ED TEMPLETON
W
HAT'S YOUR FIRST MEMORY OF THRASHER?
I went to Sidewalk Surfer Skate Shop on Main Street in
Huntington Beach around 1985. A friend and I were looking at the
sticker case when my friend flipped out. He said, "That's Mark
Gonzales over there!" I had no idea who he was, so it was no big
whoop. When he left, we went over to where he was talking to the
shop owner, and that's when I saw a magazine with skateboarding in
it. I had no idea there were skateboard magazines. It had Allen Losi on
the cover and it was silver. Inside there was a sequence of Dave
Hackett or someone dropping in on a slide and Hackett acid-
dropping off of a truck. I was so amped by those photos. Then we
went over to a quarterpipe in a parking lot and skated with the Gonz.
He did a two-foot judo air and it floored me; I could barely kickturn!
That's when I realized how rad skateboarding was.
What was your first photo in Thrasher?
My first appearance in Thrasher was having my name listed in the
contest results section. I got fifth place in a 2A-14-15 division at a
CASL contest at Kit Carson Park in Escondido, California. Chet
Thomas got first in that division. The cover was Gator in a graffitied
pool; I still have that copy because I was so stoked to have my name
printed in a magazine. My first photo in Thrasher may have been a
sequence of an impossible lipslide on a slider bar, or it may have been
in a Schmitt Stix ad. If it was the sequence, Bryce Kanights shot it, and
Coco Santiago was on the same page doing a kickflip on a brick bank.
When was your cover?
In 1990. A guy named Scott Starr came down and said he was at
Thrasher photographer and that they wanted to shoot a cover possibly.
I didn't really believe he shot for them, but I wasn't sure. He wanted to
shoot a nose-bonk at the beach, so we went down there and I nose-
bonked a trash can at sunset. That was my cover-a nose-bonk during
sunset at the HB pier.
Is Thrasher still relevant?
Completely.
What's your definition of pornography?
A picture or video produced purely for the purpose of sexual arousal.
Are there any of your paintings or photos you wouldn't want your
mom or grandma to see?
Of course. Some of my photographs and paintings are not even
meant to be seen by skaters, unless they have an open mind. Skaters
often think going to an Ed Templeton art show means they will be see-
ing drawings of board graphics and Turtle Boy paintings. They are sur-
prised to see paintings and photographs of a personal nature with
themes and ideas far from skateboarding. I am a skateboarder, how-
ever, and what I make comes from that world-my world.
Is it harder to be a company owner or a top pro skater?
Top pro skater easily. Being a "top pro skater" takes a talent that is
only held for a limited number of years. Being a company owner takes
talent earned from many years, but once learned is easier to hold onto.
They are both hard. One is more fleeting.
What have been your most difficult times
running Toy Machine?
When people quit the team. It is very
personal to me, and when this happens I
stress to the point of breakdown. I feel
good about all of the team changes and
kick-offs except for Chris Senn. But even
with that, I can say that everyone who ever
rode for Toy Machine is still a friend. It
goes deeper than money.
Where's Ron Knigge?
I think he lives in New Jersey still.
Why'd you quit New Deal?
It's a long story. With hindsight, I can tell you
I shouldn't have. I'm glad I did, considering the
present situation, where I'm happy. But I was
creative and wanting to do things with the
company when the people in charge didn't
want me to. The style was going in a direction
I didn't like and when I voiced my opinion I
was politely declined every time. Mike V was
on the team and he was unhappy and wanting
to go out on his own. Since I was in a weak
state with New Deal at the time, it was easy for
me to get psyched on what Mike was saying he
wanted to do. So I flew the coop with Mike V.
New Deal had contracts for partial ownership
of the company waiting for me to sign, and I
was guaranteed a company of my own within a
year. I didn't want to wait. Youth, impatience,
THRASHEK
February 1991
Lucky 13-stair Smith.
Daniel Harold 2000