at the same time.
I only go to col-
lege half-time,
and usually I'll
skate like four times a week. When I skate,
it's like that's my mission, to go and skate.
And I'll skate for like four days, and I'll just
totally beat the living shit out of myself, but,
when the four days are over, I'm just like,
"Dude, son of a bitch. I can't wait till I have
to go back to work." But then we got that
Friday night where I got the weekend off, and
usually I'll have Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
and Tuesday off, or half day Tuesday, or
whatever, and I'll get to skate, and I'll just
totally be so stoked. I'll just pound myself
into the ground, going for it, doing shit that I
can't even do, or that I didn't think I could
de, and, by the end of it, I feel like I've
accomplished something, not for money, not
for anything, but for myself. I have goals, but
they're not set goals. It's just, "This is what
I want to do. This is what I'm doing, and it
GAGNE
don't matter if it gets me anywhere.
because I'm compelled to do it, and this is
what I'm going to do anyway."
Tell me about the dog house.
Okay, I live in this apartment, and I rent
out all the rooms underneath me, and I live
in the attic, and it's shaped like a dog house
on the inside. I live in the dog house, and I
look like a fuckin' dog. Everyone else has all
these nice rooms, and I sweat my ass off,
and I troll out in the attic, and it just
fuckin' rules up there. I've got this other
guy who lives up there with me, this guy
Dirty Jesse, and we totally just drink beer
and hang out. We've got way too much time
to be retarded with, and we just make up
stuff, and that's why we call it the dog
house, because we're dogs. We've got all
these set rules, and I'd tell them to you, but
they're just the epitome of idiocy. Nah, fuck
it, I'll tell you anyway. Rule #1. Twelve-
pack minimum. Rule #2. The taller the can,
the bigger the man. Rule #3. All porn must
be checked in upon arrival. Rule #4. If
there are any chicks up there, goosing is
encouraged. Rule #5. If the chicks fall for
it, then all chicks must be topless. Rule #6
No Bon Jovi. Rule #7. No ride loads. Rule
#8. After sex, it must be discussed with all
dog house members. Rule #9. Women are
only temporary, they have to leave when
we're done. Rule #10, Let sleeping dogs lie.
What did you think of Burnside?
Burnside was so sick. It was the neatest
place I've been to in a long time. There's just
globs of cement everywhere, and there's peo-
ple skating around just ripping. The whole
atmosphere just made you want to skate so
bad. Everyone was just totally into it, and it
just made you want to be a part of it, like you
just had to go as hard as you can at that
place, not for anybody else, but yourself,
because you were there. I'm telling you, it's
the atmosphere. That joint rules.
Is skateboarding your life?
No, skateboarding is not my life. It's a part
of my life. Some people only skate, and
that's it, but I've got other goals and things
that I need to do with my life.
Skateboarding's one of them. I'm always
probably going to skate like the way I'm feel-
ing now, but, shit, it's not my entire life.
Who were your favorite skaters when you
were coming up?
When I started skating, my favorite skaters
were Tommy Guerrero, Mike Vallely, just
dudes who skated street, because I didn't
know anything about any ramps. I didn't know
how crazy people actually were. I just saw
people doing things in the street that I could
do or could go out and try to do. Now that I
started skating ramps, I really start to think
how sick those guys back in the day really
were and how much I really didn't understand
how gnarly it was. I totally wish I was just a
little bit older, and I was from that time, but
I'm just not. I give props to every old school,
gnarly, vert park skater who ever lived,
because that shit is fuckin' punk rock. Those
guys ruled. Those guys went for it, and it
didn't even matter.
Was being sponsored the reason you started
skateboarding?
The only reason I started skateboarding was
because it was totally fun. Then, after I
started skating more, everyone was like,
"Ooh, you should be sponsored," and I was
just like, "Whatever. I think it would be cool
if I could get free boards, so I could skate-
board more. I think it would be pretty awe-
some if people would pay for me to go places
so I could skateboard." Because, even if I
sucked... In fact, I do suck. I ain't even that
good. I ain't any better than anyone else. I
scammed my way into the joint like a lot of
other people.
Do you see yourself as a role model?
No, no, no. I'm telling you right now, do not
be like me. Being like me is too much fun.
What sets you apart from the rest?
