This interview has been in the works for a very long time. Between 3 hour question-answering-sessions, injuries, and other projects, it’s been hard to squeeze it in. Here it is, the first official in-depth interview with Toronto’s own Chris Silva. Sit back, relax, and get ready for the longest read of your life.

“Every rider has someone that they look up to and try to emulate, whether it’s their big brother that got them into riding or that mega-pro that they see on TV every few weeks. They go out, buy what their idols are rocking, dress how they dress, and even try to ride like they do. Unfortunately, not all kids get to meet their riding heroes, but I was lucky enough to meet mine and become great friends with him.

When I met Chris, I was riding a mountain bike, and he constantly got me confused with other big wheeled kids around the Southern Ontario scene at the time, but he never gave me static for not riding a BMX. That’s the kind of guy Chris is; as long as you’re shredding and having fun on your bike, it could have road wheels and he’ll still chat with you and be down. We got to know each other over the next couple years, and when I moved to Toronto for university, he took me under his wing; taking me out to all the best spots in the city, filming with me, showing me which lines would look the best, etc. I was amazed at the fact that such a good rider would actually take the time to do that for a no-name kid. Along with being one of the top five pros in Canada, he’s also one of the most down-to-earth, chill, carefree people I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with. He’s not like other pros, in the sense that they seem unapproachable. Even being a household name in Toronto, I always see kids just going up to him and bro-ing down. He doesn’t brush them off like he’s too busy; he talks to them (for as long as they like). I guess that’s what separates him from all the other guys out there. His attitude is something you don’t see very often in this day and age.

This doesn’t mean that he can’t take care of business. He’ll pegless hangover-tooth a 15 set street rail, then break your back with his knee (like so!) if you’re talking shit. Chris is oddly strong for his size- I heard that he took on a 300 foot Loch Ness monster begging for change once. Ever wonder why you don’t hear tell of Nessy anymore?

All joking aside, it is my privilege to present one the best interviews this place is gonna see for a while, the interview of one of my best and closest friends, and the newest addition to the Tenpack /Macneil /Animal/Little Devil family. Y’all been warned, its Chris Silva time, bitch…” - Chijioke Okafo.

R!: Hey! Tell us your name, age, city, all that. Even though we all know it
already.
Christopher Peter Almeida Silva, 22, Toronto, I’m 5′8”, brown hair and brown
eyes . I enjoy holding hands, cuddling, tickling, and long walks on the
beach.

R!: I know you have like ten aliases, tell us a couple of your favourites, and
the story behind them. I’m looking for the Klucky and the Sega story.
Haha, Klucky and Sega eh?…well Sega came from when we had the ICC
warehouse in winter of 2003-04 and it was when I really became good friends
with “Drifter” Dave, and I guess he would just sit upstairs of the skatepark
drunk/high and watch me ride calling out tricks for me to do while I was
riding, all the while holding a Playstation controller. So it came from there
I guess, “Sega Silva” sounded better than “Playstation Silva” so he started
to call me that, and it stuck for about a year or so.

Klucky came from Byron Lo. It pretty much has to do with the fact that I’m
Portuguese and a symbol of Portugal is a rooster, and also the fact
that I talk a ton of shit to the ICC guys, always telling them they’re slack
and need to produce more shit for the videos, haha.

R!: You always tell me stories that start with “Man, back in 2001..”, how long
have you been riding? And how much of your brain is filled with useless and
obscure bmx trivia?
Yeah, I think I’m starting to sound like Jimmy “Rexdale”. He’s the same way,
always knowing the year and month to go with a story, haha.
I started riding in like 1996-97 I think, so I’d say 10 years, a blur of
flatland, dirt, park, and street riding….. no vert for me, I like my teeth in
my mouth.
Yeah my brain is filled with stupid shit, like I can tell you crazy things
like what rider does tricks his wrong way, what the persons foot stance is,
what way they spin/throw the bars/do a toboggan, hahaha it’s crazy, probably
to do with the fact that I have like over 100 bmx videos, lmao, and I know
each pretty much off by heart.

R!: Do you prefer old videos or new videos? Tell us why, and what’s your all
time favourite video, and of course why.
Ummm, new videos are cool to see what’s going on with bmx, but yeah I really
like older videos, anything before 1998, or anything with Keven Gutierez,
he’s the best ever.
Its crazy how people think a trick some dude is doing now is “new”, like 90%
of all these “new” tricks have been done like over 10 years ago or way
longer than that.
I really cant give a favorite video but one that never seems to get old for
me and it was the first video I ever seen is Props Best of 1995….again Keven
Gutierez is the best ever!

