We are excited to start our year off in the strongest way possible by publishing an “Offerings” interview with Gino Iannucci. It was a privilege to connect with someone who has long been an inspiration to all of us. Find out more about his selection and much more…
words and interview by Jacob Sawyer. self portrait of Gino Iannucci taken at home
Gino Iannucci’s impact on skateboarding hasn’t ceased reverberating since his early days on Black Label. His footage from different decades stands out as era-defining and if anyone deserves that favourite skateboarder’s favourite skateboarder crown it would be his body of work that has earned it. His video parts have punctuated our shared past and his style has made so many moments within them iconic examples of just how good skateboarding can look. His quality control and less-is-more approach to putting out footage makes what is out there all the more significant, especially at this time in history where we’re bombarded by clips every hour. All of this adds to the mystique of this enigmatic Long Islander and any time new evidence of him rolling surfaces it’s shared by our community much more than most. We had chalked up an interview happening as almost unfeasible so when Gino replied to say he was down for the idea we were blown away by this rare opportunity.
Our conversation found him out on the West Coast for the second time in as many weeks, catching him at the tail end of a busy schedule for ASICS. With little time to prepare we dived into the interview with Gino picking the things he wanted to speak about on the fly, as yet undecided on what recommendations he would settle on. It was great to hear some insights about things that have inspired him along the way including recent discoveries.
He begins with a skate video that was on regular rotation during his youth and featured a young John Lucero, someone who would play a pivotal role in his early days. His Mancunian music choice proves that it’s never too late to find new favourites, even decades after their original release. His film of choice again dips back to childhood, an early influence which has a 20 Shot Sequence tie in with lifelong friend Jason Dill. Finally, when choosing a book to conclude his recommendations the POETS Brand founder fittingly selected an anthology of poems by one of America’s realest writers whose musings on life took place with Los Angeles as a backdrop.
After wrapping up the “Offerings” discussion, we made sure to check in with Gino about his recent travels, what brought him to LA, the current role skateboarding plays in his life, ongoing and upcoming POETS projects, his extensive history in shoe design, his heritage, the Wu-Tang Clan, and more. We hope this interview spins you in many different directions and helps you find some new favourites thanks to the suggestions of one of the best to ever do it…
Team Schmitt Stix – Let’s Go Skate (1987)
This video released in 1987, what was going on with you at this time and why this video?
I brought this video in because it was special to me. It was one of the first videos that I owned and watched on a daily basis. It was at a time when I had started skating on a serious daily basis. There are a lot of good memories attached to it with my friends from where I grew up. It was one that a couple of the guys I skated with would all watch together. I had been skating before that video but this is when I was skating more frequently and becoming addicted to it.
So it’s one you got from the shop and was in your house or was it a shared situation?
That’s a good question. I was thinking about where I would have got it from and I don’t even know. I can’t remember if it was because a friend had it or if I bought it. I don’t really remember buying videos but they got passed around. I can’t remember how I got my hands on it. There would have been a few other videos out at that time that I would have watched but this one for some reason was the only one I actually had at my house. That’s why I ended up watching it so much, often with my friend Eric Rosetti. We really liked watching it, it was a very cool, laid back, day-in-the-life type of video.
It had Team Schmitt Stix waking up in the house, cracking jokes, having breakfast, then rolling outside and skating the mini ramp. It just all felt so amazing to have a little mini ramp in your backyard, and to be able to just wake up, stumble outside and start messing around. Then they cruise to the vert ramp down the way, they stop at a 7-Eleven and skate the parking lot. There was nothing in there crazy as far as tricks but it was a day-in-the-life of skateboarders and it just seemed cool. It was a fun video to watch.
Did this video make a difference to what you were doing or trying when you went skating?
I don’t think so because we skated street mostly. We did skate a lot of ramps in Long Island but I don’t think there was much in there pushing me to try anything on my skateboard, it was more keeping me enthusiastic about going out and skating, and having fun, period.
What was the mini ramp landscape in Long Island?
