Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Ryan Sheckler “Lifer" Video Part interview
Three years in the making, get the scoop on Ryan’s latest video part and why he’s more motivated now than ever.
Everyone has their own origin story, a specific set of personal influences that have inspired them as far back as they can remember all the way up to present day. Ryan Sheckler is no exception, and while learning more about his origins, his story unfolded to explain that he was destined to skate big obstacles and push skateboarding further based on what he was molded by at a very young age. Having a household board at his fingertips, and Toy Machine’s “Welcome to Hell” on deck in the neighbor’s VCR would inspire Sheckler to get gnarly from the very beginning, and he’s never strayed from that path. Read on to find out where Sheckler first discovered that drive, and what keeps him pursuing those massive spots along with all of the highs and lows of construing these clips into memorable video parts that have made him a Lifer.
Ryan Sheckler performs a backside kickflip at Red Bull Drop In Tour
© Anthony Acosta / Red Bull Content Pool
Let's talk about your origins because we know you've been skating and have been documented since a very young age. Who were your earliest influences and how did you get that first skateboard?
Ryan Sheckler Ollie over a rail in Riverside
© Tim Aguilar
The fact that your dad skated and had the board in the garage that you were able to hop on that as at age two is remarkable. How did that early influence and exposure, help foster your talents for skateboarding?
I think other people thought maybe I was talented, but for me I was just in love. I don't know if it was really realizing that it was a talent. I just realized that I could do it. I don't think I knew what talent was, dude, I was so young. I was so young that I didn't know what talent meant. I didn't know anything except that I felt good on a skateboard, and I could keep up with the kids in the neighborhood who were four or five years older than me. When they would all get together and start skating around, I could keep up. And when they started Ollieing off the curb, I started rolling off the curb. I was trying to figure out how to do that. Where I really felt free was when we built a launch ramp and so I didn't really have to Ollie, I could just go really fast, and I could get air. And that's where I really fell in love with skateboarding from that freedom of the takeoff of the ramp until I hit the ground again. That's where I started obsessing about it and I just wanted to get more and more air. We had a trampoline, and my dad was always picking us up and launching us in the air and then catching us. That free fall feeling of coming back down can either scare you or excite you. And it excited me, and I loved that, and I wanted to find that feeling on a skateboard. And then that's kind of why I started skating down drops. I loved going fast.
Do you remember the first sessions where you were being filmed? Was your dad filming you and your brothers when you were first starting? Take me back to some of those early memories of the first time you had the camera pointed at you.
Yeah, I think it was mostly just like back in the day there was C.A.S.L, (California Amateur Skateboarding League) and it was huge bro, that's where you went to skate as an amateur. It wasn't on the internet; it was just a word of mouth through the skateboarding community. That's how tight the community was. And we were going to these events, and I was skating in the minis class. I think I was 5 or 6 years old. And we would film, you know, my dad had a video camera and my mom and they would take turns and, and they would film us skating. And we knew, I knew too from a very young age that street skateboarding was like a thing, you know, I had already seen some videos, I'd seen Mouse and I'd seen Welcome to Hell and I saw the skaters I looked up to were in the streets. From back then I do have a video. I don't know where it is, I've been trying to find it for years now. It's somewhere, it's archived.
From back then I do have a video. I don't know where it is, I've been trying to find it for years now. It's somewhere, it's archived. But I have a video part that I did skating in underground parking garages, and down some stairs and it's set to a Metallica song. I’m probably 6 years old, and it's my first like street video. But that's where we were really filming, and we would film competition runs and go back and watch them at night and try to see how I could do something better. I've always been obsessed, being meticulous with my runs and even from a very young age. So yeah, I think I started getting filmed, probably when I was 6 years old. I’ve been being filmed skateboarding my whole life.
Ryan Sheckler poses for a portrait in Durham, NC on April 24, 2021
© Zorah Olivia / Red Bull Content Pool
You've got to unearth that early video part to Metallica skating those undergrounds. Since you were documenting the contest runs, and you were filming street skating, what was the first video that was produced that you had clips in? Was it a 411?
I think I had clips in a 411, maybe at Tampa Am. I think it would've been skating at Tampa. The first time I ever skated at Tampa, I was seven years old. So, I think there's clips from that. That might have been the first time I was ever in a video. And then I got on, etnies, and Oakley right when I was at seven, turning eight. So, I started doing some clips for them. Yeah, I'm not too sure that's a, that's a good question. I didn't ever even really think about that. But yeah, I was definitely in a 411, at 7 or 8 years old.
That means the world when you're that young, or really at really any age, to be in something produced and see your name in the credits, or you pop up in a montage. It really just sparks you to keep wanting more, right?
