I think this is probably true for a lot
of skaters is that like during high
school years and stuff I was such a
skate rat that I didn't talk to
any girls or like do anything but skate
I had no social life and I had no
anything else you get a little bit
established and skating and then and
then you get a taste of these things and
yeah it's rad like you kind of lose the
plot a little bit I lost the plot his
skating was a little more raw he could
do frontside air as he could skate pools
he could boardslide double kink rails it
had more of a like stylish rawness to it
like a really well-rounded Street skater
he kind of like really spread out I met
Spanky and probably 2001 I was skating
with Paul a lot and Mikey Taylor and he
was just part of that crew they were
neck-and-neck and it wasn't like one was
better than the other
Spanky without a doubt his future was
extremely bright
the team at Americo is kind of shaped
the guys coming up
I think Reagan was the one that kind of
like brought those kids up and brought
to our attention and force them on us
basically I look down and I first kind
of saw Spanky come around it was on
America we all lived it up in the
mansion the hills the America mansion
and it was him Herman and we dedication
I know it's kind of like they were the
new upcoming young kids those three kids
all came on tours with us we got to get
to know them really well at a young age
all he did was skate is just like little
skate buddy that was like his
opportunity to be in this big skate
video with Andrew and Edie and called
those guys that were like the top
America pro names at the time he was
towards the end of the video so he had
like one of the main standout parts
pretty like classic scenario of new kid
on the team just focused on skating
really wanting to prove themselves
he was brand new he was winning contests
he was like just this rad new skater
yeah I think during that time there was
less people and it was just it was
really important when somebody like that
came along you see more and more from
and then he you know wins tap a hammer
or something like that new like he's
gonna do great things
when I first met him I was kinda like
whoa like there he is that's that's
Spanky toy machine and like Baker and
like all these other companies probably
wanted him what's up with this kid we
want this kid I guess Dustin told him
there you don't have a choice you're on
Baker like that's just it yes so he just
put him on
he's just rip good kid he would be at my
house every day with Alex Olson and him
and he's a god father of my daughter
he's like part of my family and him and
Brian and all the kids are somewhere
between like a brother and a kid okay
I think I've been lucky over the years
because Baker in America those are
companies that are like really invested
into like the integrity and like passion
of skateboarding yeah you get older and
people want like Johnny schmoes new
shoes and that's what they're gonna pay
for and they want the snapback caps and
whatever and then the company they still
want to like support you because you've
brought all this stuff to them over the
years and so I think it's about coming
together and doing as much as you could
do for them and like if you want to have
that entitlement then you have to still
be doing cool
after this escape boarding was Baker 3
and that's like when he started partying
and he would just disappear for a while
out to New York when we were working on
Stay Gold I watched his Baker 3 pardons
like oh man this parts great he's
killing it but at the time it was like
everybody kind of thinking like oh he's
slipping I enjoyed partying with him I
think it was like Andrew or heard like
Justin Regan called him up and was like
you need to get on a plane and come home
and finish your video part
he started off really strong with Stay
Gold and we were going out every day
there was that frontside flip over the
rail
Burbank middle school that was one thing
I remember feeling like oh that could be
his last trick and that would be really
good for his part and yeah he never got
it towards the end of the project I
probably put a little bit of pressure on
him it's true ah that's when he was
partying a while and it was kind of like
dude you need to chill out a little bit
and try to focus you're sitting on a
great part let's just wrap it up
he saw everyone's potential and I wasn't
on top of my and so it made it made
it pretty hard it's almost like uh in
school when you're doing just to
like get the grade even if he tried a
trick and didn't get it he would kind of
like celebrate just for trying it was
like dude it's rad it's cool to see you
out there and hating but you didn't land
the trick so maybe you should hold off
on celebrating for a little bit
that'll make
kevin is extremely likable he's
extremely funny and likeable everybody
wants to hang out with him he was just
being pulled in every direction like
come hang out here come hang out here
we're gonna do this it didn't become
more important than skating but it just
it kind of pushed skating back he had a
shoe he had like you know he was Pro he
was on top of the world so you know like
I feel like he kind of you know I think
he could rationalize it hot
this is skateboarding all he did was
skate this happens with a lot of skaters
they come out with a good video part
they're stoked because they get a lot of
attention from it celebrate some skaters
focus and get back into skating and
others will just continue to celebrate
I can do being a pro skater is weird you
kind of create your own world and your
own rules where's your older sisters at
man that kind of freedom it can get out
of control really quick or it can get
out of control
in a very slow way it just got to the
point where he kind of just found a way
to not you letting it all out
we're on a good one we're drinking all
day you guys woke up and went to a
cowboy bar some we get back
to his house we were both like laying on
the ground her around
lighting each other on fire I just
lit them and this one just went
that one thing right there can change
someone's life