RJ BARBARO….. Back on board at last!! Interviews with RJ and Jack Lydon

29 May

http://youtu.be/_9csYRSVhu8 RJ Barbaro Bondi clip by Max O Rourke http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSps9H1RZ1A Bondi Bowlarama 2011 highlights RJ Barbaro first came to Melbourne around seven years ago and brought a huge bag of tricks across with him from Fremantle, WA.  It didn’t make it any easier to fit into the scene right away. Being new in town can be tough at the best of times, but RJ copped it from a few of the locals for a while. Gradually however he won more people over with strong bowl and vert skills and a big heart.  That would just take time and a  little change in attitude.  So it wasn’t too long before the Fitzy and Prahran locals took him in. Skating has taken him right around Australia, with Bondi Bowlarama, Australian Bowlriders Newcastle, Goldy Grail, Quiksilver Bowlriders Elanora, Belco bowl Jam, Big Day Out tour etc… It also took him stateside to skate among other places at Venice beach, Coastal Carnage, Combi pool and the Oregon Trifecta. These days he’s back in Freo getting tattoos and catching up with family, while recuperating from knee surgery. But it looks like its all coming together again at last…. deerpark Indy nosebone, Deer Park RJ, glad to hear the knee is finally coming good. Must have been really tough spending so much time off the board. What have you been up to? How have you been managing your recovery? Yeh its been pretty hard mate. This is the longest I’ve been off a board since i was 4 or 5. I’ve just been doing the healthy thing, quit smoking, no drinking, yoga everyday, physio, back on the weights and shit. Seeing all my family while i can, haven’t been back home for about 7 years too so it’s good to see everyone again. Been under the tattoo needle a lot recently. Met a beautiful young lady, Jess-Rose, tattooing is in her blood so she has been inking me up something chronic, love it. rjsgal Sounds like you have been having a good time being back in Perth, living in Melbourne and Sydney for so long, what’s it been like being back? It’s great. Given me time to change my priorities and change my lifestyle. Was doing a bit too much partying and that while in Sydney for a year and a bit. Not having all the influences I had before, time to myself has been one of the best things, and i definitely needed it, especially with the recovery. I went over when Vic Park was brand new and skated a few other parks between Perth and Freo, What are the best bowls over there now? Yeh!! Vic Park is still one of my favourites over here. Had my first skate back there last week, felt amazing. There are a few bowls over here. Kinross bowl is good, about 9/10ft square shaped bowl, one corner goes to a spine with the other side about 4 ft, bunch of other junk there. Dunsborough just received an amazing bowl, Perth’s best right now I’d say. Dunsborough Dunsborough Skatepark https://vimeo.com/60897597 Bayswater has a 10ft vert/mini ramp, bit of a bowl section too with double jump kicker thing, pretty fun. Claremont used to be one of my favourites, but no one looks after that place, and I’ve heard they are knocking it down soon, spewing. Sac (Reynolds)  is over here, down south near Margaret River building another park, don’t know anything about it though haha. Can you describe where you live? Its a bit out of town right? Nah, I’m pretty much in Freo (Fremantle). It’s great, close to the beach, family, about 30 mins from the city, but the city is shit anyway. Freo, and every little place in WA is pretty much 20/30 mins from anywhere else. so it’s pretty standard distance wise. skate4nothin Tell me a little about the Skate for Nothin’ documentary. Ahhh. I met Pete at Wasted Years, or some other skate gig that was, and still is happening at Q Bar above Oxford St Art Gallery in Sydney, and he knew who I was and we started chatting about Australian skating and that. He was real interested in my story, about how i came from Perth, everyone (nearly everyone) had a problem with me, how i overcame it and moved forward. rjstevennathan Then we got onto how hard it is for any Aussie skater trying to make it in the industry. Pete gave up skating 20 years ago, but you know what it’s like, once you’re on, you’re on for life. So he had this vague idea of a doco. We met up once a week or fortnight at the Q Bar (this place is rad, got a mini in the bar, 3 stories up on Oxford St) and talk shit about stuff over quite a few coldies, then he asked if I was interested in helping him push the idea forward and actually try to do something. So i said yeh, I’m all for underdogs and new things. Slowly, slowly we kept throwing ideas back and forth. Now i’m over here and cant do too much, but its a slow, progressive thing, and i think when its ready it will be worth watching. https://www.facebook.com/Skate4Nothin?fref=ts rjntrew RJ with Nathan Trew at Wasted Years Have you got any other video projects in the works? Not right now. all my time is involved in physio and tattoos. hahaha, loving it. Once I’m back on board in full force i’m definite;y going to be filming for some parts. wellybw Stalefish, Wellington Bowlarama. rjandtheyanks That’s tha crippla (Nolan Munro) in the rockstar beanie, rion linderman just makin the pic on the left, josh Rodriquez dancing with glasses on, “jah” josh Stafford giggling his arse off Oh yeah i wanna ask u about the music u listened to when u first started skating. when i first started skating vert, at Vertigo and that, I used to listen to alot of old Redh Hot Chili Peppers use to get my psyched to skate coz of the movie Thrashin but skating, i remember driving to Leederville where the 12 ft ramo was, i’d drive the whole way from free listening to albums like Mothers Milk, One Hot Minute, Freaky Styley n shit *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * A few questions with Jack Lydon…. rjandjack How did u both get into skating? Well i first started when i was 5, my mate a few houses down from me had a board and i remember watching him ride around the streets on it, i thought it looked fun, asked him for a turn and have never gone back! What is your favourite thing to skate around home? anything really, i love bowls and transition, but when i comes down to it, i love to skate dosnt matter what it is. Who do you blokes typically skate with when u are together? My mate Eddy D’silva and a few locals around my area, best crew to skate with is SoggyBones! yewwww! What are you doing to keep RJ’s spirits up or annoy him while he is injured? haha, take him out with me to haggle me, nah even though he cant skate right now he still loves to be around it as much as he can. but im always giving him shit that he cant skate right now, were getting a few tattoos together, we just like being around each other. I saw that epic shot of him airing over your crailslide at Northcote. What other doubles action have you done. northcote Last time i was in VIC with him we went to Cheltenham park and along the back wall there is a big quater, i done a front crail slide and he done a back side melon over me, and on the same wall i done a switch blunt and he a front side tuck knee with my hand hitting his nose on the way over, that was scary! but most of the time when im skating a bowl he will just randomly drop in behind me and then these things just naturally happen. cheltenham What would you most like to skate when RJ is back on board? A pool perhaps? Maybe come over and skate  St Kilda park? anything! a pool or a bowl nice haha. cant wait to. poolbrothers *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   * By the way was it 2006 u arrived in Melb? 2006 hey, sounds about right.   I moved to Bondi after 2011 Bowlarama, I kind of just didn’t leave after the event hey. hahahaha. ahhh, then i moved back to perth, shit, around August last year, i think. http://youtu.be/OwXAMcMKjk8 http://youtu.be/9u5eBKWDQ7s Skating the Ring of Fire. RJ used to live at the Ring of Fire for a while. Few could shred it like he does. He also helped relocate the mini ramp from my old house there. Hope it will still be there in another ten years but with all the new concrete around it seems unlikely.  You missed Bowlarama this year for obvious reasons. Can I ask you about what went on at Bowlarama in NZ last year? Me, Steeve, K Dubs, Rion, the Cripla, the Throbler, Daniel Evans, man it was hectic. we got into soo much shit man, you could write a book on it. we even got Cam Ward into shit hahaha. we were humnping the shit out of everything, and i dont mean girls, i mean furniture, buses, stools, anything. Samoa was there, Gansters Paradise came on in the bar, he went down to one knee and we humped the shit out of him for the whole songpeople lost their shit when we came into any bar, we just relly were absolute piles that trip…..thats why i love going back.  And thats where i first met Josh Rodriguez, absolute animal on a board. Alright, lets hear about skating in the states. venicebeach Venice beach,  Julien Bleecker photo. I rocked flew into LAX with nowhere to stay the first night i arrived. Lester (Kasai) picked me up and took me straight to the Block. Home of the Combi bowl. i didn’t have any pads or anything so i skated it padless for 3/4 days, dude, my swellbow and hip hated me for weeks after. Lester took me to Venice that weekend, there was some event thing going on. i was skating the bowl, thats all i skated there, and the locals were like, “somebody needs to put this guy up”, so this is how i came across my Venice mom, Daryl I lived in Venice for a while, went down to San Diego for the Board Expo, went to Hungtinton Beach for Coastal Carnage where i was denied to compete in the qualifiers… wtf?! so went to Maloof, where i was also denied even a roll on the ramp. cant believe it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSRxtaw0C0A Coastal Carnage 2010 i spent 2 weeks at Dave “the ruler” Ruel’s place in Hungtinton beach. he has a mini ramp in his shed which was dope. he snapped his knee the day i met him Then I went up to Oregon for the TriFecta. i was witness to Thrashin, The Musical!! Amazing to say the least. Lincoln City is my favourite place in the world still. That place is off its tits!!! I won the first leg at Lincoln City, got 3rd at the second stop, and had a collision with Grayson (Fletcher) at the 3rd stop, Tigard. I broke my wrist and dislocated my shoulder. The girls that skate in the States are amazing!!! absolutely blast over any fellas here in Oz eh. it is truly amazing how talented the girl skaters are. Just looks at Lizzie, or Julz. holy shit! These girls are doing corner airs, hand plants, flips grabs, all of it! Who are your sponsors now RJ?

