Kindred Spirits

Interview and Photography by Steve Mullholand

Words by Zachary Dubasik

 

 

Rob Dyrdek and Chris “Big Black” Boykin aren’t your average reality stars. For one thing they are actually likeable. And even nice. Instead of watching them to see a trainwreck in the making, they make you want to tune in each episode to spend some quality time and share some laughs as if you were old friends.

Rob and Big are so much more than reality stars though. Dyrdek, an Ohio native, has been a star in the skate scene for over 15 years. After turning pro at the age of 16, Dyrdek has gone on to become one of the most influential skaters in the industry. Not willing to just be a great skater, Dyrdek has kept busy with projects such as building and designing skateparks, and working to bring more legal street skateboarding spots across the country. Big Black’s breakthrough into the skate industry came in 2003 when he was hired to shield Dyrdek from security guards in The DC Video. His 400-plus pound, 6’6” frame, and background as a bodyguard provided the perfect tools for this role. A clothing line and New Era collection have been hits as well for the Mississippi raised star.

Not only are Rob and Big making waves in the TV, skate and clothing worlds, they are leaving their marks on the sneaker scene as well. After joining up in 1995, Dyrdek’s DC Shoes endorsement has played a key role in growing the brand into the success they have become. For some, a simple endorsement deal may have been enough, but not Dyrdek. He then went on to design not only his own signature models, but many other popular DC models as well. Big Black is taking his own shot at sneaker glory with his very own Double B brand, which he is developing and promoting. This new, affordably priced brand is set to launch this holiday season.

With the third Season of Rob and Big launching in November, the happy family of Rob, Big, Drama (the assistant), Meaty (the bulldog) and Mini Horse (the mini horse) are once again hard at work. As Sole Collector found out first hand, the Rob and Big on the TV show are very much the same Rob and Big off of the show.

Sole Collector: Rob, when you first started thinking about this series, what part did skate have to do with doing this? Did you look at this as a chance further skate to maybe a little of a broader audience? Because you know, the MTV generation, until more recently, wasn’t a bunch of skaters. Now, with you guys, it’s turning some more cats on. 

Rob Dyrdrek: Yeah, well you know … we try to. It’s important to me to show good, quality, real skateboarding in the show. And again, our show is what I think skateboarding is about, and that’s just like fucking around and having fun. That’s the epitome of what skaters are, so to me, it really embodies that. I hope it inspires kids to want to skate. You know, it’s like skateboarding is a great thing.

 

I mean, when you get this big guy [Big Black] up on the skateboard, it’s like, if he can roll a little ways, even 10 foot, maybe I can too. 

Big Black: Dude, that’s tough, that balancing, you know. I was an offensive lineman man, so we never did no balance, we just had to block. So, it’s like, getting on a board is like totally, totally different, ’cause I know I’m falling off. 

So, you think the extra weight helps with the cushion, or does it make the landing harder? 

Big Black: Naw, the extra weight definitely is for the cushion, because had I not had the extra weight, on that vert, I think I would have definitely broken my tailbone on that. But, since I have a hefty ass … 

Rob: You have layer protection. 

Big Black: I have layer protection, like Degree [deodorant]. 

Rob: But, how many times since then have you been near a board?

 

Big Black: Ah, I remember I dropped in with a football helmet and stuff. 

Rob: That’s it. 

Big Black: I had to retire.  

You went off on a good note. 

Big Black: Hey, I had to try that once. 

Rob: It’s like, I don’t wanna see this man break something. And God forbid… 

Big Black: It’s hard for it to heel. 

Rob: Yes, it really is. 

Rob, you’ve had a line of shoes for years, you have skate parks named after you. To me, you are like the ambassador to skate because now so many people know you. Can you give me some comments on like the companies coming into the skate scene? Like, let’s say Nike, you know, somebody that hasn’t been in it as long as DC, but is grabbing people like P-Rod and a lot of pretty big names. What’s your take on that? 

Rob: Well, you know I think that was inevitable. You know … Nike, being the shoe giant, I think was always frustrated for years because they kept skateboarding so fickle. They kept jumping in and getting rejected, jumping in and getting rejected, you know. It’s sort of like when they brought that skate Dunk in, man, it just turned all these skate shops into shoe boutiques you know, where kids were coming from all over the world to get these Nike SBs. So, it pumped a lot of life into skateboarding with Nike. And I think more than anything, they knew what they were doing this time around. They got the right people in there. You know, I have friends that work in there now and they got the right group of people and they went after the right kid. He’s the greatest street skater alive, you know. And I think that they were smart; they did it the right way this time. 

