Marc Johnson – Wise words

Looking back history of skaters today we came across one interview from last year – this was a real eye opener for the skate industry, Marc johnson was honest and open about the changes going on within this industry – below is one question and answer that really stood out.

Brian Anderson left Girl, Dill and AVE left Alien, and more team changes are to come from different companies. Why are people making such drastic decisions all of a sudden? How are these major team changes affecting skateboarding as a whole?

I’ll tell you why these folks are making such ‘drastic’ decisions. I’ll put it in the form of a story. Here goes:

Let’s say that you build houses. Someone calls you up to offer you a job building their house. They know how to use a hammer and a saw, but can’t build the house all by themselves. So they ‘hire’ a bunch of really good carpenters to build the house for them. It’s easier that way. Everyone shares the work. Let’s say it takes years to build that house, and once the house is finished, your job is over. You’re done. If you go back to the house and try to live there or even sleep there, you’ll be thrown out. “BUT I BUILT THIS PLACE,” you might say. The owner will say, “Yeah, but I PAID you to build it. Now it’s finished. Beat it. Get out of here.” Guess what? He’s right. You built HIS house. Not your own house.

Maybe people get tired of building houses for other people. Maybe people want to build their own houses. They sure as shit have the necessary experience. More houses should be built by people who’ve been through the experience of skateboarding. More houses should be built by people who know what it’s like to film video parts and go on shitty tours with shitty assholes telling them what to do. People who’ve been through hell and back with skateboarding, instead of pansy-ass flatlanders who used skateboarding to make a shit ton of money while simultaneously taking huge dumps on the faces of skateboarders year after year, contract after contract, cooked accounting report after cooked accounting report. I say fucking GO FOR IT. Skateboarding should be run by skateboarders. – right on

A interview by –  Ian Michna – read more