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VHSMAG (V)：　First of all, how did you end up at Jacuzzi?

JOHN DILO (D)：　Well, things with Dwindle got really bad and it seemed like things weren't gonna get better. But I think the weirdest part for me was that I was recovering from this leg injury. I didn't really care about what was going on with skating, because I was just working on getting back to being able to skate. So when everything was happening, it was better that I had a distraction because I wasn't stressing out about it. So when it started to seem like there was no way anything was gonna get better, I had just quit but I didn't really go public with it. It's hard because there's a lot of emotion and people were really invested in the brands. I feel like once one of us leaves, then everybody's gonna start leaving. So I had quit and I didn't really know what I was gonna do. I was just riding boards with stickers, but I was also learning to skate again, so it wasn't like anything people were gonna notice. I just saw Louie and everybody post that they quit, like the whole team posted on Instagram that they all quit. I was like, if Louie's leaving, then it's really serious. I remember thinking about going skating one day, and Louie called me and was saying that he thought there was a chance that something could get done, something new. He didn't tell me about any people involved. He didn't tell me a name. He just asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. And I was like, yeah, I mean, if they're doing it, I trust them. So that's what it became.

V：　And this is the second year for Jacuzzi. How has it been so far?

D：　It's been great. I feel like it's really taken on its own identity and it's become so much bigger than a lot of brands in this amount of time. I think it was the right place, right time and the right people involved to get to the place it's at now. It's pretty amazing.

V：　How would you describe the vibe and the energy of the brand?

D：　I think we're embracing being ourselves and I think a lot of people are scared to do that. I think a lot of people are scared to not be accepted. A lot of people are scared to be judged. A lot of people are scared of not being in this cool box. Everybody wants to start something and instantly be accepted and be cool. What I really like about what we do is we aren't afraid to be ourselves. I don't see anybody being afraid of the judgment. We just do it our way, we're not looking to satisfy anybody but ourselves. And you know, we are funny. We are silly people. And I think that shows that it is all about having fun.

V：　Your latest video part was incredible. What was your mindset going into filming for that?

D：　We wanted to try and do a video part because my shoe was releasing and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was in this weird limbo. I started having this knee pain and then I had to get it addressed, which ultimately ended up in me getting this like little knee surgery. It kind of postponed me being able to finish the video part. So that was all me filming last year on and off for like six months. I was kind of dealing with this pain that was making it really hard for me to skate. For me, it was a weird video because to me, it's not finished. It was released maybe a month ago now, but I stopped filming like six months ago. So all that time I could have been skating and adding and doing bigger and better stuff. But, you know, it's part of it. It just happens. It's not the end of the world.

V：　Most of the tricks were powerful manuals. Was that intentional?

D：　No, it was just me skating, doing what I could, given the circumstances I was dealing with. The things that were most manageable to me were like skating at Pier 7 or skating at the Library. Before I had my surgery, we wanted to do a whole video part at the SF Library. So we filmed those tricks and we were like, okay, these could be the ending tricks of the video and we can film everything else. And then given that I ended up having to stop skating, we had to put together a part with what we had. So it wasn't the result we expected. But I think it worked.

V：　Was there a particular trick or spot in the part that was especially challenging?

D：　I think all the stuff at the Library was really tough because you only get a limited amount of time. They close at like 6:00pm and at that time it was getting dark at like 7:30pm. So we had like one hour maybe to make these tricks. And sometimes the people that stay outside, like the homeless people, they don't wanna move. There's a lot of craziness going on there all the time. So to get to skate it, it takes some luck, you know? So we go at like 5:30pm and we try to make our claim. We sit there and we try to reserve it. And when it closes, we get up and skate. That was our strategy toward the end. It was challenging and we didn't wanna make anybody upset. We weren't trying to make anybody move, we just wanted to skate. It's such a great spot and it's got so much history. So I'm just glad I was able to skate it.

V：　What would you say is your favorite clip in that part?

D：　A couple of the tricks at Pier 7 were really cool to me because I thought about doing them for so long. Right when we started filming for this video part, I moved up there. I live close now, but I never really had the chance to skate those spots all the time unless I was on trips. So there's tricks that I've wanted to do for a long time. The frontside flip fakie manny fakie flip out at Pier 7. I've been wanting to do that there for like eight years or something. The fakie front flip over was another one. I tried it probably seven years ago and I couldn't do it. I ended up filming it somewhere else and I've always wanted to go back and try, but I couldn't do it. And then this day when I made it, it wasn't very hard. It just kind of worked. But it's always with the wind too. So yeah, those ones were the tricks that I finally got to do. You know, because sometimes tricks just happen when you're there. Like the opening one where I manny and then I flip it to switch manny. We were just sitting there and it was getting dark, and I just thought I could do it. And then I got up and did it. But it's like, I didn't think twice about doing this trick, you know? It was just like, oh, maybe I could do this. And then I just did it.

V：　You've done a lot of video parts. What do you think is the importance of having a video part?

D：　I grew up seeing dudes like Louie, Jerry Hsu and Brian Herman. They made a lot of money and they got to travel and they got to live this epic dream. They're contributing to the culture and they're doing things that no one can ever take away. Everybody's gonna know. Jerry nollie back heeled those stairs and it's gonna be there forever. And everyone that's ever been around a skateboard can go to that spot and see that he gave the contribution. And to me, I feel like that's what video parts are.

V：　So you just released your pro shoe from HOUR IS YOURS and had numerous video parts. How do you feel about where you're at in your skate life?

D：　I feel like there's always something more to do. Me and Louie talk about it all the time where sometimes you see people get a pro board and then they start to feel like they've made it to the top and then they just chill. But for me, it's like I got the job I always wanted or something. So there's always something I want to do. And then you have moments being injured where you start to reflect and then it makes you want it more. Some skaters skate big gnarly rails or they do ledge tricks that take a hundred million hours. And some of them don't have a lot of fun, you know. They do it because it's the career they built and they do it because they feel the pressure of being a pro. I don't feel that way. If I wasn't a pro, I would be doing all of this the same. I would just be some random guy doing all of this. I feel good about where I am with skating. I'm appreciative. I'm lucky, but I also want to keep going.

V：　What's next? Is there anything you want to do with Jacuzzi?

D：　We're gonna do a full length video. That's what I want to do. There's some goals that I want to meet in my life, and it's up to me to do it. Hopefully I can do this for more than I expect. I just hope to keep going and try to be the pro skater that the little kid me wanted to be.

John Dilo
@johndilo

Hailing from Florida, he's one of the faces at Jacuzzi Unlimited (@jacuzziunlimited), known for his strong pop, technical flip tricks and diverse manual variations. He also just dropped his signature shoe from HOUR IS YOURS.