You know, I had a shoot with P-Rod a while back. I was just amazed how down to earth that kid is.  

Rob: You know, me and P-Rod are married right now, you know what I am saying … I wrote and produced and financed the first true skateboard feature film he’s starred in. I play like the better, older dude that becomes his rival. But, it’s the first, very first true-to-life skateboard feature that represents the culture properly. And again, for me, that’s where I’m headed. With this sort of mainstream exposure, I want to uplift skateboarding. I have so many programs that I’m going to do over the next year to build skate spots in Los Angeles. I’m gonna build a giant private plaza with Monster energy drinks in L.A. and try to build these hundred skate spots all over the city on top of putting out this feature film that for the very first time. You know, it’s a coming of age, love story, [with] conflict, the whole shooting match. But, you know, the way all skaters deal with running from cops, dealing with jocks, getting hated on, like dealing with a true skateboard feature. So, with this continued mainstream exposure, I really want to help uplift the sport.

Do you ever feel like there is a lot of weight on your shoulders ’cause right now, you’re out there … 

Rob: I’m an ambassador to the sport, without a doubt. 

I mean the thing is, though, If you really screw up, they’re going, “Hey, there’s another skater that just fucked up.” 

Rob: Yeah, I’m not so worried about that. I mean, what am I gonna do? Last night I was blacked out drunk in first class screaming, “Am I inappropriate?” [Everyone laughs] And like so, … 

No, that’s, that’s the skater life, though. 

Rob: Yeah, it really is. But, no, I’m not that … to me it’s things like … Tony Hawk’s done a lot for skateboarding, only it’s sort of his direction, and what is viewed isn’t what we are today. The X Games did a lot for skateboarding, only it has nothing to do with … You know there’s 13 million street skaters, and street skating is always done so terrible. You know like the X Games, these Mountain Due contests, all this crap, it just doesn’t represent the sport properly. … Dogtown did a lot for skateboarding and kind of like opening people’s eyes. But, people think that’s how it is, like bowls. People don’t realize that it’s still 100 percent illegal and that everything we do is still 100 percent illegal. As that slowly begins to change, that’s why my first step was taking on the skate park industry and building the first plaza and then putting out that documentary that kids can take to the city that we sell for $2. That is why these are necessary. Rather than a kid trying to articulate it at a town meeting, he can just give them a DVD and they can watch and see the history of it. So, that was sort of like my first goal, to take on the skatepark industry and then my second one was to show what the sport truly is. There’s no bigger venue than a feature film. … And then, ultimately with this plaza I’m gonna build with Monster, I want that to be the beginning of the first proper competition for street skating to where it’s done properly and then eventually go on to build a league off of that. 

Sweet. So, nationwide? 

Rob: Nationwide, yeah. But, I’m going to start with that main center, the super hub, and then build a hundred spots around it and then take it to Chicago and build one main one and then build all the spots around it and like get every city involved. Like, I’m doing it through donation. I’m doing a program through my foundation called the Safe Spot Skate Spot, like basically an urban renewal program. I’ll tell the city, give me any amount of land. If it’s 1000 square feet, I’ll build just a 1,000 square feet of concrete, two benches, and that’s it; it’s a skate spot. You know, like maybe I’ll build just a rail. Whatever the city is willing to give me I’m going to raise the money and build a spot. To start — all over Las Angeles. So, that’s part of my first goal. 

I mean, it makes total sense because it seems like a lot of cities throughout the nation, they don’t have a skate park, don’t have … 

Rob: Yeah. 

So the kids have to go out on the street and they’re getting kicked out of the street. 

Yeah.

I mean, especially small towns. 

Yeah.

You know, some kid out there in a little town in Iowa, it’s like he can’t even get a start. He’s shut down before he really begins. 

That’s the state of skateboarding right now though. But, again, it’s education and time will change all that. 

Right On. Alright, let’s get into shoes for you [Big Black]. So, first shoe. Tell me a little bit about why you wanted to get into this arena. I mean, there’s a lot of companies out there, you know, and here you are brining your name, logo and plastering it on a shoe. 

