...talk about life, skateboarding, Riley’s career & The Beginning. ~Click Read More for the full interview.
...talk about life, skateboarding, Riley’s career & The Beginning.
Tony and Riley are both goofy-footed skaters for Birdhouse. Past that, the only thing they have in common is being excellent skaters. And Riley’s aggressive skating shows that he doesn’t need to live under anyone’s shadow.
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How did your Foundation do yesterday?
Tony: We had our annual fundraiser yesterday. It’s called Stand Up for Skate Parks. We try to help develop skate parks in low income areas for at risk youth. Yesterday, at our fundraiser we raised over a million dollars. That was our fourth year. We’ve been raising money each year, but we have never hit a million so that was exciting. This UFC guy paid $10,000 for Shaun’s used board. And Puff Daddy bought Matt Hoffman’s bike.
So Riley, you’re into skateboarding and you ride for a few big companies. Did you know someone who skates?
Riley: (Laughs) Yeah, my dad got me into it.
Oh yeah, you’re dad is Tony Hawk. How did your dad take the idea of you wanting to skate?
Tony: Initially it was fun because I was traveling a lot and it was hard for me raising a family and being on the road all the time. Once he took an interest in skating, it was easy to take him and it not be boring for him. That was really important because I wanted to spend time with my son, but I have this job and I’m obligated to travel with it. By the time he was six years old, he had been to Australia, Europe, Japan and all over the US and enjoying it the whole time because we were skating. I think later I was concerned that he would feel like he was living in my shadow. In the last couple of years, he has broken out on his own and been recognized for his talents only and so I’m proud of him for that. He’s the one who is motivated to do it.
Do you have any other interests that you may follow?
Riley: Not right now. I’m just skating all the time right now.
Tony: He does video too. He’s good at shooting and editing as well.
What was it like growing up and learning to skate?
Tony: It was hard because it wasn’t very popular. You were looked down upon if you skated. It wasn’t cool. It wasn’t what many people did. I think I had one other skater in my high school, and we were lower than nerds on the hierarchy of cool, so it was hard. But at the same time, we found community in it, and we got lucky that we grew up near one of the last remaining skate parks. We had our sanctuary, so to speak. I didn’t think it would be a career. Nobody was making money. Even the best guys were maybe getting their picture in the magazine and making a hundred bucks a month on board royalties, so it just didn’t seem like a career option at the time. But as I got to my later years in high school, the opportunity started happening and skating became popular.
What is it like for you, skating and growing up?
Riley: I’d like to try and make skateboarding as a career but right now I just skate and try and get as good as I can.
What differences do you see?
Tony: It’s different for him because a lot of his friends skate and a lot of the people he goes to school with and hangs out with do too, so it seems much more accepted now. That makes it easier to continue doing it.
So it doesn’t feel like a passing of the torch?
Tony: (Laughs) If he wants the torch, he can have it. But I don’t think he wants to be recognized as my son. Not to speak for him, but I think that he has earned his own respect and so he doesn’t need my help certainly.
What do you think of it?
Riley: I don’t know, I have no idea.
Tony: See he’s always been, not oblivious, but not so worried about that stuff. That works to his advantage because he just goes out there and does it for himself.
How is it having a couple sponsors in common?
Tony: It’s fun because we are requested to do a lot of the same events. So if there is an Adio tour, then hopefully we both get to go. But in the case of the Birdhouse tour, Riley will get to go and I won’t, which is strange…and a bit frightening for me.
How long before Spencer (8) is signed?
Tony: (Laughs) Maybe by a surf company. He’d be more of a crossover kind of guy. He’s more skatey-surfy. He’s got to learn to push regular before he’ll get sponsored.
Do you guys skate together much?
Tony: Not much. I usually spend time out at the ramp. If we’re skating together we are usually skating here or on tour at skate parks. But for the most part it’s like he said, he does stuff in San Diego and LA, skating spots with guys of the same interest. I gave up my street career about ten years ago after the last rolled ankle. I decided that if I wanted to continue skating into these years, I needed to continue what I know.
Does it matter much that you have different styles when you skate together?
Tony: I think that to be honest, it really works to Riley’s advantage. It would be the hardest scrutiny to live under, I think. The fact that he skates a totally different style sets him apart from me. It gives him his own personality and his own identity. So you’re comparing apples to oranges if you say he grew up the same way I did. When I was his age I was flying out of bowls only.
Who else do you skate with?
