“Friendly Fire” Interviews
10/11/2024
This Spitfire trip was a family affair of sorts. Hatched as a women’s-only mission, the boys were soon invited along, with two sets of siblings adding to the familial vibes. It was Rye and Raney Beres, Fabi and Pedro Delfino, BFFs Elissa Steamer and Frank Gerwer, Nicole Hause as the kid sister, Elijah Berle the big brother, Mack Scharff the fun cousin and Hayley Wilson as the tough-girl relative visiting from Australia. It’s rare you get so many tight relations on a single skate mission, so we decided to take advantage of it and ask the kinds of questions you don’t usually get to ask––or in the case of the media-shy Beres boys, get the dirt from their mom. And for those who make it to the end of this thing, there’s a killer salsa recipe from Chef Scharff certain to clear all but the most stubborn of sinuses. Bon appetite!
Watch it now!
Spitty fam
Pedro and Raney give and go at Grindline’s Salida, CO masterpiece
Candids from the trip. As you can see, we have fun
Glorious sunsets and a cameo by Marisa Dal Santo, also glorious
Left: Tie Frank up, he’s dancing Right: Raney in the Golden escape hatch
Who can delve into the mind of a maniac better than his own kid sister? And what makes Fabi go off? We figured a little sibling rivalry might do the trick as we quizzed this dynamic duo (the gnarliest sister-brother skaters of all time, really), with the same set of probing questions.
Fabi: 27, Aries
Pedro: 29, Aries
Psycho booster at the Breck park
What are some Delfino family legends from when you were little kids?
F: Pedro was Evel Knievel and I was his sidekick, watching for cars and filming his stunts. He was a daredevil. ’Dro was front flipping on Rollerblades at like ten years old.
P: When Fabi was five she fell into a campfire pit and burned her hands really bad. Years later we figured that accident is the reason why we have differences in temperature tolerance when it comes to eating foods that are too hot. I can’t handle scalding hot food, but Fabi can.
Describe ways you antagonized each other as children.
F: Anytime we did bad shit, we’d both hold it over the other—borderline snitching on each other, but without fully trying to take each other down.
P: We’d pick on each other and call each other names.
Fabi follows up with the switch sugarcane
What would make the other super mad?
F: I’d psychologically torment him, sometimes even spitting in his face since I couldn’t physically take him down when we fought.
P: We’d never back down until the other got frustrated.
What did you like to play together as kids, before you started skating?
F: Neither of us enjoyed playing with dolls or shit like that. My dad took us mountain biking and surfing all the time so we’d do that together. I started to bring my camera along and document. I was his personal filmer.
P: We played rock ‘n’ roll. I was into guitar and Fabi plays drums.
Holding tight on a long noseslide
What was the worst thing you got caught for as a kid?
F: Probably getting caught for smoking weed. My mom drug tested me and I failed. I felt guilty because I knew he’d likely get tested next, too.
P: A cop discovered us shredding the local parking garage late at night and I had to call my parents at 3 AM to pick us up.
What was punishment like at your house?
F: Our skateboards would be taken away.
P: Yeah, grabbed by the ears and grounded in our rooms and skate privileges revoked.
It was definitely popsicle weather in those ditches
Who do your parents love more?
F: I think parents show more mercy to their first born. They were stricter on me for pulling the same shit Pedro did and I was grounded more often.
P: No way! They loved us evenly!
What was the first skate trick the other did that really caught your attention?
F: Pedro learned how to do airs over coping and then inverts not long after. I couldn’t believe my own brother was doing things that we’d only see in videos!
P: I saw Fabi nose manual the entire perimeter at the skatepark.
How would you describe each other in a few words?
F: Lovable, hard working, intelligent, reckless.
P: Fabi is very fun and motivated while I am fun, but lazy.
Big bro ‘Dro cranks and clanks a loaded line in Denver
How would you describe the other’s skating?
F: Powerfully calculated danger.
P: Stylish and dope.
What trick does the other do that you wish you had?
F: Frontside inverts.