Yeah, it does. It definitely motivates you and fires you up to see yourself skating with Kareem Campbell, Eric Koston, all these dudes that are in this video, whether it's in the same part that you're in or not, it doesn't matter, it’s the collective whole. And that was always why skateboarding was so sick, before the internet was like if you were in a 411, you made it! That was all that you cared about, and that was all that mattered. You were there, you were in the scene.
Ryan Sheckler performs an ollie gap to drop at the Red Bull Drop In Tour
© Leo Rosas / Red Bull Content Pool
That video was hardwired into me, into my style and into how I approach skateboarding.
So beyond being in a montage, what do you feel the significance of a video part is, and how has that evolved since you were first making a name for yourself?
Well, it's just evolved in the fact that it's super accessible now. You can watch any video part you want at any point in time, as many times as you want to without any rewinding. You literally just click back and you're watching that trick again. So skateboarding being on the internet has been gnarly, it’s super accessible. But back in the day it was not like that dude, you had to wait to see the video, you had to have a friend that had a VCR. It was hard to find the VHS’s. You had to wait to get the magazines, you had to go to the skate shop to see the magazines, right? You had to do a lot more work to see what was happening in skateboarding. And I think that's why it was so special. Not to say it's not special now, it's just a lot more accessible.
Agreed. Do you have an all-time favorite video? From any era.
Yeah. I do have my all-time favorite and that still remains to this day because it was so gnarly, it's the one video that made me feel a certain way that made me feel like this is what I want to do. And also I really loved the fall section. I loved seeing (Toy Machine’s) “Welcome to Hell.” You know, like that video for me, I saw it as such a young kid, which is kind of crazy, you know? And I don't think my parents were stoked. My parents definitely were not stoked that I like snuck to the neighbor's house to go watch it. It was like we found Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket when that VHS showed up on Bonanza, which used to be my street I lived on, when that video showed up on that street, it was game over bro. All of a sudden, nobody was outside. We were huddled around the TV watching this video. And my favorite part of the video, obviously all the skating was incredible, but my favorite part was when the flowers start to bloom. Yeah, it's the falls, it's all the slams. That's what made skateboarding super real to me. It made me know that, okay, these guys are pros. These are the guys we want to be, but they're slamming. Right? Like they're falling just like us. And that's totally a part of it. And that's kind of where that's kind of what switched in my brain was like, oh okay, I don't have to land everything actually I don't have to land everything. I can just land it one time all the falls happen beforehand. I was 7 or 8 years old when I saw that. And that was the catalyst for me. I had already broken my arm too, and when I saw that video and was like, oh yeah, it's on.
That video was hardwired into me, into my style and into how I approach skateboarding.
Ryan Sheckler Frontside Flips a step up in LA
© Tim Aguilar
What's a personal favorite part of yours and how do you feel it's aged?
I think one of my most pure parts where I was just absolutely just frothed up on skateboarding and the opportunity, and where I was at in my life was Almost “Round Three.” To be included in Almost Round Three for me was like history in my own life. To be in the same video as, Rodney Mullen and Daewon Song was huge. But at that time, Cooper Wilt and Chris Haslam and Greg Lutzka, those guys took me under their wing, especially Chris Haslam. I love Chris Haslam, still to this day. He influenced my personality and who I am on a skateboard more than he'll ever know and more than I've ever really talked about. But he gave me a shot, dude. I was like his little brother. You know, back in those days too, dude, I was skating with Paul Machnau so much bro. And Machnau showed me what it looked like to skate big rails with a 100% commitment. I'll never forget going on sessions with Machnau and going on trips with him and Gailea Momolu too. I skated with some rad dudes when I was coming up that really shaped how I skate and who I am today. I attribute a lot of that to the Almost Round Three days for sure.
Do you have a particular trick that gets referenced year after year? Whether it's your peers or fans that bring it up on a regular basis.
At the end of Round Three I ollie this huge gap at, I think it's Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. It had never been done, and that one was crazy for sure. I've had a few tricks in Digitals, Bill Weiss’ movies that he used to do. There was like a backside flip in in Newport off of Coronado Apartments that gnarly for me at the time. Obviously, the Costco kickflip has become something of Legend, and hopefully in this video part that's coming out a couple of my last tricks will live the same way.
Ryan Sheckler Backside kickflip in Denver's Hook
© Tim Aguilar
What do you think are the pros and cons of having signature tricks?
