HUF team rider Austyn Gillette has a new interview up on Jenkem Magazine where they discuss traveling to Berlin with Dylan Reider, tripping in Wal-Mart, and why he chose to ride for HUF. Check out the preview below and click here to read the full interview. // Switch Backside Flip.
What do you think of Dylan Rieder’s recent HUF shoe commercial?
Unorthodox. That’s the only word . Good skating, but I don’t fuckin’ know, it’s what he likes. It’s exactly what he likes!
Do you ever tell him to not take himself so seriously?
He doesn’t! That’s the weird thing, he’s portrayed to be this guy.. Maybe because I know him so well, but we joke around all the time. I’ve seen it happen where we will go out, and he’ll have a serious look then he’ll be laughing then he’ll go back to the serious look… But he’s hilarious. Who knows, that could’ve been a dark era for him, while he was filming it.. There was a chick thing, the music, I was drunk that whole time so I didn’t really notice. I have never seen any skate video like it before.
Before you got on HUF, I imagine you had some other big money shoe offers. How did you stay grounded and ultimately decide to just go with HUF?
Not really, that was the weird part. You would think that’s how it goes, but it didn’t actually go like that. I think a lot of companies, because of my skating reputation, knew I wouldn’t ride for them. I wouldn’t fit the part, couldn’t change their image and wouldn’t want to do that. I don’t really know, but skater owned is always preferred and I know everyone always says that, but that’s just it. It’s skater owned. I talk to Keith [Hufnagel] like I talk to my good friend. I tell him to fuck off, lets hang out, lets grab a beer, lets talk shit on weed socks. We do that. It’s more of a friendship, it almost makes you want to grow with the company and watch it progress because it really is not the biggest shoe company in the world. There are those giant shoe companies with the biggest teams, but with HUF there is more opportunity, you don’t get pushed aside.
Those other companies have A list teams, B list teams, and C list teams. They actually have that. I don’t know if anybody knows that, but they they do. They have their guys that fly first class and they have their guys that fly coach and the guys who don’t even get to come on the trip except for maybe once a year. They categorize the team. With HUF, that is not the case, we all fly coach. That’s how it goes. We fly fucking coach, HUF takes middle seat, maybe exit row, maybe, if he’s lucky, but we’re all equal, which is important. It’s communal.