P: I wish I had Fabi’s manual balance.
Kicky back lip, cowgirl up!
Describe a time when you were very concerned for the other?
F: I’m always worried about him with all the fucked-up shit he tries. I visited him in the hospital last year after a bad fall. That scared me the most. I cried that night thinking he wouldn’t wake up the next day. He did!
P: Whenever Fabi is parking her car at night in our neighborhood in LA. It’s kinda sketchy.
Grabbing tail above tree line
What’s the weirdest shit the other does?
F: No coffee after 12 PM. That’s weird.
P: Eats a tomato like an apple.
What’s the weirdest shit you do?
F: I hit the Juul every now and then.
P: Nothing, I’m pretty perfect.
Stay away from those cans!
What is the other most stubborn about?
F: Things outside of his control.
P: Unsolicited advice.
What makes the other laugh?
F: Clever jokes and funny slams.
P: Memories and nostalgia!
Frontside Smith, for the Lord
Who would you rather fight tag-team style: Raney and Rye or Frank and Elissa?
F: We could take on the Beres brothers, I think.
P: I guess to keep it fair, Raney and Rye.
Another pit, another boneless one
Who is the better dancer? What is their go-to move?
F: I can dance Bachata pretty well, but I think Pedro might have the better moves. He can backflip and shit.
P: I dance a little more in public, so probably me. I do the snap and rock where I snap my fingers and rock back and forth.
Who loves America more?
F: I’m thankful for a lot of the things we have. Our family moved here from Venezuela, where things are very corrupt and unjust. I feel lucky to be here.
P: I tend to be more optimistic about the American experiment, but neither one of us, really. We don’t get political, except for me when it comes to taxes.
Where will the other be in 20 years?
F: I picture Pedro being an amazing dad. I know he’ll still be doing great things and enjoying himself. I hope we are able to live near each other 20 years from now.
P: Fabi will be operating her own business.
Fabi wore a lot of hats on this trip, including skater and goalie
What was your favorite memory of our Colorado trip?
F: Getting to room and skate alongside my brother. I loved skating the same spots and hyping each other up. We don’t get to do that as often as I wish we did. It felt like we were 13 years old again.
P: I liked when we showed up to the Breckenridge mansion and instantly had a dance party with the free robes.
Stale floater because Bastards All Cops Are
Gun show, head to head with Hayley and Rye guy
Nicole took her patented tail drop a Mile High. No doubt, Dicky!
East Coast-turned-Mile High legend Jimmy Leaphart showed us the lines, even if we were too scared to follow them. Go, Jimmy!
In addition to being a devoted Texas educator, Reagan Beres is the ultimate skate mom, having raised both a top pro ‘boarder and a Thrasher masterlensman, while maintaining an enthusiastic-yet-casual air about her. She’s no skatepark sponsor-me mom, that’s for sure. And since the Beres boys are about as easy to get on the phone as Neil Blender, we figured she’d be a way quicker interview than those two Howard Hughes-ass recluses. Read on!
Part of the reason I am interviewing you instead of your sons Raney and Rye is because they never call me back. Are they any better communicating with their mom than they are with their coworkers?
Absolutely not—not even with me or any other family member. I remember Grosso would call me like, “Does Raney hate me? He won’t call me back.” I was like, “Are you crazy? He’s loved you his entire life!” It’s a real mystery, because I’m very communicative.
‘You want a Coors, get it yourself …’
That makes me wonder, what was discipline like in the Beres’ household? Were the boys expected to do anything? Or was it more of a free for all?
Actually, they were so good. We were all just happy-go-lucky. No one broke the rules. Raney is very chore driven. His room was always neat. Whatever he did, he pulled his weight. Rye was a little tougher. Being the baby of the family, he was catered to more.
Yeah, he’s kind of the baby of the Thrasher family, too. So how far apart are the boys?
Raney is 32 and Rye will be 27 soon, so five years apart at the moment. I think it’s a good gap, actually. It allowed them to kind of be their own people, but be super tight as well.