A lot of what I like to do is just a different style of a kickflip. And I think kickflips are so timeless, and part of the DNA of skateboarding. I think everyone does kickflips differently and they have their own style to ‘em. I just love the way that trick feels. And some spots are so big that that's really all you can do there. And if you find a spot where nobody's kickflipped it and it's been around for 50 years, there's a reason. And if you can get that trick there, it's dope dude. It's a part of skate history.
Do you have the mindset that if you can Ollie it, you can kickflip it?
Yeah. Normally I do, but then, I look at like the Lyon 25 that Jaws had the melon grab down and he had to ‘cause the board will not stay on your feet that long. So, do I think that thing's kickflippable? I don't know. Kickflip melon maybe, but only by Jaws. I don't know what this next generation is gonna be capable of doing or the impacts of the technology, especially in the shoes and the soles that people are wearing, or the knee braces or whatever. I don't know what is gonna be possible. And to be honest with you, I'm super stoked that I'm at this point in my career, at this level and have done what I have done in skateboarding because competing with these youngsters coming up right now, it’s not ideal bro. These kids, and this generation of skateboarding, even the OG’s man, it's skateboarding is crazy technical, and crazy advanced. Things that I didn't think were possible are being done as warmup tricks for Instagram right now.
Ryan Sheckler Melon grab out of a ditch in Denver
© Tim Aguilar
We think a lot of your peers now, and current pros a generation or two older than you, when you first came on the scene they had to be thinking, “What’s this kid doing? He's so young and he's small and just charging!” Now you’re a veteran pro that still has a lot of skateboarding ahead of you, but you're looking at this up-and-coming generation wondering what they think is possible.
It's just nuts. Right? It's where skateboarding is now, the number of kinks in rails that kids are doing now. It's not even, “How big is the rail?” It's how many kinks, you know? I remember at the end of Welcome to Hell, it’s obviously super slow motion, but when Jamie Thomas is like grinding that flat bar forever…
Through the entire credits to Santana.
Yeah. It just seems like forever because it was. That was baffling to me. And now, it's like those are warmup tricks dude. Tricks I've had in my parts that I was so stoked on, kids are going and doing just for fun at the same spots. Which is fun, and flattering, but also really gnarly to think about.
Yeah, we agree. When you look back at your parts, and the parts that are still to come, how important is the relationship between the skater and the filmer and editor?
Oh, that's the key, right? That's the key. If I don't trust my filmer to see my vision or to see or know how I skate, or if they’re not cool, funny, or have a good vibe, with good energy, it doesn't really motivate me to skate. Then, there’s other times where it's so serious that I'm not really talking to anybody. Times where I'm showing up and I'm trying to get this thing done. What it is reading the room, right? Can you read the room as a filmer?
And then obviously the relationship with the editor has to be very much the same. Where he knows who you are, he knows what you're about, he knows your lifestyle, he knows what you believe in, what you don't believe in, and can kind of tailor a part to have a feeling. Video parts are all about a feeling, right? Like there's a dime a dozen parts that yes, they are gnarly, and I watch all of them. I'm a skate nerd. I watch all the video parts. Do I know the names of everybody? I don’t, but I watch the skateboarding, right? Cause I'm trying to feel something, and if your part makes me feel something, then I'm invested in you. If I see your part and it's super gnarly, but it's got no character, it's not that I didn't like the part, it's just I'm not gonna really remember what I saw. You know, there's gotta be a feeling, there's gotta be a vibe and you have to feel a certain way when you watch something.
Sheckler Boardslides across & down a rail in Puerto Rico with Ira filming
© Tim Aguilar
And beyond just the tricks, how do you feel the song factors into the overall feeling you get from a video part?
I think the song is huge. I think the song, and obviously the lyrics don't have to be synced up with what you're feeling, but the tone, the tone of it, where the high beats in the song are playing should be correlated with where some of the high points in your video part. It's really hard to find the song that matches your personality, especially at that moment because, I could be a different person now than I am in two years. So in that period of time, I want that song to still have the same feeling and still same vibe as who I am. So the song we picked for this part is pretty dope. And it's, it's different from what you've heard in a lot of my previous parts. You know, I normally skate to like Guns N Roses or something a little bit faster paced. But this song has a lot more soul to it.
Did you know the artist, or did you find the song and it just fit well with the skating and the feeling you set out to accomplish with this part?
I didn’t know the artist. My buddy, David Reyes sent me this song and was like, “You need to check out some of the songs by this artist.” And David’s one of the dudes that I trust the most in skateboarding, period. And he knows me and he knows my life story and what I'm about and he knows a lot more than a lot of people cause I let him in cause that's my bro. And yeah, the song “Pleasant Street,” he was like, “Man, this speaks to me, and this speaks like about you. You should listen it a few times in a row and try to envision your part to it, and let me know what you think.” And I started listening to it, and I knew right away, I knew immediately that that was the song. And that's the beauty of skateboarding too, my bros are looking out for me and like, “Hey bro, I don't know what it is, but this song reminds me of you and your skating and, and it totally works.”
