Cato Dobbs – Issue 38 Interview

New Zealand; home of the kiwi and of beautiful landscapes, a truly beautiful place for anyone to grow up. Google just told me that 5% of NZ is made up of its human population, while the other 95% is animals. Luckily for us, Cato Dobbs is part of that 5%. Steadily making a name for himself outside of NZ, he is a quiet man of many talents but his trick selection and style speaks volumes. Keep an eye out for Cato, popping up on a screen near you very soon.

Mate, hope you’re well …..Whereabouts are you right now?

Scoady! Yeah, I’m doing well. Just posted up in Auckland at the moment, trying to stay productive. 

You’re born and bred in New Zealand right? 

Yep, born and bred in Auckland, New Zealand. So many people ask me where I’m from and when I say that they go, “Where are you actually from?” (laughs). My mum is from Singapore for everyone who asks.

Why don’t we start with a bit of an introduction for those who don’t know?

My name is Cato and I’m 21 years old. I don’t know what else there is to say (laughs).

What’s a normal day like for you in Auckland?

Nothing that interesting to be honest. I’m either working or skating. I work casually for two different jobs. Usually I’m at The Auckland City Mission, which is an op shop (thrift shop), or I’m out the back of a bulk food shop packaging spices. Working at the op shop gets kind of sketchy sometimes because it’s on K Road. Back in the day K Road used to be a red light district but it’s slowly turned into a creative hub. It’s pretty chill now, but you do still see some sketchy stuff. The other day someone came in asking to trade a bag of meth for some soggy T-shirt. The bulk food shop is pretty mindless so I’m pretty much just listening to podcasts and music all day, which is kind of nice to do once a week. After work I’ll go down to the local skatepark or go filming with the lads.

Auckland has so many spots, people have been going to NZ on trips for years and there is still so much untapped gold. What makes NZ so special?  

My dad just went on a rant when I told him about this question. He reckons it’s because the architecture and the urban planning sucks, which makes for shitty little junctions and left over bits that are good for skating. I think that people go on trips to NZ because so much stuff is still open. We don’t have a massive skate scene so it’s easier to do tricks on new spots without worrying about ABDs. After travelling, I realised how much I love being in NZ. We only have a population of 5 million people across the whole country so it’s really easy going and quiet. In my opinion all the small towns and beautiful scenery makes NZ so special.

I couldn’t agree more with that; if anyone reading this hasn’t been over there, book a trip ASAP. By the time this comes out people will have seen your new part from the NB Australian video ‘High Noon’, dropping any day now, how did that come about and how was it working on that?

Filming for that was so fun! Cameron Sparkes randomly called me and asked if I wanted to come on a trip to Adelaide to film for a small video they were doing. I was so hyped because it was my first trip and the first time I’ve been recognised outside of New Zealand. After going on that trip I went to Sydney for a week and then Sparkes asked if I wanted to film for the video they were going to start working on which turned into ‘High Noon’. Everyone involved with New Balance Australia is so welcoming and I felt like I gelled with the team pretty fast, which was a big relief for me as I’m pretty quiet. The only struggle was that I broke my ankle near the beginning of filming so I was out for around 6 months, which sucked. Other than that everything went pretty smooth. The filmer Zoolz (George Kousoulis) helped out so much for me. He was like a coach but it never felt like filming was a chore. He would pick me up from my mate’s house most mornings and we would film and talk shit all day, it was the best! I made so many new friends and memories on those filming trips. Little Cato would be so gassed.

Who’s your normal crew back at home? 

I’ve been skating heaps with Harry Kidman and Mikey Gibson as we are filming for some upcoming videos for Always, which has been super fun. And I can’t forget the day ones, Charlie Aubrey and Theo Clarke type shit (As Theo would say. Sick of him saying that bullshit LA slang).

What’s happening with Always – they have turned it into a board brand right? 

Always is a clothing brand that came out of Mount Maunganui in New Zealand and is now based in London. The transition was super natural but yeah, they are doing the full skate program now. I’m so excited for it because I’ve been wanting it to happen for so long and I’m grateful that Nick and Mac wanted me to be a part of it. 

And you’re a part of the new video about to come out? 

Yeah, me and Mikey are going to do an introduction clip for Instagram which should come out at the end of May. They are also working on a London based clip which I’ll be trying to film for while I’m over there and which is coming out around October. I think there will be some trips around Europe for the video, which I’m excited for. 

I know you’ve got your own brand, what’s going on with that?

Yeah, it’s called Citylink. I don’t know if I would call it a brand (laughs), that makes it sound like I’m a business owner. It’s more of a silly passion project that I was doing while I was at uni that has turned into a little more. I’ve made some clothes with friends and we have a silly gig/prem coming up. I’m trying to have as much fun with it as possible. A few skate shops in NZ are keen to stock some clothes so I might take it a bit more seriously at the end of the year. The highlight of it all is messing around with the Instagram page and also getting Zoolz in a tramp stamp tee.

What’s coming up for you? Is there anything you’re working on? 

I briefly mentioned some of it before, but I’m going to Europe and the UK for summer. Me and a few mates are starting in Spain in June, then making our way through France and Germany before heading up to the UK. After they leave I’ll probably be staying in London for as long as possible to film for the new Always video. It’s super expensive in London so I’ll see how long I last, but I’m going to try being super skint. We’re also planning on having a NZ Always clip done by the end of the year with me, Mikey, Robin and Hootie. I think we will be doing a filming trip down to the South Island for the video, which will be dope. There should also be a short part I filmed for Thunder out soon. So basically I’m going to be filming and travelling for the rest of the year.

Last question – when are you moving over to Australia with the rest of the NZ Heads… or you going to be an Auckland Old Head until you pack it in?

You made ‘Auckland Old Head’ sound gnarly (laughs). I definitely have no plans to move to Australia anytime soon. Australia feels the same as NZ but there’s too many people there. I want to live in a different country but I haven’t figured out where. London seems cool and I know a lot of people that live there, but it’s so damn expensive. Unless I become rich or really bored I’ll be chilling in NZ for the next few years.