Unreleased Caleb Barnett Interview
Not everything you write or do ends up getting published, but always keep your work in case someone references it, and remembers the interview… going differently than you do.
Caleb Barnett Interview January 2018 By Christian Senrud It’s been a while since an am really stood out to me. Admittedly, I’m getting older and I don’t dedicate as much time to keeping up with all the names and faces, sponsor changes, so a lot of the videos and various posts can tend to blend together in the daily deluge of “content” in a failing mind such as mine. But every now and then something surfaces and reminds you how awesome skateboarding is. When Hockey III released and Caleb opened up the video to a rattling industrial background track, it showcased a brand of skating that looks as natural and gnarly coming out today as it would in basically any era. It’s the kind of raw, no bullshit skating that gives a rider a timeless aspect to their talent and style. We only got a taste of what Caleb can do, so far, but riding for a company like Hockey and being in the van with guys like AVE or Nakel looking out for him, chances are there’s a lot more we’ll be lucky to see from him in the future. I don’t envy the ams of today and tomorrow. How anyone stands out in a sea of hungry and talented kids is somewhat of a mystery. How does someone coming up set themselves apart from all the others without forcing it or inevitably faking some aspect of their style or personality or relying on the crutch of a gimmick? It’s not a new question, nor is it a new phenomenon. It’s always been a giant part of the skateboarding equation. Some people just have a little extra light to shine, some unquantifiable quality to them that makes us keep watching and wanting more. So with all that in mind and with Caleb’s Hockey III part playing on repeat in the background, I was happy to give the young man a call to find out a bit more about who he is and his story so far. Who are all your sponsors? Hockey, Nike, Stussy, that’s pretty much it right now
How old are you? 20 What are you up to today? I might go skate later but right now I’m watching Netflix. Chilling. What’s your average day-to-day in LA? Well right now, I tore my meniscus when I went to Hawaii so I haven’t really been skating that much recently, but pretty much all I do is skate every day and hang out with friends. How’d you tear your meniscus? I was trying to noseblunt some shoot-out ledge and slipped out and fell back on my knee. I also popped my shoulder out of place at the same time. Was that it for the trick or did you keep trying? It took me out. I had to go to the hospital to get my shoulder popped back in place. I’ve done physical therapy. Now I’m just chilling, trying to skate a little more every day. Nak was saying you’re a warrior and won’t quit on tricks, like you’ll try something until you physically can’t or you’ve thrown up while trying a trick, so if that’s the case how’d you get the nickname “Big Baby”? Hell nah? Who said that? I mean, that’s just what someone told me. Is it not true? Nah, I mean I wouldn’t want myself known as Big Baby. Yeah, I doubt most people would, but is there a story behind it or why would someone tell me that? I have no clue. Maybe because I have a baby face, I don’t know. And maybe because you’re seven feet tall? Yeah. How tall are you actually? Are you openly tall? I’m 6’4.” How long have you been on Hockey and what was the process like getting on the team? Well I moved to LA when I was like 17, so like 3 years pretty much now. I’m friends with Sage and whatnot and he first got me hooked up with some Converse shoes, and then he randomly texted me one day and was like, “Do you want to get FA boards,” or whatever. It wasn’t really like Hockey or FA; I would just go to the warehouse and get stuff from either Hockey or FA. After that I was just getting hooked up, getting boxes and whatnot, but I was actually staying out in Moore Park, California, and that’s like far [from LA]. So I was working and not really able to skate that much. Then Nak was kind of just like, “I’ll get a spot in L.A. and you can stay with me out here.” So I ended up doing that, and I went on a trip last December with FA and Hockey, and I got on from there. They were like, “You want to skate for Hockey?” and I was down. I quit my job. You quit your job so you’d be able to skate more? That’s what’s up. Where were you working? I was working at some sports memorabilia place. It was in the mall. So like selling autographs, pennants and jerseys? Yeah, hats and shirts, coffee mugs…
Are you interested in that kind of stuff or was it just sort of a job so you could get by? I was just looking for a job and they wanted me to work there I guess, so I just took that job and was working there. Do you actually like Hockey, the sport? I think it’s interesting, yeah. I like hockey. I like how you can fight in it. A little bit, they let you fight. They kind of self-regulate. Yeah. Did you ever bring anything home from work? Did you have to deal with gnarly sports fans or anything? It just depends. Sometimes there would be some annoying-ass customers. They’d be super into sports and try to talk to me about sports. They’d come in and be like, “So did you see the so and so game?” and I’d just be like, “Nah.” I mean, I fuck with sports, but not to the point where I’m gonna talk to some old-ass dude about what Kobe Bryant was doing. Maybe with some homies, but not with some old man. But you never scored any jerseys or anything that you could sell on eBay? Nah, I didn’t really care to, I guess. I would just go to work and pretty much just watch skate videos the whole time.
