Elijah Berle Week Day 1: Exclusive Interview

Back on December 6th, 2011 we officially announced Elijah Berle and Daniel Lutheran as our newest full-on ams after them putting in serious time and miles of shredding. Since then Elijah has been on the road filming non-stop for the upcoming Chocolate video. Recently The Skateboard Mag crowned him Year's Best Am and so it was only fitting that we dedicate our third Rider Week (after Daniel Lutheran's and Johnny Layton's) to young Elijah. For Day 1 of Elijah Week we sat him down for an exclusive interview to get to know him better. Enjoy.

FYI, one by one, week by week, we’ll be focusing on all your favorite Vans riders. We’re working on Andrew Allen next and then Gilbert Crockett after that. Who would you like to see? Hit us up @vansskate on Twitter and let us know.

ELIJAH BERLE INTERVIEW

How did you get into skateboarding, Elijah?
I don’t know how, I just ended up with a skateboard one day and I’d go to my grandma’s house and she’d always have a bunch of wood lying around and we’d make shitty little ramps and try to drop in on them and stuff. I probably ate shit a lot. I didn’t know how to skate and we were building these sketchy-ass ramps in the driveway. I’m sure I went down once or twice. I don’t remember too well.

When did you really get into it?
I was pretty into it back then. That was the only shit we would do in our spare time, if we weren’t in school, we’d go over to granny’s house and build some ramps.

You have a skate bro too, right?
Yeah, he was pushing on his knees back then. It was sick to have a little buddy to skate with that was just in a diaper. He’s 14 now, his name is Evan and he’s ripping. He’s about to get into high school and start talking to older girls.

Who wins in a battle of skate bros? You and Evan? Or Daniel and Andrew Lutheran?
Shit, dude, if we go to a vert ramp my little bro will be airing over their heads, no problem. I’m banking on us playing skate at a skatepark.

How did you two get so into skating tranny?
That’s just what I started skating first and then I taught him how to skate and that was when I was only going to the skatepark everyday. We’d skate bowls together and we’d hit some pools in Santa Monica that were in skating distance from our house. That’s how it got started. Transition was pretty common in Santa Monica. Street skating wasn’t for me. I wasn’t too good at street skating. I couldn’t really grind or do ledges or anything when I first started so I’d just skate transition with my brother. We were friends with some older dogs at the park, The Cove, and some other parks. I remember seeing Jesse Martinez around back then, skating the bowl with all his buddies, and they’d pretty much teach us how to skate and not look like monkeys in the bowl.

Ever see Jesse Martinez knock anybody out?
No, but that would be awesome.

That was like, what, seven years ago that you couldn’t even skate a ledge?
Yeah, I remember there was this little bank to ledge in this street course section and it was a knee-high ledge but the bank was a launcher, dude. That was the only thing that I could back 50-50 that wasn’t a curb. Maybe after that I tried to learn how to ollie better. All my homies, my group of friends all skated street and I was old enough to stop skating with my little brother every day and I think that’s when I really started skating street. We would take a bus to somewhere and just skate around the city instead of just going to the skatepark every day and fucking around there.



How long were you skating before you won Tampa Am?
I was at the skatepark for a good couple years and I was in my driveway skating before that. I was about sweet 16 when I won Tampa. It was cool. I was with a small little crew. Jamie Hart [Vans Team Manager] was there and I asked him if we could get some beer the first night and he looked at me crazy like, “I’m not buying you beer!” It was my first skate trip where I flew somewhere and my first big contest.

Did you ever think for a second that you’d win?
No way, dude! I was just skating.



What did you do to celebrate that night?
It was good times. We went out to a good dinner, wandered around Tampa for a little bit then went to Mons Venus strip club. I didn’t have an ID or nothing; I just walked straight in. Herman came up to me and was like, “Hey, man! I want you to have a good time tonight!” He told me to pick out any girl that I wanted to get a lap dance from and he bought me a lap dance; it was hella tight. Then Jamie got me the birthday dance. It wasn’t even my birthday. It was Jake Donnelley’s birthday and he got the same thing. They pulled us up on stage and they try to take your pants off on stage. They try to pants you! But at the same time you’re blindfolded. It’s six chicks trying to rip your clothes off on stage. I kept my pants on but it was a close call.

Are you originally from Santa Monica?
Yeah, Santa Monica. It’s super mellow. Definitely not like growing up in LA or towards Hollywood. They are super close but the greased up moneys and the powdered up dolls stay in Hollywood. Santa Monica is just a beach town where old people retire. You definitely don’t got no Melrose running through Santa Monica.

