Posted: December 11, 2007

MARC JOHNSON
Interview: Burnett | Photo: Reda

There's a good quote that says something like, "Sometimes skating involves not skating." How does your off-board time balance your skate time?
Doing other things aside from skateboarding helps me work out my problems. You could say that much of what I do away from skateboarding has a meditative quality to it. I can work on a project and think of two things at once: the project, and then something else. I usually mull things over when I have time away from everyone and everything related to skateboarding, and shift my focus onto something personal. It does create a much-needed balance for me, because I'm not the kind of person who wants to live in 24-7 SkateWorld. I end up hating things because they become so routine and mundane. Much of what I see in skateboarding is completely routine and mundane, so I stay away from it. Half the time I have no idea where my skateboard is, even if riding one is on my mind.

Is skating a release or escape from your non-skate life or are you always contemplating skateboarding even when you're on the couch?
Riding a skateboard is more of what I'd call an outlet. Not a release or an escape. I have so many ideas running around in my mind all of the time that I have to always be doing something or I become very, what you might call, “volatile.” I'm almost constantly thinking of new tricks and where I might be able to do something that I've been thinking about.

How does your living semi-isolated in the mountains affect your skating? Your well being?
Living in the woods mostly by myself gives me the space to think. To actually think, not to just act on autopilot. There's a difference. Most people can't stand being alone because it scares them. You have no distractions when you're isolated, so you're forced to confront yourself and deal with who and what you really are. Most people don't like themselves very much, so they surround themselves with constant distractions so they aren't forced to focus on how fucked and distorted they are. Truth comes from within, but to find it, you gotta clean out all the scary shit you piled in the broom closet of your mind. This is a very hard thing for a person to do. As far as my skating goes, living away from skateboarding helps me think about it from a truly personal perspective, not from the perspective of being involved with what other people are doing.

Where does your inspiration come from?
I've wondered about that. This is going to sound bizarre to most people, but ALL inspiration comes from something similar to the way a radio works. If you imagine that everything ever known or will be known exists between the lowest and the highest frequencies, we simply either stumble upon a brilliant song accidentally, or we spend our lives searching for great songs and find them where we may. Invention works like that. I think Tesla said something to that effect: We are simply filters for Divine Knowledge.

Are the new kids inspirational or depressing?
Neither, really. Talent is always there. Imagination is what skateboarding sorely lacks.

How much of your inspiration comes from other people?
Absolutely quite a lot of it. I've gone and done some tricks for the Lakai video that are dedicated to certain guys who did tricks at certain times that really opened my eyes to the way a skateboard should be dealt with.

Do you ever have problems getting inspired?
There are always those occasional times of complete boredom and disgust. That usually depends on the situation and the surroundings. I've been known to stir some shit up just to entertain myself. Complete childishness. Phone calls. I once sat out on my deck for a few hours trying to talk like Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class because I was bored. I usually doodle on scrap pieces of paper.

How much of your progression on a skateboard is terrain dependent?
I try not to think in linear terms anymore—or even quantifiable terms regarding skating—so most of what interests me actually is the terrain and what can be done with it. I've definitely been caught staring off into space a few times while thinking about a spot.

How do you find all those spots?
They find me, it seems.

What is the mental vs physical breakdown of your skating?
I try to think about things for awhile. Sometimes it works, sometimes it turns into work.

Does your progression depend at all on what you see other people do?
Not anymore, really.

What are some big milestones of your progression?
Opening my front door after a long trip.

Describe any "Eureka!" moments you've had.
Here's one: Passed out in the Radass van on the Girl/Chocolate tour, somewhere, God knows where, coming out of this weird semi-waking Oban stupor, and screaming, "Someone give me a fucking Sharpie!" This weird idea came to me and I needed to draw it out right then and there. This odd sense of urgency and desperation. I drew this thing on a paper bag and wrote down a bunch of tricks to try on it if I ever saw it or built it.

If you get inspired to skate a certain way, how concerned are you with its popularity or acceptability within the skate world?
I thought skating was popular and acceptable in the skate world. Maybe I didn't get that press release.

What are the biggest impediments to your progression?
Confined spaces and/or straight lines.

Are booze and women truly man's ruin? Was there ever a time when you felt completely powerless to their allure?
Ignorance is man's ruin. Booze and women can sometimes be by-products of that ignorance. There were different times in my life that I was drawn to both in an uncontrollable way. I didn't understand why at the time, but it had something to do with substitution. Disconnectedness.

