Cairo Foster has literally grown up on his board. After being given a Gator at 13 because he could't take his bike on a move; he went on to grow up, move around the country, go pro, run a company, get married and become a father among other things. It's a great story and for fear of this intro not doing the interview justice, we'll get right too it...

Keir: Cairo, for starters, can you give us your brief life path up to this moment in time?

Cairo: I was born in Taiwan, where my dad had met my mom during his time in the Air Force.  We left ten days after I was born, which led to years of endless moving. In no particular order, we lived in Washington, Texas, Germany, Egypt, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, California, Florida, and New Mexico.  I'm guessing I had the travel bug after all that, because once I moved out when I was 17, I moved back and forth between Florida, California and Utah for a couple of years before I settled in San Francisco.  But after seven or eight years in the Bay, I moved to Santa Monica with the lady, then New York with both ladies.  Laura and I raised our daughter in New York for a little over a year, and then I was over NY. We packed up and headed west, and we now reside in Oakland.

Keir: Ok, rewinding back, how did you get into this business in the first place?

Cairo: I lived across from these 2 brothers, the Jaramillo’s in Albuquerque, and the two brothers had banana boards. That was when I was in fourth or fifth grade.  I'd try and ride on their boards, but eventually convinced my parents to buy me a NASH Executioner.  I was hyped on it for a month or so till I ate some serious shit cruising in a nearby park.  After that scrub, I hung up the NASH and didn't really do much with it.  But when my dad and I moved from Alabama during my 8th grade Christmas break, I had scored a Gator board with Tracker Ultralights and Slimeballs.  My dad said I couldn't take my BMX bike with me on the move, so he bought a "real" skateboard.  I was 13 at the time, and this marked my parent's true separation.  Since I was living only with my dad from that point on, I just turned to skateboarding to occupy my time.  Thank god I linked up with some locals and learned how to skate the jump ramps. Shit was hot in the 80's.

Keir: So you started hitting the ramps, but moved abroad shortly there after, what was that all about?

Cairo: Well, we had a couple of jump ramps in Egypt, and eventually I got into it so much that I'd make some of them for the bros.  Then there were some marble curbs we skated in front of an ice cream parlor.  The speed bumps and curbs outside of school were pretty cool too, but pretty much, we struggled for any substantial spots.  As long as the streets were paved, I think we were happy. There were about twenty skaters it seemed, who really skateboarded when I lived in Egypt, but the tight knit crew included the Lewis brothers, Omar, Tariq and his brother, Dan from DC, and the guy I owe my musical taste to, Ruvan Wijesooriya. That guy got me into music which looking back on it, is pretty tight.

Keir: Who were the first serious shredders you saw skate?

Cairo: I recall going to England while living in Egypt and my dad let me see the Powell team do a demo at some ramp. I think Nicky Guerrero was there, Lance Mountain, and some other dudes.  I just remember tripping on how many skaters there were at the demo, all in one spot. Pretty overwhelming, considering how few skaters were rolling around at our school.

Keir: Yeah, did you guys have access to much in terms of videos and magazines back then, what videos were you most into?

Cairo: Hmm, that's a tough one.  It's a toss up between Video Days and Memory Screen.  There were only copies of the Blind video in circulation.  None of us had the original and I'm pretty sure most of the copies didn't have Jordan's part in it.  That was when vert was dying.  As for Memory Screen, I had two copies. One was the full length, and the other I had downsized to only skate footy.  When I wanted to get super hyped, I'd just watch that. I was super into Pitre's part,  "Louisiana...Louisiana..."

Keir: So you tailored the Alien vid to optimum hype value.  Now didn’t you move back towards the East Coast around this point?

Cairo: Not sure how many people would vouch for Jacksonville, Florida as being part of the East, but technically speaking, I did live on the East Coast.  For a second, Caine Gayle had been telling me to send a tape to Foundation, but I never got around to it. Instead I just skated with my friends that included a filmer/skater named Jabir.  Dude was pretty awesome! He ended up harassing this dude Jeff Davis to sponsor me. Jeff had this local company named Wrecked… He ended up taking me on my first skate tour that went to California.  It was Jeff, Bear Hughes and myself. We ended up getting in a wreck in Yuma, AZ on the way out. Jeff fell asleep at the wheel.  As for dudes I skated with around then - John Wynne, Jabir Abu-Bakr, Tim Paul, Jai Beasley, Josh Rosenthal, Derek and Bernard Barnes, and Peter. Those are the names that come to mind. 