R!: What’s your favorite kind of sandwich?
Ummm, I don’t know I really suck at food, haha. I like anything, but to get
some laughs out of Mickey, Rennie and Cook, I’ll say my favourite sandwich is a
“Sangwago”, inside joke for those few.

R!: Name some of your all-time favourite riders ever and why. I’m not talking
about any big name pay check pros either, I want some of those obscure
Ontario dudes that you seem to know all about.
All I will put here is someone that means more to me in bmx than anyone, he was
the first person I looked up to in person, was and is a huge influence
because he did and does what he wants. Has his own style and way of riding,
was a trend setter for BMX to me, and has done tricks that I’m just starting
to see today that people think are cool and new, not to mention he’s one of
the nicest people you will ever meet……KEVEN SALMON.

R!: We all know about the ICC. But give those who don’t a rundown of the who,
what, where, when and why.
ICC- pretty much started in fall of 2003.
“Drifter” Dave and Taro had an idea to start a winter warehouse in Toronto.
Keep in mind that this is when the Toronto scene was not tight at all, no
one knew each other well, except for a few that were tight, like the older
dudes. But yeah…
They got a bunch of us together at a little sketch Chinese place and had a
meeting and talked about the scene and about making a place to ride for the
winter, Drifter and Taro started everything the name (ICC) the symbol and
all.
So they found a spot, which was good for me cause it was a stone’s throw away
from my house, so I ran the joint, if you wanted to ride you called my
house, was good and bad, haha.
All of us that road there all the time got really tight and kinda started to
establish ourselves as a crew, the “ICC”, and it went from there. We all lived
to ride street, so when spring came the ramps went back into my yard for
the summer. We were still the ICC and we all just kept it that way riding
and hanging out like the tightest crew ever and we are, everyone knows
everyone in the circle.
The ICC is… “Drifter” Dave , Taro S, Ben Rennie, Byron Lo, Adrian
Ellis (E), George (Armani), Scotty (Scotty 2 Hotty or Pastafari), Enreque (Butta),
myself…..Leland and Patty are ICC ’till death, but they were never super
tight with us they always rode with me a lot or just by themselves, and yeah
they road with everyone too, but they are not as tight as the rest. And fuck
yeah, how can I forget the real OG don’t leave your bike un-attended when hes
around kids… Abraham (Bramz!)
That’s the main crew of us, then we got like people that are 100% ICC but
not, you know what I mean?…Colin Fields, Mike Wilkinson, Matt Vonavich, Jimmy
Rexdale, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some people but those guys stand out in my mind.

R!: How many ICC videos have there been? Who was the driving force behind all
those?
There has been only 2 ICC videos…”Lock n Load” (2004) and “That’s What I’m
Talking About” (2005) .And we have a mostly unseen pre-ICC video I have here at
my house, only one copy in existence. haha. It may see the light of day, some
day.
I hate to say it but id say I’m the “main” person pushing videos, but
everyone does a big part… Ben has got a good camera (it’s only good when the
battery is not dead or he doesn’t record over footy, fuckin’
retard! hahaha), Butta doing editing for the first video and Patty doing the
second. Everyone drives themselves to film and do new stuff so its good.’

R!: You’re a big fan of apple juice, I think. Tell us all about how you go
about drinking apple juice. I opened your fridge and just saw a glass
sitting there, and saw you sipping out of it every once in a while. What’s
the story behind all that?
Hahaha, well kinda my mom tends to over-buy things if she sees I like it, so
I guess she got apple juice one day and since I liked it she went out and got
like 50 cans of it, hahaha.
I’m pretty lazy and I like to rush things so I figure if I have a cup of
juice filled in my fridge all the time then I don’t need to waste time
filling a cup up if I really want a drink. It’s there for me. Pre-made already
you know? hahaha. Yeah kinda a bad habit I know, mother hates it.

R!: Why do you have two kitchens?
Well, well, well, I have 2 kitchens and 2 living rooms. One of each we don’t
ever use. I guess its some Portuguese thing, like a few of my Portuguese
friends have the same thing, its weird. I guess its for show for like if the
Queen ever comes over there will be a nice living room for her to be in.
I think she’s coming soon…?

R!: I have one of like twenty-five copies of Lock And Load, I put it on the
internet and was going to save it for this interview, but the forums found
it. What do you think of putting videos on the internet and what do you
think of web-videos in general.
Yes there are only 35 “Lock n Load” copies out there and 25 of them are
first print so you got one of 25. haha.
I think videos on the net are cool, I have no problem with it. Bmx is not
about making money, if you make a video and get pissed its on the net the
next day its cool, but if that anger is because you’re not going to make money
off selling more copies then you’re in it for the wrong reason. I want all the
ICC videos on the net, I lose money doing them, I just make them for fun and
to get people out there in bmx-land to see that there is shit going on in
Toronto, and a crew of rad dudes killing shit for fun in the name of bmx.

