Oski Rozenberg | Red Shark
Ph. Dylan Makar
Total Control
Words by Claire Alleaume
It sounds unlikely, but I have fond memories of a cold, dark November night stood in a Pontins in Wales back in 2015. Amongst the musty deflated bouncy castles and family-friendly slot machines flashing aimlessly throughout the off-season holiday park, hundreds of youngish folk had gathered for a music festival. My friend Tamsin, whom I’d met skating La Vague in Paris many years before, was playing drums with the band JC Flowers. After her gig, we huddled to the front of the crowd to watch the headliners, Total Control.
Roll-in, Rio Maior, Portugal. Ph. Pedro Raimundo
Whether Oski is partial to the Australian band’s post-punk tunes remains to be confirmed, but their name is always what first comes to mind when I watch him skating. That is to say, he’s in total control – I’m in a state of slightly anxious ecstasy wondering where the hell his line will take him next and what trick he’s going to pull out of the bag this time. His versatility and speed are such that his skating is forever unpredictable and exciting. Clearly, he’s not scared of a challenge, whether that’s narrowly avoiding meeting his maker acid dropping a giant metal wave, or launching a hardware brand in a saturated post-Covid market (and refreshingly acknowledging mistakes when it didn’t quite work out the first time around). He skates for big corps, welcomed the Swedish PM at his Oski Blast event, and isn’t shy of a contest or two – yet you’d struggle to find a more legit skater who has stayed true to himself, even as he’s become your favourite skater’s favourite skater.
For all I know, he might be an emotional wreck with a chocolate addiction behind closed doors… (Just me?) But he certainly looks to be charging around with total control, having won over a generation of fervent followers. ‘You don’t need a safety net’, sang Dan Stewart on that chilly night in Prestatyn. Just a whole lotta talent, and maybe some shark-adorned high tops to help cushion any falls.
Frontside ollie, Dallas. Ph. Dylan Makar
Ride-on backside tailslide, Dallas. Ph. Dylan Makar
