Smilin’ Steve Kennedy Interview

Steve is another one of those crazy dudes from Give D, and I honestly wish like a month ago when I sent him these questions(hes been injured and busy give him a break!) that I would have asked more, I find these responses super entertaining and I think he has a lot to say… but for now this is good..

Name:
Steve Kennedy

Location:
San Marcos, California

Sponsors:
Give D, Odyssey, Sunday!, and Epic bike shop

What are some nicknames you have?
Smilin Steve, Barspins Steve, Regrets-Man

Why are you always smiling?
When you walk into a room and you are smiling you are a somebody, if not you are a nobody. I lost my virginity to a myspace girl.

What is Give D to you?
A whole lot of kicking ass with the best people I have ever met. No matter what we do together it is guaranteed fun. Roadtrips with Give D are legendary!

What is your best Give D story?
Breaking every single sprinkler off on Ben Snowden’s block with Ron. We were both shit-housed drunk and Ron only had one shoe on (for kicking). My prize was this huge ass plastic main that had wires sticking out of it and everything! When I gave it the business end of my size 9.5 Loteks it fucking exploded and soaked my pants with water, it was amazing. We then found a plastic bag and collected all the snapped off sprinklers and posed and took pictures holding them which I think are on the Give D myspace. The best part was when we were taking the pictures with all the sprinklers out Snowden walked into the room but I don’t think he noticed! Ha ha it was like dad coming home and then not getting in trouble!

What are some of your biggest accomplishments with riding?
Having the opportunity to ride for such great companies has been my greatest accomplishment. Odyssey, Sunday, Epic, and Give D all treat me so well and I love being able to contribute my small part to them.

If you had a teleport button for a day, where are some of the places you would go?
The Fullerton angle iron ledge with Alex, the owner of D. We can seriously ride it for hours and have the time of our lives. I recently tore my meniscus in my knee so I’ll be out for a total of five months at the least, but luckily I was able to film at the ledge before I got hurt!

What is one thing, riding or non riding, that you can’t do, but you wish you could?
As far as riding I’d have to say jump a full size box jump! I used to be one of those hucker kids and do double barspins over full size boxes, but then I slowly evolved into the tech bitch I am today.
Non riding wise, I want to be a pickup artist! Ha ha sounds so lame, but it’s incredibly fun to work at. Reading books like “The Game,” by Neil Strauss will make you see it in a whole new light. It really is like a game, you get better at it the more you practice, and you score when you do well! Alfredo Mancuso introduced me to the pickup game on a long car ride to LA, and he told me about some of the books. I must say he has solid knowledge on the subject.




Believe it or not Steve has never…?
Had sex with a man. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s true.

Who are some of your favorite people to ride with?
So many rad dudes I love to ride with! I’m going to take the easy way out and just say my roommates and everyone on Give D! Bdubbs at odyssey, Alfredo Mancuso because he is real good and constantly makes me laugh my dick off, Eric Litchtenburger (not even going to try to spell that clusterfuck of a last name right) because he is a fucking street animal, and probobly lots of other people who I’m neglecting to mention and who hate me now.

What are your favorite videos/video parts?
I love all of Seth Kimbrough’s recent parts, that guy has great style and tricks.

What is your worst riding injury?
In part two of the “I love LA,” give D trip you can see me crash on a 180 downside whip to fakie out of the Parks Jr. High banks. I don’t know exactly which crash it was on, but I tore the meniscus in my left knee and two months later I can still barely bunnyhop. I actually just scheduled the surgery today for a week from now, and I’ll be out for “3 months at the very least,” according to my doctor.

Do you listen to an ipod or something similar while you ride?
Sometimes. I try not to if I’m with friends, but when I do it does help to motivate me. I have the new Shuffle which is cheap and has no screen so I’m not afraid to wreck it. Right when the ipod came out I bought some mp3 player that was pretty similar and it put me back like $250. I ended up falling trying a footjam tailwhip of all things and breaking the screen. The best part was it kept playing and I didn’t even notice i broke it until like 30 minutes later when I went to change the song.

What kind of music are you into?
Lately I haven’t been able to ride much due to my knee, so it’s been lots of chill stuff: Iron and Wine, The Album Leaf, The Shins, Pinback, and Of Montreal.

5 things everyone should do before they die?
1) Find a copy of Nowhere Fast and watch it
2) Earn 1000 point in Wii Sports tennis to become a “pro”
3) Graduate college
4) Make a scene while quitting a job
5) Get overly drunk and hit on girls

Any shout outs or thanks?
Thanks to Jim Bauer, Nuno, and Bdubbs at Odyssey. Jim C. from Sunday. Dat and Phu at Epic. And Alex at Give D!

Anything else I might have missed you would like to say?
Think Positive!