Caro foster
Interview by Joe Brook Photos by Luke Ogden
LL I know is that we're cruisin' down Columbus in North
Beach. Ten minutes ago Cairo was the last to vomit on
the bathroom floor. Now we're skating. Things are being
smashed, people are screaming, and I'm crying from
laughing so hard... This was a night with my friend Cairo, the
freaking best skater a filmer would ever want to film and simply
an all-around goofy dude. -John E Trippe
What's a normal day like for
you? What time do you get up
and so forth?
a
eat
I usually start my day around 9
AM, sit around the bed because
most of the people I skate with
don't wake up till 12. read a
magazine
or something,
breakfast, go skate. Check my
messages and go hook up with
people. Go shoot photos or film.
Whatever's important for the day.
I just try to skateboard.
Do you keep in touch with
what's going on in the world?
Like current affairs outside of the
skateboarding world? Definitely.
Skateboarding is a big part of my life
but it doesn't have a big impact on
the overall view of the world. So I
gotta keep in contact with everything
else that's happening.
Do you have any brothers
and sisters?
No. I'm an only child. My family
is basically just my friends back
Sequence: "Kickflips are supposed
to flip the other way, buddy."
Heelflip over a gargantuan gap on
the Embarcadero. That Page: "
bet you really like doing lipslides on
long poles, don't you Cairo? I know
you used to work in the Castro."
I home in Florida and some of the
friends I've obtained while living.
in San Francisco. That's who I
consider my family.
Who has influenced you in your
life and skating?
There's no one in particular in
skateboarding that's really influenced
me. It's just a matter of taking a look
at the overview of skateboarders and
seeing all these different styles and
appreciating them all and trying to
apply them to myself. When I was
growing up there wasn't one particu-
lar person that I was like, "Oh, yes!
That's the wall for so-and-so, that's
the Tony Hawk wall or the Mike
Carroll wall." Everyone was rad
when I was growing up so I didn't
have any particular favorite skater.
Was there anyone outside of
skating who influenced you a lot,
anyone who was there for you or
that you looked up to?
There wasn't really anyone I looked
up to, but living in Florida some of
my friends' families helped me out
a lot and gave me a little guidance
when things were rough. I'd like to
thank all of them.
Do you look at skateboarding,
at taking photos or filming,
like a job, or do you let it hap-
how it happens?
pen
It's kind of 50-50. In a way it's a
job because you have to go out
and shoot photos and get seen so
kids'll get
I get psyched on you, but you
can't lose sight of
ight of where your
skateboarding
ding came from. So
sometimes I'll
go out just to skate
and end up hooking up with a
a pho-
tographer,
but I think I try to call a
photographer up at least once a
week to
week to get something done. That
it better
way betters my chances of get-
ting coverage.
If you were to describe your-
self in one word, what would
hat word
that word be?
Weird. Or weirdo.
What's one
What's
of the most
amazing things that's ever
happened to you in your life?
I can't think of anything extreme-
ly amazing, but I guess I can look
at the fact that I've been given the
chance to be a professional skate-
boarder and do what I like to do
and get paid for it. That's decently
amazing. I'm sure there are a lot of
people
who would like to be in that
position and I'm just thankful that I
have the right people to help me. If
you grow up skateboarding and
you want to turn pro, and then you
do...that's amazing.
Do you have any advice for
young skaters
skaters who want to be
sponsored or turn pro?
The best thing to
to do is skate-
just
board; don't become
completely
obsessed with the idea of getting
sponsored. If you're looking for it
then you might just be considered
this obsessive kid who's overlook-
ing the fact that skateboarding is
supposed to be fun. If you just
ople will
people will
enjoy skateboarding,
notice that in your attitude and the
way you look when you skate, , and
they'll be like, "That kid's rad." So
don't think about it too much and
just
I enjoy it. If you're progressing
well enough, you'll get seen. I'm
not saying that's the sure-fire rem-
edy to becoming sponsored, but it
seems like it's worked for a lot of
people I've known.
Do you have a good relation-
ship with your parents? Do
they support your skating?
My parents and I don't really
have a good relationship anymore,
56 THRASHER