The Danny Renaud Interview
Every now and again, a skater's first video part debuts and shakes up all of skateboarding. The list of these skaters is a short one, including Guy Mariano (Video Days), Jake Johnson (Mindfield) and PJ Ladd (PJLWHL). And of course, let us not forget Danny Renaud for his break out part in Habitat's 2003 video Mosaic. His trick selection, spot choices, song, and undeniable style made for the perfect storm of a timeless video part. We here at Village Psychic consider it to be one of the best parts ever.
From the opening part in Habitat's first full-length video to standout part in Static 3, Danny has no doubt made his mark on skateboarding. Although his career path has at times been a turbulent one, you would never have guessed it by talking with him today.
We caught up with Danny to talk about what he's been up to upon returning to his native Florida, The Little Farmhouse Rescue and the upcoming Politic video:
Danny Renaud with a boss Switch Ollie. Photo: Joao Mascarenhas
Village Psychic: So what's going on with the Miami Childrens Initiative, I heard you’re teaching skateboarding with them?
Danny Renaud: I don’t know if I’m teaching the kids, I kinda just pull out some skateboards, a grind box, maybe a little jump ramp or something and skate with the kids. It’s pretty cool.
VP: How did you get involved with them?
DR: My lady's sister works for the charity, MCI, and I saw she was introducing all these new activities to keep the kids busy. One of them was a field trip to go surfing and their area isn’t really by the ocean. I overheard that and thought it would be cool to offer skating because it's free to do once you get the skateboard. I brought a couple of boards there, met all the staff, and they were totally welcoming. It’s pretty cool. I just hang with the kids and skate.
VP: Speaking of your girl, did you two start the Little Farmhouse Rescue?
DR: Yeah.
VP: How long ago did you start that?
DR: A year ago exactly, when we moved from New York back home. We were talking about starting it for years but we were living in New York and it's not really ideal to start something like that out of an apartment. It was kind of the plan: as soon as we moved back (to Florida) it was go time to get it going.
VP: How many dogs are you fostering at any given time?
DR: 3- 5 usually. We kind of split it up between the house and the farm where the rescue is based. We’re building a barn up there right now to kind of the house the animals, but right now in my house I have 5 cats, 4 dogs, and two squirrels.
VP: Squirrels?
VP: Squirrels?
DR: My lady brought home two baby squirrels in a shoebox yesterday. Apparently there was a photoshoot at the farm, and all these prop people were like “Oh, we found these squirrels”. My lady was like "No way!", so she ran to the store and got them some Pedialite and these little bottles. They’re here. Eventually we will take them to a sanctuary. but for the next couple days we’re just nursing them back to health. Never a dull moment.
A mini ramp with perfect street skater dimensions. Photo via Danny's Instagram.
VP: I did lurk you out on Instagram, did I see that you have mini ramp there too?
DR: Yeah. I put a mini ramp there before I even put lightbulbs in the sockets. I tried to get a mini ramp a few years ago, it just wouldn’t fit in my yard. I got the ramp for free. I knew a guy that promotes a club and they have a skate night once a year that they build a mini ramp for. So I asked him “Thats only for one night? What do you do with it the next day?” and he’s like “Oh, we tear it down. We use the wood for scrap.” So I rented a U-Haul, picked it up, put it together and now its there. It’s pretty perfect street skater dimensions, 4 feet tall.
VP: Speaking of skating, I heard you came up to Philly not too long ago to bring someone a kitten?
DR: We try to find the animals forever homes. We travel, but usually not that far. I look for any excuse to go up to New York when its warm to skate. Every time I go to New York I take the Chinatown bus to Philly to skate all the famous spots. I just go for the day, leave in the morning and go back to New York by dinnertime. So I was skating in Philly about a month and a half ago, I was with my friend and he told me about his cat that he fucking loved who died of cancer. I showed him some pictures of a cat we had and said “Dude, do you want a cat? I've got a cat for you”. I wanted a reason to come back up there, more of a reason to than to just go skate and eat hamburgers. I went up there with the cat to New York, then took a bus ride to Philly. That cat traveled, for sure. I gave the cat to my buddy and then I skated all day, then turned around.
The cat Benny Fairfax found and Danny brought to Philly. A skate cat. Photo: Anthony Trivelli
You know what I just thought of? That cat I brought to Philly, here's how I found it: I was showing the entire Adidas skateboarding team around in Miami. We were skating a spot, and I had just taken them by the barn to warm up on the mini ramp, so they saw that I had a lot of animals around. There were puppies in the bathroom. We were at a skate spot and Benny Fairfax comes out of the bushes with this kitten, and I’m like “Dude what are you doing to me?” I made him hold onto it all day long and take care of it, and told him I'd take it home after the session. So sure enough, he put it in a skateboard box for me and I took it home for like month, and thats the kitten that made it to [Philly]. It’s a skater's cat.
Danny filming for the upcoming Sabotage 4 video. Photo Anthony Trivelli.
VP: I heard you bring a camera in a backpack when you travel and have locals film you, is there any truth to that?
DR: Yeah, I mean, sort of. It’s not really like that but it’d be funny if it was. With filming for Politic, the videos are filmed with a VX1000, the OG skateboard camera, and no one really uses them anymore. Before I go somewhere where I don’t really know people, I'll reach out to Brennan Conroy, the filmer / video guy at Habitat. I know that he's been everywhere. He knows people in like every city, and I just reach out to him and he’ll set me up with a filmer or somebody to show me around when I get there. I just bring my own camera so I know that I'll be able to film with the format needed for the videos.
VP: It seems like I’ve seen the Politic team out filming a lot lately, both in person and on Instagram. Are you guys working on a full length video?
DR: Yeah we are. We just got back from a trip through Cincinnati, Tennessee and Atlanta. But yeah, we are working on a full length video, coming out next spring.
VP: Who’s filming it?
DR: John Valenti. He’s filming the majority of it and editing it.
VP: Are you trying to film a full part?
DR: Yeah, I’m definitely trying to film a full part. I have a few seconds of footy saved up.
Vert wall in Lima, Peru. Doesn't seem like the same old to us. Photo via Danny's Instagram
VP: Are we gonna see the same sort of Danny Renaud part we've come to expect? Or will it be a bunch of no complys and wallrides now that you're in your 30's?
DR: I mean, I like wallrides but I’m definitely skating the same type of terrain, and I’m not filming any no complies. Same tricks, same shit.
Interview conducted by Ian Browning.
Thank you Danny for talking with us!
Check out The Little Farmhouse here.
See your future on our Instagram.