Who boosted it better? Only Jeff Phillips knows (and he ain’t talkin’)
Rye has told me that he was the only member of the Beres family without dreadlocks growing up. What are the challenges of getting dreads to stick in a blond toddler’s hair?
You know, dreadlocks happen when you stop doing things. It just happens. If you don’t brush the dog’s hair it gets matted, and if you don’t brush your kid’s hair, same thing.
So were you Rastas?
I would consider us more Buddhist. But we totally jammed to some Rasta philosophy here and there. Not full bore, not the sexist things and some other stuff. But there’s definitely some beautiful aspects to the Rasta religion—like the Buddhist mindset with the Rasta aesthetic.
First photo of the trip, Raney handplants in Golden, Summer 2024
Any chance we’ll see Rye with those dreads someday?
He might be balding but, hey.
If Tim Kerr taught us anything, it’s that balding with dreads is a fantastic look. So you guys were a Texas skate punk family pretty much, right?
Yep, there was always skating and music in the house, and we always had a backyard full of kids skating the ramp, from sunup ’til sundown.
Was Rye always precocious? Because he was making ’zines and networking with the pros when he was like nine years old.
Yeah, he definitely had a one-track mind. Rye was weird about it—he had to know every detail. I remember him getting grumpy with me if I didn’t know some piece of skate trivia or who did what in 411. I finally had to lay down the law and told him, “Go poll every mom in the neighborhood and if they can tell you what shoes Templeton was wearing in 411 #16, then you can get grumpy with me!”
Raney hucks, Rye tucks (and calling back sucks)
Lil’ black-and-white ponderance, no big deal
Into the bank at Boulder’s Will Vill
How are the boys different?
Oh my God, in every way except their love of skateboarding. Raney keeps it pretty close to the vest. Rye is more emotional. Actually, the older they get, the more similar they are, which is interesting.
The form says Peter Hewitt even if the face says Sling Blade. JK, Rane Man
Stale the gap at the fabulous Salida park
Do you think Rye chose to go with the media route because Raney was already becoming a skate star? I feel like Rye probably could’ve been pro, too.
It was pretty clear where Raney’s path was headed, so maybe Rye thought he wanted to do his own thing. Which was cool, because I didn’t want him to live in his brother’s shadow. He was always so driven. I remember his PE coach told me, “Rye doesn’t want to do PE. He says he has a bunch of emails he needs to return to all these skate companies.” I was like, “Yeah, that’s probably true.” Raney had a somewhat normal childhood before skating, but Rye has been surrounded by it since he was a baby. He watched skate videos instead of cartoons. He was so driven. We didn’t have much money, so he was always working out ways to get the boards and shoes he wanted. He was always hustling.
It’s every parent’s hope that their kids will be lifelong friends. Seems like you got that.
Yeah, they really respect each other and what gifts each is good at. They have so much love and freaking respect for each other. It’s so cool.
Long view of Raney’s Miller Flip
Indy bomber. Hey, where’s the rest of Rye’s skate photos??
You may remember that Ryan Sheckler had this problem on his TV show that one of your sons might have: he couldn’t find a chill girl. Do you think Rye will ever find a chill girl?
God, I hope so. We’ve all got our fingers crossed.
Okay, here we go––grasser to the dome, complete with Hosoi lips. Mom’s gotta be proud. Thank you, Reagan!
Berle bounds fakie 50-50, on another hot one
Novelty purchase pose down. Or is it?
Scharff knows: these clips don’t upload themselves
Fabi, Hayley and Pearl … forever
Elissa and Frank are the proverbial peas and carrots of the skateboard world, or if you hate vegetables, they’re the Nerds Rope and Twisted Tea. Point is, they’re as close as you can get to family without sharing blood, though they’ve probably knocked scraped swellbows in the van plenty of times, too. Warning: this thing gets very touching towards the end. Thanks, y’all.
Mt Gonzo
How would you classify your relationship?
Elissa: Okay, I’ll go first—I’ll say that we’re cosmically connected. We’re cosmically connected through adverse circumstantial life experiences.
