Just wait 'til you see Tyler's Mindfield part...

Whoooooooooo! Ready for a sick year? We are. So check it out... Tyler's got an '07 sequence here and a new clip here. The boys have some more photos on Berrics and Malto and Langi have some year end recap clips here.

Mikey has a little interview about Mindfield here and a clip here. There's some pretty pictures of Mikey, Sean, Tyler and Kyle here. Jose looks silly here. That's all.

Tyler, Malto & Mikey have some tricks in this "Best Of" clip at Berrics!

You’re still living with your girlfriend right?
Yeah.

Once you start getting bigger paychecks do you have to start treating her to nice dinners and stuff since you’ve been like living off her for a while?
I haven’t been living off her for a while! Yeah right! I was able to handle it on my own.

Are you gonna propose to her?
She’s definitely not down for the whole marriage thing.

That’s a good catch.
Yeah for sure. A winner in my book.

How about your jean shopping obsession?
I admit it. I’m a jean-aholic. I’m just such a spaz with pants and jeans. They totally have to fit a certain way or else I just can’t wear ‘em, you know?

You also blow them out all the time. I have that photo of you with your cords blown out and your wiener hanging out mid-trick
Dude that was awesome! One of the best photos I’ve ever seen. I seriously have no problem spending money on a good pair of jeans. Other people have other vices. I mean, there’s dudes who spend all their money on weed or buy cowboy boots to be all cool. Some dudes are into weed… I’m into jeans.

Tell us about your first Eric Koston experience.
I’m at a contest in San Jose in 1995, I can’t remember what it was called but it was my first time ever freakin experiencing a contest or anything. I went there with a couple homies and we were just in awe. All the pros that were there skating.. like, “Oh my God there’s Mike Carroll! There’s Jeremy Wray!” And I remember I was just watching and then Eric and Jeron Wilson roll up… probably like five feet away from me and they were talking and I got super psyched and was like, “Hey Eric Koston! Hey Jeron Wilson, what’s going on, dudes?” And they both just looked at each other and started laughing and then they just freakin’ turned around and broke out. That kinda sucked ‘cause I was super psyched and then when that happened I was like “Ah fuck, dude!” I probably sounded like a douche.

How old were you when you started fishing?
I’ve pretty much been fishing all my life. My dad was a fisherman, so I guess right out the womb I was going out with him.

Who gave you your first fishing pole?
Well my dad obviously, that shit was all sick!

What was the first fish you caught?
Damn, probably a striped bass.

Were you with your dad?
Yeah, I was swimming in the water and like, my dad would hook the fish and I would run up to him and grab the pole and fish ‘em in. I was all stoked.

So he made you think you caught the fish. Do you ever eat the fish that you catch?
No. I’m more of a sport fisherman. The name of our game is “catch and release.”

What’s your favorite place to fish?
Probably be the Sacramento Delta. It’s basically like a super-wide river but it has different slews and stuff, but all of it connects together at one point and goes into the ocean. It’s mainly freshwater fish, but striped bass cruise through the rivers and make it out into the open ocean. Salmon run through there as well. Even whales are there, dude—wayward whales that don’t know where they’re going and end up in the river system.

Have you ever caught a whale?
Hell no. Dude, that’d be insane! But this body of water is 1.500 miles of waterways that eventually just lead into the ocean. Pretty tight.

So, what’s the biggest fish you’ve ever caught?
The biggest saltwater fish was a 32-pound king salmon.

Is that the type of fish that takes a half hour to reel in or whatever?
No. Salmon don’t really fight. I hear people that catch like 30-pound tuna and they’re fighting them for half an hour. I’ve caught a baby shark before too, in Australia. The biggest freshwater fish I’ve caught was a 13- pound largemouth bass. There’s people that fish all their lives to catch a bass over five pounds and they never do. I came up on a 13-pounder, son!

What’s this picture I saw of you on Bassturdz? You’ve got some Oakleys on and you’re holding a fish and you’re wearing overalls. That shit is amazing.
Yeah dude, those are waders. They are like wetsuits. You gotta put on those fucking frog fins or whatever and then you jump in this inner tube thing and you just freaking kick out to wherever you want. That photo was of the 13-pound bass!

So are your feet just kicking in the water? How do you get leverage if you hook a large fish?
That’s why I’ve got those frog fins. I can maneuver. But when I hooked into the 13-pounder it was nuts. The fish was dragging me around. But I caught it and I was amped.

Do you follow pro fishing on TV and get the mags like with skating?
I did for a while. I used to have subscriptions to those magazines. When it comes on TV I fully watch if I’m not doing anything. But I haven’t kept up because, believe it or not, I’ve been focused on skateboarding.