Let’s see now, there was always one ramp somewhere in Long Island that you heard about. We’d end up finding it, creeping up on the house with no idea of who owned the house or the ramp or what kid lived there. Then you’d hopefully see someone skating it, they’d see you, we’d say “hey, what’s up, nice ramp” and they’d say “hey, you want to come and skate it?” That was kind of the vibe. There were moments though where we had a steady ramp to skate at someone’s house. One could be two towns over, another could be a half an hour drive away, there was another at the one skate park we had when I was younger. So it was random but there was always at least one ramp up that we could go to. There were memorable houses too, we would spend so much time at these people’s houses skating their ramp, and so many kids would come through and skate them with us so it was cool.
“It just all felt so amazing to have a little mini ramp in your backyard, and to be able to just wake up, stumble outside and start messing around”
Was there a main car park you’d all go to?
Yeah of course man but the thing I took away from that bit where they’re at the 7-Eleven is that they went to get drinks, then pulled their boards out and just started skating whatever was there. It wasn’t even like their spot they’d go to skate. They just happened to be waiting for someone to go and get a Slurpee so they were doing some 43s and fucking around in the parking lot. That was just showing that basically wherever we go we’re sessioning wherever we’re at. That’s the way it was with us to, wherever we went we’d be so quick to take our boards out the car for whatever kerb was right there and just start fucking around because you felt like you always wanted to be on the board.
Are there any tricks in there that stand out as a particular moment?
Not really and that’s what’s funny about that video. There are some funny frontside layback 5-0 grinds on the half pipe and on the mini ramp that looked cool for back then. Very surfy vert tricks but I didn’t know how to do that kind of stuff. So it wasn’t about any of the tricks in particular because they were all really quite basic. They were basically doing their vert tricks on the mini ramp, rock and rolls, 5-0 grinds, smith grinds or inverts but on a mini. No offence to the guys but they weren’t doing anything that was too impressive on the mini ramp. It was just cool to see them waking up and just going outside and skating. No tricks come to mind just watching the boys wake up and session.
It’s cool that you had grown up watching John Lucero on the daily to getting on Black Label starting out.
Yeah it was because looking back, for me, a pro in a skate video, they were like celebrities to me, they were big time. Lucero had a funny part in the video too. He has a funny little line in the video where they’re eating breakfast, he blows his nose with his shirt and he looks around and keeps asking the guys for paper towels. It’s an infamous line that always stuck with me. So when I got to talk to him after connecting with him on Black Label we would bring that up and I’d laugh. He’d tell me stories about back in the day with other pros, funny stuff that has gone on. It was really nice to talk with him about that and cool to end up on Black Label after watching that video a ton of times.
Would you ever put this on and reminisce?
Nah, you know what, I guess maybe it’s because it’s the social media time right now. I just don’t watch videos any more. I haven’t watched a video in a long time, I’ll only watch clips. The last video that I watched was about a month and a half ago. I went to a screening of the Plan B video Virtual Reality, they showed it in Astoria, Queens. They had a Mike Ternasky installation in the Museum of the Moving Image. So they played the video, then they had Jake Rosenberg, Rick Howard, and Mike Ternasky’s daughter on stage for a Q&A after the video. So to see that on a movie theatre screen was pretty awesome, that’s the last time I watched a skate video. I haven’t even thought about watching the Schmitt Stix video for probably decades but it’s always stuck with me so when that question was asked to pick a video that was the first one to come to mind.
What other videos were part of the rotation back then?
There were a few from this time period that stand out. The Savannah Slamma contest was one of the first contests on video so we would watch that all the time. Then there was a video called Curb Dogs that actually came out even earlier, it was a skate jam in a parking lot, it was very punk, everyone dressed like that. They had a car in the parking lot and people were running up on the car and doing bonelesss off it. It was a random video about this skate jam and it was another one we ran a lot because we owned it.
The Very Best Of The STone Roses (2002)
What album did you end up choosing and why?
I didn’t even choose one to be honest, I’ve been so wrapped up with shit that I didn’t get down to thinking about an album. Let me think about one real quick. It’s a tough one because I’m not the most prolific music guy, I just like some shit, I like my stuff and I have some albums that I ran to death. They’re nothing special so I’m not sure I’d really be putting someone on to something.
