Every town with a decent skate-scene has at least one or two kids that everyone thinks should be sponsored, but of course usually nothing happens for them. The small scene of Prescott/Prescott Valley has had a surprising amount of talent, and a few of our skaters have actually had brief tastes of sponsorship. The problem is talent alone might attract some sponsorship, but maintaining it legitimately requires much more than board skills.Jordan Rommel has been showing he is legit lately. He produces great footage, hits up as many contests as possible, keeps in touch with his sponsors, and most importantly he has the determination to keep it going. Now he has shown he can handle an interview as well, and hopefully he will be getting more in the future. I am stoked that things are happening for Jordan, keep an eye on him!Hey Jordan, how have you been, what have you been up to?
-I have been doing good man, just working a bunch and trying to skate when I can.
-It was a blast! Always have an awesome time at their contests. But yeah I will be skating the finals in Costa Mesa, CA on October 11th, 2014. Will be a super tough one, last year was nuts!
You were voted the winner of the Transworld “Come Up Tour” last year, how did that come about?
-So I skated in the TWS Come Up contest in Denver last year and placed 1st in that, then I had to make an edit (along with the other five 1st place winners) for an online video contest on the Transworld site and I got voted best video as well. I don’t know how though everyone killed it!
Winning by an open online vote is pretty sick, and I was stoked to see you have a “Check Out” in Transworld, what was that like seeing yourself in there?
-Breathtaking. I never thought I would make it as far as to get a Check Out. The best day of my life was when Blair at Transworld left me a voicemail saying I won.
You have been fairly successful with contests, what do you enjoy about them?
-Everything about contests are awesome. The best skaters in the area come together for a big event, everyone is on their A game, there is always a crowd which hypes you up, and HAMMERS HAMMERS HAMMERS.
You seem pretty calm when you are skating, do you have any madness or ever freak out?
-The only times I really get irritated are when somebody is filming me and its taking me forever to land whatever i am trying. In my head, I could be there all day trying it till I land it, but I know that I am wasting the filmer’s time more than my own time. That’s really the only time I get frustrated.
How heavy was the skating in your scene/crew when you started? Did that influence your skating?
-I started when I was like 8 years old so it was mainly just me and my brother and a couple friends cruising the streets until Prescott Valley, AZ came up with a skatepark.
When people started fading from skating as much, what kept you going hard?
-Skating is what I was raised on pretty much, I couldn’t let go of what I had already started. High school, girls, and partying came around but I never let that take my board from me.
Jesse Lopez was a local legend. What is you’re most epic story/stories with him?
-I was super little when we met and he was the best skater I ever knew at the time, so just the fact of him wanting to film me for his videos and be a part of his projects was pretty epic in my opinion.
Did Jesse teach you any secrets to good skating?
-He taught me how to work on style. He explained how you could do the craziest tricks ever, but if you don’t have a good style then not too many people will enjoy the skating.
How did you meet Randy Colvin?
-I met Randy through my good buddy Chris Hahn, I’m pretty sure, it was soooo long ago I couldn’t pin point the exact scene.
Do you have any good stories with Randy?
-Tiki Bar in Sedona, AZ. If you don’t know, then you wont know.
Randy recommended to you get on the Calavera Board Supply shop team, was that your first sponsor? What was that like?
-Yeah I was skating at the Prescott skate park one night when I was 14 yrs old while Randy was there with Tyler Culbertson who owned Calavera. I guess Randy told Tyler that he should put me on the team, so Tyler came up to me and introduced himself to me and asked if I wanted to ride for the team. Just like that I was on.
Tell me about the Easy 8 Motel in Phoenix with Tyler, Vince, Mike, and Jon.
-(Laughs), oh gosh. Okay so we were on a Calavera skate trip in Phoenix and had little cash so we stayed at this ghetto ass motel. We were tripped out because this dude kept doing circles around the motel in his squeaky sounding car, didn’t know if a drive-by was about to pop off or what. All through the night we had random knocks on our door. Mike looked through the peep hole and seen some pimp with his hoes and said, “Everyone get on the ground!” like we were gonna get shot or something. I look at Vince and he’s drinking a beer under the bathroom sink saying, “We’re gonna die.” Then a rent-a-cop comes into our room thinking we are having a party when all we were doing was just trying to keep quiet so the hood fellows outside wouldn’t hear us. Good times.
Did you keep cool or were you freaking out?
-I was 15, I didn’t really know what was going on (laughs).
Tyler hooked you up with Calavera years ago, and more recently he has gotten you hooked up with Foundation, how did that happen?
-Once I moved out here to Colorado it was like 2 years since Tyler was giving me Calavera decks, but I got a call from him one day asking if I wanted to start getting monthly Foundation decks and I told him yes of course. Tyler has been there for me since the beginning though so I don’t think I could turn down any offers from him.
Why did you move to Colorado?
-I was starting to party too much in AZ and wasn’t really on my skating game, I knew I had to change something.
What is the skate scene like? Did you know anyone there before moving?
-The skate scene out here in Colorado Springs is a little better than the scene out in Prescott. There are more skate shops, WAY more skate spots, and there are a few people actually working on making videos here. Prescott/Prescott Valley skaters are shredders hands down, but the scene in CO just has a little more motivation behind it.
So what is coming up next for you Jordan? Working on anything?
-I’m going to be skating in the Volcom Wild in the Park finals out in California this October. My buddy Zach Bishop is making a night skating video where I will be having a part in. The video is called “Nocturnal” and should be out by fall 2014. Zach Bishop is also making an edit for me just for YouTube’s sake, should be out real soon! I’m skating for Hoyal Board shop and we are working on getting a video together. Also I will have a full length part in my buddy Ryan Heiers video, not too sure when that one will be out or what its going to be called. But yeah that’s about it, I’m trying my hardest to move out to California by 2015, so hopefully I can make that happen!
Anyone you would like to thank?
-I would like to thank God, my Dad and Mom, friends, and family. BIG shout out to Tyler Culbertson for backing me with boards this whole time, along with his dad and Calavera in general. Foundation Skateboards. Everyone over at Hoyal for keeping me comfortable in CO! Big thanks to Charley Peddie for supplying me with fresh DC kicks and Neff headwear. Randy Colvin. Transworld Skateboarding. Zach Bishop and Ryan Heier for filming me for hours on end. And everyone else that has helped me upon my journey.
Right on Jordan, check you later. Last words?
-Yes, thank you Bud Garso for taking some time out of your day to ask me some questions!
So What is Skateboarding? 