Do you take on board certain subjects that people ask you to cover or is it all just aspects from skateboarding history that mean something to you personally?

Everybody comes up like, “Dude! You should do one on shoelaces!” Fuck, you know? That’s actually happened to me. Yeah, we do. I listen to everybody, some of the ideas that pop up – we sit down and Rick, Buddy and I spitball ideas around. Some of them are fucking no-brainers; other ones will start as one thing and then end up being something totally different. Some of the ‘Rant and Raves’ started out as episodes to, like the episode to the frontside grind and then ultimately end up becoming about, “Tuck your fucking knee you fucking goon.” I mean that’s a shitty example but you might start thinking you’re talking about inverts and you end up talking about fucking stickers or something.

Your opinions on the show can be pretty polarising and you’ve talked before about how people can take them too seriously. As if, (even though you make it clear you don’t think that way), you’re saying that your word is ‘the law’ or something…

Yeah! My word is the law. Deal with it, (laughs).

I was gonna say if there was another skateboarder to do something similar to Loveletters, whose word do you think should be held in that regard? Apart from Mark Gonzales…

If Gonz wasn’t fucking insane, then yes, but Gonz is pretty sketchy man. I saw him yesterday, (laughs). So, who gets to be the law?

Yeah, like whose word would you take as something to never disagree with?

I mean initially when I pitched the show they wanted me to do it; I’ve told this story before and I was like, “Fuck that, I don’t want to do some dumb show, that sounds like work and work is responsibility” and I fucking hate responsibility. When I pitched the show I was like, “You should do a love letter to skateboarding and you should have Geoff (Rowley) do it.” Because Geoff kind of straddles that – you know he’s English so he’s worldly. He’s kind of in-between new age and old age, everybody respects him, he knows his shit in and out. He’s English so he’s very – what are you guys? Stoic? Stern?

Articulate?

Articulate too, there’s another one. I thought Geoff would be a really good host and because most skateboarders are completely fucking insane, because he’s English and because he’s very prim and proper-ish.

Well, he’s from Liverpool; he’s not all too prim and proper…

Okay, yeah but you know, good mannered. Especially when put on camera. Since he has good manners and knows how to conduct himself, which is a very English trait, he would be a good juxtaposition to the insanity sitting on the other side of the fucking table or in the chair next to him. Of course, they didn’t like that idea and were like, “No, you’ll do it!” I was like, “Fuck” and once they pretty much tell you that you have to do something you’re pretty much like, “Hmm, yeah, okay.” So yeah, Geoff would be a good one.

You said in the last ‘Rant and Rave’ episode how the negative critiques some people enjoy so much about Loveletters opposes the reasoning behind why you do it. Is there anything you’ve said on an episode that you regret?

Oh fuck, all kinds of shit! Every season someone has some bullshit. “You didn’t fucking represent my fucking hometown correctly!” I’m like, “Where do you live? I don’t even know where you live.” Things that I regret saying… I regret saying everything.

I think some of the shit that I talked on Rodney Mullen in the ‘Freestyle Conspiracy’ episode; we set out to do one idea and it got so muddy so quick. It didn’t translate and we had to turn it in anyway and it’s a really muddy, unfinished idea. Basically, what I was trying to say was, “Fuck man, don’t take yourself so seriously” and some of the claims you make about yourself – first of all no skateboarder is allowed to make claims about themselves. Like, “Motherfucker, I was the first to jump down a three stair! That’s right, I jumped down a three stair before everyone else, so fuck y’all.” Right? Like nobody is allowed that. So, if I said that, everyone would be like, “Grosso claims to have jumped down a three stair first, he’s a fucking moron!” Right?

For sure.

You don’t get to do that. So, why does Rodney get to? That was what I was trying to say. Not that Rodney sucks and not that Rodney’s claims weren’t true: you just don’t get to make them.

You have to wait for Mark Gonzales to tell the world about how he was influenced by you or Natas (Kaupas) gave you an idea or Steve Rocco pushed you in this direction or Mike Ternasky was the one that made you film your first video part. Whatever little historic tidbit that shows how completely insane and fucking awesome you are and how important you are to the history of skateboarding. You just don’t get to say, “I’m Jeff Grosso and I’m completely insane and I’m so important to the history of skateboarding”, right? Because then everybody just fucking laughs at my dumb ass and I get run out of skateboarding.

Love you Rodney, sorry bro, (laughs).

(Laughs) So, this is the last one now. If you were going to do a Loveletter to Vans itself, what would you have to say are the most important moments or people from each decade of the company’s history; 1966 to now?

What?

Hey, you said I’m a fucking nerd.

(Laughs), who are the most important people from Vans?

If you had to pick say three people or moments from all of these past fifty years.

Well, I mean Paul Van Doren for even recognising… Think about it. The little upstart shoe brand out of fucking Southern California and they see skateboarding. Skateboarding is nothing in the 70s – nobody cares. There’s this big boom and skateparks are built everywhere but at first, before all of that happened, skateboarding was this little, tiny, stupid fucking thing. So, for Paul Van Doren and the Vans family to recognise anything in what we did as skateboarders back then is really fucking cool! To go, “You know what? These kids are onto something and we want to back that. We want to facilitate this weird thing that these kids do” and of course they’re going to sell some shoes along the way. That’s their ultimate goal, to sell shoes and make a living. So, for sponsoring skateboarding, for taking skateboarding under its wing, for literally propping skateboarding up at every step of the way whether it’s the 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s.

As far as shoes brands… No actually, as far ANY company in skateboarding goes – I don’t give a shit if you’re Independent Trucks, Spitfire Wheels… Fucking Nike, whoever the fuck you think that you are. Right, nobody has done for skateboarding like Vans has done for skateboarding. They put on the contests, they send out the fucking promo packs to the little local events, they come and they fucking cook you hotdogs. Whatever, on every level whether it’s grass roots or big time, the Triple Crown and all that stuff. There was nothing going on in skateboarding before ESPN and fucking Dew Tour and lame ass Street League.

As far as skateboarders go: T.A. and the Dogtown guys for the 70s. Stacy Peralta; I fucking hate Stacy Peralta, I hate giving Stacy Peralta any fucking props whatsoever but the original fucking high top that everybody is celebrating for this fifty year anniversary, that’s Stacy’s design. He designed that high top. What is now known as the SK8-HI is Stacy’s design. The original brown, cinnamon shoes, Jesus Christ… “We’re gonna make them cinnamon, no-one will want to buy them”, right? Fuck man, I’m in the store like, “Cinnamon, really? No!” Luckily a few months later they brought out the blue ones and life was kosher. So, Stacy Peralta for sure…

Fuck! Any skateboarder that ever put a pair of Vans on their fucking feet after that. Salman Agah, Kris Markovich for cutting them down. All those dudes for wearing Half Cabs; (John) Cardiel, Markovich… I don’t know who cut them down first; some say Markovich, some say Cardiel. Some say other people… EMB! Anybody who skated EMB and for cutting them down and for wearing Half Cabs: Mike Carroll! Remember the Mike Carroll Half Cab?

Yeah.

Badass.

I think they’re reissuing that as part of the 50th Anniversary pro shoes.

With his name on it?

I don’t know. Good point though.

That’s kind of rough because of Lakai and all that but that would be cool. I had a pair.

(Laughs) That’s everything man. Thanks a lot, it’s been a pleasure.

Right on. You okay?

Yeah, stoked.