Alice has made the crusty spots and DIYs of England famous with her creative tricks that she makes look easy, though they’re not, and her unique style, that's graceful and gnarly at the same time. She clearly refuses to fit in and no one could imitate her if they tried. 

She’s been riding for Lovenskate for some years now, a skater-owned brand which encapsulates everything skateboarding should be about. Made of Iron, the latest Lovenskate full-length, is now out, featuring Alice, Lucy Adams, Jordan Thackeray, Alex Hallford, Schianta Lepori and many more… So go on and read this interview with the iron maiden herself, then press play and get stoked to go out into those streets!

Words by Letícia Nogueira

Photos by Reece Leung and Stu Smith

Hi Alice! What’s good? How’s life?

I’m good, went for a little skate this morning. Over the summer, I was working part-time so I could travel and do skate trips. I went to Prague, Vienna, Berlin, and Croatia for the Vladimir Film Festival… So I got to do loads this summer, which was really nice.

How was the Vladimir Film Festival?

It was fucking insane! I had wanted to go ever since I heard about it a few years ago, so, when Stu mentioned doing the video there, I knew I had to go this year. It was so good, so many amazing people, so good to see skateboarding take a more progressive and radical space, with films being shown from all corners of the Earth. We went to a punk gig in a squat, got to go on a safari and meet a fucking elephant! I had the best time ever. 

Yes! The new Lovenskate film Made of Iron is out now, congrats on your part. How was the process of filming?

We were filming for like a year and a half, the deadline kept being pushed and pushed, and then we were like: okay, we need to have it done for Vladimir. Me, Chris and Jordan were literally filming up to the day before my flight, in a soggy car park during torrential rain. It was an interesting process; there were lots of ups and downs. Landing tricks was really nice and fulfilling, but I definitely struggled more often than not. Most of the clips were filmed in Manchester, there’s a few in Berlin. I’ve got a friend in Manchester who’s got the biggest spot bank that you’ve ever seen in your life, so a lot of spots were taken from there. 

How did you manage with your move to Manchester whilst filming the video?

A few months before we started filming, I went through quite a hard time in Birmingham, which resulted in me moving cities a few months into filming. Leaving on such bad circumstances meant that my time here has just been like a lot of breathing room, trying to work out how to be okay and all this kind of stuff. It’s been quite a tricky process, but also an important one. Also, I had quite a solid crew of people in Birmingham, we’d be going out on street missions quite often, whereas in Manchester, I’ve found it a bit more difficult to place myself into the scene. Not at all a reflection of the people here, everyone I’ve met has been amazing. I think it’s more just like me not knowing where to place myself and just hit people up. So I skate by myself or in smaller groups quite often, but that’s okay, it means that I’m more keen to travel. All in all, it’s been a good experience. Manchester is a great city with some sick people, history and spots.

How did you get into making music?

I started learning to produce before I left Birmingham. My friend taught me a little bit about DJing in COVID, and I really enjoyed doing it, at house parties and stuff. I always wanted to get more into the specifics of sound design, but it felt like such an overwhelming world. I didn’t know where to start, but I found out about this synthesiser called the Korg Electribe 2. It’s basically a groove box and its purpose is to do live production, so it has everything you need to make a song, pretty much. It made producing really accessible, it’s tiny and battery-powered, so you can go to the park and just sit with your headphones on and do it.

So it’s the one you’re playing in the video?

Exactly, the little blue thing. It’s a sick piece of software, it’s what got me learning about sound production, sound design and how to structure a song. Then my friend got me Ableton, and that’s when I started getting more into specifics. 

"It usually takes me weeks to finish a song, but I just sat there for five hours and did it in one sitting. I wanted it to sound quite watery and flowy, but also deep and dark at the same time." 

How was the process of doing the track for your part? 

When Stu mentioned he was making the songs for the edit, I was like: oh my God, please, can I make my song? He kind of insinuated that the other stuff that I make wouldn’t be suitable, which is fine… I was very happy to change the style a little bit, to something that was compatible with the rest of the edit, and it was really interesting to make something that I wouldn’t usually make, but still try to make it sound like something that I would make. Stu basically came to Manchester for the day to film a bunch of b-roll. We went to this place called Denton, in the East of Manchester, and he got all this footage of me, through the fountains, with the Electribe, and we went back to mine afterwards and were like: okay, let’s make this fucking song. It usually takes me weeks to finish a song, but I just sat there for five hours and did it in one sitting. I thought about adding more afterwards, but I kind of liked that it was made in one sitting and just decided to keep it as it was. Because we were filming at the fountain, I wanted it to sound quite watery and flowy, and for it to fit in with the b-roll that we had, but also quite heavy, deep and dark at the same time. I called it Made of Water, obviously because the film is Made of Iron. Also, shameless plug, if anyone wants any royalty-free music for skate videos, do hit me up!