Frank: Wow!
Would you say you’re best friends? Soulmates?
E: Hold on! Would you say we’re best friends?
F: Yep.
E: I would say soulmates more than anything. It’s not like, Oh, there’s my best friend, it’s more like, Oh, finally, I needed him to be here. Thank you. We’re each other’s emotional-support animals.
F: I totally agree with that, too.
Oxygen assisted, median monoliths get stomped by Steamer's mighty kickflip
How’d you guys meet?
E: The first time we met was in Tampa, Florida, at a contest at the Skatepark of Tampa, maybe the first or second amateur contest. I think it was the second one because you already knew who I was, and you wouldn’t have known who I was at the first one because it was before the Toy Machine video came out.
F: Okay. Yeah, so second one. Except you were flow for the Firm and so was I, so maybe it was sooner.
E: And we met at a party and we were both probably drunk.
F: And then we were joined at the hip.
Exhibit A
E: My friends from Florida lived in San Francisco and I lived in LA and I would randomly drive up, just get weird and drive up and spend the night and then drive home two days later—anxiety behavior, and sometimes Frank would come with me and then come stay at my house for weeks on end.
F: I’d sleep on the couch.
E: Lots of Law and Order, lots of Pink Dot and then skateboarding.
F: And then I’d go back home for a while, and then you’d come back up.
E: And then when I moved to San Francisco, it solidified our kinship.
F: It was a call every day until she moved in and then we lived together for three or four years. I lived upstairs. You lived downstairs. Everybody was the best of friends. And it was an amazing, amazing time to be alive. It was, and I don’t think there was a night that I did not spend hanging out with you. Whether it was like, We’re going here; we’re doing that or, We’re going to the basement and playing music. Oh yeah, we’re also bandmates.
E: We were in a band called Lanikai for a while. Yeah, our new band, Casual Dragon, that’s the new stuff. Never heard anything, yeah, but you actually might have heard something.
Gerwer stokes the squad with a kickflip to drop deep in Juggalo Country
You mentioned Law and Order. I know you guys both enjoy the finer things in life. What were some activities that really brought you close together?
E: Little bit of golf, skating. In the beginning consuming adult beverages. That was always fun. We both used to share the love for this plant that grows out of the ground, natural shit.
F: Trim the garden and then smoke it.
E: We grew up in a time where Mike Tyson was the greatest sports hero. We appreciated that, and we’d go see Tyson fights together. You know, we’ve done a lot together. We’ve traveled the world. I think just the other day, you basically saved my life. What happened?
F: I was there when you bumped your head. Yeah, and that’s tough having your soulmate screaming in your face. I’m like, Hey, it’s me. She screamed. She screamed so loud at me. She actually got knocked out. And then when I was walking over to her, I was like, Quit fucking around, because I didn’t see it. And then somebody’s like, No, she’s out. And I was like, Oh my God. And I was like, Get up, get up, get up. And then she woke up. Then when Elissa finally looked at me, it was a blood-curdling scream, Get the fuck out of my face! And I was holding her head up. And I was like, Okay, I’m not leaving, but you guys have to go. And her being like, you know, we’re connected at the hip. And when she didn’t recognize me, I was like, I know she doesn’t mean to be this mean to me right now. She just doesn’t really know who I am. That’s terrifying. Wow, it was, it was terrifying.
E: I don’t remember any of it.
F: And I drove her right to the fucking hospital.
E: I get surgery next week for a broken collarbone. I’m okay. That sucked.
Elissa and Mar, couple of GD legends
That sounds very scary. I’m glad to hear you’re okay. That sounds horrifying. Have you ever been that worried about Frank, Elissa?
E: Actually, no. He’s the type of person where it’s like, Okay, I would follow that person into battle. And I think Frank is definitely a person I would follow into battle. I mean, he knows how to do a lot of stuff. He’s highly competent. He can, like, work on a Volkswagen. He knows how to cook food. He could fucking tailor a suit. I don’t know. He can make split-second decisions. You know, he’s a constructive thinker. I’m trying to think of a scary time that I’ve had, and I think probably the scariest of times I’ve had with him, I will not remember.
