Revolution: SIFIKA Shoes were just released, the line offers a nice blend of styles for skaters to choose from. Who are those involved with SIFIKA? What were your influences for creating the initial line?

Jon Julio: The ideas was brought upon by Mathias of USD and Powerslide Distribution. I do not own sifika in anyway. I am just a rider and am heavily involved in the marketing and design side of it all.

Revolution: What's next for SIFIKA? What projects are you working on?

Jon Julio: We are working on a lot of accessories like shoe laces,foot beds, and socks. Plus we will be introducing the new Oakland shoe (see pic) look out for these items. Kennedy has been putting together some amazing stuff..

Revolution: From designing footwear, to moving into designing a skate brand- VALO. Tell us about Valo, who is behind it, and what was your motivation to start Valo?

Jon Julio: To run my own show and design my own skates was something that I've always wanted. I am very fortunate to be in this position and to have such a great company as Roces behind me. I have a great team of friends which is the foundation of the company. From the design side I want to take boots back to a stream line/simpler look. By that I mean smaller and less bulky. Away from ski boot size and nothing freaky/flashy as far as crazy lines and what not. The biggest influence of course is shoe design. Nike, Adidas, Puma and a lot of what these skateboarding shoe companies are doing. I want to make skates that skate great of course, but are also fashionable for kids. I want kids who wear valo to be educated and know that what they have on their feet is a great product and represents a lot. When they pick up a pair of Valos, they know they're riding a high quality/skater run product.

Revolution: You've had a history with Roces, they were your first skate sponsor back in the day. Tell us about your relationship with them, how does it feel to be involved with the company you started with?

Jon Julio: It's a great feeling to be back on board. Refreshing and very inspiring. Roces is a great company with great people.

Revolution: Without revealing too much, what are some of the highlights of the skate? When is the skate to be released?

Jon Julio: The first model that we will be releasing will be the t.v.1 (team valo 1) They will be available for the 2004 holiday season in 2 colorways. 1st colorway is an all black and 2nd color way is an all grey...(see pics for details and look of skate)

Revolution: Who are the team riders for Valo? Tell us about them.

Jon Julio: The valo team is myself,John Starr,Erik Bailey and Mike Martinho. It made a lot of sense to work with everyone. John and I are best friends and we obviously click on similar visions and ideas on how companies should be run and marketed. Erik was on USD when I was on the team. We immediately got a long and I saw him being apart of the valo family right away. Mike didn't live very far away from me in Norcal...I was skating with him a lot, we clicked and the rest is history..We are all doing everything together at this point.All of us on the same page, all taking care of business. You'll see what I'm saying when you see the upcoming magazines and video secitions from everyone. The team is focused.

Revolution: IMYTA Amsterdam just went off, how did it go?

Jon Julio: It went amazing. The turn out was the biggest ever with over a thousand pure rollerbladers in attendance. The skating was a bit scary at times with all the kids going all out ...some of the falls were insane. Laurant Calame's sweat stance was the craziest trick of the day...props to him for pulling out the big win.

Revolution: There are so many skaters pushing the envelope, taking rollerblading to the next level. What skaters do you look up to? Who inspires you?

Jon Julio: At the moment Erik Bailey. He's been staying with me here in Southern California for the last 3 weeks. He has been destroying every spot we go to. Look out for his interview coming in the September/October issue of Daily Bread...you'll see what I mean.

Revolution: The IMYTA has blown up to a worldwide event, more countries are being recognized, more and more skaters are involved. Where do you envision the IMYTA growing into next? What would you like to see?

Jon Julio: At the moment we are fully focused on making the event run as smooth as possible. Permits are not the easiest thing to get and controlling thousands of people, especially skaters, is a hard thing to do. So we are working our hardest to get the events rolling the best way possible.

Revolution: The constant pursuit for rollerblading to go mainstream- it's two sided with those who want to keep it underground, and those who would like to see it grow. In your opinion, where do you want to see rollerblading moving towards?

Jon Julio: I think there's a need for both. We need more kids to put skates on. TV is a great place to promote it. As long as it is edited correctly and the right people are promoting it then I think we are doing good things...Otherwise it hurts us. But on the underground side. Being alternative is what got me into rollerblading..Being different..We are a counter culture and that's what makes rollerblading what it is. There's room for both. Kids get into it because its different and underground but some kids will never know about it and draw themselves to other sports. Which is where t.v. can be very beneficial for us.

Revolution: Headcaselife displayed your love for music, culture, and lifestyle. How was working with some of your favorite artists for the video? Are you working on any new projects for Headcaselife?

Jon Julio: Headcaselife was an amazing experience for me. Working with Sage Francis, Sole, Masta Killa, The Art of Fact, GoldenChyld, and Lexicon was insane. No plans on working on another project yet...maybe next year. At the moment I just finished filming a section for Second Regime and I am now working on the new Valo Team Video.

Revolution: With everything that you're involved with, how do you maintain a balance between it all?

Jon Julio: Well right now..I only ride for Valo, Sifika and 2R..and have IMYTA as well. I basically quit everything else to focus on what's most important which of course is VALO.

Revolution: What is next for you? What are your plans for this year?

Jon Julio: Really focusing on Valo and getting it out there to the kids on time...working on new designs and products. We are filming the valo team video now...so look out for that. We are designing new products as well...so look out for some suprises.

IMYTA: We're going to finish the IMYTA up this year and have some different plans circulating for 2005.

Revolution: Thank you for your time Jon, who would you like to thank for getting you to where you are today?

Jon Julio: My parents..my bro. Valo, Roces, Sifika, 2R, Daisy...big ups to Hollywood, all the homies in the bay..socal, everywhere, thanks for all of your support.