‘Austin might be the loudest, Houston and Dallas are the beasts.’
Ryan Thompson
July 2025
Can you tell us something about Texas no one knows?
We have the world’s largest bat colony. They eat mosquitoes, so we love them.
How would you describe the Texas skateboard scene and its community?
It’s huge. Houston and Dallas are gnar incubators. Austin is a fun and social scene.
In your 2017 Thrasher interview you mentioned that the skateboard- culture diversity is what makes Texas unique. Can you please elaborate what you mean by that?
Most people from here just skate differently. Take the Roger team for instance. Garret is a ledgy gap guy, Reese is crust, Max likes wall climbing, Marshall always needs more speed, Alder lives in ditches, Cosmo scratches the future skate itch, David jumps down, and I jump up. The Houston vert scene is killing it right now. Austin also has a rad vert scene thanks to backyard vert ramps. The DIY scene is also low key killing it. Gotta check out Lizard Ditch DIY.
Where is the capital of Texas skateboarding?
Decentralized for sure. Austin might be the loudest, Houston and Dallas are the beasts.
Where does this ‘we’re-from-Texas’ attitude come from?
Probably just tough to live here 200 years ago. Also ‘Remember the Alamo’. We lost.
Who is the godfather of Texas skateboarding?
Proclaiming the godfather may be a fool’s errand, but I’ll take it. Jeff Phillips.
When did you pick up skateboarding who were some of the local heroes you looked up to?
My dad took me to Vans when I was 6. We rented a board, and I ate shit rolling down a ramp. Loved it ever since.
Is there a secret obsession with rail tricks?
Looking back on it, flatbars and high Ollie stuff have always peaked my interest.
Proudest moment in your skateboard career?
Probably the ‘Texas Three Step’ series or the premiere of ‘Ryan, Brian, and Mark’.
How about getting on REAL?
Getting the first deluxe box was great. Probably most proud getting a Roger box.
In your 2017 interview with Michael Sieben in Thrasher you talked about staying in college and in Texas rather than pursuing a pro career. 7 years later do you regret that decision?
It’s a fulfilling path to take if you love computers, and skating remains just for you.
‘Trying to reach digital nirvana.’
You studied Electrical and Computer Engineering. What are you doing now?
I first got into working on crystal oscillators, and now I work on software defined radios.
You already lost me on crystal oscillators. What is it that you are trying to achieve with all of this?
Trying to reach digital nirvana.
How many languages do you speak?
Python, C, VHDL are my main languages.
You certainly like your job. I was actually referring to human languages. I read somewhere that you know a few for some reason.
My bad. I can get by with broken Spanish and really broken Japanese.
How did you end up on Michael Sieben’s Roger Co?
Sieben hit me up. We got some coffee, I brought a notebook, and no notes were taken. Roger made sense. Small squad that loves skateboarding in Austin.
Are you still flow for Adidas or have they finally put on the team?
Took 11 years, but I wanted to try something new.
You made the call? Sounds like a big one when skaters are scrambling for a shoe sponsors.
But there might be better shoes out there. And I don’t mind buying shoes I like.
You put a few parts on Thrasher. Is there anything that changed for you when each part came out?
It was a very gradual change. Now, I can definitely say that skating opened the world. 10x easier and cheaper to travel.
Last question. If you could interview a person, who would it be?
Elias and Simon Bingham. Their stories are worth sharing for sure.