Why is Morrissey big in the Mexican-American community?
Really? Interesting. I have no idea.

What are some misconceptions about you, if any?
A misconception about me is none of my business.

How important is being part of the team in your life? Chocolate team? Lakai team?
We're pretty scattered around, but I love seeing those guys any chance I get. We've got some amazing personalities on those teams, some really good people to work with. I think it's probably the most important thing regarding skateboarding in my life—when we have to get together to work on something, it's the best group of people to work with. I've seriously grown to love and respect those guys and all the good that comes from working with them.

What about a skate scene— a group of friends or a business/social community?
I'm sort of long-distance on that one. I do what I can when I can.

What does a project like the Lakai video mean to you?
This has been the most difficult thing I've ever worked on, by far. But it's also the most rewarding thing I've ever worked on. There aren't really words for this. I'm happy to be in this one with all these guys. Wow. How men suffer for children.

What goes through your mind when you're 45 minutes into filming a trick?
Usually something along the lines of, "You fucking whore. You fucking piece of shit." It usually involves the word whore. And then I get really quiet afterward and just revel in the anguish and keep trying.

What's the best way to avoid something or someone you do not want to deal with?
Take a four-month walk into the woods.

How do you deal with confrontation?
I walk away.

Is psychology real? Do the ideas and rules of psychology inform your awareness?
I guess there have been some ideas that have been valid. I don't have anything to do with psychology. To me, psychology is like picking up grains of sand at the beach with tweezers and a magnifying glass, and forgetting to look at the ocean.

If you could replace skateboarding with anything, what would it be?
If you could, WOULD you?

What, if anything, is missing in your life?
Communication?

Why do people tattoo their own names on themselves?
Family name pride, most likely. Could be Narcissism. Narcissus tried to kiss his own reflection in a pool and then killed himself with a sword because he couldn't seduce himself. Weird.

If you were to tattoo anything across your back, what would it be?
It would say SCAPULAS.

Your skateboarding is extremely precise, yet I get the sense that the rest of your life might occasionally be a little scattershot. If this it true, how is it to have one side of your life be so organized and the other so disorganized? Why is this?
I aim to please.

What's the most important part of your skateboard and why?
Bushings are the most important part of the board. If you can't turn, you can't skate.

Do you ever entertain revenge fantasies?
I think everyone has had some sort of revenge situation they imagine, but no, I don't entertain those. People need to be careful about what they concentrate on.

What or whom is your biggest enemy?
Insomnia, it seems lately.

What's your definition of success?
Doing what you want to do in this life. No rules, some coin, and a good woman to love.

What's your definition of failure?
Thinking that you have a say in what other people do in life.

What's your idea of misery?
Sleep deprivation. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

What are your most prized possessions?
The thoughts and actions that have made someone's life better in any way.

What are some things worth getting pissed off about?
Whatever it is, give it five years. If you're still pissed, it was either worth it or you've got serious fucking issues.

Can any amount of advice help the kids, or do they just have to figure it out for themselves?
Don't look outside of yourself to find what is inside of yourself. In dumbo internet language it means: Stop copying what other people do, how they dress, and how they live. If you spend your life being someone else, you'll miss out on being you.

Describe the universe as you see it.
Oh shit. That's a really gnarly one. There's the Central Universe, and seven circuits of that Universe that are what are referred to as Local Universes. The scope of the functions and purposes of each and the whole is enormous. I will just say that one of the functions of our universe, one of the seven circuits, is primarily for what we know as “life.” We function as energy/consciousness on multiple levels of this universe simultaneously. We are here in slowed-down 'solid matter' density, and we also exist in higher energy frequency wavelengths at the same time, experiencing outside of time/space. You may understand this as different levels of dreams, where you can re-connect with yourself in another form you don't readily recognize, but feel a very strange familiarity with, and a desire to be with that form at all times because of the content of the dream. Regardless, the universe is infinite in space because space is just one aspect of density, whereas there are infinite other aspects of density that are not confined to three dimensions. The purpose of “life” in three dimensions is simply to experience, teach/learn, and evolve onto higher aspects of self. The ultimate goal is returning to the source after many and different experiences in higher dimensional realities, mostly in the service of others as others higher in reality have helped you on your way upward. That's the universe. And there's a lot of other planets and stars and strange stuff out there too that we haven't been able to fly to and check out. Maybe one day. Turn on some Tom Waits and go skate. Step right up.