Paul Rodriguez: Today Was A Good Day | Hypebeast

Interview with Paul Rodriguez

Paul, I’ve been hearing about your brutal schedule. How hectic has your Summer been so far?

It’s been pretty hectic. This is the third weekend in a row with a major contest going on. First it was The Maloof Cup, then the Dew Tour, which I just came home from yesterday, and I’m already back practicing straight away for the X Games this weekend, so it’s a bit of a hectic one so far.

There probably hasn’t been much time for too many other projects since you’ve been skating so much. When did you guys start the design process for the Zoom P. Rod 3?

February/March of 2008 was when we really started to get the ball rolling on the shoe. It’s usually about a year or a little over a year long process.

What kind of technical features were you looking to implement into the P. Rod 3, progressing from the first and second design?

Well I don’t know if this counts as technical but I was mainly just looking to trim the fat. The second shoe I really liked but I felt there was some bulk that I could cut down. For skating, you like to have a lot of board feel, so I really just wanted to get the sole thinner but I didn’t want it too thin because I like to jump down stairs and things. No one likes to get heel bruises and things like that. With the materials I didn’t want it to be so puffy like prior releases. I want to be able to break in on the board, feel the board, and just feel the flick a lot better. Trimming out excess material that isn’t necessary was my main focus in working with the third design.

Taking a closer look at the sneakers, I can definitely notice its less bulky and the tongue is thinner than before, yet the Zoom Air feature remains.

Yea, the Zoom Air I still needed. I have to have that heel cushioning. We also added a lot more flexibility to the shoe, the soles are a lot more flexible than before.

Do you think that’s the most important factor when deciding what features your signature shoe will incorporate?

Well for me, I’m all about skating, that’s everything. When I design a shoe I think of it from a skater’s perspective and also think of it from a performance perspective. For the design aspect, I work with designers because they know how to add the flavor and style to the shoe. I definitely know what I’m good at and what I’m not good at. What I’m good at is understanding what is going to skate well and what is going to perform the way I want it to. The rest is a collaboration between the designers and myself.

Were you into sneakers growing up?

I was into sneakers when I was going to school. I had to have the illest shoes, well, what I thought were the illest shoes, which weren’t like Jordans and all that. For me, it was the signature kicks of my favorite skater at the time, whoever it was. I remember I had to have Eric Koston’s shoes, which is tight now because we’re teammates again. I used to love the Muskas and I remember loving these Marc Johnsons back in the day as well. So yea, since I’ve been skating, especially when I was in school and younger, basically there might as well have not been an outside world to me. All I knew was everything skate related, whether it was clothing or anything else, as long it had something to do with skating, that was what I would want. Music was important as well, music that was in a skate video was what I was listening to. That all I related my life with.

Hip-Hop seems to resonate the most with the skate community. Was that your primary preference?

Dominantly Hip-Hop. But really, if there was a video part out there of people I like, then I would just get into that particular song, whatever genre it was because when I heard the song, it replayed the video part in my mind and then I just get excited.