Like a lot of snowboarders, Laurent loves skateboarding. And he’s really good at it. His flat-ground skills are on par with a lot of your favorite skateboarders’. But unlike all the dudes who pretend to love skateboarding and be above snowboarding, what’s refreshing about Laurent is that he doesn’t pretend to hate snowboarding. He loves it. This can be attributed to the fact that Laurent is Laurent. Sure he may be a hippie today and metal tomorrow, whatever – Laurent does what feels right and that will always be a good look for him. Lance over at Ashbury got the man himself on the phone recently and got him to discuss his intercontinental adventures, his misadventures, his shower technique and plenty more.

UD: So what do you wanna go by from this day forward: LNP or Laurent? Laurent: I hate LNP. It’s too much like a star’s name. I like going by Laurent or Larry. Larry is solid – its super white trash.

When did people begin calling you LNP? It was about five years ago, when I went down to Massachusetts for a contest. And it was a pretty good contest – it was about eight grand for the winner. So I won and the announcer couldn’t pronounce my full name so he called me LNP. Then I had a Rome ad just after that which read LNP and it stuck.

Okay, Larry, here’s the shot out of the cannon. Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson and Priscilla Levac. You gotta fuck one, marry one, kill one. Go! Fuck Megan Fox. Fuck then kill Scarlett and then Marry Priscilla Levac.

Again. Louie Paradis, Nick Dirks and Jonas Michilot. You gotta fuck one, marry one, kill one. Go! Kill all of them so i would be jibber of the year forever.

Alright: Cheese Dicks or Skeleton Crew? I’ve started my own crew. It’s Dirty Skeleton Dick.

Who’s in it? It’s only me in it. There’s no blog or anything. It’s just like – yeah, pretty sick.

It’s a penguin lifestyle. Yeah, it’s a way of life.

Who do you think crushes more pussy: Skeleton, Cheese Dick or your crew? Probably Skeleton Crew.

On a more serious note, how was filming with Videograss? Amazing. Like, the best thing I’ve done so far in my snowboard career. It was so fun, it was like back in the day when you filmed with friends. There was no pressure, just filming whatever we wanted, you know? From me and Dirks just taking crappy pieces of wood and making stuff that wasn’t the craziest to snowboard to really riding whatever. And to film with my friends like Ben, Louie and Alex – it was pretty sick.

Have you seen the video since the premieres with the credits? Yeah, I didn’t see the credits though. I have a copy with the credits, and there’s some Elf [Canon point and shoot] footy of Yan Starsky beating up all of you guys in the hotel room. The ultimate fight!

Is that what it was? Yeah, we were drunk and you know Yan is a massive dude. So it’s, me and Jonas who are pretty small and Nick who’s pretty much a midget. And we decided that we were gonna fight him, and that was just impossible. He’d grab Nick and like, throw him from one bed to another. I swear Nick was flying through the air.

Yeah, that part’s in there. Yeah. I’m not sure but I think that’s the night Yan got food poisoning from McDonald’s, and while filming the next morning he was gagging and was like, “Dude I’m gonna shit my pants. We have to leave!”

What about shooting with Darth Meyer? Oh. Justin [Meyer]? Justin’s prettyfun to shoot with. He’s a crazy dude. Did he ever hate on anything you guys were doing? He’s kind of weird. He didn’t say anything, and when you land something and were like, “How was that?” he’d say, “You should do it again, dude.” And you’d be like, “Dude, come on!” and he’d go, “I’ve watched movies of you before and I know you can do better,” and I’m like, “Son of a bitch!”

Yeah, Darth Meyer – he’s a gnarly dude. So do you like your part or do you think people are going to hate on it? You know what everybody says: you’re your own worst critic. I was super stressed out. But I like my part because it’s funny, you know? People watch my part and they laugh which is cool. So, yeah, trickwise – I am not sure. But part-wise, on a whole – I’m pretty stoked. Justin did a pretty good job with it.

Now you’re also in a band called Mud Shit these days. How long have you been playing in that? Me and Nick started that last winter. We don’t have any instruments at the moment so we’re making most of the sounds with our mouths. We’re planning a Japan tour for this coming year.

MUD SHT from BOBBY SHMOCK on Vimeo.

Will that tour conflict with your upcoming snowboard season? No because my twin brother Ron will play the tour while I film for videograss.

So how was your last trip to Japan with Louie Paradis and Hofa this past year? It was crazy – insane. Like, the biggest culture shock. Everything was so different. From toilet seats to food to money to how they communicate. There’s absolutely no way you can feel at home. But yeah, it was so sick. It was probably the best trip I’ve done in my life so far.

