Chris Troy: Interviewed

Switch frontside flip over the rail. PHOTO: Lusteg

With God Saves The Label on shelves now, Chris Troy is a professional skateboarder. He probably has been for a while, but now he gets paid as one, and has his name on shoes and boards. I used to see Chris at this awful wooden skatepark just off the beach in Oceanside. I remember him first as a park grom, then as the kid who learns ten tricks a day on the rail. Then I went a few months without seeing him, and when I did he had grown a foot taller, and the rails he skated had grown, too. Watching him skate, learn tricks and grow into a talented young man who has fulfilled his dreams of becoming a professional skateboarder sounds like a Cinderella story, until I realize that the bastard is still ten years younger than me—his story is only beginning. —Adam Sullivan

So you’re a pro now, congrats. How has life changed for you now that you’re professional?

Well, it’s only been a month, so haven’t noticed too much besides my name being on a skateboard.

Do you feel you have to set a new standard for yourself?

Pretty much, yeah. I guess you just have to back it up, and just skate your ass off.

What did you do with your first paycheck as a pro?

Oh, It’s not that much money.

It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but you should do something special.

Hmm, I took my mom out to dinner, and my dad go cart racing.

See? That’s good. Okay, in addition to your boards on Black Label , you have a shoe/colorway coming out on Adio . What’s the name of the shoe, and did you design it or pick the colors?

Well it’s pretty much just a colorway that I picked the materials for, but I did not design the whole shoe. It’s called the Vengeance, I think.

Did the two brands (Black Label and Adio) decide to turn you pro together? How does that work?

As far as I know, John Lucero and Travis Howell talk sometimes. Imean, I don’t really know, it just happened.

How do you feel your skating has evolved since your part in 2007’s Back In Black ?

Um, that’s a weird question. I guess I just try and learn new stuff.

What was the most difficult trick to film in your God Saves The Label part?

Probably the tornado to feeble—the fakie bigspin feeble. Just kidding, I don’t know. I just got the most broke on that one I guess.

Okay, let’s say you go to a new handrail. It’s skateable both ways. What goes down first—the crooked grind, or the front board? Do you ollie the stairs a few times? What’s your process?

I’ll try and just skate around and push a lot so I get warmed up. Then maybe ollie the stairs, but between crook and feeble, I guess it depends on how many stairs, but I like crooks more.

Portraits: Lusteg

How was the Downtown Showdown? Which obstacle did you like the best?

My favorite was the Black Label one, because nobody wanted to skate it.

Yeah, I can see that. It was a 12 -stair at the end of the night.

I had fun on it, though.

Did you like it better than last year’s Black Label obstacle? The “Dive Bar?”

I liked this one better. Last year I got hurt in practice and had to go to the hospital. My arm was black and blue for a week.

What’s your daily schedule like now?

Try and get up early, grab some food, and hopefully try to skate if I’m not too sore. I’ll warn up at a park and then try to film. If I’m too sore I’ll do something around the house try not to be a pile.

Where do you end up skating in North County San Diego?

For parks, Bishop.  We used to go to the private Adio park a lot, but that’s gone now. Whatever’s around. Try to find a street spot that you can skate during the week.

I noticed your God Saves The Label part is mostly filmed in North County. Is that intentional?

It is, huh?

Do you feel more comfortable filming close to home, or do you just not like to go on trips?

Nah, I was just trying to be resourceful. Everybody says there’s not a lot of stuff to skate in North County, but there’s a lot. We had a bunch of L.A. missions though. We would just find out about spots, drive up, and go skate them.

 Back Smith, Back 360. Courtesy Black Label

Are you going on any trips in the near future?

I know we’re gonna do a couple one-week trips for Adio. We are going to Make-A-Wish in Texas, and then out to Arizona to film for the Adio video.

Do you have a deadline yet?

Not yet, maybe like a year. We just got to the point where everyone can film for it. Ernie was filming for Real, I was filming for Label, Schultz has the Slave video, and Joey had the Transworld video. Everyone had something going on.

Okay, what’s with the double-high-five thing. I saw you do it in God Saves, and also Back in Black?

Well it was just out like we got sick of seeing it kind of had to do with out fake crew, Legit Crew. We had a lot of people doing it for a while.

So what comes next? Video part done, boards on the shelves. Are you gonna just kick back and collect the checks?

Yeah, I’m definitely not gonna be doing that. Adio is starting a video for the end of next year, so I gotta get my ass in gear.

Sounds like a plan. Good luck Chris.

Thanks man.