How long do you think it is until skate stuff is going to be in those kinds of stores? I don’t know. It would have to be a long time probably. Once the Olympics start rolling in with all that. It would take a while for that. That’d be crazy if they do have stores like that, with skate memorabilia. That’d actually be kind of sick now that I think about it, haha. You’re from Detroit originally right? I was actually born in Columbus, Ohio. And then when I was like three, I moved to Detroit until I was like 12. Then I moved to Arizona and I stayed in Arizona until I was 17, then moved to LA.
Where were you when you started skating? Arizona. I’ve heard some pretty racist shit about Arizona. Was it hard growing up there, or was it like anywhere else in America pretty much. I wasn’t really around any racist areas, so I wouldn’t really know that much. I have heard that people say it is pretty racist, but nobody was ever super racist to me out there or anything. So when you moved to California, was that to try to make it in skating, or were you just trying to get out of your hometown? I was just trying to get out of Arizona. I liked California because I would go out there when I was younger. My friends would take me on little trips there, and it would be fun every time I went. I was just like “I want to just live out here.” It just feels more alive there, so I graduated high school then moved out. Was there any kind of initial culture shock when you got to LA? Had you ever lived on your own? I’ve been pretty much been couch surfing. Staying at people’s houses. You haven’t paid rent or anything yet? Nah.
Hell yeah, keep that up for as long as you can. Haha, I want to though, so I can have my own spot. I’m gonna start paying my own rent. Does couch surfing make bringing a chick home hard? Well, I have a girlfriend now, so it’s not even an issue. I mainly just be at her crib, but I couldn’t really imagine being trashed and trying to like, hanging out with a chick and just being on the couch. But I could go back to their crib. It’s almost not even worth being a single dude and getting a place, because you just end up moving in together and it’s all their shit and you get rid of your stuff anyway. Yeah, haha. I heard your lady’s dad is a director? No, her grandma is. Her grandma directed, like, The Decline of Western Civilization or something like that, and Suburbia, movies like that. She also did Wayne’s World. How’d you meet her? What does she do? I just met her while I was out with my friends, and my friends kind of knew her and I seen her at a party one time and we just hit it from there. She works for her grandma. She’s on her own shit. Has anything really changed since Hockey III came out? Yeah, it has changed. I went to this Whole Foods up the street from my house right after the video came out and some dude that was working there recognized me from the video and gave me some free acai bowl. I was like, “What the fuck?” It was sick. What’s the whole vibe at FA to you? It seems like it’s got a real thing going that a lot of classic teams have had over the years where it’s actually a bunch of friends that skate and hang out together rather than a team that was put together. It’s pretty welcoming, yeah. It’s like a family. It’s nice, like Glen [Hammerle] and whatnot are super cool. Everybody there is cool as fuck. Have you spent a lot of time with AVE or Dill? I’ve spent more time with AVE because I’ve gone on trips with him. I just recently got off a Hockey trip with him, but I haven’t really spent as much time with Dill, because he’s busy and I haven’t gone on any trips with him, but I’ve kicked it with him and gone skating with him. Is it intimidating being around AVE? Haha, he’s super mellow. I don’t say that much around him, but he’s not a dick or anything. He’s super nice. So how’d you meet Sage originally? Just being around. LA is weird; you just meet people. I actually met him a long time ago before I’d ever lived in LA. I was at Supreme and he was there and we were just chillin’, skated the bowl a little bit. I think he was getting hooked up with Alien boards and Gravis shoes and whatnot; it was a long time ago. I hadn’t seen him in a long time then we met up again, somehow linked up and he helped me out. Did you meet Nak through him? Nah, me and Nak just met through skating randomly. Then when he found out I was getting hooked up with FA boards and whatnot we started skating more and hanging out, and became cool. With getting stuff from Nike, Stussy, and Hockey, are you getting paid now where you can live, or is it still a hustle? Yeah, I’m on Nike now, so I’m