Name? Age? Current Geographical location:

Ricky William Geiger III. I just turned 32. Philadelphia, PA.

You’re originally from Phoenix. Tell me about growing up there and getting into skateboarding.

Growing up in Phoenix was totally different from growing up here (Philadelphia). You need to have a car to survive. Before all that, I started skating because my sister’s boyfriend at the time. Todd McKay, who was sponsored by Powell and Axion. He was fucking shredding. I just thought he was the coolest dude ever. I’d never seen skating before. He’d come over and skate, and I eventually got a board from Cowtown and he kinda showed me how to skate/taught me some things.

My sister and him broke up, and then we never really skated again. I made other friends at school who skated and kinda started skating around my house. I had a fun box and a launch ramp. My dad got me a foot high faltbar for my birthday. He got it welded at some metal fabrication place. I couldn’t boardslide it or anything when I first got it. I was so pissed. I got frustrated so fast. My dad was like, oh, you’ll get better. You’ll get on it and adapt. The next day I was boardsliding it. Dude I learned how to ollie and 180 in the same day. Kickflip took a good year. That was the real tough one to figure out.

Did you play any sports growing up? Did your parents try and steer you in any direction?

I played all of the sports, except for football. I played soccer, baseball…that was my shit. But yeah, once I started skating that was all over. My parents were always super supportive of whatever I wanted to do, but my mom wasn’t that hyped when I broke my rib on my friend’s flatbar and couldn’t go to practice.

I’m glad I started skating in Arizona. I grew up with the best parks and ditch spots, but it was so fucking hot. That, and it was impossible without a car. We used to skate for miles to get to deck park and downtown.

What was your involvement with Cowtown?

I hung out at the shop every day. A little grom, skate rat kid that would hang out in the shop all day just watching skate videos, buying stickers. My whole life was about being at that shop and skating. I bought my first skate video, Welcome to Hell, from there. I thought they landed everything first try. I didn’t know how skating worked in videos. I thought everything was first try. At the end of the video with the slam section (with the flowers blooming and the fast motion), then I woke up. Skating is fucking hard. I’ve been going into Cowtown since I was 11. The owners Trent, Ed, Laura, big ups to them helping me out with everything. I entered my first contest and ended up winning. Then they put me on the team.

Did you skate a lot of contests when you were younger?

Not really. Maybe like a handful. I never really liked contests. Especially after my first Phoenix AM. I rolled my ankle mid-run trying to crook this rail. My ankle swelled up to the size of a grapefruit, and my dad had to carry me off the course because I couldn’t walk. I was kind of over contests after that.

Who are the Cowtown Cubs?

Our group of friends who grew up at Cowtown. We all ended up riding for the shop. Nick and Peter Trapasso, Josh Stinson, Tim Harris, Brandon Fitzgerald, there’s more but uh…we all grew up at the shop and started riding for the shop. One of the owners just said one day, Man, you guys are kinda like cubs.” From there it was born.

My understanding is that you had a turbulent upbringing.

It’s a huge part of my experience in Phoenix. I grew up in a really nice neighborhood until my parents split up. From there, I was bouncing around between my dad and mom’s apartment. The court system didn’t grant my mom custody, So I had to go live with my dad and his homewrecker. I hated that shit so much. I stole my dad’s bike and rode for 30 miles to crash with some friends. I ended up living there a couple of years. I was fucking up in school because I was just skating all of the time, probably just to forget about what was going on. When I was 18 my mother passed away and that was really fucking hard.

I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to understand how that feels.

I was a wreck for a long time, dude. It took me a while to bounce nack and realize that I needed to get my shit together. The beef between my dad has been squashed too. I love my dad, he”s the best dude. Everyone makes mistakes.

You seem like you’re in a really good place now. I’m sure the relocation helped you put that part of your life behind you. When did you move to Philadelphia?

2008 or 2009? I moved to Philadelphia for a change. I moved here with my friend Squirrel (Brain Lantz). I’ve always been a fan of East Coast skating. I fell in love with the East Coast after seeing Welcome to Hell. Maldonado, Kerry Getz. Seeing Underachievers, that really set the tone. That’s what inspired my move to Philly. Squirrel wanted to, my sister moved to Newtown, my dad was moving to NY full time.

I’m so glad I did it, because it helped develop my style of skating. I like how hard it is out here to get shit done. The weather, the people, the cars. When you get something it’s really meaningful. I like Philly because people will call you out right away. If you’re kookin it, they’ll let you know. No one really puts up with that shit out here. You’ll know where you stand out here.

Oh word, we moved here around the same time. What was that experience like?

