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Sergie Ventura Interview
January 31, 1998
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Sergie got to the demo (Warped Tour 1998) very late. This meant that he had to skate right through the whole day to make up his hours. (poor bastard, he didn't even have any sun cream) It turns out that vans expect the pro's to clock in and work a certain amount of hours (wankers). Anyway to get this interview Sergie asked if he could be excused to use the bathroom.
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50-50 : So where's your Vans?
Sergie Ventura : I ride for Nike!
50-50 : So how come you are on the "Vans" Warped Tour?
SV : On the first tour i rode for DC, then the second one i rode for vans, on the first tour i rode the whole tour, but on the second tour, because Vans had such a big bunch of pro vert riders that they wanted to disperse the weeks up. This year is different, on the last warped tour i didn't get treated right, with only getting to ride one week that kind of bummed me out, so things didn't work out between me and vans so now i ride for nike. Anyway i did a demo for the guys from warped on the east coast and i guess they thought that i was a better "judgment" than some of the other guys. It's good to have a mix of people, you know, like Neal (Hendrix) doesn't have a shoe sponsor, Andy (Macdonald) rides for airwalk, i ride for nike! And Cab well i'm not sure who he rides for?
 50-50 : When did you get the stud through your tongue?
SV : Oh, well i was drinking with Greg Carroll back in 96'
50-50 : Do the girls go crazy for it? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
SV : I had a girlfriend back then that went craz... oh i don't know... i guess. Now it doesn't phase me at all.
50-50 : So does vans hook you up with chicks at every gig?
SV : Eh... well no, actually this whole trip has been a soul searching mission for me... (at this point sergie goes on at great length about what a spiritual guy he is, what a hippy)
50-50 : Do you still live in virginia beach?
SV : I sure do!
50-50 : Is it illegal to drink outside in virginia, even if it's in your own back yard?
SV : Actually yeah, if you have a party and it's causing trouble with the neighbors if it's too loud everyone there gets super uptight... especially with street skating, that's why i suck at street skating, around mount trashmore skating was outlawed. Thank god we've got a brand new indoor park with a street course.
50-50 : So how come venture trucks never gave you a signature model called the "ventura".
SV : Oh that's a good question... i don't know, i mean i've been with those guys since the beginning when mark gonzales and steve rocco talked me into skating for them , that was back in 1985. I think what it is, is that maybe i don't have as big a name as some of the street skater riders... i mean i did do an ad with them , my only ad with venture... it said "venture, ventura". Oh they wouldn't want to do that, they sell so well anyway.
 50-50 : Tell us about the forks and shit like that?
SV : Basically it's just a bunch of guys who i went skating with , we all lived in an area called Windsor woods, there was maybe 20, 25 guys, we all grew up together, partied together while we were growing up, we were too young to get tattoos, so we branded ourselves, the fork shape looking like a 'W' standing for Windsor woods. It was kind of a stupid thing that i regret, getting any kind of tattoo or branding.
50-50 : If you called yourself Sergio instead of Sergie do you think you would be mistaken for some kind of italian art fag?
SV : That happens a lot, people get my name wrong when they first here it, they're like "What's up Sergio" and i have to correct them telling them "it's serGEE". But yeah sometimes i get ribbed about being that guy Sedge on beverly hills 90210.
 50-50 : Did Danny Way get bummed when he saw your part in the Acme video, then decided he needed to build a bigger ramp to beat your record?
SV : You know i really don't know, i don't know why or what happened, i guess when i did the high air thing in december 96. He talked about it with me a couple of years ago, and then all of a sudden he just did it... i think he did it partially as a way to build a bigger ramp, i don't think he was planning on going as high as he did.
50-50 : were you not gutted you didn't get to skate the ramp?
SV : Yeah i would have liked to have tried, but they were doing it for a totally one shot deal for DC. Danny came up to me afterwards and said "sergie, if you were there, you'd have been going just as high", but hey, i bow my head down to him, if you've got the money to build something like that then all power to him. It stoked Tim Payne out giving him publicity.
Sergie talked a lot more about the scenery, the last time he was in hawai'i and how his Kung fu lessons were going. He really wanted to get on 'Shaolin' Jef Hartsel's clothing company [ed: now a board company, see Hartsel Interview]. He demonstrated a couple of punches on the ramp (the ramp didn't fold but looked bruised) and was so stoked when we all explained what a sporran, haggis and tossing the caber was all about.
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