GANT
James works a well-worn curb at a spot that has
been sessioned by generations of skaters:
frontside bluntslide at the Pavillion.
Lance did in his life, what his whole company
stood for and where he was going, and I
always heard him say that he wanted the
whole team to be a congregation and go in a
certain direction, and, knowing my state of
mind, I knew I'd never get there. I did find
God once in my life when I was younger,
but, after that... it's not that you grow out of
it, but I guess I look at life a little differently.
It seemed like I was pretending.
Gino: It should be the light.
What about you, big boy?
James: Mark Gonzales represent!
Gino: He hooked me up.
James: When me and Gino skated going all
out, Lance called Mark to tell him about Gino.
I guess Lance thought I fit in more with The
Firm and Gino fit in more with Mark. Gino
talked to Mark, and they started getting along
well together, and he got him on 60/40.
Gino: He called me one day, like Lance told
me that day that he was going to call me, and
I was waiting, and no call, and then he called
that night, and my mom was like, "It's Mark,"
and I was all, "What?" And then he was all,
"Come down and I'll give you some boards,"
and it just started like that. Then I met him,
and he is a totally cool guy, and then from
then on, we became real good friends.
James: Mark is bad. He writes all this poetry.
Gino, he put you on his board?
Gino: We took a photo ad a long time ago for
Kools Clothing, me and my girlfriend, and
that was one of his favorite pictures, and he
said he was going to do a board and put it
on there, and I was like, "Damn, yeah." I
checked it out. I've got it. It surprised me.
He's a real good friend. It's all good.
James: He's the funnest skater to watch.
Mark's the best.
Gino: Just to skate with, his presence, you
just want to bust.
James: Some people can ride, but Mark
can RIDE.
He's a legend. What's that like?
James: It's bad, dude.
Gino: It's like, when you skate, he's
always pumped.
James: He'll tell you to do the craziest things,
"It's cool, man, you can do it."
Gino: You think, "I would never try that," but
when you're with him, you think about it. He
brings out the best in you in skating. Damn,
without Mark, dude, I'd be like... I don't
know if I'd be.
James: That's how I feel with Lance.
Gino: Lance and Mark are who did it for me.
I've always got to thank them.
James: They showed us what skating was all
about. The business side.
Gino: Yeah, Mark told me straight off how
people are, "Just make the right decisions."
James: When you first get hooked up.
Gino crushes a metal bench with a crooked grind
in the LA sunshine.
you're like, "This is rad." You get all this
stuff, and you get to do this and that, but
they kept telling us how it would be in the
long run.
What is it now?
James: Skateboarding? It's something fun
that we do, but it's also a job, and we have
responsibilities. Compared to other people,
we are pretty lucky that that's our job. I get
to spend time in school and still have a job
that pays. To me, right now, that's the most
important is getting an education. A lot of
people might not like that, but I'm always
going to invest in my mind first.
Skateboarding's not all fun and games.
James: Exactly. You're going to get old. It's
a fact of life.
Gino, are you going to skate forever?
Gino: Yeah, until I die. Until my bones
break. I want to go to art school. I'm taking
it slow. I feel all uppity. Still, it's all good. It's
a matter of time before I start getting serious.
James: Gino has some fresh art.
Gino, I want to know why you always put on the
oldies station when you get in the car?
Gino: My mom listens to oldies all the time,
so I'm just used to it.
James: More relaxing.
Gino: And, besides, everything else that's on
is all bahbahbah!
James: It's all about deep house, man. I go
to the clubs and break it down. Hey, I want
everyone to know that if anyone wants to go
hiking, let me know and we'll go. With my
Airwalk hikers. They hooked me up. They've
been real good to me.
What about your main sponsor?
James: 60/40, perfect. Yeah, hook up.
Dave, good...
Gino: Give him some shit.
James: I went out to Texas once, and this kid
Aaron took me out bridge jumping. We were
about to jump and I saw all these water
moccasins in the water. The fisherman said
some guy died the night before.
Let's end it.
Gino: Props out to my family, my mom, my
brother, my sisters, Mark Gonzales, Lance,
and my girlfriend.
James: All this couldn't happen without my
mom and dad, and my friends who were
always there when skating was shit.
Gino: Like Panco. What up, Panco?
James: Also Tony and Jared, my brother John,
who bought me my first board, my brother
Jason, who got me little things here and
there, and Lance, who gave me my break.
Gino: My sisters used to buy me stuff. I also
want to thank Val Surf, Vic, and Black Sand.
James: Let's go skate. Hey, if anyone wants
to play basketball, come over and we'll
shoot around.
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