Who are you living with out in Santa Monica now?
CK still, Corey Kennedy. We’ve had this spot since last summer.

I thought you told me you were moving to San Francisco?
Yeah, that was supposed to be after this Nicaragua trip. I got back a week ago and I was talking to my mom and I think I’m going to stay in Santa Monica for a little bit. Moms is tripping and I got a good spot right now. I kinda got cold feet, I guess.

Was your mom going to miss you too much?
No, it’s just that I’m around for her a lot to help out so I think she’ll be a little rocky if I just got up and left. But it’s cool with me; I’m so stoked on our pad. It’s good times, summers coming around, wouldn’t mind another sunny summer out here in Santa Monica.

I saw your old man drop you off and he had a serious whip. What does he do?
He owns a carpet company. He’s doing alright.

Why aren’t you in the carpet business?
I don’t know, dude. Not my thing. I guess that’s what I would be doing if I wasn’t skating.

Is that a fallback career?
If it comes down to it but I hope not. Who wants to have your old man as a boss?

The kid whose dad owns Mons Venus.
Oh, yeah. Maybe I’d partner up then. Move on down to Tampa.

What’s your dad think of your skateboarding career?
He’s stoked. He says he doesn’t like to read my interviews so he’ll just look at the pictures. My mom reads them all. My dad is a little sensitive towards a different generation of children, I guess. But mom is just stoked to have some magazines to collect.

Last we spoke, you didn’t know how your Chocolate video part was coming along. That was a few months ago. Do you know anything now?
Nope. I have no idea, man. I don’t know anything. I’m the wrong guy to ask. We’re just out skating. It’s going to be weird when the time comes to look at all the footage. I think it’s coming up quick but it still feels like the same thing, nothing different really.

Girl & Chocolate Trailer from Crailtap on Vimeo.

You just got back from a filming trip in Nicaragua. What was that like?
That was sick. Everyone was really going for it. We had a good crew; we were all kicking it together.

You stay at Chico’s place?
Yeah, it was tight. There was this one homie Chocó that was helping us and would go to the store for us at night because one night we went to the store and it was kind of late and it was kind of sketchy to walk around at night. We went to the store and it was me, Chico [Brenes], Stevie [Perez] and Vince [Alvarez]. We were walking back and there was this group of guys, they might have been gangsters but they didn’t look like any gangsters I ever saw and Chico is like, “Just walk past these dudes. Don’t say nothing, don’t look at them.” We walk past and I just hear them start yelling, “Guero! Guero!” They were talking to me because I was the only white kid. Chico was like, “Don’t look back! Just keep walking.” A couple seconds later I hear Chico yell, “RUN!” And start running. I have a 12-pack of beer in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other and I’m just full speed ahead. Chico’s house was like two blocks away and there’s bottles and rocks flying over our heads. We made it back to the house and we dropped off all out shit and we ran up stairs and grabbed our boards and came back down and we see Chico’s uncle loading his shotgun. We were like, “So much for the boards.” We walk outside and the gangsters were still talking shit in front of the house. They got a little spooked when Chico’s uncle came out. Then he fires three shots off into the air and they scrammed. I got one of the shotgun shells; I’m stoked. After that Chico was like, “Yeah, have Chocó go to the store for you from now on. You shouldn’t be walking to the store at nighttime, you don’t want to see those guys again.” There was a bunch of little sketchy incidences like that because we’re in a third world country. Raven [Tershy] got jumped one night walking home from the bar. He was by himself and he got jumped. I wasn’t there. I was bummed. That was the only night that we let someone leave solo too. We always made sure we stayed together if we walked anywhere. But the spots down there are so sick. It’s pretty much an untouched country of different insane spots. Any spot you go to no one has done anything on it and it’s the most unique spot you ever saw.

You’re a well-rounded skater, what do you prefer to skate?
A mini ramp. That’s just what I end up skating if I’m out with my friends or at a skatepark. It’s easier on the knees, for sure.

Didn’t you just have some issues with your knees?
Yeah, my right knee is jacked. If I skate street for too long it will just get all swollen on the inside of my knee and will feel all weak and shit and I’ll have to go to physical therapy for a week or so. Then it will feel good for another few months and then I’ll street skate too much and it’ll hurt again. It’s just back and forth.

