Billy Perry Interview

Photo: Jon Nemecek

Billy is one of those newer names that has been popping up more and more the past year or so. In that time, he’s had a handful of edits drop that have all shown that he’s capable of throwing down some serious riding. After recently getting picked up by Volume and Demolition, we figured it would be a good time to catch up with this kid who comes from Long Island and find out more about him. It turns out he’s got a lot of other talents outside of riding a bike, so Let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Billy Perry

Location: West Islip, Long Island, NY

Sponsors: Follow The Leader, Volume Bikes, Demolition Parts.

Years riding: Raced for a few years when I was younger, but about 6 years riding BMX.

What was it that first got you into BMX? Any early memories come to mind?
I learned how to ride my sisters bike when I was 3 and I couldn’t stop, it just felt right. I started making little ramps in my driveway and went to the local trails with my dad, everything about BMX appealed to me.

How are things going with Volume and Demolition these days? Does Brian have any trips or anything cool in the works with you?
Awesome, I just got moved up on Volume and I’m really psyched on that! As far as trips or anything like that goes, I’m not really sure.

Photo: Jon Nemecek

What’s up with Follow The Leader? Care to tell us a little bit about what that’s all about?
This was an idea my sister had back in April 2011 before she moved to California, there wasn’t a name she just wanted a company and an elephant logo. Nothing was really happening, we decided on a name after she left so I decided to mess around in Graphic Design class, I made a bunch of Logos and ended up with a basic cool little elephant with the letters FTL in it. I wanted to do it as a crew with my 3 friends Justin Koebele, Billy Malkotsis, and Grant Germain. People were into it so we started making die-cut elephant stickers, beanies, shirts, and edits. Shout out to Rob McCarthy for building the whole website, there are a lot of ideas for the rest of 2012!

Any other sponsor news you can tell us about?
A big protein company that sponsors a couple NFL athletes is trying to get in touch with me through a friend who has a lot of connections. I don’t really know anything about it, and I’m not that big and strong so I don’t know, but it would be cool being on the same company as professional football players haha.

All right, so growing up you initially started racing, right? Do you feel like having that background helped you get the control of the bike that you have now? Were you ever any good?
Yeah, racing definitely helped me out a bunch. Once I started hitting the park on my 16 inch the ramps weren’t really intimidating and a lot of the bike control was already there. I wasn’t that bad at racing surprisingly. I have a ridiculous amount of trophies on my shelf and in my attic somewhere.

What made you want to drop racing and start dropping some tricks?
The pressure was getting to me and when I think of riding I think of having a fun time doing whatever I want. Racing was fun at times but stressful at others, so I got a little 16 inch Haro Dave Mirra 540 edition and hit the park and I got addicted.

Photo: Billy’s Mom. Awesome.

Over the last year you have had a handful of edits pop up from the east and west coast. Have you had the chance to travel much over the years? Where are some of the places you have had the chance to go?
Yeah, I love making edits, haha. I film a lot of the street stuff in my edits in New York City. NYC is definitely one of my favorite places to ride, so much crazy stuff going on all the time. Most of the park stuff I film is at my local park called Huntington, my favorite park hands down. I went on a trip to San Diego, California in November and stayed with my sister. I met with some kids I knew from the internet and rode a bunch of parks around there and filmed a little self filmed edit that was really fun. California is an amazing place, really look forward to going back and riding some street. Other than that I stay pretty local, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut etc.

What are your plans for the summer? Any trips you are looking forward to?
Work a sick job at a community college 2 days a week and ride, chill, and go to the beach the rest of the time. I want to go to California and Woodward again, those places are unreal.

I know you just had that Volume edit pop up, but have you been filming for anything else lately? When can we expect some fresh Billy Perry footage to surface?
Yeah, all those clips were filmed at the end of last summer. I’ve got some clips for a split edit with Donovan Howard who’s a sick street rider from the city, this should be out in a few weeks. I’ve also been filming a FTL street edit I’m really hyped on, I want to put a little more work into this edit so hopefully its out before July. A little iPhone edit is also in the works with some fun clips in it.

