Interviews with dudes I don't really know at all are often the most interesting conversational experiences. Although Dustin Locke's solid-state skateboarding had been on my radar for a while, our verbal exchanges have never made it past the next-to-none stage.

Moments before I hopped on the phone with Dustin for this Rise Up effort, his first interview of any sort, I got a call from Sean Lowe who explained: "He can be really quiet around people he doesn't know, but once he's out of his shell and in his comfort zone he's super sarcastic and funny." Scott Fierbach, the Marketing Manager at Coastal Riders (2010 C1RCA Store Wars winner) adds: "Dustin is one of the mellower guys on our team. He doesn't really party or chase girls, he just skates. I'm hyped at all the support he's finally getting from sponsors because he works super hard and deserves it."

"He's definitely dedicated to skateboarding," fellow Coastal teamster John Hanlon commented, which would later make more sense once I learned about Dustin's skate-memorabilia hoarding tendencies, amongst other things...

Age: 23
Hometown: Surrey, BC
Current Residence: Langley, BC
Stance: Goofy
Sponsors: DVS through Supra Dist., Neff Headwear through Wick Winder Distribution, Bones Wheels, Theeve Trucks and SK8MAFIA through Ultimate Distribution, and Coastal Riders skateshop.

It seems like Langley is hardly on the skate-map these days. How come?
There aren't too many people who skateboard in Langley anymore. I grew up skating with Adam Fontaine, Jordan Repin and Hashbrown (Mike Schulze). They're the only guys from Langley who really skate hard. It takes us a bit more time to travel to Vancouver and film, but we put in the effort. I grew up skating the Brookswood park in Langley for like 5 years straight, and I've been skating Fleetwood in Surrey ever since. That's where I go to learn tricks and chill out.

When did you first get on Coastal, and what was it like joining a shop team with some of Canada's best, like the Decenzo brothers, Magnus Hanson and John Hanlon?
I got on Coastal in 2007 and they were pretty much the only guys on the team at the time. I felt pretty honored. They're definitely people to look up to because they're doin' it.

I've seen you skating in a few events over the past couple years. Are you hyped on the contest scene?
I'm not that into contests other than skating with friends, and it's fun to win money [laughs]. I've done pretty well in a few, so I might as well keep entering to see what happens.

What's your record for winnings?
In 2009 I went down to this Volcom Wild In The Parks contest in Peoria, Arizona. I got 5th in the Pro-AM section and $1500 US, so I was pretty happy. This dude David Langston from Texas is insanely good, and he got first. Louie Lopez was in it and stuff. It was pretty cool.

Which skate vids do you consider to be timeless?
There's actually 2 videos that I still watch all the time. In Bloom (2002) - there are no parts I like in particular, I'll just watch the whole thing. Street Cinema (2001), the City Stars video, is the other one; Paul Rodriguez, Justin Case and Mikey Taylor's parts are so good. That's the best video of all time [laughs].

(keep reading for a look into Dustin's skate memorabilia collection, and 'working-while-injured' philosophy)