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Recently I have been on mission converting all of my old analoge skate footage to digital. A few months back I came across a VHS that and old friend had sent me with footage from my first trip to Lake Owen skate camp in 1992 and a road trip to Mitcheal, South Dakota. It got me thinking, what ever happen to Andy Pitts? The last time I ran into him was over 10 years ago. I knew he was hooked up with 5Boro and was last living in Salt Lake City, Utah, but that is about it. Do to recent innovations in social networking, I was able to track him down. He is currently living on the East Coast (Pennsylvania) and turns out he has become a very successfull graphic designer. A few months back Andy and I had a video chat and the following is the transcription of that.

• So, I guess first, how did you ever get interested in skateboarding growing up in Mitchell, South Dakota?
  I guess the first thing that got me interested with skateboarding was that I wanted to surf really badly. That doesn’t happen in cornfields, so the next best thing was skating. Actually, for me, it turned out to be way better then surfing ever could be.
• Growing up, your parents were very support of the fact that you skateboarded. Didn’t they let you build a bunch of ramps in your driveway?

  Yeah, my dad is really handy with any tools. He taught me how to build ramps and stuff just by looking at magazines. He let me take over the entire driveway, which was like a basketball court-sized driveway. I built the whole thing up and had a skate park in the middle of cow fields.

• I think we first met at Lake Owen skate camp, around 1992. I want to say it was about a week after Plan B’s Questionable came out. How did you find out about Lake Owen?

  Again, magazines. Basically, the only connection to skateboarding I had was magazines. There were a couple of kids in school that skated, but they quit just when I was starting. Once I got a subscription to Transworld it was like the Bible, it was all I had to go on. Funny, there where no skate shops around…..

• Wait, there wasn’t one skate shop in town?

  Ah well, no. There was a bike shop that had, like, two boards. They stop carrying skate stuff right as I started. The closest thing to a skate shop we had was a mall sports store that was about 70 miles away in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So I basically ordered everything. It would be funny, ‘cause I would order from mail order shops, and if they forgot the grip for the board I would be screwed. They were no shops and nothing I could do. Once I skated a board for a month with no grip. Then I got wise and glued some sand paper on it. It was crazy, I had no one around me and it was like a solo learning experience in skateboarding. I figured out everything from magazines and videos.

• That was something that was unique growing up skateboarding back then in the Midwest. You really had to be D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) if you wanted to learn and progress in skateboarding. So how did you find out about Lake Owen skate camp and how many times did you go there?

  Um…two, wait, three times. I think I met you the second time? Did we go twice together?

• I think we went once together, but I believe that I met you my first time going there. I just remember you doing nose slide 360 shuv-its UP the handrail. Everyone else was skating down the rail, while you were going up. I was stoked on your unique trick selection. I think you definitely sparked me to get on a bus and travel out to Mitchell to go skating, which lead to some of my first skate road trips.

  Going there and meeting you was definitely a catalyst for me to experience road trips and to expand my range. I would come up to Minneapolis by myself – tell the parents I am staying at a friend’s house for the weekend, then get in the car and drive 5 ½ hours without them knowing that I was a couple hundred miles away in a big city. Those where my first big road trips and it carries through to everything I do today. I still love going on road trips and that basically all started from meeting you and going up there. First Minneapolis, then Omaha and branching out covering more ground. I’ve basically covered the world since then.

• Yeah, I converted the original VHS tape you sent me back in the day of the Omaha trip. That will be up in the play list. So, after Mitchell you moved to Utah. What got you out there?

  Yeah, I moved out to Utah [Salt Lake City]..so.. there is a long and short story. Which one do you want to hear?

• I guess the most interesting short story you have?

  I guess the short story would be that it wasn’t Mitchell, S.D.! That’s the short story. It got me out of there. I had a college scholarships and started to settle in the local skate scene there. I met so many awesome people and watched the scene really boom and grow over the course of the 10 years that I spent in Salt Lake. It really became a strong scene, with real good people and amazing skateboarding. Salt Lake City is one of those big cities that is remote enough that it can sustain a really good skate scene, yet keep under the radar. It is a cool feeling to be part of something big that is still underground. Salt Lake City, Utah is an awesome city and I miss it.

• Was this where you connected with 5Boro? How did that all come together?

  Well, I was skating in Utah and doing all the local contests and stuff. The Vans Warped Tour came through. I had been to a trade show previously and sent a video out to Screw Skateboards that was a small East Coast company. They got it and I talked to the dude. He was all psyched and said that a box was on the way. Nothing ever came. Sent him another video, called, and said that nothing ever showed up. He reassured me that it was on its way and everything was cool. I told him I made the finals (First ever Vans Warped Tour finals was in Venture, CA. John Muldoon got first in the Vert contest) and wanted to rep it during the contest. They never, ever sent anything. When I got there, I saw this kid that road from 5boro that I thought road for Screw. I went up to him and asked,” aren’t you Pat Cadatti and don’t you ride for Screw?” He answered yeah, and then I asked,” What’s up with them? Are they messing with me? They told me they sent me some boards, but nothing ever came”. He was all, “There this new thing that I just got on called 5Boro”. I guess it had just started up with some dudes on the East Coast. He suggested that I send them a tape and get in touch with the owner Steve Rodriguez. I sent some of my footage and he was hyped. So I went out to a crazy East Coast tour with them right off the bat. I didn’t even go out to NY, I flew to Washington D.C. and they picked me up in a van. We headed to South Carolina and skated some contest, did some demos. After that it just kind of happened. I became part of the crew, definitely was an initiation to be part of the 5boro crew.

• You still down with those guys? Still keep in contact?

  Yeah, all the time. We just had the holiday party a few weeks ago. Everyone is down; 5boro is pretty unique in they that are much like a family. With all the people involved, you are always going to be a part of it [5boro], whether you like it or not. It’s in your blood. It is a cool thing to be on the East Coast (Andy currently lives in Penn.) and closer to 5boro. Even now I have taken a step back from the limelight of doing demos or contests. I mean, sometimes I will hook up with them at demos, but that’s just an excuse to hang out and skate with the guys. When we hook up in New York City and skate, it’s all about fun. I mean, skateboarding was always fun, but now it’s JUST about having fun.

• Cool. So what have you been up to lately? What have you been focusing on off your board? Got anything you want to promote?

  Ha ha, yeah, definitely. I am doing graphic design right now. I have my own graphic design business called the 1948 Time Machine. Basically it’s me and my dog “Pants”. We put graphics together for who ever needs them, do stuff for different skateboard companies, which is usually the best because it is fun to do stuff within the industry. I do anything – ads, t-shirts, anything that has to do with graphic design.

• Recently, did you do a series of boards for Deluxe?

  Yeah, last season I did a run of boards for them and some Spitfire stuff. Also, I am doing some graphics for Emerica. Doing graphic design for skateboarding, for me, is the best because it hits close to home. It really is the environment that I want to be in far as graphics are concerned.

• Cool, thanks for taking time out. Make sure to peep all the footage. Even have Andy’s original “sponsor me” tape. I think 90% of it is in your driveway?

  Ha ha, you know I miss that driveway. Growing up there and having all the stuff outside my front door was the best thing in the world. But, there was still the fact the winters in the Midwest really suck!

*all photos by Bob Plumb