Big Black: Well, I just wanted to give people that are my fans who don’t skate, I wanted to give those guys, or girls … another avenue of getting shoes. You got the skate culture and you got other people who watch the show and the clothing company, BB, is doing well, so I wanted to do a shoe to kind of like bring together the whole ensemble. I like to match a lot. I like to go head to toe with the matching, that’s just the way it is. I wanted to bring a shoe in that would bring my style, my flavor to the game. When the shoe was designed, my approval helped the design, looked at it you know, put everything together. I just wanted to bring something different, keep the price low so the moms and pops that gotta go in the store to buy these shoes can go in there and get them at a good, reasonable price and a good product.

So, you’re in it deep then. 

Big Black: Oh yeah. 

So you’re in there saying, “I like this silhouette, I like this colorway.”

Big Black: Oh yeah. I’m in it deep, like, “I like this colorway, I don’t like this, I like that.” So, you know, I’m in it deep. As the sales progress with the shoes I have now, I’m gonna go in and do another line. So, it’s more like progressing with the shoe styles. 

Has Rob helped you out any? 

Rob: I keep telling him, if you want to move units, you get that Stan Smith style, like clean silhouette and then let that art be your logo. But he just refuses to do it; he refuses to take my advice. 

Big Black: He does not know, but the samples could be coming soon.[laughs] You don’t even know. You know, I do take his advice, but at the same time, I also look at what’s going on as far as my world and the way I want to do it. You know, I kind of like come to an even road. 

Could you expand a little more about the price point and why that’s important to you, to not have a hundred dollar shoe?

Big Black: Well, for me to have a hundred dollar shoe, you know you got parents that work hard all day, a lot of single parents who work hard all day. They just can’t afford to go into a store and spend $150, $160, $170 for a pair of shoes, you know. So, I tried to keep the price point as low as we could for the product and the materials that we have. Full-grain is quite expensive, so I couldn’t go that route, because if I went that route, the price is going to shoot up. I wanted to keep the price good for the hardworking Americans out here that’s gotta go buy this stuff. You know, they’re a fan, but you know what I’m saying, they also wanna get a good product at a good price. I feel like I’m trying to keep the cost low.

That’s the way to go.  

Big Black: Yeah. 

So, right now, we can’t really tell who’s going to pick up the shoe or where they can buy it. Can they buy it online?

Big Black: Right now, no, you can’t get it online right now. We do have a couple of stores lined up; we’ve got Zumies and Tilly’s with PacSun soon to follow the first of the year. And then we’re going to set our own site up to sell the shoes as well. We’re just trying to get the buzz out there that once people see the product and they start wearing it and start seeing it and showing, incorporating into product placement, then, you know, everybody will hop on board. 

Rob: It’s a big process to get a shoe company cracking. It’s pretty heavy. 

Big Black: Yes, it’s a heavy process. But my neighborhood was a heavy process. I got out of that, so, it’s nothin’. 

I like that attitude, for sure. Let’s talk a little bit about the show. Now, I know you guys must get the same questions about friendship and all that, and it’s awesome, but I know the readers have already read that. They’ve seen it on video clips. Let’s talk about just some of the more exciting moments or maybe misconceptions. 

Rob: I don’t know about any misconceptions. 

Big Black: You know the biggest misconception I’ve been hearing Rob, people think me and this guy don’t have chicks. “We never see ladies in the show, we never see ladies in the show.” But if you… 

Rob: I’m not trying to get into a shot with some random-ass chick.  

Big Black: Exactly. 

Rob: I mean, how is that going to affect me with all of the other chicks I’m trying to hook up with? You know what I’m saying? 

Big Black: What does Dave say? “I got a sex drive that makes Michael Douglas seem gay.” [Everyone laughs.] You know what I’m saying, it’s like a playboy. We don’t want to bring all that out. You don’t want to throw all that out there. 

Rob: But to me, it’s funny too, that people would even like think about it, you know what I’m saying.  

Big Black: It’s like, you know, hey, we had one lady on the show and then what did she go do? She’s doing appearances on television for Rob and Big. She had like a half a minute in the shot! 