This may sound ridiculous because I’m speaking to a British person but this is funny because The Stone Roses – I only just started listening to them. I have cousins in England, and I have one cousin who is a musician. I remember years ago that he would come and stay with us in Long Island, New York. He’d come and visit, and work with my father. My cousin is my age and he’s a drummer. This was around the time that Oasis got really big in the 90s. I remember that he would always mention The Stone Roses, if we were talking about Oasis he’d always throw The Stone Roses out there but I never properly absorbed that and checked them out.
Then for some reason, I don’t know how I got onto them but a few months ago I just got addicted to them. Being that someone like myself, as old as I am can still be that naive to The Stone Roses and where they stand in music I would recommend listening to them.
What album would you recommend?
I’d say listen to The Very Best of The Stone Roses album for sure.
Is there a specific song that caught your attention?
“She Bangs the Drums” probably but all of those songs are so good. That was on the first album which came out in the late 80s.
“They had their own way of looking at things, stayed true to themselves and were interesting characters who made good music together”
Are you still finding time to listen to music?
I still do sometimes, it’s mainly when I’m driving these days. Sometimes if I’m in the house and I’m watching the kids I’ll leave some music on, or some videos and let it run, some old hip hop or something. So yeah I do actually.
Who do you think turned you on to the most new music?
Nobody. For example there were so many times that The Stone Roses were mentioned to me but I was just so into my shit that I wouldn’t care to look into it, or I’d forget and just continue running what I liked. I have always just listened to the same stuff I always liked. At this stage in life too, I’m not really mingling with people who are talking about new music.
It’s quite funny to have come from a generation who bought our favourite albums on all formats. Maybe vinyl, recording vinyl to tape, CD replacing it all, maybe mini discs through to now paying a subscription to listen to shit we’ve owned multiple times. What format do you have fondest memories of?
CD’s really I suppose, it started with tapes, and there are many memories attached to tapes but they sucked, rewinding, fast forwarding to try and find a song took forever so CD’s I think.
What would you say about The Stone Roses to someone yet to check them out?
I would say have a listen and maybe investigate their history if you’re really interested. You’ll see that they were a movement in British music that influenced a lot of bands who went on to become really big in the UK and the rest of the world. They didn’t get as big as the bands they influenced. They had their own way of looking at things, stayed true to themselves and were interesting characters who made good music together. I like the way Ian Brown used to dress too, he looked like a skateboarder, it’s funny.
Rumble Fish – Francis Ford Coppola (1983)
Which film would you like to recommend?
Haha, let’s see now. I could go the easy route and name a favourite from when I was a kid or think about what has moved me as far as a movie over the last twenty years. I guess I’m going to keep it easy and just say Rumble Fish because If you’re not up on it you’re going to be psyched that you looked into it and gave it a watch. It’s a great movie.
What do you love about this one?
Visually it was a nice movie, it’s black and white, I like the way [Francis Ford] Coppola directed it. I like what it was about, a younger brother trying to be like his older brother but realising he never could be and chasing that. It was just cool, there were rough kids, gangs, it had all the things that made it interesting for a young kid to watch. Mickey Rourke was in it, Matt Dillon, Diane Lane. Just visually it was amazing, a lot of smoke, dark scenes, alleys. It’s meant to be set in Tulsa, Oklahoma which is where S.E. Hinton’s stories take place.
Do you remember seeing it for the first time?
I don’t really but I remember watching it on TV when it first came out, then ever since I was drawn to it. Then it’s funny, when we came out with the 20 Shot Sequence video for 101 Jason [Dill] used a scene from Rumble Fish for the beginning of his part. I remember thinking “Oh shit! Rumble Fish” and at that point I probably hadn’t watched it for a while. I just thought it was cool that it was one of his favourite movies too.
You mentioned social media dwindling your attention span for skate videos. Do you still find space to watch movies?