I’ve definitely seen you drop plenty of tricks in your edits. What’s one trick you can’t do no matter how many times you try?
Crank arm grinds are impossible for me. I don’t like doing truck drivers off of stuff either, I did my first one on the first try after running up to a ledge for a few minutes but that’s the only one I’ve ever done. I have some sort of weird mental block for the trick, hopefully I’ll get over it soon they’re a lot of fun.

Photo: Jon Nemecek

I’d imagine growing up in Long Island definitely influenced your riding. Who are some of the riders who really motivate you or that you look up to?
Long Island is sick, I look up to Russ Barone, Craig Passero, Chris Zep, Mike Jonas and Denny Pascasio, they’re all really awesome dudes from LI. My Favorite rider without a doubt is Connor Lodes, he kills it.

How do the ladies at your high school think about you being a sponsored rider? I’d imagine it won’t be too hard for you to get a date for the prom?
Hahaha I think a lot of people know me as the kid that rides bikes, I don’t really talk about it that much unless people ask me. But it’s cool I talk to a lot of different girls and the girl I’m taking to prom is a good friend.

Now that you are about to graduate, do you feel like you will be putting more work into riding or are you going to focus on college?
I think it will be similar to high school, maybe less class time and a little more homework. I’m not too much of a try hard in school but I get my work done and ride whenever I can.

Speaking of that, where are you going to be going to college? What kind of a degree are you hoping to get?
I’m attending Nassau Community College on Long Island for 2 years then hopefully finishing school somewhere in San Diego. I’m trying to get a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising Design.

Photo: Jon Nemecek

Are you kind of looking to get into the design and marketing business further down the road? Any dream jobs coming to mind?
Yeah, design and business is something I have been into for a little while. Working for Diamond Supply Co. or some kind of cool laid back company like that would be fun. But my dream job would be owning my own successful business, like Ben Baller, that dude makes so much money and his job looks fun.

What do you think you would be doing if you never got into BMX? Do you feel like you would have the same interests outside of bikes that you have now?
I always was into action sports, so probably wakeboarding, which still do occasionally and skateboarding

What are you usually up to when you aren’t riding these days? Any other hobbies or interests?
I like hanging out with my friends. computer related stuff such as computer graphics, music, and twitter/intagram follow me @Billyperry631

What’s something about yourself that might surprise people? I heard you are kind of a hardass in the karate department?
I have a black belt in Shotokan and a 2nd degree black belt in Kempo.

Has the 2nd degree black belt ever come in handy?
Not yet, fortunately I haven’t had to use it.

Let’s say you get a fat budget to take the FTL crew on a trip anywhere in the world for a week to film. Where do you go and why?
I would love to go to Barcelona, Spain, for the spots and for chill trip I would want to go to a sick Tropical Island.

Photo: Jon Nemecek

Actually, let’s say you stumble on a big bag of cash with your name on it. What’s the first thing you buy?
Audi r8 definitely and if there’s enough money, probably a mansion in Southern California and whatever my parents and sister want.

What’s the last song you heard, movie you watched and website you visited?
M83- Midnight City, Gran Torino, Facebook and The Union

Are you much of a partier? What makes for a good night out on a non-school night for you?
Partying is awesome! Hanging out with girls, or riding the city at night are also some of my favorite things to do.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still riding, maybe living in California, and hopefully have a sick job.

Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
I want to thank my family for being the best and supporting my riding and dealing with my shit all the time, especially my mom. Kenny Hirsch for putting in a good word at Volume/Demolition for me, Brian Castillo especially, and everyone else at 180 Distribution. All my friends for being awesome, and thanks to Kurt at The Union for making this interview possible!

Anything else you want to say?
Do your thing and have fun!