Rob: Let me tell you about that day in that episode, which was, they say, “Hey, we can hire you models,” right. I said, “Fuck that, we’re going to a dating service. I’m going to keep it real” … And of course it was a chick that lied, she was really 37 and lied saying she was 27. And she was beat up from the feet up, and I took that hit; I made out with her! You know what I’m saying, and I don’t feel good about it. But it made for good TV and that’s all that matters. 

That was an awesome episode. [Everyone laughs.]

 Rob: Even the dirty girl from the dirty girl video, now this is a girl who is a very notorious playmate, you know who’s been in Fabulous and LL Cool J videos, and all this stuff. And I’d say I had a torrid relationship with her for a hot minute as Bobby Light, but we didn’t give her no shot. She was in the video, but she didn’t end up in the show.  

So, when you guys took a mini horse back home the first time, what were your thoughts when it took that big dump in the back of the car? 

Big Black: Man, I was just like, you know … You see Rob didn’t see it, I actually saw the doo doo coming out of his ass and it was quite, it was quite scary. 

Rob: On some real shit, that was one of the most nerve-wracking days. It was like, [sings] “You said you want a horse, don’t be scared now.” It was like, are you sure? It was a real-ass moment. What we gonna do with this big-ass horse? Because it all headed back to me. I thought a mini horse was going to be as big as like a little bag, but it was like a full-size horse. And I learned the hard way. I underestimated what it takes to own livestock in the realest way. You know, that thing is all horse. Like, it’s small, but that thing is horse to the tail. 

Big Black: Yeah, after carrying that thing up stairs like we were … kind of felt like I just got married, carrying my wife over the threshold, carrying that big-ass horse up the stairs. Carrying him like this, it’s like, that’s a heavy horse. And he kicks and bucks, you know. 

He probably has legs as strong as you. 

Big Black: Arm was on his private parts. I felt uncomfortable.  

Rob: Dude, you mashed up on the junk of that horse. 

Big Black: You know, I was on the junk of a horse. You know, that ain’t something I want to be talkin’ about. 

And he’s smiling for the camera the whole way. You know, that’s tough. Honestly, I thought that horse was going to kick the shit out of you in the back, ’cause that’s a wild animal, man. 

Big Black: Had I been in the back of him, I probably would have gotten knocked out. But, luckily … He definitely would have hoofed me in the jaw. [Everyone laughs.]

Rob: As fate would have it, we got him in the right way. Otherwise he’d just, bam bam bam.

Big Black: He’d just tap dance on my genitals for a little bit. 

So could you guys go into a little bit about third season? I mean, where you guys stoked about it, like, “let’s do it again?” 

Rob: I mean, we did eight first one, eight second one, they wanted 15 now for the third one. It’s just like, it’s fun, but it’s taxing. You know, we just didn’t have the heart to do 15, especially for how busy we are and just your life gets consumed by it. You know, it’s like, just shooting all day, it’s very consuming. But so far, in the first couple of weeks, we’ve already been running hot. You know what I’m saying. We got a hood turtle … Pooky the ghetto turtle. We went down to a pond and scooped him up and tried to take him to the turtle races in Venice. But, it ended up it was Pooky the ghetto princess, ’cause we didn’t realize it was a female turtle. So, we didn’t race her. We got Speedy Clack-Clack-Clack-Clackston, who was just too young. I don’t want to burn it, you know what I’m saying, but we had a lot of high hopes for dominating the turtle race game. We really didn’t quite have the reign of terror we thought we were going to have.

Big Black: He sucked, that turtle. …  

Rob: I can’t talk about this right now, I can’t talk about this. I’m starting to get hurt right now.

Big Black: I’m just saying …

Rob: Don’t even bring it up, Chris, I’m gonna get hurt right now. I can’t even talk about this.

Big Black: I gotta say something. After the third race, he was winning. 

Rob: I pointed at him on the third try and he was winning. 

Big Black: He was winning. 

Rob: But, I had a bad angle on the other turtle. [Everyone laughs.] But, yeah, you’ll see that one play out. Me and him have been whipping scooters around. We’ve got two murdered-out Ruckus scooters we’ve been running hot. Took those out to a super crash course. Our seascape on our pool, you know, believe it or not, somebody snuck up here and took a dump in the pool, which led to like, we need to secure this house. We’re having like a full hard-core security system put in. Including, I’m going to get weapons, like guns that shoot nets. So, if someone sneaks back in there, “Paah”, I’m gonna net ’em up so I can keep ’em captured.  

