Ryan Decenzo is a young up-and-comer who’s well known in Canada, and making a strong case for himself in the States. He possesses the well-balanced combo of being dominant in contests, and establishing a street skating presence. He got the July 2008 cover of Concrete Skateboarding magazine, and I had a chance to get him on the horn during his brief Vancouver pit stop.

Vitals
Age: 22
Residence: Delta, BC.
Sponsors: Globe shoes, Darkstar skateboards, Thunder trucks, RDS apparel, Nixon watches, Coastal Riders, Dakine bags, and Red Bull. 
Stance: Regular
Switch mongo push, or regular switch push: “I’m pretty much a switch mongo pusher, but sometimes I get inspired seeing my brother [Scott Decenzo] push switch regular.”

Concrete Skateboarding #94, July '08

You never seem to be in Vancouver anymore. Where has your skateboard career been taking you?
I’ve been down in Huntington Beach a whole bunch, staying with Adam Dyet and this filmer, Mark White, who helps out Globe. My sponsors are helping me out, so it’s cheap when I’m down there. We’re just skating, filming, enjoying the sunny weather and the smooth California school ground spots.

What are you filming for right now?
The Darkstar video, which is probably coming out sometime within this year I think. But you know how it is—deadlines sometimes get pushed. I’m also filming for the Globe United By Fate web videos [Ryan’s got footage in Episode 3] that are coming out every once in a while—I’m gonna be having some footage and stuff in those. Things are going pretty good.

What about that contest in Sydney, Australia [Globe’s Slaughter At The Opera]?
All the months are just going by so fast right now, but I was also in that—it was before the Phoenix AM. It was a really gnarly, scary rail contest. It separated the boys from the men I guess you could say. It was at the Sydney Opera House, and it was actually really, really crazy. There were tons of people there, because of all the tourists at the Opera House, and then there was a bunch of people there for the skateboarding, too. So the crowds that didn’t know about skating would see all these helicopters flying around and filming people skating these rails and stuff. So a lot of people came to check it out, and it got pretty crazy. The whole thing was a pretty good layout.

How did you do in that?
I got third place [$5000]. It was a “best line” type of contest, where you had to do a trick down both rails. There was a smaller, 7-stair techie rail first, then a bigger scary 11-stair rail after. So it helped to get a few lines, and they just picked the best one.

What was the craziest thing you saw?
Definitely when Gailea [Momolu] did a nollie bigspin backside lipslide to fakie down the first rail, then totally landed on the wrong side to set up for the other rail, cruised over and tried to high-five Jake Phelps [Thrasher editor], then switch crooked grinded the big rail. I thought that was amazing, you have to see the footage on whatever site.

Since you and Scott are away from your folks’ home in Delta a lot, how do they feel about the skateboard thing?
I think they were getting used to us being away from home [laughs]. It’s kinda crazy because before I used to have to talk them into letting me go on trips and stuff, and now there’s money involved and my Mom’s like: “Oh, this is a pretty good bank account that you opened.” So, they’re not really complaining. But at the same time, so many skateboarders blow their money the wrong way. I try to role model from [Paul] Machnau a little bit, you know? He knows what he’s doing—he’s a true professional in all aspects.

I guess you don’t have much of a chance to ride Dirt Bikes with your Dad these days…
He’s got a bunch of old friends he still rides with that are ex-Pro Moto-Cross riders, so he’s covered. Sometimes he’s just like: “Ryan, get me some Red Bulls, man!” [laughs]

Ryan's part from 2007's Welcome Home.

Check out some more Ryan Decenzo footage in the WAM contest (which he won, by the way) and Damn Am Push.ca videos.

Other On The Horn interviews: Sascha Daley, Magnus Hanson, Kyle Desaulniers