interview by Zach Moeller

What was it like growing up in Virginia? What are some of your earliest memories of skateboarding
Growing up in Virginia was awesome. It was something I took for granted when I moved away to Texas for a few years – once I left Virginia I realized how special it was. When I moved back, I was pretty hyped. My earliest memories of skateboarding would have to be when I was in elementary school. I had a friend at the time who was into skating. He’s kind of the one who got me into it. Then, up the street, this other kid that I knew got an Element board with Spitfire Big Head wheels and it was the first time I ever saw a real board. We’d all go to the skatepark together or skate those plastic launch ramps from Sports Authority. Ever since then I’ve been skating. 

At what point did you start going into DC?
My friends and I grew up skating Arlington skatepark, and around the time I moved, they started venturing off into the city to skate. When I’d come back to visit I’d tag along. Those were some of the best times for me. Everything was so fun, so new. The city seemed massive even though it’s actually pretty tiny. But when I was younger it was this huge new place to explore, being able to take the metro into downtown. I was probably 12 or 13. It was sick. Going to Freedom Plaza for the first time is still something I think about. There were so many people skating. It felt like the Mecca. I remember thinking “This is the place to be.” This was around the time I was first watching videos from Elijah Gordon and Nnamdi Ihekwoaba. I remember seeing Elijah’s video Transit and thinking, “Oh this is how you have to do it. You have to go downtown with your friends and just skate all day.” I took a lot of inspiration from that video. 

Who was your crew during this time?
My boys Blue Diba, Hunter Reynolds, Chris and Bobby Wells, these two brothers that used to skate, Ethan Romm, Zach Niess, Zack Brown, a bunch of guys I knew from the skatepark. Then when we started going downtown, that was when I met Will Polly. Polly and I became best friends. 

When did you first pick up the camera and get into filming? Do you remember your first set up?
I feel like I started filming skating on accident. When I was around 11, my aunt got me a camera for my birthday. That was what got me into it. It’s sort of cliche, but all of my friends were getting pretty good and I wanted to start filming them. The camera was a Sony Handycam with some janky fisheye. My dad had a TRV, so I’d also film with that. Then, around 12, I got a VX. From there I stuck with that camera. 

Fast forward a couple years and you start putting out your own videos. What influenced your style in those early days?
I was heavily influenced by Mindfield. There were a couple of East Coast independent videos, Outdated and The Meadowlands, that I also took a lot of inspiration from. Growing up I watched a lot of Diego Meek’s videos, Pyramid Country stuff, Daniel Dent’s videos. When I was younger I was really interested in Super 8 film and 16mm, but at that age I had no idea how to get into shooting with a Bolex, so I started shooting Super 8 film. That was what really stuck with me. I thought it looked so beautiful. There were a lot of videos that came out during this time that would get me hyped to skate. It’s like your brainchild making your own full length. I’d put a lot of emotions into my editing. I wanted to make something that looked as professional as possible and that captured a time and place. Sometimes it’s impossible to watch your own videos, it’s too nostalgic. I tried to make them sentimental at the time, featuring all of my friends I’d see every single day. It was really easy to do because so many people were out skating in DC at that time. 

Do you have a favorite video that you’ve put out?
That’s a tough question. I made a video in high school called Puerile. It was my first full length. I probably spent three years filming for it, starting when I was 13 and putting it out when I was 16. I’d say that’s my favorite. It’s not put together the best or anything, but my friend Timo who passed away has the first part in the video and it just captured such an interesting period of all of our lives. It almost feels like a coming-of-age thing, filmed during those first years of going downtown all the time, when we were learning how to act and what to do, or not to do. I hold Puerile closest for sure.

You ended up moving to California. What inspired the move out West?
When I was younger and thought about California, I’d always think “Fuck that, I would never move out there.” Just because everyone around me would tell me how I had to stay on the East Coast. I still think that Virginia and the DC area is the best place ever; every single time I travel I end up getting homesick. But I was starting to really get over the winters, they would bum me out so much. My friend Toby Bennett and I had thought about moving out there, so we went to L.A. to check it out. I stayed in Jordan Taylor’s basement, the Loosey little dungeon, with Toby and our friend Guy Azulay. Then I went down to San Diego and met a bunch of friends down there, like my friends Kyle Geldert and Noah Fayyazuddin. Right away I realized that I didn’t want to be in L.A. – I instantly gravitated towards my friends in SD. They welcomed me with open arms. Also, my whole family has history living out here in SD, so it almost felt like a Palumbo tradition that I would need to do. Maybe not forever, but for a little bit. 

