The Parrish Isaacs Interview

The Parrish Isaacs Interview

Alright man how old are and how did your parents come up with the name “Parrish”?

I'm a week shy of 16, and from the artist Maxfield Parrish.  They didn't want to name me Max because my great aunt was with some guy named Max and they didn't like him?  I dunno, I used to not like it but I think its kinda cool now.

Hahah that's pretty tight, max is kinda plain anyway. So where do you live in Vermont? And how did you get into riding out there in them hills?

I live down in the southern part, near the Green Mountain National forest, which is a wonderful piece of protected wilderness.  And its kinda weird.  My dad gave me this floppy disk cam and I was looking around for floppy disks one day, and I came across RVM1 that came with my Razor I got for my sixth birthday, that was right when we moved to Vermont, I had just turned eight. I skated through fifth grade and through seventh grade, after seventh grade I got my first legit scooter and haven't stopped since.

Dang you've been at it for awhile then. So I know you can't be riding scoots all the time in VT, do you ski or snowboard in the winter?

Yeah I snowboard pretty much every day in the winter, get riding in when I can but the local indoor park is kinda hard to get into because its owned by the ski academy, and the guys with the keys aren't always around.  Snowboarding is definitely one of my biggest influences in my riding. I get pretty into snowboarding, but every spring when the snow melts I know I have more fun scootering haha.

Yeaahhh scootin rules everything. From watching your vids, the spots around you seem pretty scarce. What keeps you stoked on riding? You thinking of moving to the city one day?

I mean I can't fucking stand the city, I really love being in nature but I think it might get to me.  I might have to move to the city for a while just because of all the spots.  It is really fun finding really gnarly spots to ride driving around these mountain roads.  You just have to be able to adapt to shit, because usually there are only a handful of tricks you can do on a spot without getting maimed haha.  I have so much fun cruising just through the little roads around my house, the city is a whole nother level, I go crazy when I'm there its soooo fun to just cruise, get lost in the constant shit that happens.  There is always stuff going on between people in the city, up here you don't get the same--social experiences I guess is a way to put it.

I can dig that. You do a lot of your own editing and it's safe to say they’re not like anyone else's scooter edits, slow songs, poetic verses..what inspires you to be different?

I guess its just a mass of conformity in our culture, and a lack of being in touch with yourself.  Its a lot of things, but I think most of all its the beauty of the place I live, the people I have met, the places I have gone, the substances I've come in contact with, literature, art, I had really awesome English and art teachers through middle school and still do, i early on got really into that stuff, the counterculture, the sixties, the beat poets, surrealist painting, all sorts of things can help you pass through different doors of perception that tend to make you who you are, mine just might be a little different than other people's. My parents aren't the most typical people either, always encouraged me to be who I am and to stand up for what I know is right.  And my mom always made sure I knew to treat people well, no matter what background they came from.  To be accepting of people, that’s really important to me.

That's really rad dude, well I think that pretty much tops it off. Got anything else to say?

Just to be yourself, don't let people's perception of you effect who you are and what you do.  Don't do what everyone else is doing because you want to feel included.  Appreciate everything you have and the crazy miracle that is life on this planet, don't try to figure every little detail out because you'll drive yourself crazy.  Don't smoke too much weed because you'll get lazy, and down with Monsanto, the Federal Reserve, and Halliburton, they're ruining this amazing country and taking away your freedom and nature for their personal gains.  Peace out, go fucking shred the gnar and thank your mother earth, and support your local famer's market and skate shop. Thanks to Matt for putting me on here, Sam and Tanner for driving me around, Mom and Dad for being the shit and supporting me, and Sarah for being the best girlfriend ever.  And thanks anyone who's ever made legit scooter parts.

Check out Parrish's latest edit!

- McKeen