Keir: We’ll have to catch up with Bear Hughes at some point on here.  So what made you make that permanent stay in SF, what were those days like?

Cairo: Ha! I don’t even think we made it to the 6-month mark the first time around!  Anyway, after taking Greyhound from Florida with my friend J.W., we linked up with Al Mosely and got a studio in the Tenderloin after we stayed.  I got a job within a couple of weeks and was working 30+ hours to pay for rent, shit! I think we went out there with no more than $600 each. Talk about inflation! You couldn't get shit with that these days. Anyway, I was working a lot while Al and John were skating.  I don't think they ever really got a job, which led to the studio falling through. After two months, we were living with these girls, Mihee and Michelle. I met Drehobl and Matt O'Brien living at that house. That fell through soon enough, and me and J.W. got back on Greyhound heading to Florida. It took two more Greyhound journeys before I stayed put in SF.

Keir: Damn, yeah its always tough making the move.  So once you did really stick it out I want to say you started popping up in those Thrasher vids at the time, what was the deal with that?

Cairo: FOR SURE! I owe a lot to Satva Leung. He gave me a chance to get on film and that was kinda my in.  Dudes had hit me up asking if I was sponsored before that part came out, but I was just hyped on skating and having someone film me.  I was running some thrift-store kits back then, with some huge-ass glasses. It's a good laugh for sure.

Keir: What was the first proper skate company you linked up with?

Cairo: Supernaut was my first real gig. Paul Sharpe called me up outta the blue and asked me if I'd be down to take part in this project with Mike Ballard, Ted Newsome and him.  I think Paul knew Satva, plus he had seen that Thrasher video. So it just went from there. A lot of things went down riding for Supernaut. I got to meet Duane Pitre at Ballard's music studio...oh yeah! We got rocks thrown at us from the locals at Burnside one night. That was epic for sure!

Keir: I don’t think I’d be alone in saying that from a 3rd person perspective you went from that Pier footage in the Thrasher vid to going way bigger and doing gnarly rails, gaps and what have you. Would you say you experienced a transition in your skating?

Cairo: I don't think I was ever tech per se, but I know I had a bit more flippage going on back then. When I lived in Florida, there weren't a grip of spots to skate, so I had built a few boxes that I always skated.  Ledges are much more attractive when they're all perfect like one in a skatepark. So yeah, I think I enjoyed getting down with the tech a bit more when I first moved out. But when I saw all the hills, and started skating with Satva and his homies, a different style of skateboarding opened up to me. And to take it further, I feel like I've lacked that influence a bit these days. I wanna get back to the streets for sure, which is to say I probably won't be getting very tech. 

Keir: Now, after Supernaut came Mad Circle right? What happened with that?

Cairo: Hmm, basically Real came about because Mad Circle fell through. I had left Supernaut for various reasons and ended up getting on Mad Circle. That was amazing...  Scott, Karl, Rob, Marcus, Bobby, Pontus, Girard, and Jesse. But within six months, Giant Distribution and Mad Circle had parted ways and it all fell apart. So I just laid low and skated while I tried to sort out a new sponsor. I had been in contact with a handful of companies, but nothing seemed ideal. All the while, I had people telling me to avoid Deluxe and the whole "mafia" vibe they supposedly had going on, but in the end, it boiled down to being close in proximity to the company that had my back, which in turn led to some great friendships. Gabe, Dennis, Frank, Nate, Jim and all the crew.

Keir: Interesting, so what about Lakai, how did that one take shape?

Cairo: Mike called me up and told me him and Rick were starting something that would include Scott and Rob. He asked me if I'd be interested in being a part of it. I said YES!  Simple as that. I didn't even know the name of the company for another month or two. Imagine that... I'm on the phone with Jeff Taylor, the Adio TM at the time, telling him how I'm gonna ride for this shoe company that Mike and Rick are starting and I don't even have a name or an idea of what the shoes looked like. Jeff tried to talk me out of it, but he didn't press the issue too hard.  believe he knew where I was coming from, and realized the likelihood of me staying with Adio over trying to do something with Carroll and Howard.

