Vans is one of the most rooted brands in skateboarding that there is. As far as its history and the people that are affiliated with it—it’s legendary. People are buying their way into skating and trying to package it and manufacture some sort of authenticity, but Vans just is authentic. They’ve always supported skateboarding. For me, it’s the sickest thing because I’ve always worn Vans even when I didn’t ride for Vans; I wanted to skate in them. Skateboarding was invented in these shoes that I’m wearing today and it’s more or less the same vulcanized technology that it was in 1966, and that’s so sick.

I’m super lucky to have been able to work with this dude. I don’t know how the fuck we end up together everywhere. I don’t know what or where I’d be if I didn’t have a dude like Greg and his work ethic to be there and push me. I know if I’m trying something he’s going to film it well and I know the final product that I’m working towards, that all of us kill ourselves for, will be good. That worry is removed from my head and all I have to do is worry about myself. It’s nice to work with someone that talented and he’s my friend at the end of the day so I’m stoked. That being said, it’s not always the easiest deal for the skaters or him. Projects like this take their toll on the skaters and the filmers. Greg is trying to push the guys but also be cool at the same time and it gets trippy, man. He pulls it off and walks the line. He’s the best there is and he will help you get the best out of yourself. He will be honest with you. If you’re sitting on the edge of a ledge after landing a trick after two hours and you kind of dragged your toe he’ll say, “Maybe you should do it again.” I’m glad he can say that to me and not bullshit me so I can go home completely satisfied with what I was able to do that day. In those situations I can’t always make a clear judgment. After a few hours I’m tired and I’ve had it and I don’t want to jump down that thing again but you need that and that’s what Greg brings. He wants it for you as bad as you want it for yourself.

I love Cody. He rules. It was hard getting this video done and he was a huge component. And he is an interesting dude. He’s funny. He’ll be in a nice hotel and he takes a giant sh*t and he leaves it in the toilet. Then you go in there to take a shower or use the bathroom and you lift the seat up and there’s this huge log and you’re like, “What the f**k, man?” That has happened multiple times. And he’ll be like, “Dude! I was getting in the shower and I didn’t want the water to run cold! I like to flush it after!” I’m like, “Cody! We’re at the f**king Double Tree! It ain’t one little water heater here, you psycho!” Cody, dude, he’s great!

No. No. No. At one point maybe it did. I experienced every emotion you can have across the board doing this video. Looking at how old I am now, I’ve already done whatever I’ve done and all that stuff plays into who I am now. At the start of this thing I had a really hard time with it because of all that stuff, because of all the questions. I’ve been around for a minute and it was difficult for me to get started, difficult for me to do my best at this point in my career. I found in this video a new sense of gratitude for skateboarding and this one is personal for me. I want to go out and I want to enjoy skateboarding. To me nothing else matters, this is for me. I can talk shit about that part of skateboarding and be bitter, but at the end of the day when I go out and get something it’s for me because I want that feeling. When I’m 65 or 70 I want to know that I lived that day to the fullest. I didn’t let some head-trip get in the way of me fully enjoying myself.

For me to get it done I have to be out there in the streets every single fucking day, whether I want to or not and force myself into that. You can picture everything you can go through in skating every day for four years: the burnouts, the injuries, the battles. But the formula is all the same to me: any video that I’ve been able to come through for has been because I showed up every single day. But everybody is different. Some of the kids on the team just show up and rip. I’m 35 and broken. I’m drinking wheat grass so I can keep doing what I love to do.

I’ve just been out there doing the best that I can, giving it everything I got. For me, at this age, I’m just trying to show a lot of gratitude for what I got and where I’m at. It’s beyond what I ever thought it would be, to be able to still do this. I’m just stoked to be out there every day and to skate and have a chance to do my best. There is a flipside to that when you’ve been doing it as long as I have and so much of skateboarding defines who you are and how you feel. When it’s not going my way it can be hard to keep a positive outlook especially when you’re going from video to video and trick to trick. But it doesn’t matter because I’m not sitting behind a desk with a chain attached to my neck; skateboarding rips.

I’m just full of gratitude to have been in this position, in this place and time, with this company, and be a part of it because, when it’s all said and done, I can look back at this time in my life and know I was able to be there for all of it, every moment, and I did my best. It was sick and I’m stoked to have been a part of it.