R!: I always hear about your love for sunflower seeds, and I never thought it
could be so true. Enlighten us on your love for seeds.
Ummm, I wish I could remember when I started eating them, I’d say maybe
around the age of 8-10 years old, I don’t know its like drugs, haha. It’s just
something to do while watching TV or a movie, I cant sit still and watch tv,
so I got to eat seeds to keep myself moving, haha. And they’re sooo good, I’m
totally into salted ones just plane ol’ salted. I eat a cup full every day or
two, no lie.

R!: There seems to be rumors of friction between you and Bernie at 1664. It
seems like you simply left the team out of your own personal interest, and
everyone is making it seem much worse. Could you tell us what you think of
the whole situation and BMX politics in general?

Yeah, it does seem bad. I’ve seen some of it online and its funny to me to hear
people shit talking. I don’t mind it I actually like it. Its funny to hear and
see people go out of their way to do stuff like that.
I haven’t talked to Bernie since I called him when I gave him the news, but I
don’t know what he thinks, I hope he doesn’t hate me he’s an awesome guy. He did
a lot for me, and I gave 1664 100% every time I was on my bike so I hope
there is no bad feelings over what happened. It to me was just time to move
on and things didn’t seem to be as it were when I started with 1664, so I
guess I slowly started to lose what I felt when I first started to ride for
them, I don’t think I should ride for a company if I’m not 100% committed and
100% on supporting them.
BMX politics in general is the shit side of box, I’ve been riding for 10
years till I seen it, it all happened so fast, like, Bernie thought I was
getting paid to ride for Jay and Tenpack. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t
ride my bike for money and I always say I don’t want to get paid, if I wanted
money id go to school and get a job. I love BMX i want to ride for life, and
it seems with BMX and some other sports that when u start to get paid for
what you love, then if the money one day is gone, you dont seem to love it
anymore, because it changes its meaning and it was a way to get money and
live, not a way of life.
I think the best thing that ever happened to me in this whole BMX game was
when the Macneil and Baco dudes were in Toronto last year. I was on 1664 , I
showed them all around cause they do what I do; ride bikes. I don’t care if
you ride for someone I don’t ride for, it doesn’t matter to me at all, we both
ride bikes so we should get along. I thought in the back of my head that
I was not going to get any coverage or anything, so I went out with them
just riding how I’d ride if i was stoked on a crew i was showing around
Toronto. i basically thought that cause I was riding for a different team I
was not going to get any coverage (BMX politics), but it was the opposite of
that, I have no clue who was behind it all, but I’m ever thankful. Basically
in the Props video of the Macneil/Baco trip I got a few clips and I got the
end trick, and in Ride BMX mag I got a 2 page spread and a small blurb about me. I
was more then stoked, it was unbelievable to see that “BMX politics” didn’t
get in the way. I had a positive attitude, rode all the time and showed them
around everywhere. I guess sometimes a good persons attitude can be greater
then a stupid thing like who you ride for.

R!: You definitely have done some stuff down rails that no one has seen before.
Tell us about how you think of a trick, how does it progress in your head?
Explain that to us.
I look at a rail in a few different ways….
I kind of look at a rail in the sense of it being a coping spine (ps, I’m
super scared of coping spines and have never done a coping trick over
one, haha) but yeah it’s like the same shit if a dude can do a whip to over ice
on a spine, with today’s kids doing hop whips up stairs and over things, why
is it not possible to do a whip to over ice on a rail or just things like
that? That’s what goes on in my head.
Everything is possible within reason, I try to look at things like that. Yeah
there’s a few things I want to do but shit I don’t know if my body can take
anymore slams on street rails, its not fun anymore to eat shit 15 times and
then pull a trick once just to say I did it….. but yeah I will still continue
to do that anyways, haha.
I have no clue why no one is doing spins
whips or bar spins to grinds like they should. Everyone is at different
riding levels and I don’t think I’m at a level to go do a hop whip to rail or
something like that, but its totally possible. I guess the dudes that can hop whip super good dont look at rails like I do. Back to the spine thing…
a rail is like a spine in some sort of way well in my mind, a spine has
coping and the coping tricks you do on spins are all possible on street
rails, you just got to have the right mind set to see it and the right
tricks and skill to get it done.
I also look at rails sometimes if I’m at a contest, I just think of something
on the spot maybe in practice or during my run. The bar spin to BBgrind I
did on the rail at the bike show was last second thought. Haha. They called
out last tricks and I was like “Ok, think of something crazy on the rail, its
Toronto and ICC is in the house.” hahaha, So I looked at it and thought “Ok throw
the bars and go to a BB on it.” hahah and it worked out after a bunch of
tries.
I dont know I guess everyone sees it different. Its whatever your style is
and your bike set up is too. Since I’ve gone pegless I see thinks and rails so
different, like it opened so many more ideas of what to do, whether it was
stupid or impossible or just trying to do a peg trick with no pegs, its all
your mind set on things and I try to think of different things.

