Robert Brink - Writer

Ryan Bobier

August 26, 2007 | Skip To The Comments (3)

Ryan Bobier
Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag September 2007

Prior to interviewing Ryan, I had a hard time coming up on info about him. The only thing anyone knew was that he won the Volcom Damn Am in 2003. His good friend Lee Dupont informed me that Ryan wasn't so keen on phone interviews, was questioning who the hell I was, and was over being asked countless questions about "having Jamie Thomas as a boss."

It was nothing unreasonable or out of the ordinary at all, but it did throw the slight game plan I had for a total loop. No gossip, stories or abundant media coverage to go on, keep the Jamie Q's to a minimum, hope he's doesn't hate me right out of the gate and hope he stays on the phone long enough to get an intriguing 2000 words out of him. Not as easy as one might think.

Lucky for me, and you, Ryan is laid back, real and patient. Not just about our interview, but about skateboarding and his career. He's not rushing into or forcing anything. He's not asking for anything he doesn't deserve. His self awareness is much more mature than that of the average 23-year-old, and with the Mystery video finally about to drop, our patience too, will be rewarded and we will see the best Bobier yet.

Do you ever think you're old to be am, or get nervous things might pass you by?

Yeah, there's all these kids coming up fast and it seems like everyone's turning pro younger. But I don't think that really matters. I'm not that old. I'll be 23 at the end of the year. I'm not tripping.

Some dudes on Zero are just flat-out superstars. Did you choose to be more under the radar?

No, I wouldn't say that was even thought about. That's just what happened. Those guys couldn't help it. Like Tommy [Sandoval] and Chris Cole, that was what they were destined to be. I just do what I do.

How about the switch to Mystery? Were you bummed, like, "I'm not gonna be on Zero anymore."

It was a little weird. We were on a summer tour. Ryan Smith was on and Dan Murphy was on flow. Then Lindsey [Robertson] got on and Lopez decided to do it. Mumford originally was gonna do it and then didn't.

So it was basically all my closest friends riding for Mystery now. Then Jamie [Thomas] approached me and I was just like, "Yeah, that's kind of crazy!" But at the same time it was kind of exciting, 'cuz with those guys we got to start Mystery from the ground up. It was also a new beginning for me, so I was excited about it.

I heard you almost got kicked off Zero at one point before that?

That was just a weird time. I was skating and still in school and all these guys were moving up. It was around the time we were filming Dying to Live. I was just skating the way I was at the time. I didn't feel it was my time right then.

I talked to Jamie about it a little bit and he was just like, "If this is what you really want to do, then you gotta step up." And I guess I barely hung on for that video. But it was crazy. I definitely had to go through my mind, like "Is this even what I really want to do right now?" But it totally was.

Lee's [Dupont] always sort of had you under his wing, like a little brother?

He's always got my back. Without Lee, I don't know if I would have really got through that video. I might have been kicked off or whatever.

He used to give you meltdowns while you were filming and make you cry?

He didn't make me cry. I don't know what he's telling you, but I fucking hated the guy. When we first started filming Dying to Live I would just hop in the van with him everyday, and we'd go skate with Trainwreck [Alex Gall] or whoever, and I couldn't stand the guy. He's got a brutal sense of humor and calls it like he sees it. It was something I wasn't used to. I told Jamie that I didn't even want to film with him, but I didn't have a choice. His torturing me was just 'cuz he had my back.

So give me a good Lee story.

We were on the Dying to Live world tour in Paris, France, and these distributors took us to this nice authentic French dinner. We're eating and just talking and drinking red wine. I think I was 16 or 17 and wasn't really into red wine. So we're sitting there for probably three hours straight, drinking wine, and by the end I was just slamming cups of it—like completely wasted.

As soon as I stood up from the table, I must have blacked out. I go outside and I'm yelling at French people, telling them to go fuck themselves or whatever, just being the worst ever—the worst American too.

This is all just what I heard, 'cuz I'm completely blacked out. And Lee's in his boxers trying to distract people, 'cuz one dude was gonna kick my ass. Then we end up in the van and I'm just being obnoxious. And he's trying to calm me down and I'm talking shit to him. He ends up punching me in the nose and I'm bleeding. And I'm freaking out, spitting blood on him and shit. And Mumford's in the back, holding me back and I'm trying to fight Lee, which… I don't stand a chance.

Then we get to the hotel and they put me in a room. And this story gets back to Jamie and Wiggins, who was the team manager at the time, and they bust into Lee's room like, "What the fuck, man, you're picking on little Bobier? You're punching him and shit!" And he's like, "Get the fuck out of my room. You don't know what happened. You weren't there."
I woke up in someone else's room, I was like, "Whoa, this is weird, what happened last night?"

I come downstairs in the morning and everyone's got that look. Like, "You fucked up last night." And I look at Lee, and he looks at me, and we just start laughing, and I'm like, "I'm sorry man, I don't know what happened." And then I end up hearing the story. But that's just basically Lee. Throughout this whole drama, me and him were the only two people laughing in the morning.

What's it like touring for Adio with Bam or Tony Hawk?

I toured one time with Tony and he brought his son and it was a little crazy. 'Cuz he'd skate the demo and kids are chanting "Riley Hawk!" And he's snaking you and doing all these little tricks everywhere, and you're just like, "Damn, what am I even doing here right now?" But it's funny. I just kinda sit back and just laugh, 'cuz the whole situation is kind of funny to me. And I've never been on a tour with Bam, so I don't know what that's like.