What are some of your favorite things about living in Money Making Manhattan? The city is so big, but it’s so small—you run in to so many people at the most random places. You can get food delivered to you whenever you need it, and you can go out all night if you want… And the skating is off the hook.
How long have you been living there? Five years.
What made you decide to move into the city? That’s were I ended up—went there a few times and stayed with Jeff Pang when I was 15 and I couldn’t get enough, so I moved there when I turned 18.
Walk us through a day at the Bassett household. Wake up around 10:30, take my dog to the dog park for a bit, then it’s back to the crib. I make some phone calls to see if anyone wants to skate. Cook some breakfast, then maybe a bike ride. Take the dog out again before I leave for the day. My girl gets off work at nine, then it’s out for the night or just chill and play some video games. Mellow out. That’s about all; nothin’ too crazy.
Switch treflip in Philly
How do you stay motivated to skate when it gets so damn cold? When it’s so cold, you just gotta skate as fast as you can to warm up. It’s rad to see people all bundled up while you’re sweating your ass off in a long sleeve. If you grew up in the Northeast you’re just used to it.
You’ve been riding a bike around the city before you go out and skate. Do you think it’s helped your skating? For sure. It gets your body in shape, and it’s so fun dippin’ through the city. It’s kinda like skating when you’re going in and out of cars but, you’re going like 10 times faster.
Your first pro model shoe is about to drop from DVS. What type of input did you have in its design? I had a lot of input on the shoe. I’m really happy with how it came out.
Switch flip in Barcelona
Have you been skating in your shoe? Yeah, it’s all I skate in now.
What other styles of DVS do you skate in? I used to skate in the Gavin classics a lot.
A second shoe is already in the works for you. Can you give us a little insight into what style you’ll be going after? It’s gonna be a mid-top vulcanized shoe. I’ve always been a fan of the half-Cab and mid-top shoes.
What was the last job you had before you started the full-time skate career? I used to cut lawns, shovel driveways when it would snow, then I worked with my uncle, and I used to dig clams for a bit.
Other than skating, what are some of your interests? I’ve really been into my bike lately, and I’ve been getting old cameras at thrift stores. The photos come out all fucked up; it’s rad.
Backside flip in Berlin
Are you still using your small video camera and filming some of the trips you’ve been on? Yeah, I’ve been bringing it around a lot. Been filming at the Autumn bowl in Brooklyn with Joey Pepper. He rips that shit.
What are you going to do with the footy? Not sure. Just having fun with it. Maybe a vid? Who knows?
You’re filming for the Zoo York video right now. Some guys have a list of what they want to do in their parts; others just gather the footy over time and sort out the best stuff. Do you have a method in your head on how you approach a video part? I just gather and sort, I guess. I have tricks I want to do and I just try to get as many of them as I can.
I know you like new gadgets. Have you bought anything new worth talking about lately? Not really. Got some dope rims for my bike, but they’re still in the mail. Pretty hyped.
Pivot fakie
How many cameras have you had over the last two years? What do you do with all the photos you’ve taken? Maybe six or seven. I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with them yet.
Any future plans that you can share with us? Just keep it moving.
For a closer, give us your top five video parts.
Five come to mind. From some newer videos: Eli Reed in Jereme’s vid; Dan Drehobl in the Transworld vid; Todd Jordan in the Nike vid; Guy Mariano in the Lakai vid; and Lurker Lou in the new Coda video.
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