Interview by Jeff Halleran
Photos by Shigeo
PHOTO: SHIGEO
You've been on the Zero OZ team for two years now, correct? Describe how you initially got on.
I got put on Mystery flow when I was a little tucka, then Barns ask me if I wanted to ride for Zero.
You're from Queensland, but now you live in Melbourne, is that right?
Yeah that's right, I've been living in Melbourne since November last year, Melbourne is so fucking fun! But I miss my family, mates, Pizzey and the beautiful beaches!
How do the two places compare for skating and life in general?
They're hard to compare awesomeness, but Melbourne has marble pathways and a city. Goldy has rad parks and some really rad spots, but I lived there for 19 years so wanted a change.
Queensland is also the homeland of one Joe Pease, did you grow up skating together at all? What kind of stories do you have about skating with Pease back home in OZ?
Ha-ha, I used look up to Joe and fan out, along with Shane Cross and Jake Duncome.
We all lived relatively close and I used to just freak out when they were at the parks. Now I've gotten to know them and they're just as awesome to be around as they are to watch...R.I.P Shane.
Pease used to pick me up and we'd skate shitty flat bars in a car park on the Goldy, or shred Pizzey Park. Skating with Joe is rad, he's definitely is a weirdo.
FS 5-0 180 OUT- PHOTO:SHIGEO
How do you say your last name, like roach with a silent E, or does it sound like 'Zarosh'?
Niether. I think you pronounce it Roash, but everyone pronounces it Roshay, but it's spelled Roche.
Who was your roommate at Black Box? Do you keep a tidy room or are you kind of a pile?
I try to keep it tidy. I had Dane (Burman) as a roommate and Jeremy Correa, and we lived in a closet. So we came out of the closet daily.
Was James Hardy kind of your unofficial TM during your 3 month stay in the US?
Yeah Hardy is the best...We would skate all day and eat Chik-Fil-A. Then when the night closed in, we'd go and pick up Fitty and Stuart. Then we usually went to the driving range, cinema, putt-putt or whatever we could think of - shit was good.
Lannie was an unofficial TM too, he kills it!
Matt Winterberg is a tight homie of yours, correct? Tell us about your adventures with Matt.
Hell yeah! Matt's a bloody legend! We finally jammed on the last few days I was there. It was a sweet jam, so much fun with Matt! He introduced me to Red Octopus, they fucking rip too! Going out skating with Matt is always fun. I remember we had a van full off sick cunts and we broke into Bob Burnquist's back yard and we saw some lunatic backside 360 method the mega ramp. We started screaming and shaking the van and beeping the horn and Bob kicked us out, it was so funny! The mega ramp is no joke!
What happened the day you got a concussion recently, something about puking in a trash can?
Ha-ha, yeah I got a concussion warming up for my last day to skate, I was coming out of a lip slide on the back wall.
I just remember getting up and Stuart bringing me a tissue because the top of my eyebrow was bleeding.
Then I went to my room because I couldn't see anything. I went to In-n-Out afterwards because Hardy was taking us to the beach,
but I just had to go home; I was holding in my spew the whole way. Gilley the legend helped me out. I grabbed a bucket and spewed in
it for a while then Jamie took me out side for some sun. I stayed there for hours sleeping in the gutter... Pretty shitty last day,
but it was still fun in a way. Thanks for the help boys.
You've been explained as a "buttery smooth, laid back, skater's skater", and that the kids are stoked on you, but your peers are extra-stoked on you.
What can you attribute this to, Jimmy?
That's rad, thanks! I don't know, I just want to skate with my mates and have fun.
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What's the first thing you did when you got back to Australia upon returning from the US?
I went to missing baggage thing and made a complaint, grabbed my beautiful girlfriend, and got three meat pies!