How did you first get started working with different brands?
I’d film with Toby a lot, and he was getting boards from Steve Fletch at DOA at the time. Steve was the best, we used to talk so much shit together, and his opinions on skating really helped shape my thinking now. So I’d film with Toby for DOA edits and he’d send me boards. It was really sick. After that it transitioned to filming stuff for WKND, working on things here and there for Grant Yansura. But the first thing that I really worked on was Jason Nam’s part for Quasi. I was working on a homie video, but when Nam got on Quasi, the part we were working on pretty much changed into his Simulation part. That was the first thing that really happened for me. 

What are the main differences between working on your own projects versus working on one for a brand?
Making your own videos is the best. It’s like a passion project. You put a lot of time and thought into it, and it’s something that you’re usually really proud of. You can do whatever you want and there aren’t really any rules.

When you’re working for a company it can be different. There are people who oversee everything. Even just coming down to music, you have to get rights for everything. Everyone involved has to be happy. When you’re making an independent video you can be more selfish. When you’re working for a company you can’t really do that. You have to think about the greater good. 

Which is more stressful though? Can having that oversight free you from that pressure you might put on yourself?
I put way more pressure on myself when making an independent video. You’re more vulnerable, fully putting yourself out there. When you’re working for a company, you’re working collaboratively on a project. Even if a clip turns out different than anticipated, other people might still be really hyped on it. But when I’m filming my own video, if I don’t film a clip exactly how I pictured it in my head, I get super bummed out. It’s really nice working for companies. Asics has been super sick by letting me make my own videos with them. We worked on a full length where Jacob Harris led it working along with (Jake) Gascoyne, the creative director, and I helped out and filmed. But Asics will also be like, “We’re going out to this place and want to make a video out of the trip,” and Davis (Torgerson) and Kaspar (van Lierop) have been super cool about trusting the vision I have for the video and how I want it to turn out, letting me pick the music and stuff like that. Those projects can end up being just as stressful as the independent ones because I want to make them as good as I can, but they’re not just for me. They’re for an audience and someone else too. There’s definitely pressure when it comes to doing it all yourself, but when you’re collaboratively working on something it’s way less stressful. It’s pretty fun working with everyone. You can bounce ideas off of each other. When you make an independent video it’s a lot of alone time just thinking.

When did the opportunity to work with Asics present itself?
I could be fucking the timeline up a bit, but it happened through Rose Street Skateshop. Our friend Sean, the owner, knew those guys, and when Asics was first getting into the shop our friend Nico started getting shoes from Davis, the TM. When Asics first started posting on Instagram they would post these little minute long edits of people skating the shoes that would turn into shared posts between Asics and the shop. So me and Nico made one, and I guess that was my first thing I made for them, a little shoe ad for the shop. Living in North County San Diego we’re only about an hour and a half from L.A., so we go up there quite often to skate. Davis lives there, and we started hanging out. That’s kind of how everything happened. Skating with him, he kind of just brought me in.

What’s the best advice Davis has ever given you?
I stress and get into my own head a lot. I can get pretty nervous sometimes and get a lot of anxiety when I’m around new people. I definitely second guess myself. One thing Davis has always told me is “Just be yourself.” As basic as that may sound, it’s pretty great advice, and worked when I needed to hear it. That always makes me feel so much more confident.

You helped film A Guided Tour, Asic’s first full length. How was it being a part of that project, and what’s it like working with Jacob Harris?
Jacob’s the best, one of my favorite people, and incredible at what he does. I’ve always respected his work since I was a kid. Vase and Eleventh Hour were two of my favorite videos growing up. Getting to skate and film with him is always a good time. A Guided Tour was a really cool project. I kind of hopped on towards the end of it. Davis called me and asked me if I wanted to go to Japan in three days. That was my first time going out of the country – I couldn’t say no! That trip was the first one I went on to help with filming for the video. After that, I went up to L.A. a bunch to help film, and also went to DC and a couple other places. It was a lot of fun. Everyone on the team gets along really well. It’s usually the same crew for all of these trips, so everyone is close. It was an surreal experience. That first trip to Japan I could hardly wrap my head around. It was unreal.

