M; What's up Ralph, how are you?
R; It's going man, just trying to figure out how to scooter again it's been a while.
M; By the looks of the Instagram content that's been popping up you haven't had much trouble. I'm going to have to ask that cookie cutter question. Name, age, years riding and any sponsors?
R; Haha thanks man. Ralph Mcmoran, 22, been riding for about 11 almost 12 years maybe. Sponsors are Hellagrip and Affinity.
M; I see you recently started working for affinity also, have they been teaching you to weld?
R; Yeah they are very chill about teaching people to weld, but I don't have the patience man haha. I've tried a few times, I just to frustrated and give up.
M; Yeah TIG welding is frustrating as, I did a 2 week block of it for my apprenticeship and I only laid 1 decent bead. You've been on a fair amount of scooter trips, what have been your top 3?
R; Yeah I feel that, every time I just melt down the tube haha.
M; The struggle.
R; Top 3? Wow that's tough man, I think Australia is number 1 just because hanging with the friendly dudes is the best ever. They know how to have a good time and I'm really comfortable with them. 2nd would probably be Denmark, that place is amazing and for 3rd probably the 1st time to France. That was like my first trip out of the country so it has a special place in my heart you know?
M; I feel ya, did you try any local beers whilst you were here? If so how did they compare to American beer? do you have any plans to come back down under?
R; I had VB and GOON haha. I feel like VB is just like our Budweiser. I could be wrong though because it was a really long time ago and now that I'm of age to drink I just drink Mexican beers. I don't really choose to go with American light beer but if it's around I'm not complaining. I wish I could make out it there, man I'm hanging with Jon Archer right now. Dude is the best, everyone from Australia is the best! Maybe i'll save up my own money and make a trip.
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| post shotguns, Sacramento 2013 pic; Wheeland |
M; Oh shit, tell Jon I said whats up. VB is foul but if someone's buying I'm not saying no. You're more than welcome to stay at mine or the new Famhouse. What have been your biggest influences from inside and outside of scootering?
R; He's somewhere around here we're at Wood Ward, but when I see him I'll tell him. Thanks man yeah hopefully I can do that.
Dude influences are hard you know? Like when i was a kid it was like Matt Andrus, Jesse Macaluso and like Coedie Donovan. Then I hit teenage years and got into Matt Mckeen and like Dylan Kasson. Then i got really into skating and pretty much the old Alien workshop team, around mind field time. Now dude it's crazy it's people who don't even skate or scooter who influence me. Just moving to Arizona hanging out with people who didn't about that stuff was so refreshing, not talking about skating or scootering, I feel like I'm burnt out on that, I don't even watch skate or scooter video that much anymore. It just doesn't do it for me. I have to find my own motivation to ride now.
M; Do you find it hard sometimes to find that motivation?
R; Sometimes I do find it hard to get motivation but lately I've been working at Affinity and I have just been thinking of tricks I wanna learn or even how I want my part to be. Like the only way I go out filming now is if I have an idea I want to do but I'm usually down to just cruise with the boys and have a nice sesh but I mean scooter riders aren't really releasing parts anymore and I can't get hyped off of a 60 second video on Instagram. It just doesn't do it for me.
M; What do you think of the state of scootering is like compared to 3-4 years ago? There has always been a lot of "up there" riders saying "scootering is whack" have you ever been one of these people? are you still one of these people and if so, why?
R; I think scootering has changed so much compared to 3-4 years ago. Like 3-4 years ago it wasn't about being the best or how good you are. It was more about just being your own rider and filming video parts and putting more effort into it. Now I feel like everyone just really wants followers. They are still putting in the effort but in my mind it's for a different cause, and I watch all these insta vids and everyone just looks the same in my eyes. They aren't really trying that hard to do new stuff, they just add a new combo to what everyone else is already doing. No one has a trick selection, they just wanna do every trick. I think back then I didn't think scootering was whack at all. I really liked seeing people with their own trick selection and style. Now it's not so much I think scooterings whack its the people in it. Like I was just at the SD comp and it just seemed like everyone had such a big ego because they had over 10k followers. So I don't think scooterings whack more the people in it. The business side is pretty lame too but scooters itself no. Scooters are tight dude! Jon also said whats up mate.
M; I see the ego thing a lot and the pursue for subscribers/followers seem to be at the height of the majorities agenda for sure. Touching on video parts, you just had some clips in that magnificent Hella Grip video and your Tilt 1 part stands out to me as one of the greatest to date. You mentioned earlier you're working on a part. How's that going for you? And what do you look for when searching for spots?
R; Thanks man means a lot. It's slowly coming, filming is a little more relaxed now since it's kind of on my own time. There's no rush really and I'm stoked about that. When it comes to spots, I really just like to find stuff with a little personality of each city I'm in. For example if I go to San Francisco I'm not going there to ride a plain handrail down some stairs, I want to have some hill bombing or just look unique. That goes for anytime I travel. Also I usually have a trick in mind that I want to do and just kind of wait for the spot to show up.
M; It's always nice not to have a deadline that's for sure. I think that'll do it, we got a lot of good stuff. Any thanks?
R; Heck yeah man, Thanks to you for this opportunity and the people who support me.
M; What do you think of the state of scootering is like compared to 3-4 years ago? There has always been a lot of "up there" riders saying "scootering is whack" have you ever been one of these people? are you still one of these people and if so, why?
R; I think scootering has changed so much compared to 3-4 years ago. Like 3-4 years ago it wasn't about being the best or how good you are. It was more about just being your own rider and filming video parts and putting more effort into it. Now I feel like everyone just really wants followers. They are still putting in the effort but in my mind it's for a different cause, and I watch all these insta vids and everyone just looks the same in my eyes. They aren't really trying that hard to do new stuff, they just add a new combo to what everyone else is already doing. No one has a trick selection, they just wanna do every trick. I think back then I didn't think scootering was whack at all. I really liked seeing people with their own trick selection and style. Now it's not so much I think scooterings whack its the people in it. Like I was just at the SD comp and it just seemed like everyone had such a big ego because they had over 10k followers. So I don't think scooterings whack more the people in it. The business side is pretty lame too but scooters itself no. Scooters are tight dude! Jon also said whats up mate.
M; I see the ego thing a lot and the pursue for subscribers/followers seem to be at the height of the majorities agenda for sure. Touching on video parts, you just had some clips in that magnificent Hella Grip video and your Tilt 1 part stands out to me as one of the greatest to date. You mentioned earlier you're working on a part. How's that going for you? And what do you look for when searching for spots?
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| never stop hopping fences pic; Wheeland |
R; Thanks man means a lot. It's slowly coming, filming is a little more relaxed now since it's kind of on my own time. There's no rush really and I'm stoked about that. When it comes to spots, I really just like to find stuff with a little personality of each city I'm in. For example if I go to San Francisco I'm not going there to ride a plain handrail down some stairs, I want to have some hill bombing or just look unique. That goes for anytime I travel. Also I usually have a trick in mind that I want to do and just kind of wait for the spot to show up.
M; It's always nice not to have a deadline that's for sure. I think that'll do it, we got a lot of good stuff. Any thanks?
R; Heck yeah man, Thanks to you for this opportunity and the people who support me.
Photo's by Tyler Wheeland
Words by Marshall Smith
