I’ve been friends with Billy for years, my first memories are seeing him do the most tech manny and quarter pipe tricks at PQ park, the more I skated there, the closer I got with Billy. Over the years we’ve been on trips, countless sessions, and spent plenty of time inside Slappy’s Garage together. Stress Skateboards just dropped their new edit “Duwop“, and Billy closed the curtains, so I figured we’d get the backstory on him getting on Stress, traveling for this video, his roller skating roots, and what Kombucha he’s cracking to celebrate the release. Enjoy!

🌀: So the new Stress edit dropped today, are you feeling more so relieved or excited?

• I’m relieved, the past week or two I’ve just been anxious about having a full part in it. I know it’s only a 6 minute edit, but actually closing it out…

🌀: Yea, you’re the guy in it!

• It’s so weird, you know?

🌀: Yeah, it’s sick though. Well deserved. Did you pick the song you skated to?

• That was all Kevin, he said he found a lot of it on Spotify, he just stumbled upon them. He actually wanted to use the song Almost used for Dilo…

🌀: Someone else used that song too, right?

• Yeah, someone on Enjoi skated to it

🌀: You’re right, I think it was Jackson Pilz

• Yeah, so Kevin was like “What do you think about this song?”, and I was like “Dilo used it”, I feel like out of everybody, Kevin should’ve known that (laughs)

🌀: That’s funny. To go back to the beginning, how did you first get on Stress?

• Just hanging around the shop (Slappy’s Garage), there was an event here when the shop expanded and they approached me like “Yo, we’re thinking about doing this company”, a few months passed and nothing came of it, then they announced the team, and a couple months after that they felt it out and said “Yo you wanna skate for us?”, and I was like “Yeah, let’s do it”

🌀: You’re a good fit, I’m glad you’re in the mix.

• It’s cool cause it’s just a bunch of homies who I was already skating with.

🌀: That’s the best type of stuff, it makes it organic that way.

• Yeah, definitely.

🌀: So once you were on it was pretty much straight into filming for the Stress Summer Promo, right?

• You know, I don’t remember how the filming actually went, cause we film, and whatever gets used, gets used. Kevin was already filming me at the time, and I was already going out with them before I was on, so it was like “These clips can go towards this project, and then these clips are strictly for Stress”.

🌀: Yeah, I’m sure it all blends together, because you also had clips in “Limbo“, didn’t you?

• Yeah, I had a shared part with JJ, I snuck my way into that, that was fun.

🌀: As far as all these edits, do like filming VX, or would you prefer it was HD?

• Nah, I love VX. I used to hate it though…

🌀: It grew on you?

• Yeah, it’s Kevin with the editing, and the way they export the footage, it looks way better to me now.

🌀: Yeah, I feel like colors in Kevin and Beaver’s VX footy always looks proper, it never looks blown out, and I think that’s the main hate with VX footage.

• Yeah, they’re super detailed in what they do, they study everything VX related, and make sure everything is done right. You can try to bake a cake, but if you’re missing an ingredient it’s going to be a problem. You can have the best filming and the best skating, but if the colors are wrong, or the editing is wrong, it’s like, why’d you even do that?

🌀: Yeah, one little thing can ruin a video.  I really like the animations that Eric did in the video as well, that was a nice touch.

• Yeah, they’re very detailed in that way, which is what people need to be.

🌀: You guys got out of SD while filming for this video it looked like, where’d you travel to?

• We went to Mexico, Vegas, and we skated LA and San Bernardino too. It’s just so hard to be productive in San Diego

🌀: Yeah, it’s a lot of the same spots that have been skated for years here in SD.

• Yeah, you show up to a spot and there’s other crews there. We wanted to take a trip and all of a sudden we’re in Mexico.

🌀: Where in Mexico did you guys skate?

• Tijuana, Tecate, and Roserito, which almost felt like when we went to Canada.

🌀: Really?

• Yeah, it was the same structure as that trip. Get home, unwind from the day of skating, but we didn’t do nightly footage parties like we did in Canada. But, it was just like, everyone chills, get drunk, hit the hot tub, get breakfast in the morning, and back to it.