Anything in particular happen that was cool or crazy? Chris almost hooked up with a chick but then he got too drunk and passed out. And oh yeah, we partied in the smallest bar I’ve ever seen. It was pretty much the size of my room at my parents’ house – so small. Eight in and it was pretty much full. I also tasted some fish stomach, squid and some other really weird shit.

Did you like it? Not all of them. Fish stomach made me gag – I almost puked.

Isn’t puking one of your biggest fears? It used to be. Now I’m kind of okay with it. I used to start shaking and freak out if I was going to puke. But now its not too bad. I’m still pretty scared of the notfeel- okay-after puke or the I’m-really-sick puke. You know what I mean?

Yeah, not the I-drank-too-much-I-threw-up-I-feel-better puke. Yeah, not that one. The one where you keep puking even though there’s nothing left in your stomach and you can’t really breathe. I’m pretty scared of that. If anybody around me doesn’t feel good and starts puking – I freak out. I guess I still have a little puking phobia.

You been skating much this summer? Yeah, a lot actually. Like pretty much every day.

Would you prefer to be a professional skateboarder or snowboarder? Probably a skateboarder. It would be cool if I could, with one wish, turn everything I have right now into skateboarding. So Videograss would be a skate movie, Nick would be that crazy bowl dude, Jed Anderson would be this crazy tech skater and Ashbury would just be a sunglass company. It’d be sick.

Ashbury would be struggling trying to put together a snowboard team? Yeah. You know I’m still trying get on the Am team for Ashbury?

Yeah, you gotta come down and get the nollie back heel down like a seven. I can’t nollie back heel. I can’t even airwalk down a seven.

You know if you want to be an Am skateboarder now you pretty much have to switch trey bomb nine. Switch trey bomb nine?

Yeah, it’s, like, a prerequisite. No way,man. You don’t have to be a tech skater. You can be a super cool slash dude – you rip parks and crazy trannys in the street. I can do that, I think.

Like a young [Nick] Dirks? Yeah, but I’m more street than Dirks. Dirks can’t kickflip. I can.

So what do you like about Quebec, besides the obvious friends and family? It’s a cool place. It’s a giant skate park when it snows. People that come to Quebec usually come for rails. I’ve recently been driving around with Louif and finding the craziest spots. And there’s so many in the old part of Quebec it’s just like a giant skate park. So it’s pretty cool to live here. For people that are into powder, they’ll move to Whistler, but I’m mostly into rails, so I just stay home and ride rails. It’s a cool city to live in. It’s super mellow. Oh! [Picks up magazine] The new Thrasher’s out. Sick! James Brockman interview.

I heard he’s getting crazy for the Zero video. Dude, I can’t wait for the Zero video.

I think it comes out next month. I dunno. I know the Flip one is fall ’09 for sure.

I was with Garrett Hill yesterday and he said it was coming out in December. Have you been to the Barracks lately?

We went there to shoot Billy Marks’s ad. Oh, yeah. You guys are shooting mad ads, eh?

Yeah, we just did it yesterday. Did you do Garrett Hill’s one?

Yeah, we did Garrett’s yesterday. How’s Garrett? Is he a pretty cool dude?

Yeah, he’s super cool. Him and his brother Ganchi are really easy-to-getalong-
with, mellow dudes. Nice.

So where’s your favorite spot for handrails other than home? I kind of like Salt Lake but you get kicked out of everywhere which is kind of gay, but I don’t know, dude. That’s a hard one. I guess – Oh! Minnesota’s pretty sick. It’s pretty much an American Quebec. Same shit.

All of the companies you ride for are smaller and rider-owned. Is this something you intended to do? Yeah. I’d rather ride for a company where I know the money goes to owner and his employees, than just one dude sitting at a desk who doesn’t know snowboarding. But this makes it hard for me because I don’t make, like, a million bucks. While dudes that ride for Monster… do you know?

I read somewhere that Rome pays you with with a dog, three bananas and a couch every month. Is this true? Yeah. I get a box once a month. I usually trade the couch to a friend and sell the dead dog to a Chinese restaurant. It gets me through the month.

So what’s getting you hyped in snowboarding right now? My friends – dudes that snowboard for fun and are fun
to snowboard with.

Is there anything you wish would just go away? [...] Energy drink companies.

Hair gel or mousse? Straight natural grease!

What is showering like? As quick as possible. I just don’t like it, I don’t know why. I still wash myself, you know? I get soap and wash myself. I don’t really wash my hair because it’s too long to dry. But, yeah, super quick. I’m sure I smell good. I don’t know – I just don’t like it. It’s kind of a waste of time.