Nothing, really. I ain't any different than
anyone else. I'm just an older dude. I'm like a
child's toy. All the little kids get stoked.
because they see some dude who can do
stuff that they can't. But, the reality of it is
that they're little children, and I'm a devel-
oped male, and I guess I am physically supe-
rior over them, because I'm older, and I can
do things that they can't, and they look up to
me... I don't know if anyone looks up to me. 1
wouldn't look up to me. I'm a fuckin' piece of
shit. But, when I was little, I looked up to
guys like, "Wow, I want to be just like that."
But, now that I'm older, I'm not disappoint-
ed, and I realized what I saw. It's just reality.
It's called development, that's all.
What do you have to offer to skateboarding?
I'm not important enough to offer anything
to skateboarding. Skateboarding offers
something to me, and that's my fun, and
that's it. That's how I am, and that's what I
like to do. I get my kicks off it, and it makes
me happy. I guess I could build a ramp or
start a company or something, but, fuck that.
Skateboarding is just fun. Some people move
to California, or they build big ramps in their
backyard, and that would be cool, but I
wouldn't be building a big ramp. I wouldn't
even think about it enough to offer it to other
people. I just think about some bitchin' big
huge ramp so I could skate it, and all my
buddies could skate it with me, and we'd
have a good time. I can't offer anything to it.
Skateboarding offers me good times, and
that's it.
What keeps it from getting old?
Nothing. It's never going to get old,
because I'm always going to have fun. I've
been skating so long. I don't even know what
I can do anymore. I just do stuff, and it don't
even matter if it's an old trick. Like if I
haven't done a maneuver in a long time, and I
pull it out, and I do it again, I'm just like,
"Yeah!" I'm just stoked on them, like super
happy, anything that I do, because I feel like
I accomplished something, like I did what I
wanted to do. If I want to go do something,
and it gives me the desire, I'll just go out,
and I'll just try until I get hurt, or until I
actually do it. And, if I get hurt, that pisses
me off even more. It makes me want to do it
even worse. I've got my own personal goals,
like, "Shit, this is what I'm going to do," and
I don't want to go out and train and be like
this ultimate skateboarding machine. I want
to do what I can do, and I don't want to have
to practice, because that's not much fun.
those other guys. All those other guys
deserve a lot more respect than I do,
because they're just fuckin' totally sick. All
those crazy vert dudes, they're the best.
That's what they do. And they'll fuckin' break
a leg or an arm, and they'll get back up. And
I'll do it, too, yeah, but those guys, everyday.
If I fuck myself up. I'll stop for a week and go
back when it's fun again. Those other guys,
they don't even stop, and I've got a lot of
fuckin' respect for that. They don't even give
a shit, because that's who they are. But who
I am isn't that. Who I am is just rolling.
cruising, booking, ollining, whatever, I don't
give a shit, but that's it.
Any names you want to drop?
Yeah, there are quite a few people who have
bent over backwards for me, in and out, that
I have to say their names. It's just my close
friends who've dealt with me and put up with
me like Jesse, Ben, Nickial, Bruna at the
Playground, she used to feed me and stuff,
Mike Genest let me live at his house, Aaron
who used to help me out a lot, Rodney from
Shut when he skated for them. Those guys
from Deluxe gave me so much stuff. They
were super nice like they didn't give a shit. I
guess it didn't work out with them, but they
still gave me stuff. John Lucero has been
super good to me. Tim Upson, he's always
been around. Corey Shaw, we used to stay at
Clockwise from the top: On the West Side of Seattle, Jimbe racks out to Van Halen's "Mean
Streets." Hat a Besihasa, but a lazy frontside air in Vermant. The kid gets arunad, backside
5-0 in the Big Apple. Alley-oop backside floater in the bond in Bennington, Vermont.
That's what makes me who I am.
What do you think of those guys who
dedicate their entire lives just to
skateboarding?
They fuckin' rule. I mean, that's
what makes them happy. That's who
they are. That's what they do. And I
do that, too, and I'm pretty dedicat-
ed, but I don't think I'm as gnarly as
those guys, really, because it don't matter
enough for me to try like super hard, I guess,
for me, I try as hard as I can, but I just feel
like I give like fifty percent compared to all
his house. There's like five hundred other
people who are just as important, but I just
can't even think of them, because I've been
drinking too much. It's fun to drink and...
It helps you think?
Yeah, Drinking fucks up my thinking, but I
like it. Anybody who's ever gotten in my way
or complicated me or just made things diffi-
cult for me or didn't believe in me or didn't
care what I was doing can pretty much fuck
off. I'm still going to do what I'm going to do,
and if they don't like it, they can blow, and
that's all I've got to say.
-Dirty Jesse Danar