Ryan Sheckler skates in Durham, NC
© Zorah Olivia / Red Bull Content Pool
My skate career has just been such a wild, epic ride and it's nowhere near over.
Who are some of your favorite filmer and editors to work with? Who are some others you might just admire from a creative standpoint, and is there anyone you're still hoping to work with?
Oh man. I respect Dave Wang, Ewan Bowman, Ira (Ingram), Mike Manzoori, Hoops (Mike Aldape). Would I love to work with Ty Evans? Of course, that would be dope. I've had the opportunity to film with so many incredible filmers, Bobby Bils, Ricky Bedenbaugh, TJ Gaskell. I've had the opportunity to work with all of these guys and I love them all.
That's a strong list and they've all made their impact. Working with that list of filmmakers is nothing short of incredible.
I've got to work with all of them, it's just been a blessing. My skate career has just been such a wild, epic ride and it's nowhere near over.
Ryan Sheckler with Ira Ingram in Durham, NC on April 22, 2021
© Zorah Olivia / Red Bull Content Pool
What do you consider to be the most important skate video of all-time? It could just be the most important for you, it doesn't have to be for the evolution of skateboarding. If we had to guess, it sounds like “Welcome to Hell” would be near the top of the list, if not number one.
Yeah, it would be, it would be at the top of the list. But you know, there was a video this that was really personal to me. When Paul Rodriguez did a solo video, I think it was called “Me, Myself and I,” and it was just him. It was just him skating and ripping, and that's at the top for me as well.
His solo Plan B part, right?
Yeah. That did something for me, and showed me you can make a solo album. I never even knew that was possible.
Gustavo Ribeiro, Felipe Gustavo, Ryan Sheckler and Margielyn Didal
© Anthony Acosta / Red Bull Content Pool
What are your thoughts on the team project versus a single part, or as you were starting to say a solo album?
They're both necessary. Sometimes the team aspect is epic and that's what you want. Sometimes I think as skateboarders we get so focused on an idea that we don't know how long it's gonna take. So, we don't wanna hold anyone else up. And that's speaking for me personally, this Red Bull part I wanted to do after being a part of “You Good?” I knew that I wanted to do something, but I didn't want to have the pressure of being the last one to film something or being done first. Selfishly in a sense I needed it to be my own project so that I could get it done the way that I needed to get it done. I think they're both very important. I think the team vibe is absolutely important. And I think if you are so inclined, and you feel a certain way and you have a vision that you should do a project yourself as well.
Do you have any plans for a Sandlot Times video project?
Yeah. We're working now that this project's done, we have some cool things in the works with Sandlot, some cool announcements coming up too. That project will be the follow up to this Red Bull part. I have already visions of what I want the Sandlot one to look like and how I want that to feel. We just gotta start filming.
What's the foundation for you for a strong video part?
The feeling. The foundation has to be that this dude is going for it, and you can tell as a skateboarder. I just think it's a feeling, and I want to feel like the guy I'm watching is invested in in his craft.
We know for this Red Bull part, some of your strategy was to get some of the heavy stuff out of the way early. Did it work? We know that approach also has its own set of risks and heard you were injured early on, that clip in San Diego that ended up resulting in knee surgery. And, we're really curious to know about the surgeon you have on call. How do you arrive at that? We know it's a lot of years of necessity, and not wanting to wait to be seen, then start the long recovery process.
Yep. You know, after our first two surgeries I was like, “Hey, I need your phone number.” and the Doctor, Warren Kramer, he was like, “Yeah dude, sure, here's, here's my number.” And he’s from San Clemente and so am I, it's a small town, you know?
Yeah, it's been a super helpful to call him immediately and be like, “Hey dude, I just tore something in my knee for sure. Can I come in?” And he says, “Yep, I'll see you in the morning.” So, we arrived at that out of pure necessity, and thank God.
Ryan Sheckler
© Atiba Jefferson
Do you have any good luck charms or any rituals when you're trying something heavy? Do you have any routines on a session where you must go through the paces to make yourself commit?
I just pray, dude. I just pray to Christ. I just try to make sure that Jesus is at the center of the session, and that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And that’s really all I do. I just pray. I pray and hope to be able to do what I'm there to do.
