Zack Wallin: Sugar Magazine Interview, Le Tombeur de ces Dammes

This Zack Wallin Interview ran in French in the August 2013 issue of Sugar Magazine in France. As a fan of Zach and his powerhouse skating, I figured I might as well post the pre-translated English text here along with the scans of the Sugar spreads. Photos by: Dave Chami, Seu Trinh, Oliver Barton, and Wes Tonascia. Click on the images for XL. Enjoi —ME

Life is funny sometimes. Getting something you always wanted is often accompanied by a different challenge you have never faced. This Karmic law arrived in force for Zach Wallin last year when he finally got the nod to become a full-fledged amateur skateboarder for enjoi alongside Ryan Lay—something he had essentially been hoping for his whole life. When all that was left was to make it official with an intro part, he was diagnosed with to this day unexplained and apparently very rare blood clotting in his chest. Originally told not to skate by experts at Stanford University, and ordered to administer blood thinning injections into his stomach twice a day to boot—Zach eventually decided to film the part anyways—shots, clots, and all. And as luck would have it, his teammate, Ryan Lay suffered a series of ankle injuries of his own; pushing back the intro video’s deadline long enough for both to put together the impressive parts that ultimately dropped last May (See Zach's Below). A year and a half later, with his mysterious health condition completely cleared up, I checked in with Zach to get the temperature on life in the Mansion, fanning out on Cairo Foster, how it felt to quit his day job as a carpenter, and most importantly—why he is universally renowned as a lady’s man.     


How have things been since becoming an official am? Do you still work construction?
Things have been good. I actually quit my job as a carpenter and have just been skating every day. It’s been awesome because when I was working a full-time job and trying to film I would just get hurt because I wasn’t on my board enough. I can skate every day now and I just feel way better on my board.

I guess working something with physical labor involved too—if you got hurt skating you can’t work and if you got hurt at work you couldn’t skate.
Exactly. Even if it was just a hard day at work, it was still labor. Then I would just be too tired to skate when I finally had the time. Or too sore.

You weren’t just sitting in a cubicle.
No, it was hard work.

Still living the enjoi Mansion life?
Yeah. Actually I am. It’s pretty sweet man. It’s real mellow now. It’s still a skate house. Cairo Foster lives here. Louie lives here with his wife and a couple of other Tiltmode homies—my friend Warren and G-Won. It’s pretty awesome though, you always have someone to skate with.

No plans of moving?
No. It’s a nice place with cheap rent. I’m pretty content.

Were you born and raised in San Jose?
Yeah. Born and raised. I basically just moved around San Jose when I was younger but we always stayed here.

How did you stumble on skating?
Actually my cousin came into town to visit one time for a couple of weeks and he brought his board with him. I must have been nine or 10. He would go skate and I wasn’t allowed to go venture out with him, but he would come back and just have all these incredible stories about meeting new skaters, because he was from out of town, hanging out with girls and listening to music at the spot. He would come home to our house and talk about it and I was just mesmerized. I was amazed that all these rad experiences were right there for you if you rode a skateboard. I think a few months after that I got some shitty Nash board for my 10th birthday.

Best memories from your two weeks in Scandinavia and Russia last year to fully get on enjoi as an am? Had you traveled before that?
I had traveled before that trip but that was kind of the first trip were I was officially on a team trip. I was like 80 percent sure I was on before the trip and then I finally got fully on during it. I still had to film the intro part though to really seal the deal.

Those intro parts had some drama too right? Ryan Lay was injured and you had that crazy blood clotting deal.
Yeah. Right after that trip we kind of both got jacked up. Ryan had some pretty serious ankle issues and I had that random internal blood clotting.

Is the blood clotting pretty much cleared up now? You don’t have to give yourself the blood thinning shots any more?
Yeah. It’s basically completely gone. Thank God. I don’t have to give myself the shots any more. I was the gnarliest thing for me. I had to take them twice a day too, like one right in the morning and then right before I went to bed. Waking up to sticking a needle in my stomach was the worst.

The one at night probably sucks too. You can’t go get drunk and forget to take it.
Exactly. You can’t miss one of the shots. So you can’t forget or you might have clotting. It sucked. It was just this constant reminder that I was jacked—morning and night. Thank God it’s all over. It’s a really long story but at the end of it all, all these specialists, specialists from Stanford, not just these budget doctors still had no explanation for why it happened. Usually people get clotting in their legs, but I had it in my chest, which at my age is supposedly extremely rare. They were tripping off me. Then I was tripping because they were tripping.

I asked Matt Eversol what to ask you and he said, “Ask him about chicks. He slays pussy. Big booty hoes.” So what about chicks?
(Laughs.) I don’t know. I guess I get lucky with the ladies sometimes. I don’t really feel like I’m a lady’s man. I don’t go out telling myself I’m going to land myself a lady. Actually, I feel like that’s when you f—k up. You go out with expectations—out on the prowl—and I think desperation is just ugly. Looking like you need something is sometimes a good way not to get it (Laughs.)

Best advice for meeting a girl at the bar? Just play it cool?
Yeah. Play it cool. Don’t be that dude going for the glory. Let it happen. I don’t even know. I don’t go on the hunt.

San Jose girls vs. Russian or Swedish?
Oh man. San Jose girls don’t even stand a chance. They shouldn’t even be compared (Laughs.) No, that’s a lie, there are some really good girls here. But I think my preference—I just love Finnish girls. They’re beautiful and their vibe is awesome.

