They'll try to apply the rules of the day to the game, where you can't touch your board with your hands, or you can't step off your board, etc and I want nothing to do with it. It's like a game from a different planet or something and it's hard for me to relate to anybody who would think of skateboarding in such a narrow way.
We didn't call it a sport necessarily, and skaters definitely weren't thought of as athletes, we were thought of as misfits.
I'm not out here on the front lines trying to create clones, or consumers, or worshippers of who I am, and what I do. I'm trying to nurture the idea that you should do your own thing, which is really powerful.
I always try to individualize everything, every person. I see individuals and that's why I've never fallen for racism, or any type or classification of people.
Through skateboarding, I have an open line of communication, some common ground and common ground is big man. That enables me to travel around the world and no matter where I am, or who I'm with, connect with other young people, and I can have an instant dialogue and an instant relationship based on the fact that we skateboard, and when I'm doing appearances and demos, that's not lost on me.
Everything that I'm really about is being an individualist. I believe in individuality.
I strive to do my best every single time and I think that's something the skate community knows about me and appreciates.
I desire to have a dialogue that's positive, and communicative and moves forward, and is about something real, not just consumption.
When I got sponsored, it symbolized a major change and a major shift in skateboarding.
I feel like the best thing, as far as what I do with kids, is I treat them like human beings.
I don't want to be an object of consumption. I like to get out there and participate because I care about it. It's not because I've gotten filthy rich off the hides of young skaters that I feel some sickening obligation to act on, and make myself look like I'm not that bad of a guy. It's because I actually care.
I don't like to get too involved in the idea that "I'm a role model" and that everything I do is right. I don't think that's the case at all, but I think who I am at my core, and what I represent at my core, is something that is meaningful, and can be something that other people can gain inspiration from.
Where I'm coming from is that nothing I do is from a sense of obligation.
I grew up on the Bones Brigade as well. The very first skateboard video I saw was the Bones Brigade Video Show and I'd always valued the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta as the ultimate in skateboarding.
I don't see masses, I don't see it like, oh there's hundreds of people here and I'm overwhelmed. I just try to think, well I could be a kid in that crowd, or my daughters could be in that crowd, and no one wants to feel like they're just part of the masses.
I would dream of being a pro skater, but I never dreamt I'd be discovered by Lance Mountain and Stacey Peralta, who were two major heroes of mine, and be asked to skate for that team and be a part of their company.
Kids at skate parks will step up and challenge me to a game of Skate, but I'm over that, I really don't care. I'm all about participating, and I'm all about being a part of this scene, but there's certain vibes I just don't get along with.
I grew up with heroes, people who made me aspire to raise my game, to dream bigger and I like to keep it that simple.
They told me I'd have to be there for the entire shooting of the movie which was two and a half months and again, I was surprised. Most movies I'd worked on before took only a day or so, so I realized this was a pretty big deal. I got to the set and was involved in a very integral way, which was a fun experience to be a part of.
If someone told me I had to give back, or I'm supposed to give back, or I'm supposed to do these things, I would reject that. My actions are those of valuing and caring.
I'm not going to beat somebody up for talking smack to me, especially another skater.
If I signed a contract that meant someone else wouldn't be playing.
I don't talk down to kids. Usually someone my age who's talking to a ten or twelve year old is yelling at them.
Through getting sponsored and becoming a part of the Bones Brigade and Powell Peralta, doors were being opened. The entire culture was shifting from ramps to street, and I sort of became a poster child for that.
I understand that these people are all there to see me ride, that that's why they're in the building, and whether I have ten people, or a thousand people come out to see me, they still came out to see me, and I take that to heart.
