Devon Connell

Trick: Bs Ollie
Photography: Mazur

So, have you been a Jersey boy your whole life? Ever live anywhere else?
Yup, I've been living in the same Jersey town my whole life. I guess the only thing somewhat to living out of Jersey would be for that one year when I would stay at your apartment in south Philly every Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

In the early years of your life you lived in a trailer park, right?
Hah yeah, 'til I was four years old.

So, maybe you can help tell me why people see NJ as such a dirty place. Any reason you think others might think this, or is it really dirty?
Hah yeah, I can't think of a good answer for that one.

No worries, I just guess the myth will stay true. So where in NJ do you reside?
Egg Harbor Township, right by AC.

Right by AC, huh? Are you 21?
Yeah, just a few minutes from AC, and yup I'm 21.

Ever try to roll some dice in AC, or throw a few bucks in a slot machine?
Yeah, I mess with the slot machines, but that's about as far as I've gone with gambling. I don't make too much money to be betting a lot of it away.

Have you ever won big at a slot machine? Or at least tell us what the most you ever won was.
I haven't won anything too big, but the most is probably me putting in a fiver and leaving with like twenty-eight dollars within like five minutes. I still have a lot more gambling to do.

Trick: Fs 180
Photography: Mazur

Your girl is a dealer at The Borgata, right? She ever give you any tips? This info is more for me then you.
Yeah, she has been a dealer for a while. I haven't got any tips to tell though. I usually just hear the stories about people getting really pissed when they lose a lot.

Any really good stories that you could share?
Nah, not really anything too crazy. Just dudes getting really pissed at her 'cause they lose all their money. They like saying she did something wrong. They just try to come up with an excuse for losing, and the best one is to blame the dealer I guess.

How about them AC hookers? Ever try to pick one up, or know anyone who has?
Yeah, they're pretty crazy. Last month they found four of them dead in the marshes behind the motels right outside of AC. Their bodies were all facing east or something weird. The road they were on is the road right in front of my neighborhood, but just a few minutes towards AC.

Trick: Fs Noseblunt Stall
Photography: Mazur

Wow. Did you know them?
Nah, I didn't know any of them. They just a had a special on TV about it, like two nights ago.

Do you drink at all?
Nah, not really at all.

What about smoke?
Nah.

Really? You know most people think you must smoke a lot, right?
Yeah, I get that a lot.

Trick: Fs Boardslide
Photography: Mazur

Why do you think it is you talk like a surfer? Just living at the shore?
Man, I don't know. I never surfed before in my whole life. But I did hear someone say the other day that everyone from Jersey talks slow, like in a mellow way.

Really, you lived at the shore your whole life and never tried surfing?
Yeah, I try to stay away from the shore during the summers because it gets really hectic with all the shoobies coming from all over.

I hear you. Hey, for the people that don't know, what is a shoobie?
All the out of towners that come from all over the U.S. to the shore. It's funny, during the summer when I'm driving to Philly for the weekend I'll look over to the lane going to the shore and it's bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way to the bridge. Then, when I'm coming back from Philly after the weekend is over, it is the opposite. So I always got an easy ride, with little to no traffic.

Do you have an incredible hate for shoobies like most other locals?
Not really, but I guess in a little way I do, only for the fact that traffic gets really crazy all around my area.

Trick: Quick Ollie up and Fs 180 over
Photography: Mazur

So, what else do you do besides skate?
Nothing too crazy. Just work, girlfriend, and try to go to a lot of hip-hop shows in the area.

Hip-hop shows huh? Like who? What do you get jiggy with?
The last one I went to was a few months back. It was a Cage and Mr.Lif show at the TLA in Philly.

Word. And what do you do for work?
I work at a sporting goods store in the mall by me. They don't even carry any sports equipment though. It's mainly a shoe/clothing store.

So you are like Al Bundy in Married with Children, a shoe salesman?
Yeah. Pretty much. That's the main part of the job, selling shoes. One more week 'til Christmas, so it's a little crazy in there right now.

Trick: Wallie drop
Photography: Mazur

Have you worked at any other jobs?
Nah, I've been at my job now for pretty long. It's been like three and a half years. There are a lot of nice people and friends that work there, so it's a mellow place to work.

So I guess the goal is to work there until you go pro, right?
Hah man, the going pro thing isn't something on my mind at all. I'm just trying to have fun right now and see where that takes me. I'm just comfortable with my work schedule right now, so I'll probably be holding it down there for a while.

That is a great way to look at skateboarding. So do you think people will be into the tricks in this interview? You do skate things differently than most.
I hope so. I wanted to just try to get photos on things that haven't already been in videos or magazines. That's what usually keeps me hyped to go skate, just seeing new spots.

Trick: Gap to Fs Lipslide
Photography: Mazur

Yeah, I just wish I could skate the things you skate. Your spots are fricking rugged. Think that is a Jersey thing?
I don't know, maybe. There are not too many spots in my area, so you kind of got to skate the ruffed up ones. The same goes for Philly. All the perfect spots are mainly a bust, so you kind of gotta resort to the rugged ones.

Okay, you knew this question was coming. Tell the readers in Focus land what the hell Militia is/was?
It was basically just our little crew from back in the day. We used to skate a lot in this town, Mays Landing. It was just a bunch of homies I grew up skating with.

Want to mention any names?
A lot of them don't skate much any more, but for the others there was Steve Durante, Newett, Henry, Greg Simmons, and Ki Realer.

Trick: Fs Shuv to Fakie on a crusty bank
Photography: Mazur

So what is up with the video you guys made? Are we ever going to see it on Youtube?
Yeah, we made a video back then. We all would film each other, so once we ended up with a lot of footy, we made a video. I only made a few copies for all the homies but I guess a lot of people copied it and it got around. As far as Youtube, I don't like seeing myself on there, so I'm not posting it. I had to ask a few people to take down some footy of me that was on there already. I have no clue how they even got it in the first place.

Yeah, I actually got footy on there too. I think "Postmaster" himself, Ki Realer, posted it. How was it growing up with that guy?
Ki's from Cape May, which is like 25 minutes south of me, but he used to come up to Mays Landing and skate with us, and we would go stay down with him to skate. It was fun. Ki's been rippin' for a long time. We were real young and just trying to learn stuff, but Ki had it all down already.

Trick: Fs Flip
Photography: Mazur

I think that is the nicest thing I ever heard someone say about him. Anyway, back to you. Tell me about that half-ass skate park you had in your backyard. What was it like?
It was pretty ghetto. See, the road out front of my house sucks, so we laid down strips of plywood in my backyard and built a little fly box thing, with a box on top. Plus, I had a half pipe too. The half pipe is still back there, but definitely needs a lot of work on the middle section. It has rotted out over all the years. I'm probably gonna try to fix it up soon.

Shout outs?
All my friends and family. Steve, Shag, Andrew, Cookie, Klotz, Simmons, Mazur, Diane, Mulhern and all the Temple heads, Freddy and Joe for everything, Pang for everything, Craig, Lucian, Matlin, and just anyone out there skating and having fun.

Last words?
Just be humble and skate. Have fun.