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MD:
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You’ve mentioned wanting to reissue boards for collectors and stuff like that...Based on what I’ve seen in magazines it sounds as though you’ve got 4 garages full of stuff!
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LM:
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I don’t really have that much stuff you know. Not really. And as for that kind stuff...If I was going to do like little specialty stuff like that I wouldn’t
really do it with Powell I’d just do it by myself. Just to do, to offer...If there’s dudes out there that would want to buy a Lance Mountain type thing I’d
just do it myself. You know?
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MD:
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What do you think you would do?
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LM:
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I don’t know. Just any of that stuff you know? I probably will do...I don’t know. I mean, I talk to John all the time about it. Like you know,
there’s dudes that like who we are...there might be a little group of dudes...I mean I’m sure it’s a big burn out cuz everyone’s doing it. But if I
did something I might do that you know? I did a hand painted board just to give my friend Neil [Blender] that was the Variflex graphic. Like just hand
painted and everything. It looked really cool just to give to him you know? And he’s done a couple of his "Coffee Breaks" just hand painted.
Just things like that...if people want ‘em, they want ‘em...and if not, no big deal. It’s more like dudes that are into you. There’s a small group of
dudes that might want that stuff. I don’t know.
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MD:
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If you look at it from a perspective other than team riders and who’s on it...just pure visuals...who’s stuff do you like right now?
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LM:
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Graphic wise? I like Powell stuff. Powell reissue stuff is good.
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MD:
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So the older stuff?
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LM:
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Yeah! I mean… I’ve always liked Black Label stuff. I’ve always liked John’s stuff. I think he brands the company really good. He does exactly what I
couldn’t do. I think I did what he didn’t do. I could get really top guys, and he could really brand a company. But I never branded a company ever.
Nobody ever knew what the Firm was. I didn’t brand it. It wasn’t anything. It was just skateboarding to me. So?! What is it? Who is it? What does
it matter? That stuff matters when you’re in this kind of market we’re in.
Umm...I’ve always thought that John’s stuff looked good. I really like Girl’s art room. The way they do stuff is fantastic.
I dunno...boards come out too much for it to be like the kind of look I’d want it to be. I’d like it to be a graphic where you know that’s his graphic
and it just comes out. That’s why Hosoi boards are rad. You know it’s a Hosoi board. That’s why his boards are so good right now like his Black Label stuff.
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MD:
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He’s [Hosoi] actually starting up his own thing through Pocket Pistols I think....
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LM:
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Yeah I know...I just did a bunch of graphics for him.<laughs>
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MD:
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Oh did you? You see...that’s interesting! Other people are asking you to do graphics for them, graphics that you’ve drawn sell, but you don’t
consider yourself...well I don’t know...do you consider yourself to be an artist?
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LM:
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No...I mean...I don’t know. I don’t know what I think. I think there’s been a big focus on the artists which unfortunately takes away from the
skateboarders...which is what it’s about. It’s about the skateboarders. <laughs>
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MD:
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That goes back to one of my original questions...do graphics matter...and should they?
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LM:
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Here’s the thing...they do matter, they should matter, and the artist and the art should be behind it so you think it’s the skater. There’s been a
big change where the art is about the artist and how rad he is or how rad the idea is or how crazy or kooky it is and how catchy it is or marketable it
is...And it’s almost the other way around. "Oh do you remember that crazy naked lady skateboard?" "Yeah that was amazing ...it was his
board". Totally backwards. The art, the artist and then the rider. It never should have been that way. It totally demeans the rider.
It went that way because the riders meant less probably but it’s just sad. Cuz to me, skateboarding is about the guy that creates it. The art is just
an added thing to it.
Neil was rad cuz he drew his stuff. Ok...that’s because he was such an amazing skateboarder. Not because he was such an amazing artist. He was an
amazing artist! But if it was just some guy that drew stuff that said "OH rad"…. No! It was Neil! It was what he did on his skateboard.
He did what nobody else did. It was about him. I think there’s been a big change.
Yeah, I’m not an artist. VCJ is an artist. Amazing art... but he drew stuff to represent Cab. You never thought about VCJ. You thought about Cab
and his graphic. We thought the graphic was great but it reflected him [Cab]. Courtney wasn’t going around saying "It’s my graphic!". He
started to!... with the bug graphic. <laughs> But yeah...I think that’s a real change in skateboarding.
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MD:
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Now that basically you just say to somebody "this is what I want" and you don’t have to think about who you’re paying to do the art, total
freedom for what you want for a graphic. What do you want to see with your name attached to it now?
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LM:
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Well I don’t know. <laughs> That board [latest Horkey Flip family crest graphic]. I thought it was good. I’ll probably have that guy draw a
version of the Variflex graphic. I think it’s smart to do stuff people remember you by. I’m going to try keep that graphic for a long time...keep
changing it. I’m going to try to get stuff so that people recognize...I mean [Flip] has the freedom to do that with me. They have the freedom to
try to make it recognizable as my graphic maybe. But on the same side they just dumped one of my graphics in along with another line. So I don’t know
what the response would be to that or not. I don’t have to make those choices anymore! <laughs>
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