Lakai: JAMES CAPPS INTERVIEW

James, congrats on the pro board and on the collection! For those who don’t know, how long have you been riding for Lakai?

A little before Instagram started. So like 11-12 years now. Lakai or die!

How did you get your spot on the team?

Oh man that’s a long story. I was living in SF for a couple years, didn’t really know anybody. Met this dude named Taylor that worked at FTC. After work I’d go kick it up there. Met Ando, Bfox, Nicols, Kent, and all the FTC family. Shortly after that, started skating a lot with Ando and even started working at the shop. Coincidentally a room opened up at the infamous Newell skate house where Nicols lived. We would work shifts at the shop together a lot. He asked me if I wanted to move in when I was desperately in need of a spot. I was like “what!? hell yea! I’m down.” After living there for a while Crailtap fam Matt Milligan, who was living downstairs with John Alden, asked me if I wanted to skate Lakai’s. Or maybe I asked him, I can’t remember, it’s been over a decade. Anyway from there I worked multiple jobs and filmed as many video parts as I could with Anthony Claravall and Mack Sharff until about 2015. I barged my way on the “Picture Me Eurorollin” Lakai Tour. I was in Europe and so was Lakai, thankfully Daniel Wheatley said it was cool if I came so I just went for it. Good times haha. Shortly after that Wheatley told me it would be a good idea to move down to LA and film for The Flare video. So I moved down, skated a bunch with all the guys for the vid, and that solidified all of it. It’s been one of hell of a ride. Very stoked!

Where are you from and where do you currently live?

I’m from Boise, Idaho but also grew up on the coast of Oregon in Coos Bay and Gold Beach. Parents split when I was young, so spent a fair amount of time in both places. Living in Long Beach, CA at the moment.

What is “Meet You There” and how did it end up being the inspiration for your collection?

“Meet you there” started as joke in Barcelona 10 years ago. A bunch of homies and myself all went out there for a summer in 2012. We were staying at the D4 skate house with a bunch of homies and skating Saints everyday for like a week straight with Raul Navarro and a bunch of other OGs. So naturally as homies got burnt skating the same spot everyday, less and less people showed up to the session and started going to the beach or whatever. None of us had cell phones, so it was wifi or whatever you told the homie in the morning at the crib. So one day Ando coined the phrase “Meet you there” being all sarcastic and laughing while he said it. It stuck, it was like the joke of the trip for the next 2 months. Sometimes it wasn’t a joke we’d actually all meet up. Other times you knew the homie went to the beach and not to the session just off their tone of voice “yea sure I’ll meet you there”. We were filming for a FTC video at the time and it even got hyped up to be the name of the video. We went back to Barce every summer for like 5 years after that and different homies would link. Some would stay 2 weeks, some would stay 2 months. Homies always coming and going. We’d always meet up though wherever we went. My aunt works for the airlines and got me on her flights benefits, so with the cheap flights I was also meeting up with homies wherever I could. Anthony Claravall was always on trips and we were working on a video part. I’d call him up and he’d be like “I’m going to Japan for 10 days” I’d say “meetyouthere” it’s silly but it got us stoked to be traveling the world linking in new places. Since then I’ve just kept it going. Last summer during Covid I couldn’t fly internationally so I hit the road and camped my face off. Seemed perfect to bring 2 of my favorite things together for a color way. Thank you Andy Mueller, Aaron Hoover and Lakai for making it a reality.

What made you choose the two models you chose: the Cambridge Mid and the EVO 2.0?

I skate the Cambridge a lot lately so that just stemmed from that, but I wanted a mid so I threw that idea out there and lucky it worked and turned into the first Cambridge Mid we’ve done.

I got lucky with the EVO 2.0. When I told Hoover my outdoor hiking/skating idea and concepts for the color way, he was like “I’m working on these EVO 2.0s they would be perfect for that!” So it just naturally happened. Got lucky.

At what age did you start to travel the world? Who/what sparked your appetite for world travel?

I started traveling around the same time I started skating. When I was 14 my dad told me if I got good grades and had my own money I could go on any skate trips I wanted to with my friends. We moved a lot when I was a kid, moving around and being in new places was something I enjoyed early. Naturally with skating you end up hanging out with guys a lot older than you are. My Boise homies took me to Salt Lake, Vegas, San Diego, LA , and SF when I was 15. It was my first real skate trip. I was hooked ever since. That grew into traveling overseas and going on any skate trip I could. Having flights benefits too, that’s like giving bank robbers keys to the vault. I wanted to go everywhere and still do.

What are your top three favorite places you have traveled to?

Too many for just 3 but let’s say these places are special to me: Tokyo, Barcelona, and Rio de Janeiro.

What are your top three places you have not traveled to yet and are still on your list?

All of Italy, jungle safari in Kenya, and the Amazon Rainforest.

What does your ideal camping trip look like? Place, crew, necessary supplies?

I just did it with the Lakai squad for this shoe commercial haha. No honestly anywhere nature is providing rivers, lakes waterfalls, mountain views, wildlife. Yosemite has been fun lately. Anyone that enjoys the outdoors and preserving it. Whatever fits in my truck!