IT WAS ALMOST A YEAR AGO THAT NATE SHERWOOD AGREED TO DO AN INTERVIEW WITH ME FOR MY SCHOOL NEWS LETTER. UNFORTUNATELY MY SCHOOL DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PRINT OUT THE PAPER. SO FINALLY I FOUND A WAY TO GET IT OUT THERE FOR EVERYONE TO READ. HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY IT.
-DANNY
NATE SHERWOOD INTERVIEW BY: DANIEL CARDENAS
ME: ok cool so I’m just gonna throw out some questions talk about some new stuff n all that. So when did you start skating?
NATE: 1988
I was 8 years old
I was 8 years old
ME: oh that’s was up started young. Who hooked you up with your first board?
NATE: my first board was a vision tom groholski, which is ironic in many ways due to the fact that i rode for vision many years later and that tom was from New Jersey. in fact, mike v. grew up skating his ramp. all the kids out there should google him.
ME: Oh word, didn't even know he knew him. Little bit of history for you kids out there. So fast forward a little bit, who was your first sponsor and how old were you?
NATE: My first sponsor was Cal Skate Board Shop in Portland, OR. Big props to Howard and Paul for giving me a chance. I was 12, I think.
ME: That’s crazy 12 years old. You must've been the nastiest kid on the block around there?
ME: Actually, I really wasn't. I just loved skating mini ramps all day and these older guys, Tory Greenwood and Aaron Campbell, were riding for Cal Skate and they thought it would be rad to have a grom rip the 14 and under mini ramp division in the local contest. I feel like I really wasn't that good. Maybe for my age but not in the sense of all around solid skater by any means. I was just stoked to hang with older guys and learn how to improve on my skating. Me and this other kid, John Pick, used to hang all the time and just straight lerk around older skaters and try to learn some talent.
ME: oh ok I get you. What was it like rollin' around with those guys and learning new tricks and progressing?
NATE: Man, looking back at it, I am so thankful I lived through that time in skateboarding. Everything was evolving at such a fast rate. If you got injured and were out for more than 3 weeks you missed years of progression that just flew by you. When I started in '88 boneless' and no complies on flat were even rad. By 1990, just 2 years later, Frankie Hill and Jeff Petit were destroying giant rails. Do not forget Mullen inventing 90% of the trick vocabulary that we still see today.
ME: That’s true. Without Mullen skateboarding would be so different. He definitely had a big influence on everyone.
NATE: Absolutely. I mean his freestyle days alone are still groundbreaking. When Jeremy Klein focused Mullen's freestyle board in the Rubbish Heap Video we got to see Mullen evolve into a legit street skater. To this day he is still inventing and creating. He is 40, it's so rad to think that the guy that invented the kick flip is still out there elevating this passion of ours to the next level when so many fade in and out.
ME: Yeah I think he's never going to quit. He just keeps on going. So how’s everything going with airspeed footwear?
NATE: Everything is rad. I have been able to create fun and at times comical or to be honest even cheesy videos with my Suburban Mailbox series online. I am stoked that they let me design my own shoe and color way. They are very supportive of what I want to do in ads rather than what the brand wants to do in ads, which is a huge conflict in other companies. They have a very grassroots feel, even though I'm sure people are laughing right now due to the fact they cater to Wal-Mart. I am stoked that we can make a shoe that skates and handles just as well as an $80 or $100 shoe for $25. It keeps a lot of kids skating that in other cases would be too broke to keep doing what they love. I know I used to duct tape, shoe goo, super glue and even rubber cement my shoes to make them last longer so I could afford a bus pass.
ME: That’s true its tough out here and a lot of companies don’t seem to understand that we can't pay for 80 dollar shoes. Especially if we're skating them, Airspeed is pretty much one of the few companies out there doing it. They also got very popular real quick.
NATE: Thanks man. The whole team has put a lot of work into getting the word about the brand out there. Rodd Marks, Kristian Svitak, Brian Sumner, Pat Washington, Mike McGill and I put a lot of hours in in front of the camera. I even do most of the filming for their commercials and other online clips. Not to mention a whole bunch of other behind the scenes stuff. I could write a novel about that.
ME: That’s good to hear because it’s a great company and I support it 100%. So tell everyone a little about your shoe. How’s it been doing so far?
NATE: To be honest it just today got picked up by Wal-Mart for summer 2010. It was on trial for the past month in 50 select Wal-Mart’s. I was stressed it wasn't going to be picked up just due to the abundance of different shoes that the buyer at Wal-Mart had to narrow it down to. I am stoked everybody at Airspeed had my back. I've been getting a lot of good feedback from kids. I just wish I could have made it in a black and white color way for I never have a day where there is not at least 2 people email me asking, "Does it come in black and white?" The crazy thing is Wal-Mart cannot have 2 shoes from the same brand that are close to the same color scheme as another shoe on the shelves. So I was kind of limited. But other than that everything is great.