Ah fuck. It was just crazy. Going from the desert to the gigantic city was pretty wild. We flew out here, and then went back to Phoenix. I came back with my dad in his Tahoe. Squirrel, I think he flew. Like we came here, visited, fell in love with it, went back to Phoenix, and were like, “Fuck it, let’s move to Philly.” It’s crazy how that was almost 10 years ago.

What’s the craziest experience that you’ve had here?

I saw a shootout in front of my house on 17th and Wallace when I first moved here. There was a shooting, and I think the dude died right on our block. That was pretty crazy. It was so loud. There have got to be couple other ones…maybe just seeing the crazy zombies around town. How much drugs are affecting the city. Prolly just the shootout I guess.

Do you think you’ll ever leave the city?

I’ve been thinking about it. Maybe trying out Washington state, or maybe Portland or Seattle. I think that would be sick. Go somewhere where it’s a little more pretty. To be one with nature again.

Do you want to talk about your experience as a “sponsored skateboarder”?

I think Cowtown first started getting me Axions. I got introduced to Joey Suriel at a contest. He put me on Fillmore Wheels, Axion, Royal Trucks, and Odyssey Backpacks. I got hooked up with Elwood Clothing too. All the Dan Drehobl parts were amazing. The first photo I ever had in Focus I had an Elwood button down on. Joey hooked me up with Diamond. I was fresh as fuck haha. I think I was also getting DC’s after Axion, and was rocking those forever. Jimmy Astleford hooked me up. Then one day I got a call from Trent and he was like, “Hey, Vern Laird is going to call you in a minute and ask what sizes you want for Listen.” I was trippin out after that. Getting boards from Danny Montoya and Rob Gonzalez was awesome. They came out and stayed with me in Phoenix for a week. We were staying at sketchy-ass Motel 6s, crack pipes under the bed and shit, but it was sick. I’ll never forget, one night I was falling asleep in the bed and Brian Brown said, ” Flow trash sleeps on the ground.” I got kicked out of the bed. It makes sense though. You gotta earn that shit.

Did they keep you in the loop at all? “Viajeros Locos” came out and then they were gone.

Nah, they just told me to film some shit for the video and that we would go from there. After the video it just died. Kids aren’t smart enough to realize that those dudes were the ones to be buying boards from. After I moved to Philly all of the sponsors kinda fizzled away.

What happened after Listen?

I got a call from Tombo at 5Boro about riding for them. I was like fuck yeah. Those dudes, Tombo and some of the 5Boro guys, came out to skate with the Listen guys in Arizona. That’s how I met Tombo and those dudes, but it wasn’t really going anywhere. They wanted me to come to NY more, and I didn’t really like going there that much. It’s overwhelming. I’d rather skate Philly. That 5Boro Philly edit that we made with Hern (Chris Mulhern) was amazing. It was such a fun time. They would all come stay with me when I lived out in West Philly.

So things kind of fizzled out with 5Boro too. Do you want to talk about that?

I got all the respect for these dudes. I just felt like I had to dip. It wasn’t working out. I love all those guys. Maybe I was getting greedy thinking I could just stay in Philly. It was kind of a dickhead thing for me to do. But I’ve always wanted to kind of do whatever I wanted to do. I don’t want to have to be forced to come up to NY to gain more cloutaround New York City. I just don’t give a fuck about that. I want to skate with my friend with the city that I’m in. Just cause I’m not coming up doesn’t mean I don’t like you guys. I’d just rather be here.

I work full time. I don’t have time to fuck around. I was getting to the point in my life where I gotta work and make money. I can’t be trying to do this skate life thing. I knew after Listen and even into 5Boro that I wasn’t meant to be a “career skater.” At the same time when I was younger, it was like, ‘that would be fucking rad.’ But life happens. I tdoesn’t always pan out to what you think it’s gonna be. It’s hard to come up, especially now. But now I’m skating with my friends, still having fun. It’s the best. I’m still doing what I love.

What are some of your inspirations? Art/skating/music?

Definitely my friends that I skate with (Walt Wolfe, Toly Bitny, Anthony Trivelli, Zach Sayles, Matt Cline, Dylan Pearce, Matt Militano). I like watching Quim Cordona footage, cruising around. And Erik Ellington. He’s got the bigspins, Quim’s got the Quimtimes (wallride nollie). Music, I really like listening to Adeodat Warfield. We were watching the Pyramid Country video. I like my roommate Matt (DJ Matpat)’s selection of house music. For art, I still draw a little. I haven’t painted in a really long time.

You draw a lot of faces and figures. How did your style develop to this way?