starting to get money or whatever. Next year, I’ll be more set I think where I could move out. More comfortable at least. Yeah. I don’t know if I just want to jump right into getting my own place as soon as I start getting money. I want to save and be smart about my money. Yeah, you can’t just blow it as soon as it starts coming in. Yeah, gotta get my savings going and everything. Did you get that mentality from your parents? Nah, I didn’t really get that from my family. My mom tells me to save my money because she didn’t really do that I guess. She’s like a nurse now. I’m just learning from people’s mistakes and the homies that have been in my position. Now they tell me like, “Make sure you do your taxes and save,” and everything. Everybody just be looking out for me and what should I do. I’m just kind of learning on my own and from the people I surround myself with. Is your mom still out in AZ? Yeah, I’m actually going out there tomorrow. She’s going to move to Arkansas and get some land. So where’d all you go on that Hockey tour? That was to premiere the video in shops right? We went to New Jersey, Chicago, Ohio, Iowa, and Kansas. It was pretty long. Well it felt long, but it was like 10 days. It was fun as fuck though. I didn’t really get to skate on that trip though, which had me pissed, because I was still hurt. I’m still kind of hurt. Did you run into any shenanigans while on the road? This last one we didn’t really have to deal with the cops or anything, but I remember the first trip I went on it was pretty fucking crazy. John got arrested. It was funny as fuck. It was crazy, just random. I went to a strip club. I’d never gone to one before. How did you enjoy your first strip club experience? It was trash! I was in El Paso, Texas, like right on the border of Mexico and it was crazy. I was like, “Hell no.” I guess it wasn’t a great first strip club experience. What made the strip club so bad? It was just a shit strip club. The girls were gnarly. I seen some chick in there with a c-section cut on her stomach, she had a scar. She was older. That shit wild. Were any of the other guys super into it? Haha. I don’t know. I didn’t really get to see. I only stayed there for probably 20 minutes, then me and Nak and Ben were off it. But John and Cody Green were there and probably loved it. They didn’t leave with us, so they probably had fun. Well it can only get better I guess. I don’t even know, I don’t even care about strip clubs. It’s cool, I just be thinking like, “If this was someone in my family or some shit…” I’m just thinking of the girls’ families. I don’t know why I’m so serious about it, but I just look at it differently and see the sadness behind it. I’m not into it. Yeah, I’m not really into them either. I don’t even like going to Hooters and that’s just girls in go-go shorts at a chicken wing place. So why did John get arrested on that trip? I think he was a little buzzed probably and he went to the wrong hotel. There were like two hotels, and there was one across the street from us, and I think he went to the wrong hotel thinking it was ours and was trying to get into the room. Somebody probably called the cops on him. “A giant, drunk man is trying to get into my room!” Haha, yeah. So we would link up every morning in the courtyard of the hotel, and the next morning he was just not there. So we were just like what the hell’s going on and AVE called the sheriff’s office or jail or something, and they’re like, “Yeah, we have a John Fitzgerald.” I forgot that he didn’t get out right then, because that was in the morning and he got released later on. We were skating at some spot in Tucson, like the classic block spot or whatever, and he just linked us up with us there. Have you been locked up at all? Nah. Good. It sucks. Yeah I have not gone. I’ve gotten hemmed up by the cops before though, like cuffed and the whole deal. And I was in a weird neighborhood too by this skatepark called Lafayette in L.A., like Carl’s Jr. park. I guess I jaywalked. It was like no cars, but this cop just so happened to not have his lights on and he just flashed his lights on me and the homie and was like, “Get on the pavement!” He put me in handcuffs. I was like, young, and I had a little bit of weed in my pocket. I was scared as fuck. He didn’t even trip about the weed or anything. He let me get my weed back and everything. It was pretty funny. I was like, “Oh shit, it’s pretty mellow out here in L.A.” They’re definitely way more mellow about weed in California than in Arizona. Yeah, Arizona is whack with that. You think Arizona will ever come around or are they just going