What? Are you allergic to street skating?
Maybe, dude! I’m about to be, sooner or later.

What does the doctor say is wrong with you?
Nothing. He just says I’m putting so much stress on my knee. I try to stretch and do all this shit but on skate trips it’s just non-stop, even if you’re not feeling too hot.

How did they tell you that you won Year’s Best Am?
They didn’t even really tell me. Other people were like, “Yeah, I heard you got it.” I was like, “I don’t think so. No one has told me.” And I was just skating with Atiba every day and one day he’s like, “We need to take your YBA portrait.” And I was like, “Oh. Well shit. I guess there it is.” I was stoked.



Now you have to have the bangingest part in the Chocolate video.
Not fucking true at all, man! It’s not an am video! Don’t have any high hopes for me. I’ll try and make it as good as I can, I guess.

How tall are you now? 6’ 4”?
Nope, steady 6’ 1”.

But you’re still growing.
I don’t know. I can’t really tell.

Do you think your whole style would go to hell if you grew to Birdman tall, like 6’ 9”?
No, dude. I’d just try to pull a 900 or something.

Any plans to step to the Megaramp?
My brother always goes and does little ones so if I ever go with him and he does it I’ll probably have to try it, right?

What would you like to do on it?
A fear grab. Just get across it.

Hey, what’s up with all your bad tattoos?
Don’t get them too young. I was too young. I was maybe 14 when I got the first one. My friend that I stayed with in San Diego had a tattoo gun and he’d tattoo his leg all wasted and I would give myself tattoos. I think the first tattoo I did is on my leg and says D-Bow, that’s my homies nickname. Damn. Is that me, dude? Am I the guy with the bad tattoos?

No, dude. There’s guys with way worse tattoos, don’t worry.
Yeah, I guess Sheckler has his name across his back with bullet holes in it. At least I’m not that low.

How come you didn’t end up riding for Krooked since you have a Krooked tattoo?
Because I’m on Chocolate, fool.

Do you think the Gonz knows you have Krooked eyes tattooed on you?
Dude, if the Gonz even knew who I was that would be insane!



Are you a big Cure fan with your Boys Don’t Cry tattoo?
I was hella young with this chick and she took me out to get a tattoo one day as a surprise. It was kinda like a date thing; it was kinda lame. She’s like, “Let’s get tattoos,” and I said, “Alright,” because I was hella young and stupid. I just got it and there it is.

Did you get in her drawers?
I hope so. I can’t remember.

Want to tell me about your homie, The Illusion?
What about him? He’s a legend. He lives in Malibu and a lot of my friends are in Malibu and he skates and they all skate. Girl wanted to do that Crail Couch so I asked him one day if he wanted to go to Girl with me one day and sit on the couch and he’s like, “Fuck yeah, dude!”







What’s his story? What does he do?
He works construction, he skates and he surfs. He’s trying to run for City Council of Malibu. Him and these two other guys are the only people that people are voting for. It’s sick.

Wow! The Illusion for mayor!
Yeah, dude. I’m voting for him. You guys better send in your votes so we can get some insane skateparks in Malibu.





What’s the story with the one bowl you’re always skating overlooking the ocean?
That’s really awesome to skate and hang out up there. It’s got a super nice view and there’s an amazing pool to swim in next to the pool to skate in. it’s paradise pad. He’s got chickens, roosters and dogs running around. It’s my friend’s palace. He’s like, “Come skate it whenever.” That’s definitely on the list of things to skate when I’m just hanging out at home.



Anybody given you any shit about the amount of pool footage vs. street footage you have for the Chocolate video?
I feel like I don’t have any pool footage yet. It would be sick if I could get some. I have a clip or two. I’d say it’s mostly street. But we’re about to do this skatepark trip in the summer time, which should be pretty fun from LA to Seattle. To Cory’s parents’ house. We did it last summer and it was really nice.





You do a trip like that to SF each January, right?
Yeah, new years. It’s just a group of friends going to shitty little skateparks. This was our third year doing it. It’s fun just getting in a car with the homies.

Aside from the skatepark tour this summer, what else have you got lined up for this year?
I don’t know, dude. Just skating. Skating, skating and more skating. Oh! I’m building a ramp at my mom’s house. I got to finish that up soon. It’s just a skeleton right now. It’s 16’ wide and 5’ tall with a 7’ extension. I want to make it a little wider because 16’ feet is kind of skinny. It takes up all the grass in her backyard right now. But I think there’s room to go a little wider.