DYLAN KASSON INTERVIEW

In a sport that thrives so much on progression, and original riding. It is a shame that such a small list of guys actually do so. Dylan Kasson is without a doubt one of the few riders at the top of that small list, and is one of the sports most progressive riders today. He went from being a complete nobody in the sport, and then in what seemed like overnight, he was riding for one of the biggest companies in the sport, and releasing jaw dropping videos.

Dylan Kasson was born in Westerville, Ohio, where he has lived all his life, and currently still lives today. It was in the year 2000 during the “Scooter Craze” that Dylan and some of his friends would buy some scooters. However, in two months all his friends would be completely over it, and yet Dylan is going on 9 years strong, with no plans of stopping anytime soon. When Dylan first came onto the scene, he wasn’t everyone’s favorite person. He would release mini videos so frequently with each showing little to no progress, and he would get bashed not only for these but for his attitude he would use on the forums. Sometime later this would change, his riding started to take a turn. His tricks were finally smoothing out, but what caught more peoples attention was how he had started to separate himself from every other rider. With the originality and creativity of his tricks and where he would do them. People started to look past his attitude and focus simply on his riding. All of a sudden his name started to pop up on peoples “Favorite Riders” lists, and he soon found himself on the PROTO Team.

If you were to ask Dylan now a days what his favorite tricks to do are, they would be, 720’s, nose manuals, and lots of spin tricks out of various grinds. All of which is evident in his latest videos. Having landed 900s to fakie, 540 bri flips to fakie, and 540’s out of feeble on almost any size ledge, it’s obvious he’s got his spins on lock. His favorite obstacle to ride would have to be a ledge about 1 foot high, with some nice angle iron coping, something good for tricking in and out of. When it comes to who he likes riding with, it’s not scooter riders. He rides with skateboarders usually. However, when he is traveling, he enjoys riding with fellow team rider Elmer, and Elmer’s two fellow New Yorkers, HepGreg, and Sanchez. When it comes to riders who Dylan looks up to, it would have to be Matt McKeen and Addison McNaughton, two of the sports best street riders. Dylan feels that the two of them know where the direction of the sport should be going. By taking it to the streets, and getting talented filmers, to film their video parts. As far as how Dylan feels about being asked to ride for Proto. It meant everything to him, he looks at Proto as a small family. Insisting that the parts are so amazing, that had he never been asked to be on Proto, he would still be riding the same set up of Proto parts today. The fame since joining the Team is something that he is still getting used to though. He honestly never thought the sport of scootering would take him this far.

Dylan’s plans for the near future is to finish his all street video, something we are no doubt all looking forward to, and to help the rest of his Team finish theirs as well. Currently you will no longer find Dylan on the online scene. Like a lot of riders before him he would rather be out riding his scooter, than on a forum arguing with kids about petty differences and possibly tarnishing his reputation to the scene. So in the end, when it comes to Dylan, you don’t have to like him. Whether you love him or hate him, hate to love him, or love to hate him. We should all be grateful that he is a part of the sport. It’s riders like Dylan who are trying their hardest to push this sport forward. The days are long gone when we would see repetitive Dylan Kasson videos, rest assure that with every new video you see from Dylan in the future, there is bound to be even more groundbreaking footage.

Intro by Steven Tongson

Interview by Jordan Jasa

 

Jordan Jasa:  You went from one of the most goofy, sketchy riders in the sport to one of the cleanest and most original almost overnight.  How did that happen?

Dylan Kasson:  I was watching footage of myself one night and I realized how gross it was.  After that I rode for a whole month straight riding regular instead of ski, and doing tail whips instead of  heel whips.  To me at the time it was like riding switch but I forced myself to do it and eventually it caught on.  Because I started out doing heel whips I can tail whip and heel whip pretty much equally now which I'm thankful for.

I think I remember your Scoot Ohio part as being the one that established you as one of the better riders in the sport.  How did it feel when that was released?

That movie was about getting all of the riders in Ohio noticed and getting coverage of them because they deserved it.  I wanted to make it somewhat of a real production.  The whole thing took me 2 years which I am proud that I saved footage and took it in that manner even back in those times when I would release a video every week.  I actually established the principle of "throwaway footage" when i was filming for it haha.  I am still very pleased with it it seems like a documentary on the time of all stock, unsealed fsas, and yak 110mms that were so plentiful you could pile them up.

What is your opinion of the online scene?  Why do you think there is so much drama?

I am very glad I got off SR.  I feel like I have so much more time to just live my life and not care at all what people think.  I bet so many people talk so badly about me on that site but in the end I am out riding and filming the very thing that started that site and they are typing on a keyboard going nowhere.  I know I cause a lot of drama but I feel very changed since I got off SR.  It just shows you you dont need a scooter forum to run your life and when you realize that talking about people stops.  I want to apologize to the people I talked about.  I still cant understand everybody's riding but I will respect that they do it.  And I mean that.

A lot of people say they love your style, yet just as many, if not more, love to impersonate your bowleg style.  Does that bother you?  Do you think you have good style?

Honestly I thought my bowleg just kind of died away but maybe not.  I just do the tricks I enjoy and if I ride bowleg then that sucks I guess.  If people are saying something about it they are just sitting online wasting their time.  If people still say I ride bowleg after my proto part comes out then I will be surprised but not dissapointed.  I think when I do land tricks I land them clean if that means good style.  Sometimes I can do some really ugly turn downs though.

Does a rider have to follow certain trends to be considered “good” or “stylish”? 

I think all of the scooter trends are silly so no.

Do you honestly believe that a rider’s clothes, or what he/she films with, makes them a better rider?

I don't believe it makes their ability better but I definitely believe it gets them more respect not just from fellow scooter riders but from other sports.

Why is it that you don’t like to ride with other scooter riders?  Why do you prefer to ride with skateboarders?

The only people that ride around here aren't fun to ride with because I like to ride with someone that you can push each other with each trick and all my skateboarder friends are really good and we go back and forth trick after trick and push each other to total progression.  I cant have that experience with kids doing tripple whips flyout at my local park.  I don't have anything against them its just not very enjoyable for me.

What gives you the right to bag on another rider for the clothes he wears, what he rides, and how he films when you wore the same exact thing, had the sketchiest style of all time, and a crappy camera for years?

Because I dont anymore.  And I am trying to push people out of this embarrassing stage early on.

What was up with you at XW this year?  You took your runs as if they were a joke, and you barely rode.

I had to enter pro and I didnt think I stood a chance and I didn't.  Competitions don't matter to me.

What kinds of tricks can we expect in your upcoming all street video (PROTO dvd part)?

No stair sets or gaps.

What is your biggest goal for the future?

Finishing my part and getting into college.

Any last words of advice for people reading this?

Get off SR and go do the thing that got you on life support to it, scooter.