Yeah, me and my lady are always searching for movies to watch. Every night I’m searching for a movie, I’m searching for something I haven’t seen. It’s weird I’ve got to an age now, at one point it seemed easy to watch a movie that I already like, I could go back and watch certain movies over and over again. Then I got to a point, and it was recently, where I felt like I don’t want to see any movies that I used to watch or that I like. I just don’t have any interest in watching them anymore so I’m always trying to find something different, or new that I haven’t seen. I check a lot of movie apps, go to the independent category and try to find stuff I haven’t seen. Or I’ll know of an actor I’ve seen somewhere else that I like and search for other stuff they’re in, trying to find some new stuff. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.
“If you’re not up on it you’re going to be psyched that you looked into it and gave it a watch”
Is there ever time for the cinema nowadays?
Not any more man, not since having kids. I haven’t been to the movies for a long time. We’ve been to the movies once since having our kids two years ago and we used to go all the time, that was one of our things. I hope soon. I can’t wait for the kids to want to go, I’m sure they’ll love it.
You must have a long list of movies earmarked as potential Inspiration for POETS?
I think so, it seems to frequently come from a film, there’ll be something I pull from.
What’s your favourite movie reference that you’ve realised as a graphic so far?
I really liked a graphic that I did called ‘Fake it till you make it’. It was the dummy head from Escape from Alcatraz, one of the heads they made and left in the cell. We made a graphic with that and put ‘Fake it till you make it’ on there. It pertained to the world, that’s basically a common mentality it seems like. Faking it until you make it is something you see a lot these days. I thought it was cool, something funny and I love that movie so that’s one that stands out.
On a prison break related tip you made the Shawshank Redemption hammer too.
That hammer came about because I made these wooden board hangers and they were really classy. My friend who is a woodworker came up with the idea to make them. He did a bunch of board hangers which meant he had some extra wood lying around and he made this toy hammer. It was meant to be a child’s toy, he told me he could make me this hammer if I wanted and I thought it was so fucking dope. He made a bunch of them using the scrap wood from the board hangers and they were similar to the little hammer in Shawshank Redemption, that’s why we used the reference in an ad to push the “little hammer”, using the escape scene photo was a funny way of promoting it.
Back to your original choice, why should someone reading this watch Rumble Fish?
If they have any interest in seeing something new they’ve never seen before and because I said so, haha.
Pleasures of the Damned – Charles Bukowski (1951-1993)
What book would you recommend?
I haven’t read many books in my life so this one should be easy. I liked The Pleasures of the Damned which is a collection of Charles Bukowski’s poetry. Honestly I don’t really read books, I’ve tried and I can’t do it, I’m more of a movie guy. I know it sounds like I’m a dumbbell but whatever, I’m not going to fake the funk pulling out some book that I barely read. This one I actually did and I enjoyed it. I know that he has a following and that there’s a stigma attached to his name. You’re picking a poet, you pick Charles Bukowski, okay really? But I loved it, I love how he writes, I love how he thinks. It was the one book I kept reading and I couldn’t put it down, that’s why I chose this one.
Is it the kind of thing you would dip back into?
I think so, I went hard on it for a couple of books. I picked them up but haven’t picked one up for a while, I could see myself going back to it though. It’s interesting though because if you’re reading it on a daily basis, for me it felt like it was putting me in a mental position. I don’t want to say it puts you into a funk but into a funky way of thinking. It’s a way of thinking his writing that I can agree with but to walk around with that on your mind every day was interesting.
Do you think it was helpful to take on his outlook?
I don’t know if it was helpful, maybe. You hear things that you agree with therefore there’s validity to your thinking patterns or how you see things. It’s always nice to hear similar thoughts or stuff that makes sense to you personally. So I thought that was cool. Then there’s the drinking and all that stuff. I can relate to him saying that it’s easier to write when you’re drinking. I find that with music. I don’t drink any more and I find that I don’t enjoy listening to music as much because I don’t drink. Not that I always had to drink to listen to music but there’s a high to drinking and listening to a song and really feeling it. Sometimes I feel now that I’m missing that, there’s something that buzz does to you that gets you extra into what you’re listening to and amplifies it. That’s kind of a bummer to think I can’t feel that without booze.