Sweet. 

Rob: Beat on ’em. 

Big Black: [laughs] Beat on ’em. 

Rob: See, we just went to the mini horse competition, which was incredible. Mini horse people are like very weird. We took a fourth place ribbon, a fourth and a sixth place. 

Big Black: I felt kind of out of place there. Big black dude, with rhinestone shirt and rhinestone cowboy hat galloping around a field with a horse. You know, I had to show him, present him, kind of like the Westminster Dog Show.

Rob: There was a lot of pressure on you. 

Big Black: There was a lot of pressure on me that day. But, we finished fourth, you know. 

Cowboy boots too? 

Big Black: Cowboy boots too, the whole shebang-a-bang. 

Shit. Matching boots? 

Big Black: Ah, now, our boots didn’t match. He had probably one of the nicest outfits I’ve seen at a horse show. 

Rob: I mean, it has to be. It was so bedazzled, seriously, it was Liberace style. Prince in ’86. It was dead real. 

Let me bring it back one season, because this is something that really impressed me about you[Rob]. It took a little bit away from you[Big Black], just a tiny bit — that bull riding. That’s no joke. 

Rob: That’s no joke. 

I mean, I know why you didn’t get on it. 

Big Black: Yeah. 

But, one of my neighbors was a bull rider. He’s the toughest guy I ever met, and you [Rob] got on that son of a bitch and you rode it. 

Rob: That was one of the most thrilling things of my life, I think. 

Big Black: I don’t mean to interject, but I object. You know we had different bulls. [Everyone laughs.] 

Rob: And I’m not gonna front, that was a small bull.  

Big Black: But, you rode the bull, I gotta give it up to you. But, I was talking to the guy at the side, and I was like, “What’s the biggest guy you ever see on a bull. He said, I seen a guy like 290, 300 pounds.” I was like, “What happened.” He said, “When the bull threw him off, he dislocated his hip ’cause he landed on his side.” … I said, “So basically, you’re telling me, don’t hop up on a bull.” He’s like, “You’re 290, 300? How much are you?” I said, [whispers] “About 4.” He said, “ Ok, I’m not gonna say yes or no, you make your own decision up.” I said, “I’m not hopping on no bull.” 

’Cause you know you’re not going to get off nice, guaranteed. 

Big Black: Naw, and the bull that Rob was on, I’d get on that bull, man. He probably wouldn’t have done anything. He probably would have just trotted around. 

Rob: But there is nothing like sitting on the back of a bull. Like, you see it in the cage, and you’re just like, “Aww, Boom, boom, boom.” You know what I’m saying, and I was just like, “Whoa.” And I kept thinking, “goddammit man, how’d you get yourself into this? Why are you doing this right now? You don’t need to do this for this episode. This episode is great already.” But again, that’s the beauty of this show for me, once its done, it’s locked into history forever. It’s like we have these most insane fun adventures and do all these incredible things and it’s like they’re documented, and it’s there forever. As each one passes, it’s just like a collection of your history, to look back on it. It’s an incredible thing.

Sweet. Can you talk about the strip episode? 

Big Black: Black Lavender man, he’s a special guy, you know what I’m saying. He’s a proud over-weight stripper from the Midwest who just does not see anything of a 400-pound man in a thong. He doesn’t care. … 

Rob: And like I like to say is, people don’t realize is that we stood like, ’cause it was in West Hollywood, and we were like, “If it’s half dudes, we’re out. Like we’re not even going to do this shit.” … I thought there’d be at least half, maybe 25 percent dudes, and it was just wall-to-wall chicks. 

Nice. 

Rob: There wasn’t one dude in there, except for backstage. … I’m just like, come on man. I’m all about living life, but being backstage at a male strip club is just not where I expected my skateboard career would take me. 

Big Black: See, that tells you, he’d never played football because that is pretty much what a football locker room is. 

Rob: Is that what it’s like?

