The Mike Mo Capaldi Interview

Mike Mo Capaldi is a steezy tech wizard that lives the skate life most of us can only dream of. From his debut in Forecast, to Fully Flared, to Pretty Sweet, to whatever the hell he's working on next, Mike Mo consistently crushes tricks with textbook steez that keeps us rewinding his clips over and over.

He was kind enough to take a break from his daily regiment of skating, video games and Batman to answer a few questions on... well... skating, video games and Batman. 

This is The Mike Mo Capaldi Interview

Mike Mo Capaldi | Hardflip | Photo: Mike Blabac

Mike Mo... Not sure how to start this interview... What’s on your schedule this week?

Same as a normal week, just tons of skating and helping out at Glassy.

Was there a 2nd Annual Mike Mo Day this year at SkateLab? Did you go?

There wasn't a 2nd annual actually. DC advertised it as that, but they kind of just meant "shoe release skate session" haha. I don't think it was ever meant to be annual. Maybe for my second shoe tho?

Any new video games you’re stoked on lately?

Yeah! Assassins Creed IV is really awesome, it's a pirate game. You get to sail the ocean and blow up other ships. I just started playing Battlefield 4 and it's amazing. Its taking Call Of Duty out!

What do you think of Ben Affleck playing Batman? Who is your favorite and least favorite Batman actor thus far?

Clooney is probably my least favorite Batman, even tho I really like him in general. I think Affleck is an unusual casting for a Batman, but he's a good actor and I think he will do a good job. Bale is my all time favorite Batman tho, I'll miss the Christopher Nolan series a lot. He made Batman into a realistic story which made me really like Batman.

You went to Royal High School and now ride for Royal Trucks… Coincidence???

I think I was on Royal before I even went to Royal High actually. So yeah, just a weird coincidence.

What is a “Yee”? Was that a term you used in high school?

How in the world did you know that?!? We used to call jocks at our school "Yeeee's" because they wouldn't say "yes" properly, they would say "yeee" haha like, "yeeee dawg".

"I only learned recently that's the wrong way to go about skating, I am back to just filming things because I wanna do it"

Tell us about Glassy Sunhaters - what went into the founding of that? Was it a ton of research? Who handles what responsibilities exactly?

My brother and I started it, we were skating one day and my brother just said out loud for no reason, "If I owned a Sunglass company, I'd name it Glassy" And i looked over at him and said, "ok why don't we do it?" haha. it was that simple of an idea. So we went home and googled factories and how to do it. We just learned every day about how to improve the brand. At first everything was pretty budget cause we didn't know exactly what we were doing but now we have everything dialed in. I gotta give tons of the credit to my brother Vince tho, he really works his ass off. He's up early and works late every day, even on weekends. He does a really great job of running that whole thing. We get along really good and have the same opinion about pretty much everything. We are convince we are twins and our mom was in labor for 2 and a half years.

Soooooooo when is Chris Cole going to make good on that BATB6 bet?

Haha! Chris Cole flaked on us! He told me that if I ever beat him in any contest that he would ride for Glassy, that was our bet for along time. So when BATB came up, I made sure to make him remember what he said haha. But after I beat him I told him that he doesn't actually have to ride for Glassy if he doesn't wanna be there. I wouldn't ever want anyone to ride for it if they didn't want to. And I wouldn't ever pressure anyone to get on the team. Everyone on the team is a real good friend of mine and I respect what they wanna do.

When you earn money, do you tend to splurge or save? What do you like to splurge on?

Lets put it this way, I definitely save my money, but I am not uptight about it. I have a house and a pretty nice car. I don't necessarily like to show those things off or be flashy either. And the hobbies I have are really cheap, i like video games and stuff like that. Thank god I'm not into cars or any of that stuff that could get really expensive.

Click To Watch Mike Mo vs Chris Cole at BATB 6

"He told me that if I ever beat him in any contest that he would ride for Glassy, that was our bet for along time."

Have you officially left Simi Valley yet?

Still in Simi baby… Glassy is here, my family is here. I got everything here. I don't know if I'll be hear my whole life. We will see, I got Simi pride tho!

