INTERVIEW & Layout | VISUAL DIRECTOR JONATHAN LABEZ @JMLABEZ
ADDITIONAL WORDS BY | FRANCK STEVE @flaimart, NICOLAS AUROUX @nicoauroux, GASTON MICHEL @l_amer_michel
PHOTOS | staff photographer CLEMÉNT BARBAZA @___BUFFLE___
I knew little about 22 year old French man,Sofiane Kefane, when Clemént approached me about photographing him for Be-Mag. I asked him to describe what he was like:
“He is a very charismatic, funny guy. Always happy, always cracking jokes. You know when he’s here—always skating fast, jumping all over the place, putting on show. He takes up a lot space, which can be intimidating. Yet he is always talking to everyone and equally nice to anyone. He has tons of crazy stories to tell. I personally think, he should be an actor.”
I was intrigued and had questions. Who was this always-on character? What were these crazy stories? While Clemént didn’t have answers, his friends did. I contacted some ofSofiane‘s friends, Franck Steve, Nicolas Auroux, and Gaston Michel, and each responded with their own ‘wait, what?’ tale of eccentricity. Even after speaking with Sofiane, I have more questions than answers.
His skating on the other hand speaks volumes. There’s an element of showmanship that matches his exuberant personality.Sofiane‘s recent sponsorship with FR makes note of this, reflected in their line up like Diako Diaby, Anthony Pottier, and Valentin Hamers. There’s a park approach to street obstacles (which I appreciate as someone who approaches park like it’s street) to his skating.
TALES OF A WILD CHILD
FRANCK STEVE
Sofiane with his hyperactivity is impossible to stop. During a street session, he’s a gust of adrenaline that a pin can’t impede. He is always unpredictable. There are sessions where he will be calm yet impressive at the skate park and then in the street where he will do a flip out of nowhere.
The craziest moment [withSofiane] was during a session at the skateodrome (an ephemeral ramp installed by the city.) We were at the end of the evening and there were quite a lot of people gathering. The session is about to peter out and he came up with the idea of ‘do a backflip with a deck chair under your buttocks.’ I’ll let you imagine that… Watching this three second clip, it will never stop surprising us.
NICOLAS AUROUX
We used to meet up every evening after work for 2 years. We spent more time together than our girlfriends lol. One night during lockdown, we were chilling on the roof of my flat with some friends. Sofiane suddenly thought he was John Cena and jumped from my roof into my courtyard to destroy my table! The jump was pretty high! Fortunately enough he didn’t get injured! Except my table! haha. He’s always up to crazy things with or without skates on.
GASTON MICHEL
I have many crazy stories aboutSofiane. I don’t know why but there’s more than one concerning his poop from when he was younger.
Once at a party, one of our friend’s girlfriends was pissing him off. We have a word in French to say if someone is pissing you off, it can be literally translated as “she’s pooping in my boots.” At some point, the girl takes off her doc martens [and sets them aside.] Sofiane told us, “she’s pooping in my boots, I’ll poo in her docs.” And so he did!
It was around the same time at another party in middle in the night, we heard plastic noises coming from the bathroom. It was Sofiane who was taking a shit onto the a sandwich of his friends. He was going to put it back into the fridge for a nice morning surprise. This is also the same guy who at the local skate park received a face-full of a condom full of shit that also was thrown by Sofiane.
JL | In speaking to some of your friends, I get the sense that you’re a wild child. Haha. Hijinjks and hilarity ensues whenever you’re around. Tell us a story you had that people would never believe and one everyone thought was true but isn’t.
SK | Unfortunately, I can’t find a story that I tell that people don’t believe! As for a false story—a lot of people think my name is Sofiane “kefta” or Ismael kefberg.
I’m not one to have my identity guessed so easily. A lot of people think they know me when they really don’t!
For those of you not in the French blade scene, who’s in your social circle?
