How did you get the name Soy?
I’m not really sure how to be honest, I got it from friends when I was really little, like 12 or something, I think it started out just being short for Sourya. My real name was a little hard to pronounce, and I wasn’t too fond of it at the time (when you’re a little kid, the last thing you want to be is different I guess). Then when i became a vegetarian a few years later, it started to make a little more sense.
Do you ride for a team?
I do ride for a couple companies. I skate for Landscape skateboards, a UK based board company for which I have a board out, Elwood clothing and Bud skateshop. And soon, one of my own little projects too.
How did you get into illustration? Did you go to school for it?
No, even though i did want to. I was always drawing when I was younger, I wanted to be a cartoonist. But I was too lazy and spent too much time skating instead of preparing a portfolio to enter art school, and ended up going to college to study Economics. I guess having a degree to work towards helped me stay really motivated skate wise, and that helped me get where I got, but I didn’t draw much during this period.
Then, when I was done with my studies and realized I didn’t want to sit at a desk in a bank, I took skating to my full time occupation, and started drawing a lot again. I’ve always been attracted to arts, I would say this is in a way what pushed me towards skating too. Skating and illustration both relate to what I see as being harmonious.
Have you lived anywhere other than Paris?
I have moved around in France a bit before settling in Paris. I was born in a city an hour south of Paris, lived there for 12 years, then moved to the east of France, quite close to Germany for about 9 years, then went to Grenoble, a city in the French Alps, to pursue my studies. Then I moved to Paris for my Master’s Degree, fell in love with the city, and have stayed there ever since.
Can you tell us about any particularly memorable
experiences in India?
Memorable experience, well, any trip in india is pretty much a memorable experience, but I guess I can think of one in particular. I invited Josh Stewart -a skate videographer- and a couple American skaters – Guru Khalsa and Ed Selego – to go on a skate trip there once.
First of all, we didn’t find much to skate, and Josh got a pretty bad infection from food poisoning, which meant he had to stay at the hotel expelling body fluids from both end for a large part of the trip. Then on our last day in Dehli, while Josh stayed within decent distance from both his bed and the toilet at the hotel, the three of us went downtown for a coffee. When we return to our hotel, the whole street was dark and empty – quite the opposite of what it usually is. We kept walking and as we got closer to the hotel, we saw a massive crowd of people gathering near the entrance. It turned out three terrorist bomb attacks had just taken place in central Delhi, one of which in the market that was right next to our hotel. Josh felt the walls shaking as the bomb exploded, and the situation got crazy. People looking for their relatives in every room, screaming and all.
It’s a market we used to walk through 10 times a day, to eat, buy water or check the internet. It was so crazy at first that it was impossible for us to go inside the hotel and check that Josh was ok. Anyway, we felt really lucky to not have been walking through at that particular moment. Is that memorable enough? Hahaha.
Ha, yes! What’s it like to skate over there?
As soon as you step on your board, there is a gathering of about a hundred lurkers around you in a matter of two minutes. It’s really insane. The year after i went again with a bunch of European skaters, and we found more shit to skate, but really only things that are visually pleasing, that we knew would make a rad photo, more than an actual spot that is good to skate. The ground is shit, it’s super dusty everywhere, and people don’t understand it, so anything you do, you are surrounded by way too many people to feel comfortable skating. And the heat is quite unbearable too.
What’re you listening to these days?
I’ve been listening to Grizzly Bear a lot lately, that Veckatimest album. It’s amazing. I always get really addicted to a band for a while, and listen to only that then change to another. I’ve also listened to Alela Diane, Headless Heroes and Yeasayer quite a bit lately. Otherwise, it’s the usual folk sound of Iron and Wine, or the legendary Wu-Tang. Or the french rap of Booba. Or some other stuff.
Come across any good reads lately?
I’m currently reading No One Belongs Here More Than You, a compilation of short stories by Miranda July, and happen to like it a lot. And if any of you can read french, i’d suggest another compilation of short stories, Le Coeur A Genoux, by my friend Alexandra Geyser. Really well written. Pretty sexy too. I mean, both the writer and her writing.
Last meal on earth?
A vegetable korma with a cheese nan. Or a pizza. Hahaha.