R!: You’re always injured. But the most serious of all those injuries seems to
be one of your shoulders, what’s that from?
Hahaha……….hahaha, back on the topic of sunflower seeds I see, haha.
Yeah well the worst thing wrong with me has nothing to do with BMX, its from
those damn seeds, haha.
I guess over 15 years of leaning over my couch on my left shoulder took its
toll and my shoulder is pretty fucked, like I get a sharp pain in the joint
if I reach it past half way. haha.

R!: And trying to prevent the shoulder thing has led to a new injury, tell us
about that one too.
Yeah I shifted sides and kind of sit twisted on my couch now and I think I’m
developing a pain in my lower back. Frig seeds are dangerous. But I cant
give them up. hah

R!: Are you a good host?
Fuck off….. well now that everyone bugs me I think I’m a bad host, friggin
people come to my house I offer a drink or whatever, say “make yourself at
home”, but then my mother comes and makes food and everything for my guests
and then says to me and everyone “Chris you’re a bad host!” Haha, fuck!

R!: What do you think of dudes who always call you by Chris Silva instead of
just Chris?
Hahaha omg, I think its funny, like Jamie, Jessika, you, Taylor, and everyone
that does that to me I’m like “give me a break my name is Chris and you’re my
best friends call me Chris!” haha it just sounds weird I guess, its funny and
makes me smile, so don’t stop saying it.

R!: Do you do stupid things when you drink? Give me a long-winded example.
Not really but I guess I have done stupid things while drunk, like wanting
to fight people or getting on a bike and trying stupid tricks that I
shouldn’t… or last weeks perfect example, but I don’t remember much of it so
it doesn’t count. No long examples sorry! That stuff is only for the people
who are there, not for anyone else.
What happens with me drunk stays with who was with me drunk. Haha that sounds
bad, but its not really.

R!: Tell us about your view on sponsorship and media and ‘coming up’. Do you
mind riding for yourself, not shooting photos or video, and just relaxing,
or would you rather get out there and get to contests and getting people
stoked on your riding?
Sponsors are great when you get to ride for a company you really are into
and like what they’re doing BMX and something proud to support. I’ve been
lucky to have ridden for a few of those companies I’ve always liked. Riding
for someone now to me is not so big of a deal, I’d only ride for a company
that I fully enjoy riding for and I fully am committed to supporting.
I think I’d be happy with my life if my riding was over, its not like I’ve
done everything there is to do, I never wanted or expected that, but you get
to a state of being comfortable with your riding and its good to get there
and then its up to you to see if you want to stay there or go further and
take it to the next level I guess. For me I’m happy to be where I am but I’m
pushing forward and progressing as well. Not as fast as I’d like but injuries
suck, that’s all I can say, haha.
It’s a hard question to answer I guess, if I had never done a contest, video
or magazine, I’d tell you that I wish I could be and do all of them but now
that I have done a bit of them all its just normal to do it and its great to
get in that stuff but its not the most fun part of riding. It’s fun and the end
result is great but a great day or riding with friends beats it all for me
now.

R!: You made finals at Not-So-Metro, but didn’t really ride. Do you stress
contest results that much, or have you ever?
Yeah I didn’t ride cause I did something to my knee joint and it was feeling
bad, so I’m not about to tear a ACL just to ride finals. And there’s two sides to
me and contests, on one hand I stress sooo much to practice and get really
nervous the day before, but in all honesty I do not care about comps its just
another reason to see old friends and make new ones, that’s what they’re about
for me. Buu I do stress on the fact that I want to ride good so I don’t look
stupid out there and mainly I really love the fact that I rep for Toronto
and to show everyone out there that there is people here in Toronto that
kill shit, so don’t sleep on us.

