What got you into skateboarding?
The first time I remember seeing skateboarding was in a tv commercial for corn pops cereal. There was a bunch of kids skating at a skatepark and one of them runs at an obstacle in the park with no skateboard and falls pretty bad and it says, “a day without corn pops is like a day without a skateboard.” Sometime after that I was in the car coming home from church with my parents and we stopped at a garage sale, and I convinced them to buy me a crusty eighty’s looking Santa Cruz board for two dollars.
What is your skate scene like in your city?
I live in New York and the skate scene here has many different factions. But the one I fall into is all people like me with full time jobs in their late twenties and early thirties who try their absolute best to get out after work and on the weekends as much as possible despite all the responsibilities of being a functional adult.
What is you to go trick to start your sesh?
It depends on where we are skating but more times than not it is a ledge spot, and I will do a couple backside nose grinds to fire it up.
Do you feel skateboarding has changed your life? How?
Definitely, I think skateboarding more or less attracts likeminded people. So, it creates a social space that has helped me to meet the majority of the close friends I have now and have had in the past.
What pro skater inspires your skateboarding?
That is a tough one to whittle down to one person. So, I am going to take the straightforward way out and say a video that highlights a few pros that inspire me. The enjoi bag of suck video came out at a time when I was at a pretty impressionable age, and it made skateboarding look fun in a way that was aspirational and attainable.
Do you prefer watching skate videos on social media or buying it? Why?
I have a ton of videos both DVD and vhs that I have acquired that I still love to watch but usually I watch skating on YouTube. Mostly on thrasher and quatersnacks and skate video vault. It is all so easy to access.
What is the gnarliest trick you have ever done? How did you feel when you landed it?
Not the gnarliest but I have a pretty vivid memory of learning blunt to fakies on a factor x ramp in my parent’s basement and I felt so happy and excited to tell me friends the next day at school.
Tell us little bit about your local skate shop & what they do for skateboard scene?
Here in New York, there is a shop called Labor and a shop called Tenant. Both are great, super supportive and welcoming to everyone who comes in with an interest in skating in any capacity and they do all kinds of remarkable things and have cool events for the skate scene here. It is not really local for me anymore but there is another shop called Underground in New Jersey close to where I grew up and anytime, I am back in the area they welcome me with open arms.
What is your daily routine before you go shred?
On a workday if I am feeling juiced, I will text my friends and see if anyone wants to get out after work and we will link, often a skatepark or diy spot. If it is the weekend, I will usually sit around at my apartment and drink coffee and make breakfast for a while until the plans are formulated and then I will bike or drive or take the train to wherever the meet up spot is.
Any inspiring words you want to tell the next generation of skaters?
It sounds cliche but just skate and have fun with your friends. It is always good to push yourself to get out of the house even if it is too cold or too hot or too dark or you are too lazy. Also, it is always a good call to spend that money you have saved and go on a little trip with your friends. Skating new spots and parks and meeting people in different scenes in various places in the best.