"The thought, time and detail that go into every Lovenskate screen print just blows my mind. It’s so sick to be a part of a brand with so much history."

Backside flip that got Alice a disciplinary meeting at work after the photo was taken. You shouldn't be skating, miss!

Lovenskate isn’t a brand like any other. Can you tell the world a little bit about what makes Lovenskate so special?

One of my favourite things about Lovenskate is that it feels like a really bottom-up brand rather than a top-down brand. It feels very grassroots, what makes it whole is all the parts that contribute to it. The work that Stu puts in is fucking phenomenal. The thought, the time, the detail that goes into every screenprint, on every t-shirt and every board, just blows my mind. It’s so sick to be a part of a brand with so much history, and so much consideration and love that’s put in. Not just by Stu, but all the artists, all the team. Everyone contributes so much to it. I think it’s really visible in the edits, the graphics, the screenprinting and the people on the team. I know everyone says that it feels like a family, but Lovenskate does feel like a family. It’s a sick fucking brand.

What attracted you to skateboarding in the first place, and what’s its underlying philosophy for you?

One of the first skate videos that I saw was Quaked, this skate video that’s filmed in Christchurch, New Zealand, just after an earthquake. It was the coolest thing ever to me, that people were able to utilise something as bad as a natural disaster to make something so cool and sick. The town I grew up in, just outside of the Black Country in the West Midlands of the UK, is a really small working class town, not that much going on, but I remember seeing groups of skaters, growing up… there was something about the hanging around and having fun that felt really attractive to me, it felt like something I wanted to be a part of. So I got a shitty board and started going to the skate park. I think it was how I went against the expectations of society, what society expected of me as a girl. Skateboarding felt like counter culture… It felt good, accessible and freeing, a good way to push back against any binaries that were placed on me. 

"Skateboarding was how I went against the expectations of society, what society expected of me as a girl. It felt good, accessible and freeing, a good way to push back against any binaries that were placed on me." 

You’re 25 now. Has your view on skateboarding changed as you’ve gotten older?

I started skating quite young, I was 13 or 14. Home was tough when I was younger, so skating was an excuse to get out. I could just go to a car park and not spend any money, get to meet new people and just be out of the house for hours. At that age, I didn't have the space to process a lot of things going on around me, so skating was definitely a form of escapism back then. As I got older, I processed a lot and that really changed the way that I utilise skating. Over the course of filming this part, I think I’ve realised more and more about that change. I wanted to pull a quote that I wrote down when I was waiting for my flight back from Vladimir: "I want to fix my relationship with skating. When I was younger, skating was therapy and escape, but I don’t think I need to escape anymore. Skating takes up a different space in my life now, and it’s been weird realising this." Maybe I need to sort my head out and then skating will feel more fun, rather than using skating to make [me feel better].

"When I was younger, skating was therapy and escape, but I don’t think I need to escape anymore."

Front pivot in Leeds

I get it. It’s often said that skating is like therapy, but, I mean, it is not. It’s escapism, like you said, it’s running away rather than facing your problems.

It’s one hard truth that I had to realise. I still believe that skating is so meditative, it forces you to present and in the moment, having to breathe and focus on each millisecond to land the trick. That is such a meditative process that not many things force us to do. But then, like you said, escaping isn’t processing. I think I need more than skateboarding to get better. Which is okay, it’s just weird how it takes up a different space in my life and it’s been a hard thing to adjust to. I feel like I’m mourning the version of me that used to use skateboarding for a different purpose.

How would you like to wrap up this interview?

I wanna say thanks to all my friends in Manchester and Birmingham and elsewhere. I owe you all so much for your kindness and compassion, and being there for me. Obviously want to say the biggest thank you ever to Stu, for being the loveliest and sickest person and working so tirelessly to create such a cool brand and edit, I feel very incredibly lucky to have been a part of it. Chris, for your patience in filming, and being a really good friend. And, obviously, the Lovenskate team. And thanks to my flatmates, Freddie and Kyle. Abi, Teni, Iris and so many amazing people. My cat, of course. Sorry if I missed anyone, I love you all.

Watch Alice's part in Made of Iron by Lovenskate now:

You can watch the whole film here.