What do you enjoy about fishing?
I just like the challenge of it. They call this “finesse fishing.” You’ve got to work these lures and present them in the right way, because if you don’t the fish isn’t gonna be attracted to it. It’s pretty gratifying. And when I’m working on a lure right and I get a hit… I get pretty amped. It makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing, you know?

Are the Bass Turdz your fishing crew. Like Tilt Mode Army is your skating crew?
Yeah. All those dudes are part of the Tilt Mode too. They’ve been into fishing as long as I have and they’re super amped on it. The rest of the Bass Turdz fish every weekend. Those dudes kill it.

Do they get bummed on you ‘cause you go away skating instead of hardcore fishing?
Not at all. I skateboard professionally. I gotta enjoy it and do it well while it lasts ‘cause fishing is always gonna be there. I’ll be an old-ass turd going out fishing, you know?

Are there any comparisons between skateboarding and fishing?
The thing that I love about fishing is that I can go fishing by myself and just get away from everything and if there’s anything on my mind that I’m stressing out on, whether it’s filming for deadlines and shit like that… I go fishing and all my worries are just gone. It’s just super quiet. It’s sort of like my meditation. It’s an awesome way to not worry about stuff.

Download it! (5.85 MB) iPod-friendly

Do your Long Beach friends make fun of you more than your San Jose friends?
My Long Beach friends actually love me. They’re just really family oriented so they treat me like one of their relatives. With the San Jose dudes, I’ve just known them for so long that we just always talk crap to each other. That’s’ the way it will always be. Everything is all good, but we’re just always hating on each other.

Is there anything that people bust your balls about that really bums you out?
The Mexican jokes really piss me off.

But that’s most prevalent Jose joke out of them all!
Exactly. But it’s the one that gets under my skin the most. I should be more open-minded with it but for some reason it just hurts. It’s below the belt.

From how common it is in the enjoi ads I would’ve thought you didn’t give a shit.
I shouldn’t care and I shouldn’t give a shit but my family’s been in predicaments where they get racist shit said to them. That’s probably why it gets under my skin ‘cause it’s happened to my freakin family, which is nuts.

I read somewhere that your nickname is Chumpwagon?
No that’s my iChat account. But back when Brad Staba rode for the team he had his own vocabulary and "Chumpwagon" was one of them. Like just imagine seeing a bunch of marks in a car that you don’t like. “Look at all those chumps in that chumpwagon!”

A while back enjoi did an ad poking fun at Ryan Sheckler… and now you’re teammates with him on etnies. Did it feel weird meeting him at his house a couple months ago? Were you worried he was gonna be bummed on you?
No, because I wasn’t really a part of that whole thing. I mean, I thought it was funny, but I didn’t make it up. When I went to his house, he was actually really cool to me.

It could have been a “guilt by association” thing but he didn’t seem bitter…
Yeah. Not at all. I had a good time.

For the third time in an interview… can you name the seven continents yet?
Ah dude, not this again! I’m so over it! North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia. How many is that?

That’s five.
And there’s seven? Australia and Antarctica, right?

I think you got it.
I’ve done my research!

If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?
The economy.

Did you vote?
Fuck yeah I voted! It was my first time ever voting, it was pretty awesome. I voted for Obama! Although I was kinda feelin’ Sarah Palin… I’m playin’, she’s an idiot. She would completely annihilate the US again. Just like Bush did, but like tenfold.

What was the most embarrassing day of your life?
It was actually the trip where I caught Jerry masturbating. We had gone out to dinner… I think PF Changs. At the end they give you a fortune cookie and I read my fortune out loud. Fuckin A, dude! I read the fortune out loud and I think the fortune said something like “You and a co-worker will have really good luck heading your way soon.” or something and I go “You and a cow worker will have…” I remember getting super red. Dudes were just ripping me then the waitresses would come and they’d totally tell them and shit. I wanted to leave. It sucked. Oh, I guess I would say my balls hanging out of my pants when you took that photo but it hasn’t been published in anything.

Not yet. What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life? I’m thinking maybe it was the car accident deal a few years ago?
That was one of them. A couple months ago we were in San Francisco and my girlfriend and I went to get breakfast and on our way driving I made a right hand turn and I guess the dude next to me didn’t like how close I was or something and the fucking dude slowed down and came to a complete stop in the middle of a busy street and I honked at him, like, “Dude what the fuck? Go already!”

He went for a little bit and he pulled off to the side and I was like “I’m gonna fuckin’ pass this dude.” So when I try to pass him, he freakin’ blocks me and he reaches under his seat and grabbed a fucking gun and pointed the gun at us. I was like “Holy shit dude!”

