5 Things We Learned About Skateboarding from Marc Johnson's "Jenkem Magazine" Interview

Image via Complex Original

Johnson reveals that he was kicked off of Street League during the first season after he broke his ankle filming a video for Girl Skateboards and Chocolate Skateboards. Apparently, Rob Dyrdek had one of his assistants kick Johnson out, instead of doing the dirty work himself. Johnson said he was glad to get the boot, though. "I'm stoked for the dudes who kill it at 'Street' League, but there's no way I could deal with all of that TV shit and those rules and conditions."

To answer the question of why skaters have jumped from brands, like Brian Anderson leaving Girl or Jason Dill leaving Alien, Johnson, who left Enjoi, used a metaphor of building houses. People hire workers to build a house, pay them, and that's it. The workers don't get to stay a night, even though they built it. "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." The point: skaters get tired of building other people's houses, of building up someone else's brand.

Throughout the interview Johnson refers to the huge companies who jumped into skateboarding once it became big as the monolithic "Big Company." He says that Big Company will ship its popular shoes to skate shops, but only on the condition that the stores carry all of Big Company's products, including the ones that don't sell. This practice can kill shops who have to pay for the underselling kicks, regardless.

Despite what Big Company does to the culture, Johnson admits that it gives skaters much better treatment, and more money, than the "core" skateboarding brands who brag about being skater-owned. He says that the smaller companies are better for skateboarding as a whole, but only treat their skaters well on a "fairweather" basis. "Fairweather means that while you're popular, while you're 'The Shit,' while you're killing the game, they're super cool to you and they suck your balls. But once you're not the shit anymore, and some new kids start getting the spotlight, they dump your ass like the leftovers from a taco truck tradeshow lunch."

Johnson says he'll never sign with Big Company. He's happy at Lakai, which didn't have to pay for his support and endorsement. Johnson was rocking Lakai cofounders Rick Howard and Mike Carroll's boards before ever signing with the company. "They supported me through a very rough period of active alcoholism, and hung onto me after countless episodes of assholishness and wild, shameful behavior. I ride for a shoe company created by people who know what I'm going through and go through what I'm going through. That's what I support."