friends that hooked me up with a generator and a heap off lights so we could shoot it at night. My buddy Will Linstead was the man behind the lens and once we got the shot he immediately sent it into Transworld Snowboarding.
At the time Transworld held this competition called YTPC 2015 (Your Turn Photo Contest)
and it just so happened to be a “night time” Theme. Entries were submitted from all across the globe and we successfully made it into the Top 10 with our Redirect shot!
Just 2 years into snowboarding and being featured on Transworld still to this day feels surreal!
Also being hooked up by Blak was a pretty special day also - I got a phone call from Andy saying that they would want me on the team and it just did not seem real. At the time I was at work driving road trains and I clearly remember screaming and laughing for a good hour, passing motorists would have thought I was crazy, so thank you boys.
What are your plans in the coming months?
Me and my boy “E” head back to the south island of japan in a few weeks where we will be concentrating on getting our “Colab Factory” Edits back up and running, catching up with the Homies, eating a heap of dumplings, drinking far to much sake and enjoying the fruits of Japan. We also have a heap of street spots we want to go back and hit this time around which we are looking forward to! mainly we will be filming as much as we can to keep releasing enjoyable content.
OK speed round, we are going to ask you a bunch of random questions to help the team get to know you a little better. We want to know all your favourites.
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Favorite grab?
Backside nose bone or back crail -
Food?
Home cooked -
Music?
The Mob - ASAP -
Colour?
Black -
Movie?
Friday, Pulp Fiction -
Snowboarder?
Ludwig Lejkner, Lucas Magoon & Tommy Gesme -
Resort?
Whistler Blackcomb still holding it down. -
Brand?
Errytang Gucci. -
Beverage?
Chardonnay…. We get white girl out here. -
Car?
Right now it's that 08 Phantom.
Again welcome to the team and we look forward to watching your shredding and sharing in the passion of snowboarding!