F: Yeah, because I was saving your ass.
E: I know that there’s been times where, you know, Oh yeah, we walked into the Kilowatt and kicked over the pool table. You know, a bunch of motorcycle guys were on our case and we had to hide behind cars. I mean, plenty of times like that. But I don’t think I’ve ever truly been, like, frightened for Frank.
F: The worst for me was definitely the other day when you got knocked out. I’m glad you were knocked out for that, because I was a little freaked out.
E: Yeah? See, I’ve never been in a situation like that with you.
Frank gets it
Is there anything you do that you suspect gets on the other one’s nerves?
F: Sometimes I get on your nerves when I’m like, Come on, let’s just go. Like, I’ll call her, Just meet me there; you want to go skate. I know she doesn’t want to skate but I nag her a little bit.
E: You might be right. But then I suspect that my contempt for those kinds of situations would annoy you. Maybe my moodiness.
So Elissa’s moodiness and Frank’s whininess?
F: Yeah, but nothing too bad. I can tell if I’m pushing too much when she makes a face.
Like an angel
Do you see any time in the future where you won’t be in one another’s lives?
E: I sure hope not.
F: It’s funny, because a lot of people come and go through our lives, and I think Elissa and Milligan have probably been the most constant. Like, I don’t always see Milligan, but I talk to him at least twice a month. I don’t ever imagine a time when I’m seeing something insane on the street and then not calling her and being like, Dude, you would not believe what I just fucking saw!
E: It’s like a Saturday morning or something. It’s like, I just text him, What are we doing today? It’s not even like, Are we gonna hang out? Or, Who should I hang out with? It’s like, What are we doing? It’s just like, I hit up Frank.
Chippendales tryouts with Berle
F: Yeah, that’s the same here. I wouldn’t care if there were 100 people ready to go skating. If Elissa wasn’t there, I would be like, Oh, let me call Elissa; we’ll meet up with you guys. I feel the most comfortable and the most relaxed. Also, when she’s there it’s like you have a familiar face in any situation. It’s good to be able to turn to her and be like, Do you believe this shit’s going on right now? We are confidants with each other, too.
E: Yes, that’s true. I will tell you things that I do not tell other people. Yeah, exactly, which is beautiful to have in life, because just to have the connection of somebody who’s like, Yeah, I know that feeling. And being this close in SF—a lot of our peers are not here.
Everyday hero Frank Gerwer flips backside on the hottest day of the trip
I was gonna ask: as far as peers, there’s no rule book for how to get older as a skater. It’s tough. Does it help having each other?
E: We laugh about a rule book. But if there was one, I think Frank would be writing it.
F: But like you said, when you have good people to be with, who make life fun, which she does for me all the time, my days are way better with her in them. It’s nice to have a vintage partner. I’m literally getting a little teary-eyed right now. In the grand scheme of things, Elissa does mean that much to me. Dude, it sounds corny but I love you. I love you a whole lot.
E: I love you too, Frank.
These two, I love these two
Hayley, NBS in the heart bowl
You can go ahead and save your kickflip advice, dude
Berle, blazing trails in Boulder. Then we hit the Dairy Queen
You can save your swimwear advice, too
The Frisco, CO park is insane and pretty hectic when you get more than a few people in there, especially if those people are little chubs on mountain bikes. Luckily we got a small window to ourselves, allowing Elijah to flap a mean method or two
Scharffing Material?!
Hayley at the wondrous Winona ditch, Nothin’ she couldn’t handle
Cab with authority! Shit, you’ve seen the video
Game recognize
Can’t leave without at least one dip
Tommy Sandoval did the other side, so Berle knew this gap to ride in Boulder was kinda, sorta possible
More natural beauty, more friends
Thank you, Colorado
This clip went straight on the Gram but what an ollie!
Bad to the bone
Dropping bombs in Denver, Hayley Wilson heelflips into the Meow Wolf parking lot. Until next time!
-
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