Keir: Traveling around and everything, what stands out to you about East Coast skateboarding?

Cairo: It's rugged and legit. There's no bullshit about the East and there's just a lot more history out there, whether it's the buildings, the streets, or the people.There's just more character than many other places in the States.

Keir: How did you like living in NYC?

Cairo: I was into it, which is a poor reason for my moving away. In retrospect, I wish we had never left NY, but now that we're back in the Bay Area, I'm chilling. We were in Brooklyn for a year and half and I just couldn't figure shit out. Between having a full blown family with a little munchkin running around to dealing with winters, partiers and the lack of a skateboard industry presence, I had to bounce. I was thinking that getting back West would make everything easy, but being a dad isn't a simple task. Instead, it's something I work on every day, regardless of where I live.

Keir: Lets talk about Enjoi, how did it come about, what's the deal with the company?

Cairo: Another flop...with Giant once again. Anyway, things were good with Popwar for a couple of years, until Bod and Steve Douglas parted ways with the program leaving some other people to head it up. Eventually, ownership changed hands and things headed in a downward spiral, so I broke out. After holding out for things to improve for nearly a year, I knew I had to take care of myself. I thought back to what it felt like being closer to the teammates, like back in the REAL days. I even spoke with Thiebaud about  possibly making something happen back over at Deluxe, but in the end went with Enjoi. I've known a number of those guys from back in the Supernaut days, when I used to take public transit from SF to kick it in San Jose. I spoke with Matt Evs about making a move over to the Enjoi camp, and he ran it by the dudes. Fortunately for me, they were backing the deal, so now I'm back in the Bay. 

Keir: No doubt. So with the Lakai video being out now, looking back, what was that like working on?

Cairo: TY2K is the man. Ty Evans has the foresight necessary to make an amazing film come together. Along with Kyle Camarillo's help (and Matt Eversole's understanding) I was able to get somewhat of a complete part. Matt's the brand manager for Enjoi, and fortunately he was down to have Kyle, the Enjoi filmer, contribute to my Lakai part. But basically, Ty can make it all happen. He can make it more than tricks, which is essential. Being that everyone has their own personal style, a cinematographer has to be able to translate a skater's style onto the big screen. Without that, the video's more likely to be forgotten in a time when multiple videos premier every few months.  I'm grateful that Fully Flared is what it is, because I can't say I was completely satisfied with my part, because I spent the last ten months unable to skate due to ankle issues. I felt like I missed out on a lot of opportunities to fine tune my part, but it's a done thing. I feel fortunate to be part of such a large project.

Keir: Besides skating I’m sure you spend all of your other time with the family, whats that like, being a father?

Cairo: Parenthood is rewarding, exciting, surreal, and completely new. Sure, as I've gotten older I've gained more responsibilities, but now having a kid in tow, I'm taking part in shaping someone's future. As long as I remain mindful, I'm confident that my wife and I are doing our best to raise our daughter. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh is the best thing I could ask for. 

Keir: Right now, what do you do to stay motivated, who are you skating with?

Cairo: Phelpers always tells me how it's important to surround yourself with dudes that get you hyped. And when my body's cooperating with me, and I'm not dealing with ankle drama, I do my best to follow that rule. So when they're around, I try and skate with Daryl Angel and Corey Duffel.  Those dudes are pretty vibrant on their boards, and that gets me hyped for sure. They're good at motivating me at whatever spot we're skating, and I try to oblige by getting them hyped too. I see them going for shit with little regard to consequence. They're just trying to handle their biz and that's rad. Aside from that, hanging with the homies is inspirational. A good time with friends results in a good time on the board, so RVCA trips are good times, just like going down to SJ to kick it with the Enjoi heads.

Keir: Alright Cairo, last question, whats going on for the rest of this year and beyond for you?

Cairo: That's a trippy one, because I'm still working on getting my ankle good so that I can get on my board and be comfortable. Since I had a semi-botched first surgery and had to get a second one, I've been dealing with a lot of physical therapy. As with most skaters, downtime leads to mental anguish. So even though I've been frustrated, I've been scheming on magazine projects I want to focus on. Aside from that, the Tilt Mode Army's working on their third project, so I'm trying to get Paul Sharpe on the streets that way he and I can share a video part…