What were you up to in Las Vegas?

My mom went there with her sisters, so my girlfriend and I figured we’d drive up for a day to visit since we live in Huntington Beach.

Did you gamble?

Yeah, I just played the penny slots. I spent like a total of $5. Went up to $7 then back down to zero.

Are you from Indiana or Ohio?

I was born in Cincinnati, but my parents moved to Indiana when I was born. So I’ve lived in Lawrenceburg, IN my whole life before I moved.

What was it like growing up skating around there?

My friend Cody Heill and I grew up skating together, and he lived right down the street. He has been one of my dudes from the very beginning. But for a while, we had different friends here and there from like age 11-14. During that time, I’d go to Skatetopia out in Ohio with my friend Morgan on the weekends when his dad would take us. It’s that real gnarly anarchy punk place. Eventually Cody and I started hanging out more again. Then, we heard there was a skateshop opening in Lawrenceburg – that’s how we met Joe Hughes.

Who is he?

The shop, Blacklist, is all Joe. He’s the man, and was always nice to us when older guys probably weren’t. Also Joe was the king of S.K.A.T.E, nobody could beat him. A lot of the desgin stuff will come from our friends and artists we know though. Blacklist actually used to be called X.W.P, or Xtreme Woodworking Products, like way back in the early 2000s. Joe worked there for a bit, bought it, and rebranded it to Blacklist sometime between 2004 to 2006.

In addition to the shop, are there any good parks in the area that influence the scene?

In Ohio, there’s Local Skate Park, which is a pretty small indoor park inside an old car garage. Then there’s Ollie’s in Kentucky. That one’s huge, so it kind of blew my mind the first time I went there.

Were you a park kid?

Usually I went to parks on the weekend since we had to get one of our moms to drive us. Instead, Cody and our little crew would make our own ledges. One time we got two buckets and nailed these 2x4s along with this thin coping. It wasn’t very good, but at the time it was the best thing.

Did you make regular trips to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, or Louisville?

I lived right across the river from Cincinnati, only a 30 minute drive. We would mostly go to Cincinnati, sometimes Louisville, but not so much Indianapolis. But yeah, back then we’d skate Cincinnati once a week because my friend’s mom worked there, so every Thursday she dropped us off by her work. It’s a big bust now, but the P&G building had a bunch of marble ledges, granite slabs, and manual pads.

What made you move to Huntington Beach?

My girlfriend got a job in California. We asked a couple friends, then all moved a month and a half ago. But I’ve been on multiple skate trips out west before, and every time I came home I’d wonder why I was even going back.

Do you have any advice for skaters in the Midwest thinking about moving to either coast?

Make sure you have some ducks in a row because it’s very expensive. Save up.

How did you end up on Hella Cool?

When I was 20, I got out of trying to finish college. I also felt like I had to put skating on the back burner too. I was thinking about just joining the military, but there was a block party Blacklist hosted, and James Kelch came promoting his new company. I was just skating the bowl, then he came up to me asking if I wanted to ride for him. That was almost 5 years ago.

You were just ripping a bowl at this block party then he put you on?

It was the first and only time I’ve done this, but I was airing over my friend as he was grinding underneath me, both of us going frontside. I’d air straight up, then come back in behind him. That’s how James and I started talking was over that, so I guess it stoked him out.

Got any good stories from hanging out with James Kelch?

Pretty much whenever I hang out with him we just walk right into events, and no one questions it. I’ve seen dudes freak out asking him to take pictures. During the Chicago stop for the Stay Flared tour, we had breakfast with a bunch of those dudes. Seeing James and Mike Carroll hang out after 10 years was like two brothers seeing each other after a long time.

Are you pro for Hella Cool?

Yeah, but I don’t enter pro contests or anything. Kelch just wanted to put my name on a board. He gave me royalties for the first couple boards that came out, but after that it was a mutual agreement, like it’s just for fun. I think that was his goal, to just get me more amped on it. Like I said, when I first got on Hella Cool, I was days away from signing papers to join the military. But he was like, “Is that what you wanna do? You’re good at skating, I think you should keep pursuing this.” He opened the door of skateboarding back up for me.

Is there too much skating posted to Instagram?

It can definitely be washed out sometimes. It’s not that bad. Everyone is just trying to figure it out ya know? But Instagram can definitely influence someone to change their style just because of how it looks on someone else.

Do you want to thank anyone?

My friends and family, Joe Hughes and James Kelch, and everyone I grew up skating with for pushing me and having fun.