Big Black: Dude, a bunch of naked guys running around. And female reporters would be in there, you know what I’m saying, rolling through. These dudes interviewed naked. It’s a normal fact. You know, women come in locker rooms like, hey, it is what it is. So, it’s like, me being in a strip locker room with a bunch of guys is like hey, it’s being in a football locker room. Without all the baby oil. [Everyone laughs.] You know what I’m saying, ’cause some dudes are spraying it on, like it was just … yeah and shiny. 

Rob: But, that was my favorite episode without a doubt. I’d say just because that’s when we kind of scrambled at the last second, it came alive, and then dude just went for it on a level that’s almost unheard of. I almost shed a tear I was so proud. After, when we walked out of that place, we hugged. I said, “Dude, respect to you.” 

Big Black: Nothing better than watching women appreciate beef, real beef.

Rob: That’s a fact. There was a 70-year-old woman in the crowd just making it rain on him.

Big Black: Just making rain on me, you know what I’m saying. 

I saw that shit flying in there. 

Big Black: That’s what I like about it. 

A dollar a pound. 

Big Black: Yes. I made my weight in gold coming out of there. 

[Laughs.] How about coming up with the ideas for a show. Do you cats just kind of sit there and sometimes just get a crazy idea: let’s go to a wig shop and go strip? 

Rob: Creatively, we’ve got a lot of people that work with us and some stuff is on the fly, a lot of stuff is set up. More than anything, we like to build sandboxes of ideas and then whatever happens inside those is what kind of makes the show. 

So, you come in with the idea and then you just let your guys’ personality take over and go. 

Rob: Yeah, that’s more like it. And then, nine times out of 10, like, shit just expands out of what we even thought about what we would do. Although, we’ve sort of gotten a system down, especially coming into this third season, where our whole crew is just so tight, you know, in the sense that everyone that helps produce the show and just coming up with creative cool stuff to just like constantly have us be doing. It’s like a well-oiled machine right now. 

Well, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Even a guy like me, you know, all the way down to the kids, everybody is like … 

Rob: Sixty. Black to white, rich to poor.  

Big Black: They all like it. 

Rob: Because there is no such thing as comedy realty, it’s all drama reality. Everything that there is. So, it’s like we’re one of a kind.

After talking with Rob and Big, Sole Collector spoke with frequent punchline, and Dyrdek assistant/cousin, Christopher “Drama” Pfaff. Between his work with Dyrdek, cleaning up after Mini Horse and pursuing a career as a music producer, Drama is holding his own and becoming style icon in the process.

Sole Collector: Those guys are great. 

Drama: Yeah. You can go for hours. You might as well be watching a marathon. It’s just awesome. 

Yeah, I didn’t want to take up their whole goddamn day. I could have easily. 

Absolutely. 

So, let’s talk a little bit about your style. It’s like, we see Rob, we see Chris and then we see you. And you got BBC gear on. You’ve got the latest, hippest, craziest stuff. How’s that working? 

Luckily, I’m not really tied down to anyone particularly, so I can pretty much rock whatever I want. I just try to keep it fresh, keep it gangster. 

So, like the episode those guys are laying the paintball gun on you outside. What is up with all this? 

I don’t know why, but as soon as those cameras come, I mean I get it anyway, but as soon as those cameras come, it’s just green light on me, you know what I mean. I know, it’s like as soon as I walk in the house and there’s cameras on, the moment I’m mic’ed up, I know it’s fair game at any time. You never know.

You’re done. 

I mean, I could be cleaning the pool, trying to help out, and get lit up with paintballs. You never know. 

So, in real life, is this kind of how this shit goes? I mean, you’re not going to tell me you’re so laid back and you don’t do shit around here, ‘cause you do do stuff. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, real life I really do do work. I’m not quite as lazy as they make me look; don’t believe that. But, um, they’re hard on me, but nearly as hard as on the show. They’re more like big brother-type hard. I mean, they give me a hard time, but it’s not like that. Most importantly, I’m not nearly as lazy as they make me look. I actually do do some stuff. 

I get that. When I met you, it was like, this guy’s got it together. He’s not … 

Yeah, yeah. No, they make me look … And people meet me and they’re just like, man. It’s to the point where now people will see me out and about and be like, “What are you doing?” The other day I was in Target and a guy came up to me and was like, “Drama, what are you doing man, shouldn’t you be working?” And I’m like, “I don’t even know you.” They just automatically assume. “What are you doing, man? Don’t you have some stuff to do?” So now I just got everybody looking after me. It could be anyone. Everyone just automatically assumes it’s fair game, like I’m the lazy guy, you know, I don’t do anything. But, whatever, as long as people are laughing, I’m down with it. 

