Name:

Hometown:

Sponsors:

Alphanumeric, Organika Skateboards, Circa Footwear, ForceTrucks, Bones Wheels, 510 Skateshop

I’ll start by saying congrats on the Concrete Jungle video part. I can speak for everyone here at A#, when I say we enjoyed it thoroughly. Here is an array of questions just for you Mr. Ryan…

You just started a new quarter at UCSD right? What are you studying this time around?
Still just taking socially classes. Some are kind of dry, but some are super interesting. I’m taking this one right now on the sociology of Sexuality, and its really dope.

Do you take anything you learn from school and put it towards your skating?
Yes, like one time I took this physics class-discussing friction, and then I went out and could totally just do double hardflips and backside 540 kickflips on flat ground. It was weird…

So are you planning on storming any other college campuses to film video parts, or do you still have more in the works at UCSD?
Yeah dude, college campuses are the best! Girls walking around, new architecture along with old architecture to make for aesthetically pleasing scenery. Can’t go wrong. There’s still so many spot at UCSD too, and they keep building more. The bust factor has been at an all time high, but oh well. You can always work around it.

I know you’re an Obama supporter, what did you think of his inauguration speech?
I was so stoked! Got up early to watch that! I just wish I’d been there; the energy of that crowd must have been incredible. It’s just crazy that we have a president who can actually articulate his speech and sound eloquent when he talks. I’m super hyped!

Since you’ve dabbed your foot into the acting world, let’s go ahead and end this James Lipton style.

What is your favorite word?

Kook

Anything racist

A good video part, music, and good humor.

What turns you off?

Ignorance and hate. Or worse, the combination.

What is your favorite curse word?

Darn

What sound or noise do you love?

Grinding

What sound or noise do you hate?

The wrong kind of grinding

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Parkour

What profession would you not like to do?

Parking Ticket Man

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Damn, that last thing you did a minute ago was awesome!

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Interview:

Where did you grow up skating? I grew up skating in a small town in the Napa Valley called St. Helena. Tiny town, tinier skate scene, but somehow my homies and I kept skating everyday all the way up to high school. Once I got a car I would make weekend trips out to Oakland and stay with people from 510(the shop in Berkeley) and that kept skating fresh for me. The scene out there is dope.

You go to UCSD right? How do you like living on a campus full of dope skate spots and beautiful girls? I had no idea it was going to be so rad when I came down to San Diego. I basically moved down here just because it was the best school I got into from high school and my parents were really hyped for me to go to college. After a couple weeks of cruising around this place solo once I got down here, I knew it was gonna be an amazing couple years. This place is so big its like its own city with spots littered about everywhere. Holler at me if you wanna come skate, I’ll be your tour guide! Best spot in San Diego, with the added bonus of being able to look at or holler at all the beautiful girls walking around. What could be better than that?

Do you have any worthy stories about your college experience you would like to share, clean or dirty? Oh plenty of clean and plenty of dirty. Once you figure out how to avoid the bullshit Fraternity scene that exists everywhere and do your own thing, college can be a blast. Avoid the fake party nonsense and have your fun, you know? Just think about a place where thousands and thousands of girls are for the first time on their own and independent, looking for new adventures and experiences with little to no consequences to worry about. That’s all I gotta say. haha

What are you studying? I’m studying sociology and international studies. It’s a more well-rounded major that applies a lot of areas of study. I figure if I hope to be traveling the world, I might as well use an institute of higher education to gain some kind of added awareness and education that can be applied to traveling.

A lot of kids drop out of school to pursue a skating career, what are your thoughts on those decisions? To each his own, totally. I don’t feel like school or college is really necessary for everybody. A lot of people just don’t like school, it doesn’t work for them. Some of my best friends are drop outs or don’t go to college. And I totally respect that. School isn’t something that should be forced because I don’t think you’re really going to take anything from it if it’s something you don’t like doing. For me, I was always able to deal with school and do fine, crank out the work to get the grades, and just use every free moment I had to skate. My parents pushed school really hard and I respected them so I made school work. I feel like everyone should do what they feel capable of doing, and if you can manage to do both at the same time, why not?

How do you feel about being one of the first riders to get on the recently re-launched Alphanumeric Brand? I’m completely honored and humbled. I remember alpha being the SHIT back in the day, so being asked to ride for the relaunch was a complete honor. It just feels like a real skateboard clothing brand from seeing the office and meeting all the people involved. And the clothing is clean! They know skateboarding and they know what looks good. On top of that there’s an added conscientious message that is much needed in skateboarding.

What can we expect to see from you in the future? I’m gonna keep shooting photos and working on some interviews. I’m really excited to be working with everyone at Kayo on the first Organika video which I think is going to be an amazing project. The video should drop around Christmas and will showcase some creative and smooth flavored skateboarding for your viewing pleasure. Adelmo and Karl Watson? That’s all that needs to be said.

What other companies support your skating? 510 in Berkeley has always helped me out, C1rca has kept shoes on my feet, Force keeps me grinding and turning, Bones keep me moving, and Organika keeps wood under my feet. And I’m not gonna forget the parents for new sticks on Christmas and birthdays during the early days, with out that who knows.