Coming from Simi Valley, have you ever had a close encounter with the porn industry?

I know some people that have worked in the industry. That's pretty much it tho.

If we ever make it to Tico’s Tacos what do you recommend? Or do you go “off menu”?

I got really plain taste, I'll get like a bean and cheese burrito haha.

Alright let’s talk parts... How did you first get involved with the Forecast video?

My friend Brian Skor knew a filmer named Nigel Alexander, and Nigel was P-Rods roommate/filmer. So I'd end up skating with Brian all the time and Nigel would come meet up and skate with us. Nigel just ended up asking me if I wanted to be in Prods video and film a part for it. This was before I even met Paul. Paul was just really down for kids from the Valley and wanted me in his video before he even met me. So cool of him, I'm really thankful for Nigel and Paul. They really helped me out with my skating. I've thanked them before many of times, but its been a while since I have… So I'm gonna text them right now and thank them!

Click to watch Mike Mo in "Forecast"

"Nigel just ended up asking me if I wanted to be in Prods video and film a part for it. This was before I even met Paul."

What inspired your 2011 “sponsor me” tape?

I wanted to get on Spitfire but I didn't really know how to ask them... Call them up and be like hey... Uhhh wanna sponsor me? Hahah. So I thought it would be funny if they got a sponsor me tape from me that was exactly like the sponsor me videos they get everyday. And no, I wasn't making fun of kids… I used to skate exactly like that. I just thought it'd be funny to go back to my 10 year old bag of tricks haha

People talk a lot about the stress that went into Fully Flared. Was filming for that video a stressful experience for you?

Fully Flared was 100% not stressful for me. I was a kid that no one knew about, so how could there be any pressure? Also, I pretty much had a full part filmed before I even knew I was in the video. I was just filming for fun.

What was the hardest trick for you to film in Fully Flared? What made it most difficult?

Shit, I haven't watched it in so long. I forgot what the hardest trick was to film... Probably the fakie frontside crook fakie 360 flip out. That took me along time.

Click to watch Mike Mo in "Fully Flared"

"I was a kid that no one knew about, so how could there be any pressure?"

What’s was the biggest difference between filming for the Lakai video and Pretty Sweet?

The difference between Fully Flared and Pretty Sweet was the fact of "how do you top your last part?" How do you up a trick that took you 4 hours to film, but for the next video, you gotta do an even better one? How do you do that? I figured out recently that I shouldn't look at it that way, when I was filming for Pretty Sweet I was just trying to one up the tricks that I did in Fully Flared and that made it really stressful for me. I figured out why all the other dudes were stressed in the Fully Flared video. They had something to live up to and that is very stressful. I felt that same pressure for Pretty Sweet. If you actually look trick for trick, Pretty Sweet is a harder part to film, but it just didn't have any feel to it. I think the difference is that when I was filming for Fully Flared it was just for fun and being a kid. Pretty Sweet was too thought out and trying to one up yourself. I only learned recently that's the wrong way to go about skating, I am back to just filming things because I wanna do it, even if I have done them before. It's too stressful trying to top old tricks of yours.

Are you filming a part for the DC Video? Any handrails to speak of?

Na, there hasn't been any talk of a DC video or anything. But I'm still filming just in case! No handrails yet, maybe one day haha.

Fun fact about somebody on Girl that we wouldn’t know?

Shit, I'm trying to think of something... I don't know man haha Carroll is getting married in a couple months! That will be a fun wedding to go to!

Click to watch the trailer to Girl/Chocolate's "Pretty Sweet"

"I figured out why all the other dudes were stressed in the Fully Flared video"

Most challenging opponent in a game of skate?

PJ Ladd, he keeps beating me damnit!

Now that you’re no longer competing in Street League are you considering any other competition series?

Na not really, I'm not good at contests. I'll probably skate the select series for Street league tho.

What else can we expect from Mike Mo in 2014?

We shall see what happens!

Where are you off now that you’ve finished these questions?

It's midnight right now... I'm going to dreamland! Maybe even play video games first.