No doubt, no doubt. So, what was one of your favorite parts of the episodes in the last three seasons? 

Let me think. You know, there’s a couple of things that didn’t make it actually. One thing that was only online, but never made it in an episode was me trying to learn how to drive Rob’s Porche. 

I saw that. That shit was funny. 

Yeah, that was fun at first. I mean, I thought I really had it for a second. But, learning to drive stick in a Turbo Porche just is not a good place to start. And I was just thinking I was blowing his clutch out, doing all this stuff, and then finally I thought I had it. What actually happened on that was I was in the left turn lane and the light turned green. Everyone was beeping at me and so I freaked out and popped it one too far and put it into reverse and reversed straight into a lady. It was just instantly like, this just got really real. This isn’t funny anymore. I really just wrecked a $90,000 Porche into a lady. Of course, you know you have camera guys with you, but they really can’t talk. The guy actually saw me put it into reverse and didn’t even say anything. He just let me go because they love it. He was laughing. I mean, they love it. That was on MTV.com. On one of the after shows, yeah. The whole assistant episode was crazy. 

Was that guy for real? 

That guy was 100 percent real. And what that was, that guy had sent that little DVD, everything, that was 100 percent real. He sent that to Rob’s parents in Ohio. Rob would always have that around the house and would kind of, any time I messed up on something he would break it out. 

He did it for serious? 

This guy, yeah. And the way that they did that episode, too, was kind of tricky. Where we kind of know what our episodes are going to be about. We have to follow the story line, but that one, they kind of snuck in like in between other episodes. So, in real life, I was a 100 percent worried that I was really going to lose my job. Like in real life. I mean, usually, we know and they’ll kind of come in with a plan and everything, but this one they did real tricky where I was really thinking, like man, is this serious. And even the cameras would leave and I’d be like, “Rob, be honest with me, man. Is this serious?” And he would say, “You know, I can’t even talk to you right now. I can’t even talk.” Like for a whole, like, I think it was probably for like two week span over the whole time. 

Damn! 

He would not say a word to me about it. All the having to go work at the hamburger spot, and all that stuff was 100 percent real. They really called me down and we got somebody who needs some help, who you can go work for. And I was like, “Ok, I’m probably going to pick something up. You know, like whatever.” And sure enough, that’s where it was. They really left me there, it was probably two or three hours, really just working at a hamburger spot. People still don’t believe me that that one was real. They’re like, “You had to know where you were going.” That was 100 percent, they just left me out there to just work.

So, there’s no acting there, huh?

No, and that’s part of why I come off so shy and just reserved on the show is because most of the stuff I don’t know about, you know what I mean. I’ll really be taking a nap on the couch and wake up to Big Black sitting on my face, surrounded by cameras. Or cleaning the pool and come out to getting lit up by paint balls. So, a lot of my stuff is, they really just go for it. Another thing that they did, real quick, that never got used is, long story short, put me in the dog cage to see if I would fit in the dog cage. So I was like, ok, yeah, sure. Black tried to go in first. So, they put me in and the moment my feet got in the dog cage they closed the cage and locked it, moved the whole kitchen table out of the way, brought me straight out here and set me on the edge of the pool. Iwas like, no, with my cell phone and yelling all this stuff. They’ve done that like a million times, went to throw me in the pool, but every time they back out. They say, “No, no, don’t do it,” or whatever. So I was like, “My cell phone!,” and thought they wouldn’t do it. Sure enough, they pushed me in. 

Damn! In the cage? 

Yeah, I mean I didn’t even realize … It took until I hit the bottom of that pool until I was like, “You’re really locked in a cage right now, and there’s no way you’re getting out.” Like it really hit me. Then, I mean, I just starting freaking out, but couldn’t do anything. There was no way I was finding out how to unlock it underneath …

You’re not Houdini.