Who are some of your current influences when you're looking at all this content that's at our fingertips? Are there a certain group of peers you're checking for new footage from, or do you revisit old stuff to get motivated?
I kind of just watch skateboarding, dude. I'll tap into Thrasher on YouTube, and I just start watching, and I just kind of let it just play into the next video and then the next video I just watch skateboarding. Just trying to see what people are doing. I watch older video parts. I'll watch anything that's skateboarding, you know, it doesn't really matter to me. If it's skateboarding, I'll watch it. I’ll watch the contests. I'll rewatch older events, tour videos, demo videos. It doesn’t matter to me dude, I just wanna see skateboarding.
Do you feel a well-crafted video part will do more for your career than a contest placing or even a series of contest placings?
Yeah, I do. I do because it lasts forever, bro. The contest clips will last forever, maybe a winning run will last forever, but at the end of the day there's another contest that next month. I'm not saying contests are not important. I made my career off of contests for sure. I've been there when it was different. You had to tune into TV at a certain time to watch it. And then it was definitely not on the internet to watch immediately after. There were no Instagram warm up clips posted on video. Everything was filmed on tape that had to be edited. Contests were different back then; it was a different vibe. Contests nowadays are very in your face, you can see 'em and whenever you want, and it's you know, what everybody's doing at practice (via social media) and I kind of wish that you didn't get to see practice and I kind of wish the judges didn't get to see any of the practice before the contest.
I wish that the judges would had to show up on the day of the event and could not sit down until the contest started so that they were surprised and they didn't get to watch three days of everyone's gnarly bangers.
That’s a pretty astute way to update modern contests where the judges aren’t able to watch practice and they’d have no preconceived knowledge of what's about to happen on that particular course.
I'm talking about the skaters too. I don't think skaters should be posting anything from practice at all. But that's me personally. I'll probably get some flack for that. But if you really think about it, you're taking away the excitement and the wonder of what that event is gonna be. If I'm sitting at home and I'm watching these dudes and I see every single trick that they're doing beforehand, why do I want to go to the actual event to see it? I already know what they're gonna do. I'd rather be super shocked, like little kid surprised when I get there and the judging is just super close because they haven't seen anything and they're actually shocked by what's going on.
Ryan Sheckler with his wife and daughter
© Atiba Jefferson
I've been very blessed, and I'm so stoked and I love my wife and I love my kid, and I love skateboarding, so I just balance it all.
That's an interesting take. At this stage in your life as a married man, a father, a company owner, and a veteran professional, where do you get the drive to overcome the injuries and continue to push yourself and how do you manage the time to keep all the responsibilities running smoothly?
I'm just obsessed. That's really what it comes down to. It's an obsession of the mind and of the body. My wife is dope, and my child is dope, and my child's not old enough to know that this is what dad does for work. But my wife does know that this is what I do for work, and she is beyond supportive and understands and gets what's going on. And if I didn't have that, it would be very tough. If I had a wife that didn't understand that this is what I do, that would be very tough. But I've been very blessed, and I'm so stoked and I love my wife and I love my kid, and I love skateboarding, so I just balance it all. It just naturally balances because my head is in the right place.
Ryan Sheckler Kickflip Tail Drop in Encinitas
© Tim Aguilar
What would you say your proudest moments or greatest achievements were from this part? Do you have any personal NBDs or victories that stand out?
Not one specific thing. I think this video is not about just one trick. It was about the whole, the entirety of the part. That's what I'm most stoked on. Just that it got finished and was done in a way that I'm happy about it. But do I ever think a project's finished? I don't. I still am thinking about other tricks, so it's not like you finished a part and you stop thinking about skateboarding. I posted that tail drop kickflip at Encinitas City Hall on my Instagram, and there was one comment that really stuck out and it just said, “Encinitas, thanks you.” I don't know why that hit so different. It is probably just because a lot of the crew that was there that day, I didn't know a lot of people that were there, but there were a lot of people there and they were invested in that trick with me. But, yeah, this part's done, but if you gave me another year, could I add to it? For sure.
Well, and that's the beauty of it. It never ends. So even when one project wraps, you're already thinking about the next one. What does the phrase “Lifer” mean to you and how did you arrive at that title for this project?
We just arrived at it just because that's what I do. I've just been skateboarding for my whole life. I'm a lifer, I'm a lifer in this thing. Without sounding cocky, I think I've made it to a point in skateboarding where skateboarding acknowledges that I'm here, so I'm a lifer. That's what I do.
Ryan Sheckler’s “Lifer” video part and “Rolling Away” film releases July 28th on Red Bull TV.
Ryan Sheckler "Lifer" and "Rolling Away" posters
© Red Bull
