Lyle: Over the past 10 years skateboarding has gotten hugely popular. With all these corporate sponsors throwing their hats into the ring certain skaters now stand to earn millions. Such was not the case in the ‘90s, as even big name pros had to sell boards just to eat. What was it like as a young pro on Dogtown and Black Label back in the day? What was the money situation like when Anti-Hero (1995) first started out?
John Cardiel: Shit, money? What money? [Laughs] Nah, I always made enough to get by. There were times when I had to juggle some things to make ends meet, but I never had to settle down at no nine-to-fiver.

Skateboarding has been around for nearly 60 years. It’s rad to see all the skateboard nostalgia on the internet. Vice’s Epicly Later’d, a show that unearths skateboardings urban legends and documents seasoned pro careers, did a full length special on you spotlighting your injury and recovery. What was it like filming for that?
It was real mellow. Chris Grosso [editor] and Patrick O’dell [producer] came out to my house for a day and we knocked it out. I just wanted to tell my story. I got so much support from the whole skateboard community while I was in the hospital in Australia after my accident. I just wanted to put it down so people would understand what exactly happened. People’s reactions have been amazing. I am just thankful. It’s all been so positive.

It’s widely known that you have travelled all over the globe in search of skate spots with the infamous Hell Ride Crew. More recently Girl and Anti-Hero have been getting together for those ‘Beauty and Beast’ camping skate tours through the Pacific Northwest and Europe. How do the Beauty and the Beast Tours compare with the Hell Ride trips?
The Beauty and the Beast tours were pretty amazing man. It actually felt like my amateur days because I used to go on trips to AM Contests with those [Girl] dudes. We just kicked back, crushed brews and shared stories. It was super dope. The Beauty and the Beast trips don’t really compare to the Hell Ride trips we used to do though. The Hell Ride Crew was tight homies and tough love. No comfort skate missions. So we were on a different trip. It was more like seek and destroy skate parks and skate till you pass out.

My friend Donald is the dishwasher dude with the beard at Bucca Di Bepo Seattle who says “Mike Carroll” in the ending of the first Beauty and the Beast DVD. He is a big Cardiel fan. He told me Julien [Stranger] snapped a photo of the two of you and said he would email it, but never got around to it. You think Julien still has that photo laying around somewhere?
I will ask Julien, but I think he might have lost that camera at the end there. [Laughs]