Portrait: Mcleod
Interview: Oleynik
It's been just over a year since Dan Redmond's first skatenewspot interview. I caught up with the man on Canada's birthday to discuss tech tricks, the upcoming Zoo York BC Tour and what the rest of 2010 has in store for him. Read the Dan Redmond Check Up interview below.

What's up Dan? How are things?
Hey Ben, not much is up today. Just trying to be patriotic and having a beer for Canada's birthday. Hoping for better weather so I can go push around.

It's been a year since your last interview? What's new? What's changed?
Dang, a year already! That flew by faster than I would have liked. Some people say "with time everything changes, whether you like it or not", but in my case, not much has changed. I like to keep things simple. Skate every day, sleep every night. Was able to do a little traveling in between work the past year which was nice. But now I have the traveling bug and want to keep going.

So a few years back you moved to Vancouver from Penticton. What keeps you in Van?
Yeah, the move from my hometown to Vancouver was a good choice in steps. Van is a great place regardless of this summers crappy weather. It is a hot spot for skating here in which it is a good place for me to be. Plus it's where all my friends are and it doesn't really snow here in the winters which is amazing!

So I know you love skating ledges and mannies and those can be pretty hard to find in Van. So my question is, why the hell are you never at the Plaza?!
If you like skating park ledges and park mannies, it is a great place. I grew up skating grimmy spots my whole life so that's where I like to kick it, in the streets rather than at a park. You will see me at the Plaza more often now that Zoo is throwing a demo there, so I have to get used to the place ha ha. But other than that, I'm never there.


Backside Flip. Photo: Odam
I know you love Hot Spot. Do you still go there often.
Hot Spot is tight, I mean it has perfect ledges and good ground aside from all the crackers up there shooting up, but that adds for stories. Plus, I can wax the crap outta those ledges and no one can complain! It's a place where you can think of a ledge trick, go there and learn it.

You're pretty into fixing up spots. Have you been doing that lately?
Like I said, I like skating grimmy spots, so in order to skate some of the spots you have to put a little work in. I have to thank Rich Odam for that though, because he has all the tools needed to fix a spot perfectly. We have some hidden gems ha ha.

You're a super mellow guy. You try really hard tricks. Do you every spaz out, focus your shit?
I wouldn't say hard tricks, but more or less tricks you don't see very often. It is really rare to see me focus a board, my board's not the one making me not land the trick, it's myself. So if I get to that point I will usually throw a curse out there and smoke a spliff then get back at it. Plus, I always need boards and breaking them just hinders that.


Frontside Flip. Photo: Odam
What are your 5 favourite tricks?
1) Kickflips
2) No grab backside 360 kickflip in vert (t.hawk 411vm issue #9)
3) Switch backside flip manny
4) No Complys
5) Nollie Three Shuvs

Who's killing it in Van right now?
Anyone who is out skating and having fun!

You just were on a trip to New York City. How was the trip?
Best trip of my life so far. I felt at home the minute I got there, aside from the air quality compared to Van City. The only worry we had while out there was sleeping, because we all just wanted to keep skating the streets in which I have been dreaming about since 96/97 when my parents bought me my first board. Our days consisted of waking up around 8:30-9am grabbing some breakfast at the local bakery, and since we had no one showing us around, we would just hop onto the train and just lurk for spots throughout Manhattan till dark where we would grab brews and head back to the hostel. That was our every day routine, got the little kid back into me ha ha.


Switch Front Nose. Photo: Mcleod
List me 5 memorable things about NYC?
1) Dallas BBQ
2) Marble Ledges everywhere
3) Pizza
4) The women
5) The fact there wasn't someone asking you every minute for some change or a cigarette (like Vancouver).

So this week you're doing a small BC tour with Zoo York. What's the schedule like?
I'm pretty hyped to be apart of it all! Wednesday, July 7th, Westgate, Chaz, Dave Willis and Robbie will be coming by Underworld for a couple hours to hang out and sign autographs, then at 6PM we'll be putting on a demo and BBQ with Underworld at the Plaza. Then on Thursday, the crew will be heading to Coastal Riders and the Guilford Bowl in Surrey for another BBQ and demo. I want to see everyone out there having fun with the Zoo crew!

You just finished a sick Ambush Interview in Kingshit, are you working on anything else skate wise right now?
I just finished a little interview for SBC magazine which will be dropping next issue. Other than that, I always keep my ears and eyes open for opportunities!

What does the rest of 2010 have in store for Dan Redmond?
Not to sure, take it day by day. Just skate as much as possible, travel as much as I can and hopefully get back out to the Big Apple before the year ends. But for now, cheers for Canada's birthday!