EnRique Parrilla

Rider of the Month Enrique Parrilla

PHOTOS Enrique Parrilla Interviewer Sam Wake

@eparrillacreates EPARRILLA.com

Page 006

Enrique Parrilla Interview

There is truly something to be said about the motorcycle community. The people who find commonality on two wheels share a mythical sort of solidarity. Motorcycle history is riddled with tales of adventure and exploration. Lifelong friendships have been formed between complete strangers who happened to randomly find themselves sitting at the same bar at an unexpected time. The passion for the open road and raw experience of your body cruising down the pavement with no roll cage is special. It brings people together. We reached out to Enrique about collaborating with Kids & Cobras because we were inspired by his creative work. We were super honored when he agreed, and we are grateful he was willing to share some of his story with us. We wanted to take a moment and highlight some of his tale for you, so that you can enjoy the Enrique Parrilla Blend in context. He is an incredible creative and a good friend.

You recently moved from CO to NC, why the change?

We wanted to move away from the city and buy a little piece of land. We looked all over from Oregon to Iowa and we just couldn’t find the perfect combination of price and weather and land. Eventually we heard of a little town called Brasstown, NC. A little town with a rich history of grassroot music and a folk school that brought a lot of people from all over, including us to check it out. Next thing you know we are in a wormhole on zillow and shortly after we are visiting North

Carolina, 2 weeks later we have a little piece of land, a modest cottage home and an amazing barn.

Yes, I have seen the barn on your instagram. It looks amazing! Tell me about the barn.

Well the barn was what sold me to this land. I’m not sure when it was built but I am glad it was. Upstairs houses our offices and downstairs is my workshop and our motorcycles. We have a lot of grand plans down the pipeline but right now we are enjoying the process of accomplishing small victories in the barn.

Did you guys have any connections in North Carolina before moving out?

No, not at all! But it’s fine because we are finding some really awesome people. There is this coffee shop called Rare Bird Emporium. It’s this great little place and the owners Kate & Pav ( @rare_bird_emporium ) are really sweet and have done a great job at this location. It’s nice to be able to ride and work from here while having a sweet cup of joe.

What is your connection with Harley Davidson? How did that relationship form?

I’ve been working in the motorcycle industry now for almost 6 years and have met some amazing people along the way, one of them my good friends at Harley-Davidson. The opportunity to bridge the vintage motorcycles with the choppers with the modern Street Bob came about and I was fortunate enough to be the candidate for it. I love my old machines, with my panhead and shovelhead, so I’ll be the first to say that my Street Bob gives me similar vibes and feel extremely lucky to be part of the H-D team promoting it.

When you look back on chapters of your life, what was a defining moment for your career as a creative?

Back in my early 20’s, I used to play music and did the whole touring life. I would always bring my camera with me and take photos of the trips when I wasn’t playing. Eventually though, as much as I loved music it wasn’t going to pay the bills. I was living this life of touring and being broke, which was a lot of fun but not sustainable. Don’t get me wrong, I miss playing music but, I had to make a decision and I realized all the while unintentionaly photography had opened up a new world for me, this was the defining moment of career change. Today, I do a lot more than photography but that’s where it started. I have been blessed to get unique opportunities to create awesome things for amazing people. Photography was the starting point. Now it’s telling stories with all forms of media (photos, video, writing, etc…) It’s true what they say that everyone’s a photographer, I mean we all carry amazing little cameras in our pockets. However, the creativity comes from the person, the camera is simply a tool and so is Social Media. No matter what the amount of followers you have is, it’s about how you use these tools you have to tell your stories.

When did you start riding motorcycles?

I got into motorcycles later in my adult life. I am 38, but I started riding when I was around 27. My first bike was a 1981 KC 750. That thing was a piece of shit man. The good thing about it was that it taught me how to work on bikes. Always breaking down helped me figure it out. It fuckin pissed fuel all the time hell I’m suprise I didn’t catch on fire, it was awesome. haha! The more I started to learn about old bikes the more I appreciated the vintage world, it’s always a love hate but it’s always a good time.

I have seen some beautiful roads, man - with some questionable weather circumstances. If things aren’t going sideways then is it really a memorable trip? One such experience was a trip to Utah from Colorado, destination Zion National Park. If there was ever a state that brought some beauty compared to my beautiful Colorado, it will have to be the neighboring state of UT. With such beauty came lots of obstacles, including some of the gnarliest crosswinds I’ve ever encountered - heavier than those in Wyoming. Somewhere between Moab and Hanksville going through some canyons we hit winds that tossed us around like little hot toys. I remember saying to myself “oh fuck” as the wind veered me towards the opposite lane. Shit was gnarly.

Who are the people who have been highly influential for you?

My family - with the direct honesty and none of the filer.

What’s a word of advice you live by?

For me it’s pretty simple. I would encourage people to not take themselves too seriously and have some fun, KISS (keep it simple stupid).

ENRIQUE PARILLA BLEND

For a limited time we are releasing our first ever specialty coffee blend in collaboration with Enrique Parrilla, and we are STOKED about it!!! It has a sweet berry aroma with a chocolatey flavor profile.

There is a Limited Supply! [ONLY 25 CANS]