“You hear things that you agree with therefore there’s validity to your thinking patterns or how you see things”
That booze though, it will make you go to places in your mind that aren’t the best place. It’s interesting that you can think you’re being as real as possible when you have a few in you but in my experience there’s a line that you cross to where it’s exaggerated. I think a lot of truth does come out though when you have a few in you. I think there’s that balance of drinking, and if you can control that and not go too far, you can get some real truth and feeling behind what you’re thinking, but too much and you get a little bit stupid.
He was trying to get all of that down on paper.
I don’t even know what I’m saying but I’m trying to figure it out while I’m talking.
Did you ever check out any of his novels?
I think I bought one but I never got into it.
Did you watch Barfly?
I did, I’ve seen that, Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway. I just watched a Faye Dunaway documentary on the airplane flight here actually, it was good.
So poetry as an art form connected with you?
Yeah, for someone who doesn’t really take to reading books. I find it hard to stay in them so reading poem after poem is a little bit easier, there’s a finish line right there, you can see where it ends. It’s hard for me to really absorb what I’m reading and remember it, and not get sidetracked. I guess that takes training or reading more often to do that. Maybe I have too much ADD or something, I don’t know.
Backside tailslide from the Asics Next Vibrant Screentest video filmed by Ritt Pontepsiripong
This interview finds you out in California. What brings you out there, are you enjoying being on that coast?
Yes I am, I’m in California with the ASICS team and we’ve been doing some skating. They’re working on a video with a couple of the guys and we’re working on some photos for a new campaign coming out in 2025. That’s kind of it, I am enjoying being out here though, it’s nice. I don’t come out to LA that much any more but I was also here last week for the Chocolate 30 Year Anniversary which was awesome. I came out here with my lady for that one and then I came back a week later for this.
When you first left Chocolate for FA it coincided with their 20-year anniversary and you have mentioned that wasn’t the easiest. It must have been nice getting to acknowledge the importance of that stint for their 30th anniversary just now.
It was nice, a lot different to the 20th. That didn’t feel like as much to me, not as special. That’s partly because I was just about to leave Chocolate but it felt different. 30 years is a lot more time, a lot more going on, a lot more getting older and things becoming even more nostalgic and heartfelt. It really was very special. I didn’t know if I was going to come but when I went to that Mike Ternasky instalment in Queens Rick Howard showed up. I didn’t know that he was going to be there but I saw him and we spoke for a bit, he told me all about what they had going on and I knew then that I couldn’t miss it.
The OG Chocolate Skateboards squad at the recent 30 Year Anniversary Show. PH: Jaime Owens
I’m glad I went, it was a little overwhelming because it was hard to absorb the whole installation and see everything and soak it all in. There were lots of quick conversations. The Deck Aid guys did a great job though and it was awesome to see everybody. It was cool standing in line to get in and having [Sean] Sheffey pull up behind us. He was with his son who I didn’t even recognise at first because he’s a grown man now. I was hyped to see everyone, I was bummed that Megan [Baltimore] wasn’t there though, I was looking forward to seeing her because I haven’t seen her in a while.
How is skateboarding factoring into your life right now?
I got a shoulder surgery back in July and I’ve been off my skateboard for six months. I have kids now, I’m running around doing a lot of shit, so the last thing I was thinking of was wanting to get back out in the streets during recovery. Just now though I came out here for ASICS and it coincided with the time where I’m just about able to start skating again under my doctor’s orders. I went out for the first time two days ago and it felt pretty good. Then yesterday I went out and I was trying to film a clip! I didn’t even expect to skate this trip, I thought I was gonna just come out and show up for some photos for some kind of lifestyle thing. But I was skating and I feel like there’s this bug in me. Now I’m thinking of coming back out to LA to try and film a clip because the weather is going to be bad in New York. So it’s just constant, it never ends. I could be off it for a while then when I touch it again then I feel like skating.
“That felt good, being part of that session…I was in the moment and I was enjoying it which reminds me of the old days, how it was”
What would be the ideal scenario personally for skating right now if everything feels right?
