GG Goldenglue: "They Made This Decision And Now I Have To Prove To Them That They're Wrong"

ESTNN sat down with Greyson Gregory “Goldenglue” Gilmer ahead of the LCS Summer Split.

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but you grew up in Flower Mound, Texas right? What was it like growing up there?

“Flower Mound was pretty nice, suburban area, and one of the most iconic suburban areas in America you could imagine. Being in Texas, there’s a pretty big focus on sports, but there wasn’t a huge focus on religion in my area but there was some on that. It was a really nice place to grow up. It had a lot of nice people and I played sports growing up, I didn’t have a huge group around me of people who liked playing video games but there were some small circles of friends I had I shared that passion with.”

So, then you became a competitive gamer and moved to LA a while back when you started playing. How did you adapt to moving to such a different environment?

“It’s definitely been a huge shift. I definitely feel I’ve changed a lot as a person, like my ideals for one. And I’ve just kind of adapted to the new scenery and the new life here in Los Angeles. I really enjoy it, there’s a lot of things I enjoy about living in Los Angeles.

I think, initially, I didn’t go out that much and mainly just hung out with teammates. Thankfully, when you come here as an 18 or 19-year-old you join team houses and you’re surrounded by your teammates and people who share your passions. That definitely eased the transition into a more foreign area.”

The origin story

I read that you played Call of Duty when you were younger and were in a clan in seventh grade. Now your name is pretty unique, so is that where “Goldenglue” came from?

“You know, as any seventh grader should, me and some of my friends would play Call of Duty. I think back then it was COD 4 or Modern Warfare 2, those were the two big ones I played growing up and we would go on game battles and make clan names, team names and have out little high school squad. We’d queue up and go play other teams and stuff.

I got the name Goldenglue when we were in a classroom and all of us were choosing stuff in the classroom and putting “golden” in front of it. So there was golden pencil, golden sharpie, golden marker and I named mine golden glue. Because it was two g’s I thought I had the best name and then I just stuck with it ‘cause it was never taken on any other games I played online. *Chuckles* It’s a pretty dumb name to be honest, there’s a lot of cooler names out there.”

Health, memes and dedication

As one of the original swole bros, what do you think is your key to staying healthy off the Rift?

“Well, its been hard during quarantine. I think that its hard to maintain but watching what I eat [helps]. I eat a lot of greens and vegetables, not too much sweets and eat salmon or whatnot. Just eat healthy food primarily. And also staying physically active as much as I can. Recently I’ve been going out for runs. I haven’t been able to go to the gym since they’ve been closed but I’ve been going out for runs and that’s been helping me to stay physically kept, I suppose.”

Now, you have so many memes surrounding your career, from GoldenGod to VaultBoy. Do you believe these memes help or hinder your chances of being a top-tier player in North America?

“No, I don’t think memes have anything to do with it. If anything I think the memes might even help. Like, when people were saying GoldenGod, I thought that’s a name I could get used to.”

You’ve spent a lot of time jumping back and forth between Academy rosters and main rosters. What’s your biggest source of motivation for you to prove to people you deserve a starting spot in the LCS, especially in light of the Damonte signing?

“First off, with the whole Damonte signing, I wasn’t really expecting this to happen. I think the thing that drives me to keep going is the fact that I do enjoy competing. I enjoy practicing and enjoy improving on myself and getting better.

Every single time something like this happens, I always see it like… Well, I read this book called “The Obstacle is the Way”, so now that Damonte is the starting mid laner for Golden Guardians it makes it clear of: “what’s the new obstacle? Oh, its Damonte is the new starter.” The path is well, ok, how do I prove that they made the wrong decision, how I prove to them that I’m the better player or how do I prove that elsewhere. I don’t take decisions personally at all, even if I disagree with them, I just see that as a path forward. They made this decision and now I have to prove to them that they’re wrong, and how am I going to do that?”

Goldenglue and the Golden Guardians

On the topic of the Golden Guardians, how have they as an org helped you evolve as a player and a person? What sets Golden Guardians apart from the previous orgs you’ve been a part of?

“I’d say what makes this organization different for me is that it’s the first organization where I’m living more independently, I’d say. I’m still in the team’s apartment but there’s a very large separation between being on-work and off-work if that makes sense. A big separation of environments I suppose when I’m on and when I’m off, and I think that’s the biggest difference for me.”

Like you said, when you first started playing it was very normal for teams to live in team houses and have that family mentality. But since then, it’s been more normalized to have that separation and have alone time for yourself right?

“Yeah I think it’s just a step in maturity, you know?”

Who would you say has been the most influential player you’ve had the opportunity to work with in the past? Or do you have any role models you look up to domestically or internationally?

“I think there’s a lot of great players that I’ve learned from. Over time I’ve either befriended, worked with or admired [a lot of people]. I like to think that [I look up to] all the international greats, and I guess I do actually look [up] at the mid laners since I’m a mid laner, so people like Faker and Doinb. Watching these players climb to the ascension of League of Legends, I definitely admire them and look up to them.

Domestically, I think I’ve always admired Bjergsen’s work ethic and how he’s stayed at the top for so long. And also, I think we share similar mindsets and similar goals in life. I think we look at life in a similar way so I definitely look up to him and all the other greats.”

So, how has your life been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Has the online format for the LCS changed your perspective on the league at all?

“My life hasn’t been extremely drastically affected by COVID, besides the normal privileges that every0one else is losing. So it’s been a lot more spending time by myself playing games, reading a book, watching a movie or whatever. It’s just a lot more time to reset and figure yourself out I suppose”

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Featured image via Goldenglue's Twitter.