Alli Checks In with Ryan Decenzo

Canadian pro skater Ryan Decenzo has a brand new video part out in Transworld’s “Hallelujah,” he’s halfway through his second season on the Dew Tour and he’s got more filming plans lined up. Alli caught up with Decenzo during practice at the Dew Tour’s Wendy’s Invitational to get his take on the Tour and to hear why a certain marble ledge in Spain is one of the best spots he’s ever skated.

So far in your career, has there been a pivotal moment?
Maybe this Transworld video part that I just came out with for “Hallelujah”. Transworld asked me to film a part for their video, and I knew it was a really heavy hitting lineup with a bunch of really good skaters, so I was like, ‘I gotta be able to keep up with these guys if I’m going to be in the video. I don’t want to look silly.’ So I just went for it, and I’m pretty happy how it turned out. I think it just came out and it’s just in stores now.

Last year was your first year on the Dew Tour, what do you think of it?
I liked it. It kind of reminded me of contests that I would go to when I was a kid, like Slam City Jam that they had in Vancouver and other things like that. For kids it’s rad to just come and watch the pros skate live. It’s cool because it’s not just one contest, you can do good in the whole series and there’s a winner at the end, as well as every time. So it’s really a contest on someone’s consistency.

You’re from Canada, where are you living now?
I’m living in Huntington Beach, kind of. But traveling all over the place.

How often do you go back home?
Every once in a while. Maybe a couple times a year. I was just there this summer, and it was really nice to be back.

Are you a competitive guy, or someone who just goes with the flow?
I like to compete a little bit as far as skating, but I’m not super competitive. I just try to have fun.

Your brother’s a skater too, are you guys competitive with each other?
He’s really good. We always grew up playing games of S-K-A-T-E and stuff like that. So it’s always good to have somebody as good as you are, or better, just to skate with all the time because then you’re pushing each other.

The two Decenzo brothers, Ryan and Scott

Do you and brother share any sponsors?
We share Red Dragon Apparel, our clothing sponsor. We’ve gone on some trips together with Red Dragon and it’s always fun.

Scott and Ryan scoping the ledge

It seems like skateboarders really create a love affair with some spots. Is there one spot out there that is your absolute favorite?
Well it’s got to be somewhere in Spain. In Barcelona at the metro station Universitat, there’s these black marble ledges that everybody skates and they’re really famous. I don’t even know why they’re there, they have to be the best thing ever to skate on. But I don’t know, there’s so many good places to skate around the world, it’s insane these days.

What’s next for you after the Dew Tour, any more video projects?
Yeah. I think Bones Wheels is going to do a video, so that’s probably coming out pretty soon. I don’t know how much stuff I’m going to have in that yet exactly because I just finished this other one. So hopefully that and then work on something else. Try and put a bunch of time into it and get something really good again.

Check out some footage of Decenzo as cameras followed him around last month’s Wendy’s Invitational