That’s a good question. For the longest time I think if I was skating I tended to go early in the morning, I’d get to the park when there weren’t as many people there and just do my thing. But then if you do that for long enough, that gets boring. You’re by yourself, you’re doing the tricks you can do consistently and not really pushing yourself. But then yesterday for instance. I was with the ASICS team, they were all at a spot then I started skating and just got into the groove of being in the mix skating. That felt good, being part of that session. I wasn’t just hanging out and watching them skate, I was in the moment and I was enjoying it which reminds me of the old days, how it was. It was good to be reminded that I have to put myself out there a bit more and just get in the mix.
How is sobriety factoring in to everything?
Sobriety can suck because sometimes I just want to fucking check out, I don’t want to be present all the time. But life has definitely been ten times better being sober.
Do you have new POETS projects lined up you’re excited about?
We just did that capsule with Danny Minnick and dropped that for this holiday. We’re working on something with Stance actually which will come out next year. I have never worked with them before so it’s going to be cool. I don’t want to mention anything else that’s been talked about in case it doesn’t happen.
What piece are you the most proud of seeing to completion or which one did you learn the most during the process?
I think it’s a jacket that I did. I made a jacket called The Tinker, a blue herringbone jacket with a P on the armband. That one was interesting because it was the second time doing a cut and sew piece and I was using somebody that was very experienced in cut and sew. He worked with brands like HUF for a long time and HUF was actually the one who put me on to him. It was a long fucking process doing it with this guy. It probably didn’t need to be so long, it may have just been the way he works. I don’t know how many conversations we had on the phone about this piece, how many times I met up with him looking at samples. It was a whole experience, I’d meet him on the side of the road sometimes out in LA.
But then the final product came out very well as far as I was concerned, everything that I wanted to do was perfectly done. He did a great job with it and it was very memorable because there were so many things that were getting in the way. The person that he used to make the jacket, who put it together in the end, his son had a brain tumour at the time so he was dealing with that and it put things on pause. Then the guy who was making the jacket for me got sick. So many things were happening which made it take so long to finish that jacket. It was kind of the most memorable piece for odd reasons.
It’s sick that you’re always working on something interesting.
I hope I can keep it like that but it seems like now we’re doing more seasons, now we’re working on Fall 25. I’m working with a new sales guy and he’s trying to get us on a schedule so we can sell to shops the way other brands sell to shops using the same timelines. It’s nice to have the freedom to do these things whenever you want, to make them when you feel it. But then when you have the time constraints you can still make the same quality stuff you just have to work in a different way. There are ups and downs to everything.
Are you in a space where you can talk about designs with ASICS? Is it inspiring being part of that program?
We are working on a shoe that’s going to come out next summer, the first thing where I have helped with the design. It’s an existing shoe they were going to release, then one thing led to another and it was decided that I would get a version of the shoe to work on which would be the initial drop of that style, which is awesome. It was just a matter of dressing it up and working with materials and colours, stuff I’m used to doing. That’s it for now and then there might be something down the road from the ground up, not saying it’s for myself but something for ASICS which looks like it will be a fun project.
So you’ve found your shoe in the line?
Kind of, from what they put out for the first release there has been one shoe that I have kind gravitated towards. Then this shoe they’re putting out that I’ve been skating in recently is probably going to be my go-to shoe, it’s more like an indoor soccer-based shoe.
You have always had good input when it comes to shoes, I really loved the Challenge Court.
I appreciate that, thank you.
It’s pretty amazing to have had an Axion shoe, Nike shoes, an adidas shoe, a New Balance with Poets, now Asics. You’ve even realised the wallabee with Padmore & Barnes. There aren’t many people who could have a run like that.
Yeah it’s pretty cool actually. For that period of time I was left and right, one shoe with on company, one with another. When Nike didn’t re-sign me I felt free to do whatever I wanted. Then especially as I have a brand, I could use that to work with whoever which is awesome. I got to work with adidas, I got to work with New Balance. Then during the New Balance collaboration with Tiago [Lemos] was when ASICS happened. That was a slight conflict of interests because ASICS was just about to open for business in the United States with the skate program, it was right when that shoe was supposed to come out. As long as I wasn’t wearing the shoe myself or promoting it in that way everyone agreed that it was fine. I’m happy that I have friends who were able to incorporate me elsewhere like with the Padmore shoe. My friend was close with that Padmore connection and asked if I was interested in doing something. There’s always help from someone else to get these things going and I appreciate the people that have let me in.
