John Sims discovered skateboarding while living abroad in Germany in a military family. When he moved back to Westerville in 1992, he quickly fell into a developing scene in Columbus after meeting lifelong friend Matt Smith. Soon, he would start filming and editing full length videos to capture the progression of both friends and rising stars in the local scene. Since 2017, his Instagram account  “Dudleyclips” has archived in extraordinary depth a massive catalogue of clips from his time as a filmer and the footage he compiled. The account provides a comprehensive window of the Columbus skate scene from 93-97: the spots, skaters, and feeling of a moment in time. It makes you feel nostalgia for a time you likely never experienced firsthand. I give John a tremendous amount of credit for inspiring me to help document a kind of regional history not covered by national skate media. Please check out our conversation on John’s life in skateboarding and his role as an early pioneer of local skate videos.

Timestamps

1:30- Random banter about yesteryear 

8:40- Finding skateboarding

18:45- Moving to Westerville 

29:04- Meeting Chad Knight

32:57- Starting to film

45:25- Full length video deep dive

1:13:20- Dublin DIY skatepark 

1:19:32- Patrick O’Dell

1:27:09- Todd Pulsinelli

1:31:00- Memorable Demos

1:47:23- Adulthood 

1:50:22- California 

2:10:26- Starting Dudleyclips account

2:33:53- Columbus scene

2:37:00- New video??

2:45:00- Future guests?

2:55:10- Getting photo in Thrasher 

3:02:50- Most influential Ohio skater/final thoughts