🌀: That’s a good way to do it. Was it pretty hectic going down there with COVID going on?

• No, it was pretty mellow. Everyone had their masks, and it seemed more relaxed in Mexico than here in the U.S. Everyone is more easy going there, but at the same time everyone has respect for each other there, so everyone wore masks, which was super awesome. There’s so much tension about that here, and there it wasn’t a thing to not wear it.

🌀: That’s rad everyone respected that. Even though I’ve skated with you for years, your manual tricks always impress me, and that was no different with this new part. Do you think your days growing up in a Roller Rink played a role in those fakie manuals?

• You guys seem to think so!

🌀: I swear it does

• There’s no correlation I feel like.

🌀: I don’t know, there’s not too many people that fakie manual and you can see the sole of their shoe on their front foot

• That’s because fakie manuals are all in your back foot.

🌀: I know, but yours moves differently, I think there’s a correlation between the roller skating skills and your manuals.

• I do ankle stretches, that could be it.

🌀: (Laughs), that could be it. Should we show the people some roller skating clips?

• Dude, I went there tonight and realized I got to visit there more again. I get bummed seeing roller skaters in the streets, it just looks like rollerblading to me now, I need rink skating. Pirtle said we gotta film something for Stress at the roller rink, we ran out of time for this edit though.

🌀: That’d be some sick B-Roll, some super 8 inside SkateWorld.

• Next time around, we’re getting some roller skate clips.

🌀: I got some iPhone clips of you rollerskating, I can share those.

• Oh yeah, share those! Loop them!

🌀: (Laughs), Wow, roller skate loops. Ok, so there was “Never Enough”, “Limbo”, and then two Stress edits, so it’s been pretty non-stop for you. What’s next?

• The next Stress drop.

🌀: You guys are gonna drop footage every time boards drop? That’s a good formula.

• Yeah, that’s the structure. The way they explained it to me is that every edit is supposed to highlight two people. This one was mainly Austin/Juan, and myself.

🌀: Yeah, true, Austin had some sick clips.

• He got clips quick too, because he didn’t get on all that long ago.

🌀: I like his style, the back smith down that rail, his arms looked all sick.

• Yeah, he’s so good.

🌀: The idea to focus on a couple dudes in each video is cool. So you’ll still have clips in that next edit, in a montage section maybe?

• Yeah, there will be a team section, which is kind of what the first video was.

🌀: Sick. Before the new edit dropped you mentioned that there’s a trick in it that should be looped, which clip were you referring to?

• Junior’s kickflip. Seeing it live, almost all of them looked like that, I think he only missed one. The back 3 was giving him trouble, but even that was like 12 tries if that. But every kickflip was just gorgeous.

🌀: He’s light on his feet. He had a few clips off ledges and over trash cans, I liked that.

• Yeah, there’s also that clip where he ollies up the ledge and does 5-0 Front shuv, his body is still the whole time, it looks so casual.

🌀: Yeah, he’s got good posture. But back to that kickflip, it reminded me of that Danny Garcia kickflip in Mosaic.

• I mentioned that to Pirtle and he said “Holy shit, yeah!”, how do you guys remember these things? I don’t have that retention of skate knowledge.

🌀: It’s out of a bank, the same type of spot, and he just pauses time when he catches it. I for sure gotta loop Junior’s.

• Yeah, he’s a beast.

🌀: I know you’re a Kombucha extraordinaire, I was going to ask what are you gonna crack open to celebrate your part dropping, but the answer is in front of me, because you’re drinking one right now.

• Yeah, Sexy Pina Colada by Nova, they’re my go to right now.

🌀: Ok, ok.

• Babe Kombucha is my other go-to, the owner wants me to run a skate team. They make regular Kombucha and hard.

🌀: Whoa, sick. Nova makes both as well, right?

• Yeah, Nova just dropped their non-alcoholic Kombucha, they sell it next door to the shop, shit is bomb. It’s Mango-Pineapple or something, it’s super good.

🌀: Well now the people know how to celebrate, crack a Kombucha. Thanks again for doing this, congrats on the part!

• Thanks for doing the interview, supporting Stress, and shouting us out with a little post!