You have British heritage, can I ask where your mum was from originally and about your first trip to the UK?
My mum is from Birmingham and my first trip there was when I was a baby, I was probably two or something. My grandfather was Irish, and my grandmother was British. I forget where they met but they ended up in Birmingham. My grandmother passed away maybe fifteen or twenty years ago, and then my grandfather lived until he was a hundred and only passed away about three years ago. He was amazing, the most amazing grandfather. I have one vivid memory of being young back when I was maybe nine or something and taking a walk with him. He used to walk for miles. I went for a walk with him and his dog and we were out from morning until the evening. We walked out to this river bank and it was just so cool to be with him, I don’t even know why, I think because I had never seen him and he was such a pleasant guy, a happy-go-lucky guy. He made it such a memorable experience that I always loved him even though I didn’t really know him, I only saw him a few times.
Favourite Wu-Tang Clan member? Who would make you go to a show?
I was always a GZA fan, Liquid Swords and all of his solo albums I always liked. The last show I went to was actually a Ghostface show in Long Island maybe four years ago and that was cool. I’ve been to a few Wu shows over the past few years but interesting shows. One was when they did that documentary called Of Mics and Men, it was a three part series on ShowTime. When that came out my girlfriend got tickets to go to The Beacon Theatre in New York where they were premiering that documentary. They only premiered the first episode but then after that they had the whole fucking clan come out to perform and it was amazing!
I don’t think if Ghost was performing tomorrow in New York I would run to it because I don’t go to shows a lot but I’ve been to a few in my life and they were later on. I did see them at Summer Jam in 1995 but that was the only time I’d seen them before that Ghost show I mentioned. Then also recently my girlfriend again bought me tickets for The Lincoln Centre, they did a documentary about a show they did at Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Utah. They performed with a live orchestra and it was pretty amazing. RZA was there introducing it to the crowd, Inspectah Deck was there and Mayor Adams was there and shit. Those kind of events are fun now where they’re in a position to do these bigger things, cooler than seeing a regular performance of old tracks.
Nike Air Force 2 assisted hardflip from Gino’s 1996 Big Brother interview. PH: Rick Kosick
In your Big Brother interview what shoes are you wearing on that hardflip over the hip, are they regular Air Force 1’s?
No they’re Air Force 2’s, they have a little bit of a smaller sole and a strap open the top, they’re like three quarter. I was never a fan of the Air Force 1’s. I always hated them because they’re too big, too clunky.
Is there a board, item of clothing, or keepsake from your career you’d like to have if it still exists out there?
I would have to say my video camera bag that got stolen out of my car at the Brooklyn Banks in the mid 90s. It had so many tapes full of skateboarding and so much footage of all my friends that just got lost. I would like to have that back. I can’t remember if it was my camera but they were my tapes for sure and we had a lot of them, there were probably a lot of gems on them too.
Last words?
Thanks for the interview.
We want to thank Gino for taking the time out for this interview. Be sure to follow him on Instagram for regular updates and shop with us for regularly updated inventory from Poets Brand.
Big thank you to Chuck Hults for photos of his copy of the Schmitt Stix VHS cover, to Jaime Owens for his photo of the Chocolate Skateboards 30 Year Anniversary, and to Neil Macdonald (Science Vs. Life) for his scan from Gino’s Big Brother interview.
Related reading: Tim Anderson “Bobshirt” Interview , Lightbox: Gino Iannucci by Ben Colen
Previous “Offerings” Interviews: Elijah Berle , Silas Baxter-Neal , Matt Pritchard , Matlok Bennett-Jones , Spencer Hamilton , Aaron Herrington , Rowan Zorilla , Beatrice Domond , Chris Jones , Kevin ‘Spanky’ Long , Helena Long , Tom Karangelov , Bobby Puleo , Ray Barbee , Zach Riley , Ryan Lay , Casper Brooker
The post Offerings: Gino Iannucci appeared first on Slam City Skates Blog.