So I usually do a lot of eyes. The eyes are a big part of the faces that I make sometimes. I love drawing eyes because one of my first CDs was an Eli CD with an eyeball on the cover, with a squiggly line. Looked kind of Aztec inspired? I had some Salvador Dali books and posters growing up as well. Picasso and Dali inspired me a lot to draw and paint from my head. I don’t have the patience to do a super detailed looking, perfect person. I’d rather have a distorted figure with weird legs or something. I just like drawing from my head.

Word on the street is you used to dabble in graffiti?

I used to when I first moved here. I was not good at it. I put up a couple pieces that I’m pretty proud of, but then the fourth or fifth time I went to paint a face on an abandoned trailer in a dirt lot in South Philly, two under covers ambushed me. I ran from them, and then they caught me a few blocks away. I lost my bicycle that I had that night. The one guy hockey checked me into a brick wall. I weaseled away and ran a few blocks and then they caught up to me in their cruiser and tackled me. They cut my backpack strap off and proceeded to dump all my paint into the gutter. Fresh ass cans, I spent like $60 on all this paint. It was funny though, they were talking shit to me as I was handcuffed on the ground against the wall, they’re telling me I’m a piece of shit. I was just trying to be normal with them the whole time, keep my composure. You know, “sir, yes sir, thank you.” They caught on to me being polite, and started trying to be nice to me. They were like, “Oh that face you did was kind of cool looking. You should go paint that in North Philly. Don’t paint in South Philly.” I guess that was their territory. I went to court and got a slap on the wrist, since it was my first time. After that I was like, ‘dude, I’m a grown ass man. I’m already running from cops from skating. I can’t be fucking around with another dangerous and stupid illegal thing to do.’ I love the work that other people do, but I don’t think it’s for me. The juice ain’t worth the squeeze.

What do you currently do for work?

I work full-time as an art handler. It entails everything and anything that has to do with installing, packing, moving, crating, transporting artwork. We’re behind the scenes, no one really thinks about us.

So a museum or art dealer wants to move a piece of art…

And we get it where it needs to go.

What’s the most interesting piece you’ve had to move?

The most expensive thing we’ve had to mvoe was a Damien Hirst. I think it was the shark one (“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”). Dealing with that was interesting. Or maybe it was, uh, what’s that one artist’s name whose style is pretty wild? Kinda puts phalic drawings on his shit? The scale of his paintings are huge. It looks like little kid shit, but people love it. It was something like $40 million?

You’re always running all over the place. What are some of the coolest parts of the country your job has taken you to?

Florida is always interesting. That place is weird. I like Florida a lot. I’d say Taos, New Mexico, that place is really pretty. I just got back from Big Sky, Montana. We dropped a whole truckload of artwork off to this rich lady’s crazy house. Big Sky is big money development right now. It looks like a pop-up city. It’s super cool and pretty. We stayed in Bozeman, which is a cool college town. Hit some keggers haha.

Have you ever been tempted to just drive off in the truck and sell the work on the black market?

Yeah, I thought about it, but it would be kinda hard to get rid of artwork like that.

Tell me about your love for the Honda Ruckus.

Scootie gang! Well Nick Wnorowski got one, and I wanted to join the squad. ToTo (Anatoly Bitny) had a moped for a hot minute too. That got me sparked. I also needed some wheels to get around the city. I picked one up in Jersey.

How was your first time meeting Ricky Oyola?

There’s only one Ricky in Philadelphia, and that’s Ricky O. The first time I met him was out in front of Exit skate shop after a video premier. I introduced myself to him as Ricky, and the first thing he says back to me is, “Is that what it says on your birth certificate?” I said, “No, it’s Richard,” and he says, “Oh, that’s what I thought.” Ever since then it was like, alright, this dude is who everyone says he is. As I was leaving I was saying bye to everyone I say, “Later Ricky,” and he says, “Oh, later Richard.” Totally iced me. It was hilarious. He seems like a good guy. That’s my favorite experience meeting someone.

Is this the summer of Negronis?

Aperol spritzes and Negronis. Definitely riding that wave. Last winter was Hennessy. I was on that Henny wave. Hennything is possible.

Hennything can definitely happen when you drink Hennessy. What’s your negroni recipe?

It’s one oz gin, one oz sweet vermouth, with an orange peel garnish. You have to accentuate the garnish on the drink and serve it in a whiskey glass. You’re supposed to shake it, but I like to stir it.

That’s the opposite of James Bond. Any last words?

Shoutout to my dawgs. My sponsors, Municipal Skateboards, Exit Skateshop, Cowtown Skateshop, Hern for Adidas, Pusher Wheels…shoutout to everyone that hangs out with me. My girlfriend Emilia, love you boo.

Editors Note: Since this interview was published Ricky turned pro for Municipal Skateboards