ME: That’s was up. I've been trying to get a pair to so I’m happy they're gonna be in officially.
NATE: Thanks man. I was turbo bummed when it could only go out to 50 shops for test marketing. A lot of my friends in different states and countries could not get the shoe. I am stoked that it will be available now to most of the USA.
ME: yeah same here can't wait to get em. How did you find out you were getting your own shoe?
NATE: When I first got on Airspeed almost 2 years ago they kind of hinted a shoe at me. I was stoked to say the least. As time went on I think they could see I was in the trenches trying to earn that shoe. About 6 months ago I got the first samples and rough drafts of my shoe in. The bosses seemed way stoked on the product and I was as well. After a lot of fine tuning of the shoe and hyping it up it now it's finally a reality and not just a pipe dream.
ME: That’s crazy coming all the way from skatin the streets of Portland to getting your own signature shoe.
NATE: Yeah man, it feels heavy at times. I know a lot of guys that have a lot of talent that I feel deserve to make a living off of skating and now they are working in welding shops or selling guitars. I am very thankful that I can hopefully live off of skating for a little bit longer. I just want to be able to afford health insurance, good food and a roof over my head. At times these bills stack up so high and I feel so broke I forget about passion or fun or eating right but I hope with this shoe I can at least have a day off at least one day a week where I can just relax and bomb some hills or something.
ME: Yeah for sure. I think it'll all work out for sure. How does it feel to have the crew building up? Now you got Brian Sumner, Kristian Svitak, Pat Washington, Preston Pollard and so many others.
NATE: I am way stoked. I feel like as if it was yesterday Kristian called me asking about a certain model of our shoes that he wanted to try out. He was still with NSS and I was stoked that he wanted to rock some Airspeeds. Fast forward a couple of months and boom, we are on the same team. I've been looking up to Pat for well over a decade now. His 411 parts were amazing and his new footage is as raw as it gets. Sumner and I are like that movie Stepbrother. When we first met about 10 years ago we got along about as well as Palestinians and Israelis but now we are good buddies. I am turbo amped that we are on the same team and I have been a fan of him since the video "The End" came out. He definitely has raw talent and is a cool guy. I hope someday to do an ad with Mike McGill where he is doing a McTwist over me as I am busting a rock 'n roll as Sumner is back 50/50 grinding a rail on the platform as Kristian is busting a frontside burt on the transition as Pat is on flat busting a full cab ollie while Rodd Marks is doing a dolphin flip next to the roll in. If you know anybody who wants to shoot this call us, lol. I am going to need about 4 tabs of LSD before I do it.
ME: That would be a crazy ad right there. Let me know when it happens I'll be in Cali to check it out. haha
NATE: lol thanks man. I know it sounds kooky but it would funny. Lol word up hope you can roll out or fly out not now though it is pure rain out.
ME: Yeah I know that wouldn't go good in the rain. So right now you're with Rekon Skateboards, Airspeed, Kontrol Wheels, Factor 54 clothing and Willy's Workshop. Am I missing anyone?
NATE: I just quit Factor 54, no insult to Todd Miller, the owner, he's a good man with a good heart but a lot of the people that worked for him were lost completely in how skateboarding works. I just became a part of an upstart company named Deep End. Everyone there is off the deep end, myself and Eric Ricks included. The other riders I want to draft for the team are truly going to have to be off the deep end. I mean people that have escaped from asylums, bipolar, schizophrenic lunatics. I'm bringing skateboarding back to being a group of outcasts, not the jocks that make fun of them. I'm talking original talent. Raw and pure skating. No cookie cutter stuff.
ME: Yeah definitely sounds great. Back to the roots.
NATE: Word up man. You nailed all the other sponsors perfect though. I get sunglasses from Arnette too, I forgot to mention that.
ME: Oh they got some hot stuff over at Arnette. Definitely one my favorite companies for sunglasses
NATE: Yeah, I'm hyped on them for sure
ME: Same here. Cool, so anything else you want to say to everyone out there before we end the interview?
NATE: Yes, big shout outs to the Barna's, Reine Lea and Mike. My folks for putting up with me over the years. My girl Lindsey who keeps me alive with good food that sometimes makes me farts all though the night. Willy Santos, John Castro, Gerlado at Rekon, Kyle at Upful, Paul at Cal Skate, J Mac, Bill Mann at Airspeed, Ted Newsome at Fuel, Jay Reilly, Tim Taylor, Sam Franczyk and Roy the ruff kickin' ass and keepin' it tough, Tonto and Dave Hupp keepin' it real in the battle field, Alley Chris and yo the guys at Kontrol Wheels, you need to send wheels soon, I got mad flat spots in here bitches. And thanks to you for doing all this work. Have good day.
ME: No problem man. Thanks
NATE: no thank u man u rock dude have a good one