Tony: I mostly skate with Kevin Staab, Andy MacDonald, John Postec. Those are the locals at our ramp. Bucky and Shaun White whenever they are in town.
How about you?
Riley: Usually with David Loy and his little brother Ethan. Just whoever is with the crew; usually there will be Figgy, Chris and Shaun used to skate with us.
Do Spencer and Keegan (6) skate much with you guys?
Tony: Spencer skates with us a lot. He loves it. He just learned how to drop in last week, so that is really exciting for him. Keegan… I don’t know how to explain Keegan, but he is six and he is psychotic, so he skates a little bit but he’ll go and get the toy car that he drives and drive it down the big bank in the skate park and basically does what ever is most dangerous. He skates a little bit but he is just looking for something more risky.
You two are in the new skate video right, not many father-son sponsored duos ever, huh?
Tony: Yeah, there are a few others, but I don’t think there are too many fathers that are that active as professional skaters.
Riley: Yeah, there is Alex Olson and Steve Olson.
Tony: Probably in our case, it’s like I’m still out there and my main occupation is still being a skater, so it’s fun. It’s humbling too because when I go skate with Riley and in the case of us doing anything that is street or park oriented, he is so much better and it’s not even like I’m trying to show him up. I just sit there watching, and it’s pretty cool.
So what ties The Beginning in with The End?
Tony: The basis for having the video called The Beginning is that there is a new guard or a new crew of skaters: younger guys like Riley and David Loy and Justin Figueroa who are not the pioneers but the ones that are really revolutionizing what modern skating is, and I feel like they are the beginning of a new era. At the same time you’ve got the same guys that have been their all along. Me, Klein, Willy Santos, Brian Sumner; we’re all mixed in there.Not to say it’s the end of our careers, but I don’t know how many more video parts I’m going to be doing.
You were out with David Loy at GVR. How did you say he did with that?
Riley: He took fourth out of the whole thing. He did really well.
Did you and Riley get any footage in together?
Tony: Not really, we did some stuff here in the backyard for Fuel TV but as far as the video goes my stuff is pretty much focused on vert and our ramp and his stuff is all street so those worlds didn’t merge for the video.
Where did you two take your footage?
Tony: Mine was out at our ramp in the desert and then the ramp at Vista. I went out to Bob’s and shot some mega stuff. That was about it honestly for what I did. Riley was all over the place.
Riley: It was all over the place. There aren’t any shots that are at the same place.
Are you psyched about the next video game coming out?
Tony: Proving Ground will be out and that is our best one by far so I’m super excited. I hope it is successful enough that we can do another one.
Do you plan to put your kids in the next video game?
Tony: We were talking about putting this park in the next video game and having this as one of locations. It would definitely be an added attraction.
So do you see yourself as more of a friend or father figure at home?
Tony: I think I’m responsible enough to say I’m more of a father figure at home.
What about in skating?
Tony: As far as skating goes, hardly am I a coach to Riley anymore. There’s really not a whole lot I can teach him that he hasn’t already figured out or someone hasn’t shown him. So in terms of skating we just skate as friends. For Spencer and Keegan, I am more of a coach and a safety monitor.
What is a day like being Tony the Dad?
Tony: Well, generally it’s waking up early because Spencer and Keegan get up at 6:30 in the morning no matter what. And I take them to school. Riley has an annexed school program so if Riley needs to go to school I take him as well. Then I come home, do a lot of e-mails, phone calls. I may go to the office or skate and do whatever needs to be done. Then I pick up the kids from school and generally just stay home with them. We swim, skate, jump on the trampoline or go to the beach or the park or something.
The beach?
Tony: We both surf, so if our time allows, we go out for sure.
I know you have been into electronics; do your kids get into it too?
Tony: Riley is really into video editing and he knows how to transfer, cut it, output it and so I guess in that respect yeah. The other boys play their Wii a lot, I guess that is electronic. They’re not really into the gadgetry, but they understand it.
Do you guys ever compete on games like your series?
Tony: Yeah, especially when we are developing a new one I bring home the latest version and test it. Riley has the X-Box testing unit in his room. The little ones take it over and put my character in goofy outfits and make me jump off buildings and stuff.
Who wants the last words?
Tony: I’m sure he’d [looking at Riley] be happy for me to take the last word. You know what he generally would say right now: “Can I get a ride to the skatepark?” Pretty much when we get finished with this, he’s going to start making plans to meet up with his friends at Carlsbad Skate Park. You can say that is Riley’s last word. ~
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