If you’re a fan of East Coast skateboarding and its abundance of raw and cutty spots, then you’re probably a fan of Dick Rizzo. The New Jersey skater has been holding it down in New York for the past few years, starring in Quasi’s full-length Mother and then going pro for the brand in 2019. Rizzo’s latest offering is a new Vans part, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Half Cab and which he filmed exclusively in those iconic kicks. To celebrate the release of the new part, we caught up with Dick to chat about his recent trip to Brazil, his interest in art and design and hanging out with Cab, amongst other things.
Hey, Dick. What’s happening right now? And what does your day-to-day life look like?
Not much. It’s hot as hell out here in New York. I live in Bushwick, Brooklyn and try to get out and skate every day if I can.
Before your new Vans part, the most recent footage the world has seen from you was the HUF tour video to Brazil. How was that trip?
That trip was awesome. It was the first time most of us had been to Brazil and my first time out of the country since Covid lockdowns. It felt pretty funny to travel that far but not experience any jet lag. The time difference was only an hour off from NY. As usual, when travelling with a 12-plus-person group, doing anything was going to be a jam-up, but I felt like we were extra jammed in Brazil. We went to check out Christ the Redeemer, the huge Jesus statue on top of the mountain in Rio, with the plan in mind being that a couple of dudes were gonna huck down the 12-stair there, which we knew was a bust already. Shit was like going to Disneyland though. We had to wait in a few different lines before finally getting on the train up to the top of the mountain, only to find that there was no chance of skating the stairs. There were so many tourists and people that we could barely even get a group photo of all of us, let alone attempt to skate down that stack. The view from up top was beautiful though.
You’re from New Jersey and your skateboarding output has been described as “a love letter to the East Coast”. Can you give us a bit of a rundown of what growing up in Jersey was like and what the East Coast skate scene is like?
I’m from North Jersey, the suburbs to NYC. Where I’m from is dense suburbia. I was fortunate to have a few different skateparks to go to when I was younger that weren’t far at all from me. Once I was old enough, I tried to skate the spots around my area and go to [New York] city as much as possible. A lot of great established skateboarders and pros are from Jersey, and the history of skateboarding in the state is very rich, dating back to the birth of the sport. But now more than ever, I feel like the industry is giving people on the East Coast love. I feel like NYC is the industry city now, besides LA or maybe SF. I never felt pressure to move out West and I’m grateful for that. I like it here.
Was this new Vans part filmed mostly at East Coast spots, or did you travel around a bit?
We got to pop around a good amount while filming for this video. We did LA and SF, went to Miami twice to escape winter, and also made a road trip to Baltimore and DC. Besides that, everything else was filmed in New York or New Jersey.
What was your approach to filming this part? Did you have any specific goal, focus or aesthetic in mind when you started working on it?
I have always enjoyed older videos that were filmed with grainier cameras. I love how Krooked’s Gnar Gnar and Naughty are shitty camera videos that are fun in a time when everything had already moved towards a higher standard and definition. I guess I thought working on this would be sort of like that. I went into it thinking I would be filming mostly fun stuff, but early on, I got a couple of real good clips, so from there, I felt like it all had to pass a certain bar. Then eventually, it became a real thing where I ended up busting my ass and stressing out [laughs].
How long did you spend filming this part and are you pretty happy with it?
We spent roughly five months filming for this video. It was a slow start because we started in February when the weather was complete trash out here. But after we did the California and Miami trips and came home to some Spring weather, I was pretty juiced to start doing shit here at home.
Your part coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Half Cab. It’s a shoe that has been around since before you were born and 30 years is actually the longest that a pro model skate shoe has ever been in continuous production. What do you like about the Half Cab?
Obviously, I am a big fan of the Half Cab. It has been one of my favourite shoes since I was a little kid and has such a timeless look because it has been around for this long. Pretty much all my favourite skaters wore them in the ’90s.
Have you ever met Steve Caballero?
I got to meet Cab last time I was in LA, actually. A group of us took a van down to Carlsbad and met him at his house. He had us over and we had a session on his ramp. It was wild. I still can’t believe that happened.
Aside from skateboarding, what keeps you busy? You went to art school to study graphic design, but you have said that you eventually burned out on it. Do you do any art or design stuff these days?
I just started painting and drawing again recently. I haven’t cared to since I quit [art] school. I feel different as an artist now than I did back then, like I have grown as an artist without really working on art. I have these visions for stuff, and I end up hating it once I’m near finishing. In a way, it’s similar to working on filming clips skating and not getting the trick the way I’d like. I hope to work on that trait.
Any last words or people you want to thank?
A very big thank you to Paul Young for working on this with me and following my silly ass around with that Hi8 camera. Thank you to Zach Sheats and everyone at Vans for hooking me up with this project. I had a blast.
