Adelmo JR is amazing on a skateboard and one of the most positive people you’ll ever meet. He combines tech and gnar into an extra flowy style that makes it look like he’s surfing though maneuvers; and you’ll be hard-press to find him without a smile on his face. It ain’t hard to tell why Karl Watson hooked him up with Organika, LRG, and I-Path – Adelmo is OFFICIAL!

Interview By Keir Johnson

Keir: Tell us the story of how you got into skateboarding? 

Adelmo: When I was nine years old, I went to São Paulo, the biggest city in Brasil with my family. While walking in a mall there I saw a skateboard. At that time all my friends back home had little carts made with cheap wood and bearings that we used to play with as a little go-cart.  When I saw the skateboard I thought that was a nice go-cart!  So I asked my father, since it was getting close to my birthday, if he could give me the skateboard as a gift.  So I came home and started playing with it as a go kart, one day a cousin came by my house and he was a surfer, so when he saw us playing with the board as a go kart he told me that it was a skateboard and showed us the way to skate!  That was my first real day skating and that's how everything started. The board I got was from a Brasilian company called H-Prol. 

Keir: Who was the best skater in Brasil when you were growing up? 

Adelmo: There are some good skaters in Brasil who still skate. There was a skater named Alexandre Ribeiro, he was known to every street skater in Brasil, he was doing a lot of tricks way ahead of everyone and always with a lot of style. 

Keir: So he was kind of like the Gonz of Brasil?  What were some of the first things you remember seeing or hearing about skating in the USA? 

Adelmo: The first thing I remember hearing about skating outside my country was watching the videos - Powell, Santa Cruz and H-Street. Those videos would get to us in my town with someone having a VHS tape recorded from one tape to another and another!  So the quality wasn't that good, but we always had new videos to see. 

Keir: When did you get your first sponsor? 

Adelmo: I was 13 and I started skating for a clothing company a friend did called MSP. 

Keir: Can you tell me about how you made it to the USA for the first time? 

Adelmo: The first time I came to the USA was in December of 2000.  I was studying at that time so I came right after I finished that semester.  Rodrigo was living in California and I also had been in touch with the Circa team manager who was hooking me up with shoes out in Brasil.  So I talked to them, and planed to come and stay for two months.

Keir: What was it like? 

Adelmo: Everything was new for me, all the spots, all the filmers and photographers, the sessions, so many skaters on the streets, everything was way different from what I was used to back home.  The culture was really different too, so at first it was kind of a shock but it was cool.  When I arrived I stayed with TX for the first three weeks and then he had to go on a trip.  When he left the filmer who we used to go skate with asked me to stay with him for a few days.  It was over there, in the Inland Empire where Tyler used to live; that's how I met a few people.  Joey Brezinski, who was skating for Arcade, told me they were looking for a new am. He heard about me so he asked if I would be down to skate for Arcade.  The next weekend we all met up with the team and from that day on I started skating for Arcade and that was how everything changed.  I didn't really have a plan to live in the USA but after talking to Jason Rogers I decided to move here in June of 2001.

Keir: Looking back, what was the best part of skating for Arcade? 

Adelmo: The trips were always really fun, we traveled to some places that we would be going to for the first time so everything was new and the team was a big family!

Keir: How did you meet Karl Watson? 

Adelmo: At a trade show someone introduced me to Karl, and that's when we met.  A few months after that he went on a trip to Spain with Rodrigo TX and he was asking TX about me, he told TX he would like to talk to me about getting me onto I-Path. TX came home and told me that, I was so happy and called Karl. He was responsible for me starting to get shoes from I-Path and from that time on we started a blessed friendship. 

Keir: How did that turn into you getting on Organika Skateboards? 

Adelmo: A few months before Arcade went under, and before I turned pro, Karl actually asked me to skate for Organika. I told him I had a lot of respect for Arcade and that they were my family who had embraced me when I was here.  Karl understood and told me whenever I wanted the doors would be open.  Karl has been my favorite skater for years so when he asked me that I was like "wow!" It was a hard one, but I could not leave Arcade. They gave me a lot of respect and showed me a lot of things I didn't know about skateboarding. I just have to say again thanks for all that they did for me. After that Karl would always be playing with me about Organika and also we were both skating for LRG and I-Path already so when Arcade stopped Karl said "now you can skate for Organika." 

Keir: What is Organika Skateboards all about? 

Adelmo: Organika is a company who has a positive message, a company based on getting the youth together, doing good things, knowing about good ways.  I'm really happy to be part of it!

Keir: How has being a pro skater for Organika, I-Path, LRG and other companies affected where you live and your life? 

Adelmo: California is where I have to live because nowadays as a skater I could not live in Brasil and have to come here a lot of times during the year, it's pretty far so it would be really complicated. But Brasil is where I grew up, all my family is still there and all the people I grew up with, friends, our roots, so when I have time I go and spend time there too. 

Keir: So you had fun last year on the Build A Nation tour on the East and at Woodward Skate Camp, now you're going back at it with the Expedition guys on the Battle For The Nation tour, what are you looking forward to? 

Adelmo: Last summer was a positive and righteous crew, everyone on Organika, the brothers from Catalyst, everyone else who was at the camp, it was a blessing.  I love to go on trips to skate camps, so when nice people and good vibes are around everything is just perfect.  Skate all day, good food, ping-pong all night, I just have to give thanks! 

Keir: I'm looking forward to seeing the video from this year! Besides going on tour what else are you working on? 

Adelmo: Filming for Organika and LRG so everything is blessed, I give thanks and praise to JAH for everything, other than skating just sharing with the family and my two Princesses!

Keir: Nice, got to take care of your fam, well good luck this summer Adelmo. Any people you'd like to thank?  

Adelmo: I give thanks and praise to the ALMIGHTY CREATOR. Blessings and Love to all my brothers and sisters all over the world, Organika, Lrg, I-Path, Autobahn, Venture, Diamond, Sambazon, thanks for the love and support.