Thrasher Magazine

Trevor Colden has been in your face lately. It’s his time to be. He’s 17, really good at skateboarding, and is under the wings of Jamie Thomas, Chris Cole, and Heath Kirchart. You can try to deny him or make fun of his beanie or whatever you want. But the reality is, when dudes like those three step up and back a kid you never heard of, it’s inevitable—we, collectively, have been offered the opportunity to witness a next-generation ripper and his skateboarding come to fruition.—Robert Brink

So how's the response been to your Emerica welcome clip?
Dude, people seem so psyched on it. I was super blown away. I didn't even know I was coming out with it until a few days before. I texted Miner asking if he needed footage because I’m filming for a legit Emerica part, and he told me that my welcome thing was coming out. I was like, “Whaaaaat?”

How soon after did the shit-talking follow?
I saw a couple comments on Hella Clips, but I don't give a shit. Sometimes it gets super harsh, but it definitely wasn't as much as I thought it would be. The only one I really heard about was after my Mystery part…that I'm a “Tom Asta clone.”

Because you wear a beanie and have long hair?
I guess. And the other one was, “The kid showers with his beanie on.”

That’s funny. It’s your lucky beanie, huh?
Dude, it was my lucky beanie. I lost it in Philly. I’m gonna get another one.

Can it still be a lucky beanie if it’s a new one of the same kind?
I hope so. I'm gonna wear it regardless.

How long did that triple-set hardflip take?
The one where I eat shit in the video was the first time I went there. I got, like, six tries before we got kicked out. So me and Mike Gilbert, the Black Box filmer, kept going every weekend after that and kept getting kicked out before we even got out of the car. I was kinda over it at that point, but we went back a month later with Rhino and a couple other guys and it took me four tries. I was super excited.

What’s it like having the entire Emerica team waiting for you to land a nollie crooks?
Oh man, I was nervous as hell. I thought I wasn't even gonna make it because there’s this huge crack so you need to pop six inches earlier than normal, and everyone’s just down there looking at you. I was like, “Damn, I better land this.”

Did you finish high school?
Nah. My family moved around a lot, and it just got really complicated. I tried getting home-schooled in 8th grade, but that didn't work out, so I just started skating a shit ton. And I thank the Lord it worked out.

Give me a quick timeline: How you got to where you are now with your sponsors and living at Black Box.
My first legit sponsor was DC flow, from a rep in Virginia Beach. Then I started getting Toy Machine boards from Mike Sinclair. At the time, the economy was super bad and they could only send me, like, a board a month. I met this Powell guy at a contest I won, and he sent me a box with five boards in it. I was freaking out, because I’d never gotten five boards in a box before! So I told Sinclair I was gonna ride for Powell and thanked him for everything. I went to California  the next month and stayed in Huntington Beach for a week. On the last day, I was just like, “Dude, I’ve got nothing going for me back in Virginia. I’m staying here.” The Powell TM was down, so I called my mom. She wasn’t happy, but she understood where I was coming from. Maybe eight months later I sent my footage to Black Box, and they were down to put me on Mystery—they gave me a place to live in San Diego and helped me out with a little bit of money. That’s how I started living at Black Box.

Is that when you began filming your Color Theory part?
Yeah. Like a month after I got on. I was on Altamont flow and would always go up to Sole Tech. I started skating with Marquis Preston a bit; we talked about it, and I sent in my footage. I got on Emerica flow in September—right after they finished Stay Gold.

Marquis told me your nickname is Carlos.
They would always fuck with me because they thought I was Mexican. It used to piss me off, so of course they kept doing it. I was like, “Fuck you guys. I'm Hawaiian, Indian, and white!”

Do you know that you got on Emerica faster than anyone?
Dude, they told me that. I was so blown away—like, in shock. My head was exploding. I remember they were telling me how Collin Provost was on the flow team for four years. And I was like, “What the fuck, dude? He’s so good, so how the hell did I get on so quickly?”

You wanna tell us the Cheesecake Factory story?
Oh my God. Yea, it was such a surprise. So we went to the Cheesecake Factory after a long-ass day of skating in Denver for the Thrasher Skatepark Roundup. We all had just finished eating— I was chilling at the table, and I see this guy bringing out this huge, awesome cheesecake with onion rings on the side. It looked like a birthday cake, so I just thought it was someone’s birthday. But the dude kept looking at me…  I was just like, “What’s up man? That’s not mine. I think it’s probably for a dude at the other end of the table.” And he just kept looking at me and sat it down in front of me. It said, “Welcome to the Emerica team Trevor Colden.” I couldn't even talk for 10 minutes. Everyone was clapping. It was fucking awesome.

So how’s Heath as a second dad?
He’s the best, I swear to God. I used to hear rumors that he was super strict, but he's the nicest dude I’ve ever met. I love going on trips with him because whenever we do a demo he's skating and fucking killing it.

Earlier you mentioned a new Emerica part …
A couple of the guys are filming full parts, and Miner wants me to film one as well. I have a whole bunch of extra footage that didn't get used in my Mystery part. I'm gonna hit LA as much as possible so we can get it done.

I heard you re-grip your boards.
I used to re-grip my board every two sessions or so because I felt like there wasn't enough grip on it.

Once you ruin it in your head like that, you’re done.
If you think about it wrong, it’s just done. You gotta switch it.

Do you have a girl?
Nope.

Should we also put out an announcement to get you a lady?
Nah. I don't want a girlfriend, but I definitely need to start hooking up with girls.

So one day you’re a regular kid in Virginia. Then suddenly you’re living in Cali at Black Box next to a TF, you’re on all these sick teams, and you’re making some loot from skateboarding.
It all seriously came out of nowhere. It really did. I’m just so thankful and super excited.