Curren Caples just released his first signature shoe with Vans and to celebrate there were big events in Palm Springs and in the UK, including surfing a wavepool in Bristol and doing demos in London. In between we found some time to talk to him about the cur(r)ent and the past.
It was definitely a new process for me, because I haven’t ever designed much, especially not a shoe. But I just started working with the designers and sent them shoes I liked. I was searching the whole Internet to try to find little bits of stuff that was cool. I mean there’s a bit of different Vans implemented into these shoes. I had key features that I liked from skating Old Skool’s, Authentics and Slip-Ons, and I was just trying to combine that feel. I guess I’m known for skating Slip-Ons, and I wanted a shoe that would feel like a Slip-On. On the inside you can’t feel any seams. I wanted something that would hold the heel well and then also like wouldn’t crease weird.
It’s pretty wild. In a way I really like that attention. It just feels so big. And it’s cool and an honor, but at the same time, I don’t care. I have done some modeling things in the past, but that stuff… I guess I don’t really get any satisfaction from that. I think there’s other things that I hold… When it comes down to skating and if I get certain tricks, I’ll be way more proud about that.
Photo by Gray Sorrenti
When I was a little kid I knew how to do it, but I didn’t really have too much interest for it. And I think I was just so focused on skateboarding, that I didn’t really care to go surf. I would in the summertime, but then once it became winter, I was like, I’m all good with that. And then, one day it just started. I mean, I was probably twelve years old, and then I just started to get all in on it. I surfed a lot. I would say, almost as much as I’ve skated. So, yeah, it’s been fun. It’s just a different outlet for me. And then it’s pretty much one and the same, where in a way it sounds corny, but it’s almost like cross-training. There’s definitely things that help me skating.
My dad has surfed his whole life and there was a point in my life where maybe that could have been a path of trying to become a pro surfer. But at the same time, I didn’t really want that in a way. I feel like surfing is so demanding on contests and stuff like that. I was already so far into skating at that point that I was like, I’ll just do them both. And one of them will be more fun and less pressure about it. I can just do it how I want. And it’s funny because I probably took surfing more seriously just because of that. Like for skating, I was doing so many contests, and it felt pretty serious pretty early on for me.
It is pretty trippy, but it also feels like a skate park. It’s pretty sick, actually. It’s like you can take off on a wave and be like, all right, I’m going to try this, and try it over and over. I mean, that’s the special thing about skateboarding. That’s how you can get so good at skating. So it’s pretty cool to surf that same way.
Photo by Gray Sorrenti
Photo by Lukas Weinberger
I’ve been skateboarding for 25 years, and in the beginning, I was just doing it because I liked doing it. Then there was a big period when I was a teenager, I started to not really like it anymore just because it felt so serious. And there was like some other job and then also getting into surfing. And then when COVID came around I kinda got a new love for skateboarding, where it’s like, you’re on your own. You don’t have to do anything and I found myself becoming that little kid again, building kicker ramps and going to skate in a parking lot. It changed my whole perspective on how I view my skateboarding. It’s cool because then I got to just start filming and skating with my friends. It made it pretty special again, which I’m hyped on. I still have that now. Also, my career has changed so much as well. I used to be skating just straight contests and going on demo trips and never really focusing on filming. And now my life is just dedicated to filming. I choose that way more than doing contests. I’ve always hated contests.
I think actually when I was younger, I cared less about my body, and now I do things for it, so it actually feels pretty good. With skateboarding, I’ll go through mental battles on tricks. Most of the time I’m not even really fighting the trick, I’m fighting my brain to let me do the trick. That’s stuff that I’m trying to break within myself. And it’s nice even being this far, into my career, I’m still trying to overcome those challenges. Skateboarding has never felt stagnant for me, and that’s what I’m stoked on. I still am hungry for it, just for personal reasons. I don’t want to look back on and be like, “You let yourself get in the way of doing so much more”. I’m thankful and my body is still in that place where nothing’s really wrong. I mean knock on wood! [knocks on the wooden floor, laughs]
"There’s rumors that there’s maybe going to be a full-length Vans video."
It’s always sick when you get to ride for a company and travel the world with your friends. Riding for Flip was such a special thing. If I would’ve been solo there and didn’t have a friend, I don’t know how it would have gone. So it was nice that we did that together and traveled. So pretty much right when Louie quit Flip, I was like, “I’m done, too”. And then I didn't really ride for anyone for about like three years. And then I got on Skate Mental, and that just lasted for a year. And then Dill and Ave hit up me and Jake [Anderson]. And then it was just natural. So it was pretty sick to be back on a team and now travel and all skate together. When you skate with your friends for so long, it makes it so much easier to just go out and do it. It feels more fun, pressure-wise.
Actually, the first time I met Dill was at the Berrics when I was 13 years old. And then he did move to Ventura, but I actually never really saw him. I think I saw him a couple of times just walking around. But it wasn't until later on, once I got on FA, that we started to hang out. But I’ve always been such a fan of Dill. I love people that are a character, and he’s such a character. It’s rad to be a part of something that he owns.
Photo by Anthony Acosta
Hopefully the waves are really good. Then go golfing, maybe have a good round. And then go to a skate park with friends and just hang out and maybe drink and have fun. That’s a pretty solid day. I’m probably pretty fucking tired at the end of it. [laughs]
For my last part I tried to skate to this one song by Neil Lockwood and they wanted $70,000. I was like, “All right, that’s not happening“. But it would probably be that song that I looked for. I don’t really want to give away the name in case somebody takes it. Licensing music for skateboarding is weird, they’re so annoying about it. Sometimes a huge artist will just not care. And then other times, they’re just like: “Nope!” I'm like: “Dude, this is only helping you guys at the end of the day”.
Getting this shoe is one of the highest honors in skating, which is pretty special. And after finishing up my part, I mean, I’ll probably just go back into filming another part. I feel like as a skateboarder, until maybe your body fails you, you kinda just don’t stop filming. And I’m starting to prepare myself to that reality of traveling and filming. You’re lucky if you can do it for as long as you can. Also there’s rumors that there’s maybe going to be a full-length Vans video, but I don’t know. That’s probably two years out, maybe three.
Photo by Anthony Acosta
Photo by Anthony Acosta