My social circle is quite diverse. I learned to skate with my crew the Rolling Monkeys. And of course, all the OG from Nantes: Gregory Bréger, Stéphane Luchie, Cédric Duchemin. The infamous RATZ crew: Gaston Michel, Virgile Dos Santos…You can see some footage of all those guys in DOB videos series. When I got older I toured a lot throughout France.
As a younger generation of skater, I’m curious about which skaters influenced and/or continue to influence your skating. What about them has driven your stylistic approach to skating?
My all time favorite is Eric Bailey. All the people above from are my main inspiration and motivation. These skaters are going full speed on the most terrible spots!
For a while, I hung out with the Bordeaux roller skating scene — Nicolas Auroux, Lucas Spenle, Martin Barrau Romeo Stocchi, and Nicolas Bernardo. They were a big source of motivation during that period.
I’m not one to watch many skate videos, so my influences are derived from those I’ve met or seen in contests during my life.
Outside of rollerblading, what are your pursuits/interests?
When I am not skating or working, I play pétanque (a typically French sport). I also like to rap on some funk-inspired music. Other then that, you can always find me hanging out with my friend Raphael, talking shit or playing darts at a bar.
I caught some of your music on Soundcloud and it feels reminiscent of late 1990s-early 2000s hiphop. MC Solaar comes to mind, though that’s the extent of my French hiphop knowledge. Haha. Who are some artists that you draw from foryour music?
MC Solaar is actually a really good friend of my favorite artist: DANY DAN, member of Les Sages Poètes de la Rue. They are a French band from the mid 90’s.
What’s one of your favorite songs on your Soundcloud and why?
Hotel-Dieu, is probably my favorite. It talks about all the stories that are happening during our session at Hotel-Dieu skatepark in downtown Nantes.
Are you currently working on any new songs or collaborating on any projects?
Nothing in the works at the moment. Only practicing in my shower.
Speaking of, we heard from a little bird you were picked up to ride for FR skates and Flat Frames. Congratulations on that! How did you get connected with them and how’d sponsorship come up? Were they your first sponsors?
Thank you, 2023 is starting pretty well for me. I received a message from Anthony Pottier asking me if I wanted to join the Flat Frames and FR team. I have been riding the skates and frames for couple of months and I love them! Anthony and I have been friends for years, so it was a no brainer.
It is indeed my first sponsor ever. Looking forward for what’s coming this year.
When should we expect your debut edit for these companies to drop?
Hopefully, we can start working on something very soon. I would love to work with Anthony Ramos (Real sick Skater/Filmer from Nantes).
What is the 540 barbeque (and how did it come to be)?
There is always something happening at Hotel-Dieu. One day our friend Le Jojojo was there spitting fire. I just learned switch 540, so we decided to mix our talents. The cherry on the top is it happened during a protest. You can see on the video, I almost land on cops!
The more I dug into your background, the more surprises I found. Clement mentioned you work for a men’s cosmetics company, Horace. I thought as a model at first because you have the ‘look’ of one. Surprised to hear you work in sales. How’d you end up working for this brand?
At the beginning, I was a roofer-carpenter, but I broke my hand skating. I had to change my line of work and I ended up doing sales for different brands (shoes/denim). A friend told me about the job at HORACE and they hired me. If anyone needs advice on their skincare routine, hit me up!
You ever think of trying modeling like Elliot Stevens or Robbie Pitts? If you ever come out to America or hopefully when I make it out in France, I’ll totally shoot with you. Haha.
A few people got in touch about it, but it hasn’t happened yet.
What are 3 dreams of yours, no matter how wild, you want to do before you die?
To be honest I don’t dream, I smoke too much weed. More seriously, I would love to have a house full of cats (I have 2 Maine Coons, and soon a 3rd one.)
Let’s end this interview on a laugh.
My best joke, is my back tattoo.
FOLLOW SOFIANE ON INSTAGRAM @NO2SIF
