A lot of stuff has already been said about Bobby Puleo and it often goes like, “Could have, should have, would have.” But let’s keep it plain and simple here. Bobby is a skater to the core, he has strong beliefs and opinions and would never sheer off from them. His style of skating is unique and for sure he’s one of the most interesting personalities in skateboarding. Pontus wanted to know what’s up nowadays with his Mad Circle teammate from back in the ’90s and sent a mail to New York to see if Bobby answers.
I skate about four to five days of the week.
Because I don’t want to support or advertise Nike being in skateboarding.
I work as a courier.
I don’t. Unfortunately, that ended. That was easy money. I would start my night off with some late ’50s/early to mid ’60s electric blues, sprinkle some early boogie-woogie/rock and roll stuff, move into some rhythm and blues, some classic soul, and then sometimes would end with a punk/post punk/classic rock/new wave thing. It was fun.
"Don’t be a dog. Have respect. Don’t blow shit out."
I never left.
No.
Blockwork.
It’s just what’s here. SF has hills, L.A. has schoolyards, NY has doors. I’m very utilitarian when it comes to my skateboarding. I like seeing spots where you can go from point A to B using the things the environment has provided for you. So the doors were very attractive to me as a youth. I also grew up in a time period where basically “street skating” was mimicking vert skating. So my eye and brain is trained to identify “transition”. Just so happens, in Jersey and NY, the environment has these doors on the sidewalk, that make for nice “vert” skating.
Of course. Everywhere will have unknown spots. Thing about NY is that it changes rapidly, so shit will pop up, disappear, and maybe even pop up again. There’s always new spots. And unknown spots. Like I said, it’s just about traversing your environment. Sometimes time and time again.
Backside Nosegrind | Ying
It’s still mine. Ha. Nah, I don’t know, I mean doesn’t that make sense? You skate something first, it’s yours. I mean it’s not like you own it, but it’s yours.
I don’t have a lot of rules, but there are rules. Rule number one: Don’t be a dog. Have respect. Don’t blow shit out. Don’t do shit other people have done well on a spot. Clean up after yourself. Don’t leave a mess.
Of course. I mean it’s just a NY/Jersey thing. You know? It goes beyond graffiti culture. Just don’t be a dog.
Backside 50-50 | O'Meally
I don’t know any Revs stories. Just look at his graffiti. It all tells a story.
I never had a Vivien Feil death threat. I was just pissed his dumb ass used my footage without asking me. Is that not understandable?
I like Guy Mariano, Mike York, Gino [Iannucci], Gonz, Julien [Stranger], [Neil] Blender and Natas [Kaupas]. Strictly classics. I don’t fuck around.
I don’t really think about it, to be honest.
I like Girl/Chocolate, Santa Monica Airlines, and World. Old Stereo.
You quit them cause you have to. The only brand I got ever got kicked off was Stereo. The story I heard was that Ethan [Fowler] didn’t like me. Don’t know if it’s true. Never bothered to find out. Ask Dune [Chris Pastras, Ed. Note] or Ethan.
I’ve saved some. Definitely not all. I saved my first Mad Circle pro model, my first Enjoi model, and some of the Enjoi graphics that I did. I also saved my first Traffic model and some of the Traffic graphics I did. I wish I saved my first INFMS model. I wish I also had that Stereo team graphic that has the classic Stereo lineup plus [Ryan] Hickey and I.
Shit, hanging out with Justin [Girard]. Watching Wu Welsh [Rob Welsh] crush it.
I tend to skate by myself.
Probably the last part I put out only because it was the only part that I had full control over. I also put it out on the web anonymously, didn’t put any names on it, and told a few people about it and watched it kind of spread via word of mouth. That was fun. It was also basically stuff filmed in the five boroughs, Jersey, and Long Island. There’s one trick from Baltimore.
I’m planning a skateboard company.
"I’m not into conspiracy theories, I’m into how things get done."
Sure. Well for one, there’s an old saying, “Math is God”. Meaning math is found in nature, i.e., the Fibonacci sequence/golden ratio etc. Secondly, Gematria is a very old practice. It’s the system of assigning a numeric value to a letter or group of letters. I think numbers and letters share a similar origin. But it’s really only recently that I’ve come to witness some of the more striking aspects of the particular brand of worship of numbers that really fascinates me. It’s kind of a superstition of sorts. Not necessarily with me per se, but of particular groups of folks that practice what I believe are energy-based rituals based around certain numbers.
At first it kind of bothered me. Now I don’t really give a shit.
I’m not into conspiracy theories, I’m into how things get done. I’m into the process of how the mind either understands something or how it gets tricked into “understanding” something.
Ollie | O'Meally
Well for one, I think it was a classical case of what one would call “trauma-based mind control”. I also think it was a classic “false-flag” event. It has all the earmarks of a false-flag attack. Thirdly, I don’t believe “planes” were used. I know that’s gonna sound a bit weird to some folks cause they’ll say: “Well, I saw planes with my own eyes,” or “I saw planes on TV.” Civilian tracking and military radar picked up two slightly different “flight” paths for the second strike on the South Tower on 9/11. Both paths about a thousand or so feet apart. It’s my personal belief, based on the work of Richard D. Hall and Prof. James Fetzer, amongst plenty other great researchers, that essentially a drone was used to project a hologram of a plane striking the South Tower. I also believe that the “corporate media” provided what would be dubbed “video fakery” to aid and abet the execution of the “South Tower Strike”. Because let’s be frank, that is the only one that was broadcast “live” on TV that day.
That things ain’t always what they seem.
Ollie | O'Meally
I think that there is a one-party system in this world and that one party is engaged in a massive global PSYOP to remain in control. It’s absolutely necessary if you approach it from their perspective. It’s essentially what would be termed a “divide and conquer/rule strategy”, and/or a “strategy of tension”. “Politics” is simply dramatic TV. A pacifier. It’s not that difficult to pull off if you control a.) currency, and b.) “media”.
I don’t vote. I don’t believe in the voting system. The board is not elected. Voting is smoke and mirrors. Like Morrissey said: “Every time you vote, you support the system.” I don’t support the system. Well, not by voting at least.
We talk mostly about what things are influencing society.
Every day there’s an exhibition in my head.
Portrait | Ying
