Walker Ryan has been on a serious come-up over the last couple of years. He put out a couple of noteworthy underground parts that landed him on Organika and more recently Circa. Despite the success that he’s been enjoying in skateboarding, Walker continues to go to college and live a relatively normal life for someone his age. I’m sure his star will continue to rise and we’ll be seeing a skateboard with Walker’s name on it in the not-to-distant future. Until then, check out the following interview for Walker’s perspective on it all.

Interview by Shawn Whisenant

Shawn: You’re in San Diego now - how's it treating you besides the nice weather?

Walker: Everything's good in San Diego! That place rips on all aspects of life. The weather, girls, people's general laid-back attitude about life. When you got perfect weather year round there's not much to be bummed about, so most people are pretty happy. And the place is so big there are endlessly new spots popping up. It’s dope.

Shawn: Did you ever get a chance to skate EMB before they tore it down?

Walker: Yeah, my aunt actually lived in the apartment building right above the square, so I would cruise around on the bricks before I even realized there was such deep history and skate culture attached. I think I just thought the three stair was dope to try and ollie, and the blocks looked hard to ollie up.

Shawn: You rode for Ron Allen's company a few years back, what was it like skating with him?

Walker: Skating with Ron is such an inspiration because the dude is literally in his forties but skates with the heart of a kid younger than I was. Truly a role model for how I hope to be at his age. The fact that the dude even skates as hard as he does is inspiring, but his attitude just makes him that much more amazing.

Shawn: What’s a average day for Walker Ryan?

Walker: When I'm in school - get up early, cram in the reading or homework that I forgot to do. Get to school, mob some hills, listen to some teachers, and talk to some ladies. Get out and go skate somewhere with as many homies as possible or mish it somewhere late night with some dudes who are trying to get down! When I'm not in school, same story just without the teachers.

Shawn: Have you got to travel much with your skating and do you have any upcoming trips planned?

Walker: Yeah I've been able to travel a good deal. All around the country, Canada, Spain and Europe a little bit. I'll be traveling most of this summer, hopefully Australia or China soon. We'll see.

Shawn: I noticed some New York footage in some of your recent parts, how was skating in the Big Apple?

Walker: I love New York City. That’s definitely the next stop to live after San Diego. It’s the best on all levels - skating, atmosphere, and women. Its great!

Shawn: Ever skate in Philly?

Walker: This summer hopefully.

Shawn: Zach & Walker’s Concrete Jungle was awesome are you working on any new video projects?

Walker: Yeah, Organika is going to do a new video that will focus on Adelmo and Rodrigo Peterson in the way the last one focused on Zach and me. It should be good, I plan to have a full part for that. My homies are making a video called SHUFFL. It stands for Skate Homies Underground Family For Life. It’s got John Lupfer, David Cole, Dave Abair, Ryan Harris, and a bunch of other ripping San Diego locals. Look out for it!

Shawn: There's alot of new video's coming out in 2009/10 which one are you excited for?

Walker: Sk8mafia video is the one on repeat right now. I wanna see the Label video super bad. The Flip video is going to be completely nuts. They're all gonna be so sick. I can't wait!

Shawn: You’re on the same team as Quim Cardona. Have you skated with him much?

Walker: Dude, it sucks - Quim is the only dude I haven't met yet. This summer I will though. He's awesome.

Shawn: Who do you ride for?

Walker: C1rca, Alphanumeric, Force, Organika, 510, and Elm hats.

Shawn: Do you ever plan on designing your own board graphics or clothing for any of your sponsors - do you have any interest in art and design?

Walker: I would love to if that opportunity was able to arise. I have many ideas and plan to work more closely with graphic designers and clothing designers in years to come. That would be so fun!

Shawn: Favorite video of all time?

Walker: FTC Penal Code and Trilogy.

Shawn: I remember your video part in the 510 video, a lot of people were hyped on it. Was that your first full video part and how was filming for that video different from filming now?

Walker: I looked at filming for that video as the same as filming for videos now. That was just a couple of weekends going out to Oakland and skating a bunch of new spots. That’s still what I'm trying to do when I film video parts now. Skate new spots and get as much stuff whenever I can.

Shawn: Who do you skate with in SD?

Walker: A grip of different people! Usually the Kayo heads, like Kenny Hoyle, Kelly Hart, my homie Ryan Harris, David Cole, John Lupfer and Austin Kanfoush. I always end up skating with all kinds of random homies, like the Sk8mafia heads, Russell Houghten and whoever he's filming with that day. Daughters usually has a couple random rippers. I try to meet up with Jimmy Cao and Jamie Palmore as much as possible. There’s so many peeps in SD! I love it. New heads everyday! C1rca homies too!

Shawn: Whats your plans after skating?

Walker: I got a bunch of little projects I'd like to try and do. My home town just built the most amazing skate park, so I'll probably try and move back for a little, help my mom out with things. Travel the world! I'll just have to wait and see though – my  focus is on skating first

Shawn: Any last words or shouts out?

Walker: My family and friends! And everyone who keeps skating positive, keep it up!