to be stuck in their ways? I feel like…I don’t know. There’s a lot of weirdos out there. Maybe they don’t want weed to be legal. They probably don’t even though I know a lot of people who smoke weed out there. Maybe they can’t grow it in the desert so they wouldn’t be able to make the good money off it, so they don’t care to make it legal. I mean they could have it shipped in. It wouldn’t be hard. So the cops cuffed you up for jaywalking? That seems really severe. In your experience do you think that cops profile black men specifically more than other people? Maybe. I guess they do target African Americans people sometimes. It just depends on the cop. I don’t want to say all cops are like that, but I can’t front, they do press on a darker skin tone. I’ve always been curious if skateboarding ever helps out with that, like if you’re getting profiled and a cop makes some general assumption about whatever a young black man might be up to, but then sees you with a skateboard if they have to reevaluate their assessment? Uh huh. That is true. Skating does do that. It makes them more chill when they see the board, they’re like, “Oh, skater kid. He not really in the streets like that.” But some cops don’t give a fuck. So did you know in advance, that Hockey III was how they were going to introduce you to the team? Yeah I knew that video was going to be how they’d introduce me. It wasn’t a surprise. It happened fast though. I want to film more. How long did you film for that? Probably like 6 months maybe? 4 months? But I’d only skate with Benny so many times. It wasn’t like I’d be out skating with him every day or something. I feel like it was chill for how everything was going down. I was trying hard to focus. Every time I would go out I would try to get a clip. Nak was saying that you don’t quit until you absolutely have to, that he’s seen you throw up from trying so many times. Where do you get that kind of drive? It was just like…the time, me filming this video part and shit was crazy. It was around a time where I was thinking about my life and what was going on, just home life and everything. I guess that was just my push. I didn’t want to live in Moore Park, California, like dumb far away from everything. I wanted to do something with skating, I guess. That was my push and I was like, “Fuck it, I’ll try anything. I’ll bust my ass.” That’s really what pushed me, just family and thinking about home and whatnot. And not wasting an opportunity. Yeah I was not trying to be some kid who just ends up being flow for F.A. or something, you know? I didn’t want to blow it. It would’ve bummed people out that I knew back home. Yeah, and people have a way of getting comfortable, thinking like, “Oh I made it,” when they haven’t really done anything yet. Exactly and Nake kept me on top of that, because he’s always pushing me. All the time. He’s always like, “Let’s go get a clip, let’s go do this, let’s go do that.” He would let me know that being flow, it’s not like you’re on. It’s just a let’s see what this person can do, how much he wants it. And Nak’s a good example too, because he obviously kills it, but he’s also having a great time and enjoying the ride while not taking shit for granted. Yeah, that’s why I like living here. I feel like that’s helping me out a lot, just being surrounded by Nak. He taught me a lot. What about home was motivating you? Was it something specific or just not wanting to have to come home hat in hand type of thing? Yeah, I guess it was just family shit was making me want to go harder, and just not moving back there. Even if I wasn’t sponsored or whatever in LA, I would still want to live out there regardless of skating. Yeah, LA’s got its faults but it’s all right. So what’s next for you? I’ll be working on some Nike stuff and started filming with Benny again. I just want to film whatever, just film for whatever’s next, whatever they got planned. Well that’s about all I got unless you got anything else you want to say. The 917 video was sick! That’s all I gotta say ‘cause I heard that somebody over at Jenkem was talking shit on 917, but I love 917. Those are the homies. That interview was funny, or whatever they were saying. It was random. Everyone was just confused. I was in New York and somebody, I think it was Logan [Lara], was like, “Look at this,” and it was them talking about Aiden. I don’t know, like was that a joke or was that somebody serious? Was it the article “The World That The 917 Created?” Yeah, something like that, saying like that it was a remake of KIDS or something. I don’t know, the 917 video was sick. That’s all I have to say.
