Rowan Zorilla just released his 2nd signature Rowan 2 from Vans. We sat down and had a little chat while he was in Tokyo for the launch event. Here he talks about the new shoes and behind the scenes stories from the Blurry video.
──ROWAN ZORILLA (ENGLISH)
[ JAPANESE / ENGLISH ]
Photo_Waguri
Special thanks_Vans Japan
VHSMAG (V)： Congratulations on your second shoe Rowan 2. It seems you've been into baseball recently?
Rowan Zorilla (R)： Yeah. I played maybe three years when I was a kid. And then during Covid, me and a bunch of friends would go to fields and fuck around, just hit balls, play catch, and then slowly we had enough people that we would pick teams and play complete games. And then after doing that for about a year, I met some guys who were in the actual league and they asked me to join. I just finished my first year in the league and it was really fun. We came in second, we lost in the championship.
V： Your team is called the LA Creamers, right? Are there any skaters on the team?
R： Jesse Alba is on the team. He's probably the one that most skaters would know. There's a lot of skaters on the team.
V： You had a nice launch event for your shoe at a stadium. Tell us about that.
R： We were trying to think of a theme and they asked me what my hobbies at the moment were. I said, "I've been playing a lot of baseball and maybe it'd be fun to have that be the theme." So at first we were just planning to do a little game and maybe people drinking in the parking lot before the game, just like how any sporting event would be. And then that idea got bigger where they ended up finding a college stadium that we could rent. We had a full game, an announcer, a DJ, umpires. It became really huge. It was really awesome and super fun.
V： Steve Van Doren was giving away snacks and stuff, right?
R： Exactly. My dad threw the first pitch.
V： Really? That's sick.
R： Our friend Connor was the announcer for the game. He does all the commentating for Dime Glory challenges, it's the guy that yells on the mic. And then we actually got DJ Severe to do the music. He was the DJ for the game and played walk-up songs. He's the DJ that does all the sound at all the Dodger games in LA. It was super amazing. Shout out to him.
V： And Ray Barbee played the national anthem. What was the highlight of the event for you?
R： Just my whole family and friends getting to be there. My dad throwing the first pitch was a really special moment. He got driven onto the field with Steve in the shoe car, so that was pretty amazing.
V： Your new shoe Rowan 2 is released. What's changed from the first one?
R： We tried to keep it very similar and update the things that we thought could get better even though I really love the first shoe. We wanted to make something similar that was maybe more performance driven and more durable and can take more impact. That's what the IMPACTWAFFLE is for. And yeah, we tried to make it into a little more sportier and tech shoe that still looks like the first one, and doesn't look like a whole new concept. We tried to keep it very similar.
V： And you had the Blurry video for the release of the shoe. You shot the clips on your phone?
R： No, it was on a small Canon, like a digital camera. Instead of just doing a solo part, I wanted to do something that felt more special to me and represented my relationship with Vans and people that ride for them. That was the idea and I'm glad I got to work with Greg Hunt. I'm really excited.
V： I want to ask about a couple tricks in that video. Switch smith that was used for the ad.
R： That rail is really close to my house where I live now. I've always thought it was a really sick rail, but I did a switch lipside on it. I think that was in Baker 4. So that was maybe four or five years ago. And then every time I go there, even if it's for someone else to try a trick, I'll just 50-50 it just because it's fun. But I came up with that idea and it was around the same time that I knew I had to get an ad for the campaign, so I practiced that trick at different skateparks and stuff. It was pretty scary but I'm glad it worked out.
V： What about the last ollie? That looks super scary.
R： Yeah, it was. That one is also really close to my house, so I pass it all the time. At first I would pass it and I think it's possible. And then when you see something every day, you start thinking about it more and more, and then I kind of mess with it. There's always cars parked on the street but that day there were no cars, so I decided to see if I could do it and it worked out.
V： How long did that take?
R： Not too many times. I put it down once and fell off and then a few more times. I also did one and then came off the curb and fell on the hill. But I just slid and I didn't really get hurt. And then I got lucky and made one all the way across the street. It was hard to get a pop going that fast and to keep the board with me all the way across the gap. The sidewalk's kind of fucked up on the landing too.
V： So you got your new shoe. What's next?
R： Filming for the Blurry video, I had a really great year. I went to fun events, traveled with a lot of friends and skated a lot of really cool places. So even if it's not for a video of my own or if it's for something else or just for events, I just want to keep traveling. I don't have any projects lined up, so hopefully start filming and once I collect some footage and get some momentum going, then I'll hopefully decide where it's all going. But as far as now, I just want to enjoy the release and the shoe being out now and just get back to traveling.
Rowan Zorilla
@rowan.zorilla
Born in 1995 in Vista, California. He just released his second signature model Rowan 2. Go check out his skating in Propeller, Baker 4 and Blurry.