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I didn’t have a breath of air, nothing, because it was so last … they just went for it. So I was under there just struggling and really thought that I was going to suck in water. It was like, ok, I’ve gotta take a breath now and it’s either going to be water or it’s going to be air. I’m sure they’re up there laughing, like oh he’s getting out. So, yeah, so just as I went to take a breath, Rob jumped in and pulled me out because they realized I wasn’t getting out. It was just like my face jammed against the corner of the cage like [makes breathing sound] just gasping for air. So, they brought me up. But that one, MTV wouldn’t even let ‘em use it, that’s how gnarly it was. 

Goddamn! 

Because they don’t them use anything that’s that … I mean because the whole flow of the show is so funny, even like the paintballs, that’s funny. Everyone knows that doesn’t really hurt. But that one was just too serious. They tried to sneak it on the DVD; they wouldn’t let that happen. 

But you guys got it on tape. 

That’s a big one that never made it anywhere. It was in a couple commercials actually, and a lot of people asked me, but it never made it. 

Alright dude, since we’re a sneaker magazine, let’s set people straight on your sneaker game, because it’s pretty good.

No, it’s not bad and one thing, too, to be completely honest, I don’t really know that much about sneakers. I couldn’t tell you what’s the newest, hottest thing coming out. I’m not really as on point as I look, I guess. Especially since I started the show, I’ve been getting hit up a lot, like, “Damn, where’d you get those?” And it’s stuff that I don’t even realize. My whole thing is I just like to look good. I like to match. I can look and see what I think is hot, but as far as what’s actually rarer than this one, or what’s more exclusive, what this is called, I couldn’t really tell you. I just like shoes.

So you just match up all the colors.

I just like to load up, just match up all the colors and just stay fresh like everybody else.  

I mean you’re staying fresh in this show. I’m telling you, a lot of people are looking at you, like, “What the hell?” 

People have been hitting me up, same thing, you said, about my BBC jeans and all that stuff. And really, that stuff, I just have, I mean obviously I like the stuff, but … My good budy is the team manager for Ice Cream, which is Pharrell’s little skate team. So, they just give me that stuff. I tell them what I want or I ask them for what they have. They just hook me up with that stuff, you know what I mean. I just rock it because I like it. There’s really nothing other than that. 

I mean, some of that shit is taken a little too far. 

Yeah, I mean a lot of people just dedicate their lives to that stuff, and I just can’t do it. I’m glad that it’s at least coming off like that. That’s good. 

You know, in a couple of years, you might be going, “I remember when I got those joints.” So you might be turning into one of those cats in the future.

That’s for sure. It definitely could happen. You give me a little bit more time on my hands and who knows. I mean right now, I don’t even have time to worry about sneakers; I’m too busy cleaning up horse dump. The other thing is you can’t be too fresh. I mean, I can’t come over here rockin’ my newest, hottest pair of shoes, because I could be sent straight into the little farm in the backyard to clean up horse shit. So now it’s like I always roll with a back up, and then some work shoes. So I can do all that and then if we go out to dinner or something, I can switch over real quick. 

‘Cause I saw you had some Ice Cream shit on in that pen one time, and I was like, “Wow!” 

Yeah, I’ve been caught out there a couple times where there’s nothing you can do. You just gotta hope you can brush ‘em down afterwards and save ‘em. But, I can only be so fresh. 

Are you enjoying it? 

I love it man, yeah. I can’t complain at all. I’m fresh out of Ohio. As soon as I graduated from high school I moved out here. That was probably a month before the show got picked up. Actually, long story short is that Rob had another assistant lined up and ready to go. I was living here at the time, and the night before the other guy was supposed to come up and kind of be introduced and told everything he was going to have to do and all that stuff, the night before, he called and said he couldn’t do it because his girlfriend wouldn’t let him. She wanted him to stay. He lived in San Diego and he’d was going to have to move up here, and she wouldn’t let him. She said, “It’s either that or me, you choose.” So, I just happened to be walking through the kitchen when Rob got off the phone. He said, “This dude just quit, do you want to do this?” I was like, “I guess, I mean, I don’t know.” I mean, I’m 18-years-old, like just lost trying to figure out California. And I’m like, “Yeah, I guess I do. I mean, I don’t really know what it means, but sure.” So, anyway, that’s what led to all this. So I definitely can’t complain. I was just expecting to get a job at a skate shop and live in a one-bedroom apartment with my brother and two friends.

Damn dude, that’s insane.Yeah, so I got lucky. It’s working out. We will see where this crazy life takes us.

Popularity: 31%