R!: Do you ever get super pissed when you ride? What trick seems to make you
snap when you don’t get it?
Yeah I do sometimes, not pissed anymore like I used to and throw my bike, but
I get frustrated a lot. When I know I can do something and it just doesn’t
work, I’m really stubborn with things like that, but I try to just say to
myself, its not meant to happen today. I don’t think I got tricks that I get
pissed about if I don’t pull them, but maybe something like if I do a
barspin and I don’t catch the bars ill be like surprised and like “huh what
just happened?” Cause that’s rare, haha.

R!: What’s your take on bar-ends, should everyone run them? Tell us a story.
My friend Paulina is telling me I should write something intelligent in this
interview, hahaha. I don’t think I can though, these are pretty stupid
questions, I love it… Sorry Paulina, no can do.
Barends are good to have though, I cant stand seeing people without them. Its scary,
you can get stabbed in the gut and its pointless to have a bike with open
tubes that are just there ready to stab you, so yeah everyone should have
them….Hey, come to think of it, that was an intelligent thing I just said. It
was full of good advice…..there you go Paulina, I said some smart things, I
did.

R!: You gave me a pair of ICC/Silva edition bar-ends too, give us the scoop on
the little hammer you put them on with, how long have you had that for?
Haha I didn’t give u ICC bar ends fool, they were like Macneil ones I
think, lol. But yeah that hammer, haha it’s a stump. I’ve had it since I can
remember, it was mine from a kid and it broke a few times in its life so I
just kept on fixing it and now the handle is like 8 inches long, lol. But I
can never throw it away.

R!: What do you think of rails with stairs on both sides?
Um they like to hurt my ankles. I find that if I ever go to bail off a rail
and put my foot on a stair, that I have the tendency to fold my ankle all
the time. I cant run out of stairs anymore, its weird, But yeah, rails with
stairs on both sides are real rails, if there’s a rail with grass and a rail with stairs on both sides right next to it, I don’t even see the one with grass on the side. It’s not a trick to me, you go to a rail and you hit the rail that is the most street! Hahaha.

R!: Tell us all your embarrassing sponsors and what they did for you too.
Which one? Haha, Um I’ve rode for a few companies but I guess Hyper is what you’re
talking about? haha, yeah I rode for them for a year or so and I figured it
would be a good way to get contests and plane tickets paid for, and it was
it was pretty good, but as you get older and wiser you see that supporting a
company that is bullshit and has a huge money making machine behind it, that
is not where I want to be and not who I want to support.

R!: Any last words? Give us a long list of Thank-You’s too.
Yeah I guess that’s it that’s all. Just wanted to say this interview took
me 3 hours to do and during that time I had a few cups of apple juice, some
bread, helped my mom take in groceries (more apple juice), talked to Paulina
for a bit and she ragged on me for not saying anything smart in this interview, sorry.

A long list eh? Ok I’ll start from the beginning and make this super long and
maybe a bit annoying. hahaha…..
First off all my childhood friends from my hood; Harwood Park The HP boys
always give me support since day one and they got my back 100%. They are all
family to me.
People I seen riding at parks and stuff I really looked up to… Keven
Salmon, Doug Pilkey, John Pratt, Justin and Tom Clappison, Phill McFadden, Mike
Wilkinson….
Riding and progressing with great friends from the start like Ryan Senechal,
Lee Allen, Micky, Terry, Mike Headford, Mike Gooch, Teena, Thomas cook, two of my
greatest friends Patrick and Leland! All the ICC boys, Drifter Dave, Taro
Saito, Ben Rennie, Adrian Ellis, Butta, Byron lo, Scotty,
Abraham, George, Jimmy Rexdale…
Greatest of riding friends, Kyle Ferrera, Mark Storey, John Dowker, Jamie
Dalanie, Dave Harrison, Chijioke, Aussie, Jamie Burke, the Niagra dudes, Lee,
Chris, Paul, Glen, Mark, those dudes are awesome!
all the Ottawa/Lando crew Chris, Jeff, Rich, Kyle, Roland, Ryan and Dave
Mccaig…….
Adrian and Ian Miller from when i used to ride for Airwalk, Bernie and 64,
Greg at core, ace for the Goodfoot hookup, Colin Fields for taking lots of
photos of me, Dave at RED magazine for running the photos.
Jay, Jamie, Harley and everyone at Tenpack!
Got to thank my Mom for letting me take the backyard over and make ramps,
they’re finally all gone and the yard is hers once again, hahaha. My girlfriend
Jaclyn, Cory at Repset, Mike Heaton- I think he’s doing a good job at trying to
expand BMX in Toronto and he works harder then anyone I’ve ever seen!
I can’t think of much more at this moment, but there is so may people I want
to thank and its hard to remember everyone, so I’m sorry if I forgot
anyone, haha. This is a super long list.

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