I just put my arms up, like “Dude, I don’t want no fucking problems with you.” And he was just staring at us for a little bit and then sped off.

The ultimate road rage…
I was like “Jesus man! You’re seriously willing to freakin’ shoot and kill someone for a right hand turn that pissed you off?”

What’s the gnarliest thing you’ve ever seen done on a skateboard?
Jerry’s nollie back heel, his ender in Bag of Suck. And the reason it was gnarly was cause those stairs are super huge. But when Jerry was trying it I thought he wasn’t going to be able to pull it. He wasn’t coming close at all. In my mind I was like “Damn dude, I really don’t know if he’s got this.”

It was only one that he flipped and caught… that was the one he landed. It was insane to watch. It was really nuts just watching him not coming close at all and then just watching the one that flipped perfect and him fucking putting it down and rolling away.

It sucks too ‘cause mentally you don’t want to underestimate your homies, but sometimes you’re just like “Man, I don’t think he’s got it.”
That’s what’s sick about it. That’s what I like about skateboarding. That’s what I like about skaters who just fuckin’ battle, you know what I mean? It’s just so sick to watch a dude that will go through the gnarliest battle and end up landing it. It’s the most gratifying feeling ever I think.

Part III coming soon...

Part I is here!

Hope you got all you wanted from Santa, kiddies... but now it's back to biz. Tyler gets serenaded here. Mikey and Tyler still seem to be gettin' Epicly Reda'd, but Mikey stole the camera. Malto destroyed SF on a recent photo shoot. And enjoi exposes the truth about Christmas. Enough for now, get back to your new toys.

Check the February issue of Skateboarder for Jose Rojo's "Viewfinder" article! Stay tuned here for part 2 of his interview!

We made a new friend this year. His name is Jose Rojo. Somehow he ended up on a few etnies tours and impressed everyone with his skateboarding. He kept hangin’ around, is fun to skate with, tells some good fishing stories and made us laugh a lot, so we decided to put him on. Because we love him so much, and he's the new guy, we thought we'd do a feature interview with him so you can get to know him a little better, just like we've gotten to in the last year. So here you go... Jose Rojo interview part one:

Brink: Jose! What are you doing?
Rojo: I just got done eating Wahoo's a little bit ago. Let’s get this shit going.

Heath [etnies Team Manager] wanted me to ask you if you think you’re actually still getting on etnies. He said you’re just the mascot.
Dude he sucks! Are you with him right now?

No.
Heath is a dick. Um, I mean, yeah I’m on. My ad is out! I have to be on!

Jerry Hsu told me you caught him masturbating once.
Yeah dude, that was a crazy one. I think it was Denver and we were all heading out to go eat. I was rooming with Jerry obviously and I asked him if he wanted to roll and he’s like “Nah dude, I think I should just chill.”

I was like “Alright.” It was kinda weird. So freakin’… I leave the room and as I’m walking towards the lobby I forgot something and I had to go back to the room, and when I opened the door Jerry was sitting behind the desk and fully crossed his legs over all quick and was like… I can’t remember what he said but he was like, “Oh shit you caught me masturbating.” Or something like that. Dude it was awesome.

Damn, you just have to fess up in that situation or it’ll haunt you forever. He handled it well.
For sure. The thing I remember the most was that when I walked in dude, I just looked in his eyes and he looked like a dear in headlights. Like, “Holy shit, dude!” It was awesome.

That’s why you’ve got to wait a while after your homie leaves the hotel room, you can’t just get right into it. I’d say at least fifteen minutes.
Yeah. At least.

I wonder how many people have been caught that exact way.
Probably so many. One time we were in Costa Rica. It was one of my first enjoi tours and it was when MJ was part of the whole gig. I was taking a shower and the shower window was open and I felt this weird presence and I freakin’ looked out the window and Jerry and Marc Johnson were just staring… with no freakin’ expressions on their face dude, they were just staring at me. I freaked out. I was like “Dude, what the hell are you guys doing?” And they just jumped down and just ran off giggling.

You know, one night when you and I were sharing a room in Japan I snuck all the other etnies dudes into the room and we all took pictures of you with our bare asses next to your face.
Are you serious?

Ya, we did it especially for this interview.
What an asshole, dude! Oh my gosh, why would you guys do that?

Nah, I’m just kidding. I just wanted to see what you’d say.
I’m all butthurt.

Like, what if in this interview there was a picture of every dude's ass next to your face, one by one... like eight dudes?
Wow, that would really suck.

If you had to make out with any guy on enjoi who would it be?
Oh this is a crazy one. Um, probably Jerry.

Why is that? Because you’re both minorities?
Nah, 'cause he seems like.... I guess he’s a slight heartthrob in the cool guy world.

