How It Started
A school friend showed me a VHS tape of Rodney Mullen’s mind-blowing creativity on a skateboard back in 1997. I’ve been obsessed ever since. I really got into it when my dad moved to Barcelona, where I’d skate all day on famous spots like Macba and Barcelonetta, around 2005.
One day after my studies in Rotterdam around 2009, all train traffic back to my hometown in The Hague was cancelled. I could have taken the bus, in hindsight — but instead I decided to skate all the way home, on an old set of wheels barely bigger than my bearings. Once back home I coincidentally ran into Martien, who was (and still is) working at a local skate shop. After hearing my story of this ridiculous trip, he offered to lend me his longboard. That same week I bought that exact setup — a Koastal T-Band with Avilla 3DM wheels — because I immediately fell in love with it.
Through video parts and trick tips from Adam Colton, my progress and interest in this new discipline called longboard dancing skyrocketed. That led me to buy my second longboard, a Loaded Dervish, from another store — where I met my biggest mentor to date and now longtime friend, Arjan Koek, on his first working day. Arjan had decades of experience across every style of skateboarding, and crafting his own boards. His knowledge has shaped my vision and experience forever.
Founding True Supplies
Working at other skate shops and brands, and meeting countless people across the skateboard industry, I quickly realized I had my own vision for how I wanted to see the sport grow — in board shapes, equipment, and in how riders and communities were supported. As a team rider and sales representative for Bastl Boards at the time, I was already connecting with brands and manufacturers around the globe. I quickly became a hub for parts that weren’t available anywhere else in Europe. That’s how True Supplies started.
Bastl Boards: From Rider to CEO
At a downhill/freeride event in Slovenia in 2010, I met Sebastian, the founder of Bastl Boards. He was kind enough to give me one of his first Bolero freestyle longboards, after watching me shred one of his test boards to tears during a break at the top of the hill. I visited Bastl Boards in Leipzig not long after, and the brand resonated with me more than any other. I joined their team in 2013 and was offered an internship at their HQ in Leipzig, where I lived for 1.5 years before moving back to my hometown.
As Sebastian transitioned more into fatherhood and his own skateboard shop, I picked up the executive role for the brand, while he remains its creative director.
Proudest Moments
Meeting riders on the other side of the globe asking if that was me in the video they’d show (it was) and making it to 2nd place at the dancing and freestyle contest SYCLD, in 2014.
Riding Style: Freestyle, Freeride & Park
Those are only my top three, really. I love freeride and downhill, but with a lack of hills around my hometown, I’m mostly drawn to flatground tricks and skating obstacles. Thanks to Arjan’s broad knowledge across every facet of skateboarding, I also got into LDP, surfskate, pump track, and even my very first downhill/freeride sessions — all because of him.
The Setup
My most-used board in recent years is the Discofox, which has just enough room for dancing without being too big to bring to the skatepark. I pair it with AIR Trucks and 60mm Lucky Wheels Moon Cakes. I find it important to spend most of my time on a single setup, to fully ingrain how it behaves and steadily build progress. I’ll switch that same setup for my Bolero from time to time — usually on hot summer days — when I want to focus more on dancing, since it has far more room for steps and a carving feel that’s less aggressive and more flowy.
For freeride — and even delivering packages to the post office — I use my Hustle. It has the most locked-in feeling of all my boards, thanks to the concave and the coarse griptape by Happy Board Co. Paired with Powell Peralta Snakes wheels, I’m not worried about gnarly roads, and I don’t have to swap wheels before a slide session.
Still Learning After 30 Years
The fulfillment and being in the zone on a skateboard never gets old! Sometimes I surprise myself when I get home after a session and realize I’ve learned several new things. There’s always more to learn.
Teaching
I started teaching in schools together with Guleed for Flow Provider — we both knew each other from the SYCLD event in Eindhoven. We’d teach multiple large groups a day. It was a big challenge, but an amazing experience. My core belief for teaching is focusing on a solid foundation, giving the student the tools to start their own riding journey with confidence — whether that’s a kid or an adult, the same principles apply. Teaching others, in any field, strengthens your own awareness and mastery of that knowledge, and can be just as rewarding as learning itself.
Getting through that first barrier of fear or self-doubt on a skateboard is where the fun starts. I guide my students through that breakthrough from the very beginning with a simple but rewarding approach: we focus on balance and good posture, getting comfortable riding, and we even learn our first tricks along the way.
Right now I’m available for classes in small groups or in person — these can be booked via the True Supplies physical store in The Hague.
Outside the Shop
Besides longboarding, I like to travel, make new friends, obsess over music, and play kendama.
Kendama
I got into kendama after seeing a fellow skater, Maarten van Heel, pull off some mind-blowing tricks with one. It made me realize there’s a strong correlation between skating and kendama — both have endless possibilities and a strong sense of community, which naturally caught my interest. The best part about kendama is how easy it is to bring anywhere; you can even play it when it’s raining outside.
Discovering Asia’s Scene
During my internship at Bastl Boards, we noticed rapidly growing interest in our boards across Asia. That made me curious to find out more about our common interests and their culture, so I started researching and saved up to travel to South Korea and Hong Kong. Those trips were some of the most heartwarming and welcoming experiences of my life — I met countless new friends, many of whom I’m still in touch with today. Traveling to Vietnam happened right before I moved to Leipzig. The community there was much smaller at the time, but it was an equally impressive trip.
The European Freeride Circuit
It was my dear friend and mentor Arjan Koek who introduced me to, and joined me at, my first downhill/freeride events. Visiting events like these is an unforgettable experience every time — meeting new people under such extreme circumstances is guaranteed to leave you with new friends who feel like family. I was never especially competitive, and I’ve always valued control over speed, so freeriding appealed to me more than downhill racing. I still love a good freeride slide session, though I haven’t managed to travel to freeride events in recent years, unfortunately.
Home Scene: The Netherlands
The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam all organize weekly meetups to practice longboard dancing and freestyle — each with their own Instagram channel and group chat to connect and meet up. There’s even a group specifically for downhill and freeride enthusiasts in the Netherlands, called the Dutch Downhill Division. All of these communities are inclusive and welcome riders of any skill level. With True Supplies, I’m actively supporting local and international riders, communities, and events, to help grow our sport and keep it in healthy shape.
Advice for Beginners
Don’t be overwhelmed by the skill level of others. Find a buddy to skate with who’s around your level, and progress together. There’s a lot of joy in figuring things out and sharing your victories side by side.
What's Next
I’ll keep moving forward with all of it — making sure my team can reach their full potential, and hopefully getting some of them working at the shop one day, so I can go on a holiday or a skate trip myself sometime. ;)
Stay Connected
Follow my channels, @truesupplies, @bastlboards and @artosk8, on Instagram. You can always DM me there, or reach out through any of the contact options at the bottom of this page.
