HEADS DANIEL SHIMIZU
W
HO ARE YOUR SPONSORS?
Foundation skateboards, Pig
wheels, Innes clothing, Emerica shoes,
Venture trucks, and Furnace skate shop.
How old are you?
18.
Where do you live?
Rosemeade, California.
How's skating there?
Skating sucks here. I drive to downtown LA
and skate.
Who is Daniel Shimizu?
The guy in high school PE class who, no.
matter what sport he was playing, got hit
in the head because he wasn't paying
attention. I guess that's why I skate.
What do you think you would be doing if
you had never picked up a skateboard?
I would be a crazy Asian rocker, or maybe I
WANTS TO BE A ROCK STAR
rather than a sorry pro. Right now I'm work-
ing on being a good am.
What makes a good am?
Getting coverage, doing your job as an am,
busting out.
Are there any projects you're working
on now?
I'm filming for a Pig video and shooting
photos. Foundation has some projects in the
works also.
Do you think contests are an important
aspect of being a sponsored am?
For some people, yes, for some people, no.
There are a lot of different types of skate-
boarders. I don't care about contests.
What impact do you want to have on
the skateboard world?
I want to push skateboarding further in a
certain direction.
If you were forced to play any sport,
which sport would you play?
Hockey, because you fight.
Who do you live with?
My mom and my brother.
How is that?
No complaints. It's cool.
Do you plan on living in LA forever?
I love it here in LA, because of all my
friends, but I also like Sacramento and San
Francisco a lot.
Did you make any New Year's resolutions?
I started to drink.
That was your New Year's resolution?
Yes. I drank on New Year's night and I
plan on drinking more. I have fun hanging.
out with friends and drinking when there is
nothing else to do.
If you had the opportunity to be in any
Left to right: Covert
coverage of a backside
lipslide. Nice Shimizu,
nice to meet you too.
Crazy Asian rocker-style
frontside boardslide.
Shady bluntslide to fakie.
would have done better in school and gone
to college. Maybe dead.
Rad. Besides skateboarding, what else
do you enjoy?
Hanging out with friends, playing guitar,
and watching movies.
What are some of your favorite movies?
Mallrats, Happiness, Election, and Cannibal
the Musical.
How do you think your life would
change if you won a million dollars?
I wouldn't be driving around in an early '90s
piece of crap Honda Civic, I wouldn't be living
with my parents, and I would be a party animal.
Skating?
Yeah. Why not?
When do you see your pro model
coming out?
I don't know, Josh.
Do you think you're ready now?
Not yet. It's important to be a good am first
What do you like about skateboarding?
I like that anyone can do it. You don't have
to be a big fat jock to do it; it gives the skinny.
guys a chance.
What's the best part of skateboarding?
Landing a trick, learning new tricks-
just progressing.
If you could change any law, what
would it be?
I would make skateboarding legal everywhere,
make the driving age 18, and abolish curfews.
What skateboarders have influenced
you the most?
Josh Beagle, Jamie Thomas, Heath Kirchart,
Brian Anderson, Cairo Foster, and Kenny Reed,
because they skate anything.
What are you doing now?
I'm at a skatepark and I forgot my board.
I am watching all these little kids with
Zero shirts getting gnarly on this little
skatepark handrail.
band from the past, which band would
you be in?
I would be in Kiss so I could paint my
face and have blood dripping out of my
mouth and float around on cables like a
true rock star.
What about a band from the present?
Modest Mouse.
Why?
Because I like their music.
How do you feel about guns?
Guns are scary. I'm afraid of them. They
kill people.
You didn't seem afraid out in the
desert a few weeks ago. You were
like a soldier firing all those guns
like a maniac.
That was not me. I was careful. Jon
West was the psycho gunslinger. I had
fun though.
-Josh Beagle