Now it seems like you’ve been all over. What are some other places filming has taken you?
I went to Copenhagen Open and that was an experience in itself. Definitely a funny time. Another trip that was really sick was a road trip we did across the US filming red white and blue with Will Miles. Some of my favorite skate trip memories happened during that one, it was really fun. I just got back about a week ago from Sicily with Asics. That was pretty insane. We went to Hawaii where Dylan grew up. Being out there was beautiful and we managed to film a good amount. Oh, and Seattle! I’d always wanted to make it out to the Pacific Northwest. 

What were you recently doing in Marseilles?
I went out there with Jacob to work on an Atlantic Drift episode. We were there for a little bit over two weeks. It was one of the most fun trips I’ve been on. Our friend Victor (Campillo) is from there and helped show us around. His crew over there is great, they all came out skating with us every day.

Run me through your average day when you’re not traveling.
I try to wake up early and take a long walk. Then I see who is skating. Maybe go up to L.A. to work on Asics stuff with anyone who might be in town. If not that, then skating with my friends down here. We’re almost always working on something, which is exactly what I like to do. I don’t like staying inside much. Go skate, go film, edit at night. I didn’t sign up for classes these last semesters since I’ve been traveling so much for skating. So the average day is different from what it used to be.

How many hours a week do you spend editing?
It depends. I think it’s a really terrible habit, but if I’m working on a video I will trap myself in my room for a few weeks and do nothing but editing. For instance, with The Sound or red white and blue, all I did was edit for days. And I’m kind of a slow editor, or maybe I’m just bad at editing! For some reason it just takes me a while. So if I’m working on a video, the answer is hours. Right now I’m working on this little digicam video, recapping a few recent trips, but I don’t have too much to edit at the moment. There’s a couple of projects we’re working on, but it hasn’t gotten to the point where we have to put them together yet. 

What are you working on right now that people should keep an eye out for?
There’s another Asics video that we started working on. It’ll probably come out towards the end of the year. My friend Gavin has a part coming out that I filmed a lot of. Dylan Jaeb and I have a video part coming out. There’s a Quasi full length coming out that I have helped with. I don’t know, there’s a lot of things, but it’s not fully clear which direction everything is going. Things are moving and I’m always working on something. I also recently started working on another independent video that I would like to put out by the summer. 

I was told to ask – who do you think gave it all to the game?
Well there’s the obvious funny answer that our good friend Kevin O’Dell likes to say; Marc Johnson gave it all to the game. Personally though, I’d have to say Grant Yansura gave it all to the game. He filmed full lengths, spent so much time making his own videos, started his own board brand, and he’s still killing it even though he’s old as hell. He’s still putting out videos and filming fisheye and his back isn’t even hurting. It’s pretty insane. In all seriousness though, Grant’s a legend, and is really good at what he does. So much respect for the fact that he’s still filming and skating.

What’s the last video that you bought a hard copy of?
I just bought both of the Hockey videos a couple weeks ago. I try to collect DVDs whenever they come out. When Limo dropped Paymaster I bought that. And of course all the homie videos. I stay lurking on The Secret Tape’s website and eBay too. Oh, I also bought the VHS copy of BOBCBC. Now I just need a VHS player. Tom Morrison is a genius, Chad, Tubbs, Bill, everyone over there knows how to do things right. 

What’s the biggest misconception about the skate industry that you had as a kid?
When I was younger I viewed skateboarders as celebrities almost. Going to demos, these guys would seem like superheroes. As I got older and started to meet more of these people, you realize that they’re all just the same as you. We’re all just normal people. I could talk shit too though. There’s definitely people who deserve to be taken care of and certain companies will take advantage of them. There’s a lot of that if I’m being honest. 

Who are your favorite skaters from Virginia?
Jason Nam, Jon Rowe, Evan Gabriel, and my homie Toast. There’s probably a lot more I’m forgetting that I can’t think of at the moment, but Jason Nam is definitely my favorite skater. 

Let’s wrap this thing up. What’s next for you, and is there anyone you want to shoutout?
I’m going to Australia on this Asics trip in a couple of weeks and am really excited about that. There’s a lot going on this year, whether it’s with Asics or my friend group. I’ll be gone a lot, but it’s pretty exciting, which is something I never thought I’d say. But yeah, just skating and having fun with my friends. I’m so stoked that I’m able to do this right now. For shout outs: I really have the best parents in the world. I owe them everything. They’ve always supported me. All of my friends who have supported me in skating and put up with my shit. Davis, Grant, Tubbs, all those guys have given me a lot of good advice. They’ve really helped me out a lot.