Creature, Bones, Vans, Rust & Regret, KoN, Independent. Dead bolt pads is finally hooking me up now I actually need pads.
Yeah, what’s rust n regret?
A jewelry company, hahaha
Thanks a lot bro best of luck getting back into it,  talk to you again soon!!\
RJ on TV!
Thanks for reading, do take a look at some of the other blogs, share it if you want to and click follow if u wanna get updates.  Cheers!!
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3 Responses to “RJ BARBARO….. Back on board at last!! Interviews with RJ and Jack Lydon”

  1. Sierra May 30, 2013 at 12:08 am #

    Awesome! Hear a lot about RJ – good to see he’s recovering well and back on the board =]

    Thanks Sammy.. You’re the Ross Kemp of skating!!

    Reply
  2. SAMMY HEWSON October 5, 2014 at 11:01 am #

    Reblogged this on skatelate and commented:

    Congratulations on winning bowlriders open at the MOSS Jam this year RJ.

    Reply
  3. Craig- Meljobu Bonsai October 20, 2014 at 1:41 pm #

    RJ Barbaro !! Last time I skated/saw RJ , he was just embarking on his epic move over to the eastern states.. I’ve been out of the loop for a bit but tonight by chance saw his name mentioned and looked him up. Pro Skater, mate well done! Seriously always knew you had it in you Mate, don’t forget the old dayz bro, Real happy for ya, Man your skatins come Along way!! , … Craig Murray( I could share a tale or 2 about this lads early days as a Vert Skater that’s fopr sure !!)..

    Reply

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