There is a single on the 1966 Beach Boys album Pet Sounds called ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’.  It could be Joe Hinson’s theme tune.

Joe’s skateboarding talent is on a different trajectory to most of his contemporaries in the British skateboarding scene today. He’s not better, necessarily, but certainly hungrier. The UK has always had an outlier tradition in its street skating pedigree- the one (rarely more) per generation who pushed themselves alone to step out of the group perception of possibility and go bigger than everyone else. Howard Cooke, Matt Pritchard, Neil Smith, Ben Grove. Joe Hinson is this generation’s that guy. He is just stepping to monster street terrain in a way in which nobody else in the UK even looks close to. End of.

Part of an under-celebrated tradition of skateboarders who travel for hours just to skate indoor parks which the snootier among us might pooh-pooh, Joe started skating aged eleven on an area of concrete he cleared for himself, on obstacles he built himself, in the 700 year-old village where he was raised in Cambridgeshire, England.

So: although not entirely from what you might consider a gilded path to the world of international skateboarding, Joe Hinson has gone from makeshift spots made of pallets and plywood to becoming three-time SkateboardGB National Champ, running his own fencing business and landing a roster spot on Jamie Thomas’ storied Zero Skateboards team. This last year alone has taken him from filming in the US to competing in Canada, Dubai and Italy while deadlines loom for his debut part on Zero.

Erstwhile British skateboarding bible Sidewalk used to have a feature called ‘Working Class Heroes’; I’d like to think Joe Hinson’s story would have featured there. Instead, you can find it here, as we caught up with him after he got back to his home village of Witcham from World Street Skateboarding Rome as part of the SkateboardGB team.

We wanted to find out what keeps him motivated to skate as hard as he does with so many challenges stacked up against his dreams and desires. Here’s what we learned:

All photos: Tom Quigley/ SkateboardGB

Hi Joe, can you give us some of your vital statistics- age, where you’re from and all that jazz?

I’m 27, and I’m from a small village just outside Ely in Cambridgeshire; I’ve been skating for around 17 years…

You’re one of the most progressive skaters ever to come out of the UK in terms of being able to go big- how do you keep your motivation up, when you don’t really have anyone to vibe off on big tricks?

I just love the feeling of rolling away from doing something I’m scared of; I just love skateboarding… I just want to do my part to progress it, and inspire next generation of kids how the last generation inspired me.

You also hold down a full-time job while skating at an international level- can you tell us a bit about your ‘other career’?

I’ve had a few jobs over the years, but at the moment I’m running my own thing doing fence building and grass cutting, hedge cutting and some building work. As long as I’ve got enough money to pay for my car to go skate, I’m happy!

How do you balance your working life with trying to push your skate career ahead?

It can be a struggle at times, for sure, when you’ve been out filming all weekend and have to go to work on Monday or have had to try and work skateboarding and working around for contests.But, I’m self-employed so that makes that easier; the only downside to that is- no sick pay or holidays (laughs). It can take its toll, but I’d not have it any other way!

You recently got on Zero Skateboards, what’s the story there? How did it come about?

For sure, this was a crazy one; Zero has always been one of my favourite brands. Me and (friend/ filmer) Charlie Bach used to joke about how sick it would be if I got on Zero. So then I was spending some time in America last summer while still riding for Darkstar but things had started to go off track with Darkstar, so I decided to part ways with the brand. A few days later I met Kanaan Dern who also rides for Zero and after talking to him for a while, he told me he’d show my footage to Jamie Thomas. I didn’t think anything would come of it, if I’m truly honest, but next thing you know Jamie had DM’ed me on Instagram asking if he could call me. He drove down to LA and dropped me off a box in person at the homie’s house I was staying at. It’s pretty trippy to think about; I feel super lucky to represent a brand with such a strong history in skateboarding.

When can we expect your welcome to Zero part to drop?

When it’s finished, I guess (laughs)… I’ve got around 2 minutes or so of footage at the moment, but I want to try and get back to California this years to finish it up there. I just need to make the money for a plane ticket.

What’s the state of the sponsorship landscape out there these days?

It’s hard out there, that’s for sure… money is hard to come by and it can be a struggle to make a living and travel as much as I’d like to for contests and filming. It’s all for the love of doing it, though, and I’ll do it ’til I physically can’t anymore.

Who do you rate in the current skate scene?

I’m a big fan of skateboarding in general and I watch most videos that come out- but I’m always watching Harry Lintell or Chris Wimer, Ryan Decenzo, Kanaan Dern, Jamie Foy... the list could seriously go on, but we’d be here all day!

What about all-time favourites?

Definitely, yeah- it’s a pretty long list but I’ll name a few- Geoff Rowley, Jamie Thomas, Jamie Foy, Ben Grove, Neil Smith... and Frank Stephens.

What would you say your hopes are for the future?

I’d love to have more opportunities to travel to film and skate comps and maybe one day earn a board with my name on it… but isn’t that every skater’s dream? I’m enjoying the journey and skateboarding.

Do you have any pearls of wisdom, shout-outs or anybody you want to put a curse on?

I’d like to just thank everyone that has my back- Charlie Bach, he’s out in the trenches with me most weekends filming, Jamie Thomas and Zero Skateboards, Form Distribution and Lakai UK, Speedlab wheels, Jessup grip, Sketti Butta wax, Vitor Collective, Krux trucks, SkateboardGB, Kaset skatepark and Flo skatepark, Storm watches, Supereight skate shop… sorry if I’ve missed anyone out, I appreciate you all!