You already caught him masturbating… you’re halfway there.
Yeah, seriously.

Jose in Japan! (3.22 MB) iPod-friendly

You’ve been with enjoi since like the very beginning, right?
Yeah.

If there’s one dude who should get kicked off of enjoi who should it be?
Ahhhh.... dude I can’t... I dunno dude, I don’t feel comfortable with that question.

I knew you wouldn’t. How come Matt Eversole always talks about kicking you off enjoi?
Well, I dunno man. I guess I’m an easy target to fuck with, ya know?

Why do you think that is?
I guess I just throw that vibe out there.

If you get kicked off enjoi we’re kicking you off too. It’s in your contract.
You guys are assholes, are you serious? It’s in my contact?

No dude.
Jesus!

I don’t know anything about your contract!
I don’t either, actually.

You should probably look into that. You wanna list your other sponsors?
etnies, enjoi, Insight, Spitfire, Royal trucks, Bones Bearings, NC Boardshop. Shit, do I have anything else?

How the hell would I know? Mikey and Tyler just got on Bones too.
They’re the sickest bearings out.

So you’ve been hanging out with us for the last eight months but you’re finally officially the new etnies guy. How did you end up getting on?
I’d heard through the grapevine that etnies was revamping their whole thing—I first heard that Mikey and Malto freakin’ quit their sponsors and went to etnies and I was like “Oh shit dude, maybe I can talk to somebody over there.”

At the time I was getting flowed by éS so but that wasn’t really going to go anywhere I don’t think. I asked Paul Sharpe to give a call over there and he did and said Heath seemed pretty freakin’ interested and wanted to talk to the other team dudes about it.

Basically he talked to Mikey, Malto, Leeper and Tyler. At first those dudes were hesitant because I hadn’t come out with anything for a while so they just wanted to see what I was up to. I put together a two-and-a-half minute clip and gave it to Heath and when he got back to me he said he wanted to bring me along to the Southern tour and that’s how it all…. Fuck dude, did I go on a crazy fucking talking spree right there?

Yes, but I don't mind. So which was your favorite of the three trips (South, Japan, Utah) so far?
Dude, all of them were freakin’ awesome, man. The whole crew fuckin' on etnies is awesome, you know? I think fuckin’ anytime I’m with everybody it’s just good times. Everybody just likes to laugh and have a good time.

What size shoe are you?
10 1/2.

What’s your favorite? What shoes are you wearing right now?
I’ve been super psyched on the Perro—Leeper’s model. I know it’s not out yet or anything, but shit, it’s vulcanized, but you can actually jump down stuff and it’s dude, it’s awesome man. It takes the impact really well.

I’m on my fourth pair of them.
Dude, they're awesome right?

Totally. Who would win in a boxing match, Tyler or Malto

Damn, I dunno. Dude, I’d probably say Tyler. ‘Cause he’s so quiet and I’m sure he’s got some demons in his closet, you know?

I’d say the same thing. I don’t think Malto has that aggression in him.
Yeah for sure, but freakin’ Tyler, he flips out when he skates sometimes and I can see the demons, dude.

Out of everyone on the team is there anyone that you clicked with right away?
Mikey for sure, just because I’ve seen him around for years. So I dunno, as soon as I went on the first trip, Mikey was the one I was chilling with ‘cause he was the one I knew the most.

I kinda thought we were all like strangers to you.
Nah, I would see Mikey around for freakin’ years and he was always super cool.

Do you ever pee sitting down?
Uh, only when I think that I have to poo. Like sometimes I get the urge to poo and I’m sittin' down and I don’t poo but I pee.

See, when I wake up in the morning or in the middle of the night I pee sitting down so I don’t have to turn the light on and I can stay half asleep then lurk back to bed.
Do you really?

Yeah.
Weird! So weird!

What’s the worst trend in skateboarding?
Damn, I dunno.

Oh most people I ask have one lined up and ready to go… they’ll be like “fixed gears!”
Oh, that’s good, but I actually have one.

Ohhh, man...
That kind of sucks!

Do you wear a V-neck and Ray Bans with no lenses and ride your fixie around town listening to Morrissey and texting on your iPhone all at the same time?
Dick! No, not at all.

What's the worst trend outside of skateboarding?
One of the things that fucking gets under my skin more than anything in the world are fucking people who wear Santa hats, man! Dude, that is the worst! Like fucking come on man! Like fucking I can understand you’re trying to be festive but dude, cut that shit out. That shit sucks.

That’s really good considering it’s almost Christmas. Perfect for the interview.
Yeah, it looks really stupid.

Wow, you're really serious about this one.
Yeah, for sure.

To be continued... In the meantime, check out Jose's part in Bag of Suck!