Is skateboarding for a living something you’d want?
Yeah. Why not? For as long as it lasts. I’ve had real jobs. I worked carpentry for like four years and that definitely showed me enough to know about the real world. Now I just feel like I’m on vacation all the time (Laughs.) Skateboarding is not a job. I never really planned on making money off of skateboarding. I still don’t really depend on it. I’m just going with the flow right now.

It’s almost like trying to meet girls. You can’t really go after it?
Yeah. Exactly. Just let it happen. I always do what I’m happy doing. That’s worked out for me so far so hopefully I keeps going.

Favorite San Jose legend about an enjoi rider? Any urban myths?
There is one. I don’t think I’ve ever asked Jerry (Hsu) about this one but when I was a kid I remember reading in an interview or something that he had done acid by himself in his room. And he ended up staying in the room all day and all night and ended up writing all these words all over his body with a Sharpie. I don’t know why, but I always remembered that. To this day I think about it when I see him (Laughs.) I need to ask him about it. What did he write?

Do non-skaters in San Jose know about enjoi?
Oh, for sure. I get people talking to me all the time. I’m like the new guy on the team too, so these random people will come up and ask questions about it. They know about Louie or Caswell (Berry) or just Tiltmode.

Your skating is definitely in the powerhouse realm—fast and big. Did anybody influence you to skate the way you do or was it just natural?
I think subconsciously, looking back, I was definitely influenced by John Cardiel. I was always my favorite when I was a kid. A lot of my friends didn’t like him when we were real young, but I think that’s why I always wanted to go fast. Cardiel was the dude I looked up to. I think watching Heath (Kirchart) and Cairo (Foster) too. They would just jump over and down massive shit. Those dudes probably made me want to take an extra push.

All time favorite enjoi ad?
Man. There are so many good ones. I have tons. One that really stood out to me early on was the Marc Johnson ad where he’s freestyling on that little board. I think because I saw it when I was so young. From the new ones there’s one of Caswell and Jose (Rojo)—like a sequence of them shotgunning a beer. I think just because I heard the back-story on it. I guess they needed multiple takes of the beer shot so they were basically wasted mid-day by the time they finished.

It’s funny you mention Marc. Do you think his imprint is still there in enjoi?
Yeah. To me it is. I mean I’ve never even met the guy so I can’t say too much. But I know he pretty much came up with everything for enjoi in the beginning, and it has more or less stayed true to his vision. Even now, my favorite stuff from enjoi is from the beginning when he was doing it. I wonder what he thinks about enjoi today. Maybe if I meet him in the future I might get the balls to ask him.

Was it crazy to share a part with Cairo Foster and Caswell (Tweak the Beef [‘12])?
Totally. It was insane. I was just talking to somebody about it. My friend was over at the Mansion and Cairo walked by. My friend was just like, “Whoa, that’s Cairo Foster.” And I was just like, “I know. It’s a trip right?” It started this whole conversation. I seriously had photos and sequences of Cairo on my wall growing up and now I’m kind of sharing a video part with him. Even Caswell. They’re my good friends too but there’s still that little kid in me fanning out a little bit.

Does it ever wear off? You see Cairo walking to the shower or whatever and you still think, “Whoa.”
I don’t think it ever fully goes away man. It might wear off because you get more comfortable but then we go skate and he’s trying a gnarly trick and it just all comes back (Laughs.) All of the sudden I feel like this little kid that rolled up on the session by accident, like “Holy shit! There’s Cairo Foster!”

How good was Louie’s part in Tweak the Beef? Last part!
It’s funny. I saw a majority of that stuff go down in person but a lot of that footage was already pretty old so I had kind of forgotten a lot of it. Then to see it all together like that was kind of surprising. You forget how good he actually is. Even joking around, a lot of that stuff is really hard to do. He’s the type of guy that will just throw out the craziest trick I’ve never seen him do before.

I feel like one day Louie should just shave his head and put out like a fully serious Heath style part.
Yeah. Shave his head a la Jamie Thomas and just go for broke.

What are you working on now?
I’m working on one of those “Who Is” parts for Matix. Like Daewon (Song) just had his. And then other than that I’m just working on a full enjoi part. Basically Tweak the Beef was all the leftover VX footage that we had laying around but the actual HD enjoi video is supposed to be out in the next six months. I’m pretty nervous about it.

It can’t be any harder than the intro video was with all the health issues.
That’s true. I still don’t even know how it worked out.

Plans for the future? San Jose for life?
I’m traveling a lot know so when I come home to San Jose it’s like a treat. But then a week goes by and I want to go travel again. But all my friends and family are here, so I think if I ever buy a house I want to buy one here. So I guess I am San Jose for life.

All time San Jose legend?
Tim Brauch. When I was a kid growing up skating south San Jose I guess that was were he was from. So everywhere you went there were just these rumors, like “Oh Tim Brauch grinded this, or Tim Brauch used to skate this mini ramp.” He was probably the first sponsored skater I ever heard of so I’ll say him. Rest in Peace.

Skaters and Drugs Outtakes: Gino Iannucci plus '02 Divulge Interview

Still from Skaters and Drugs in '03, here's Gino's extras, short and sweet. I also scanned this '02 Gino Divulge for the Editorial section so pasting the raw text from that here too. Make it a Gino Monday. Portrait and nollie 180 sequence: Reda, 360 ollie sequence: O'Meally —ME

GINO IANNUCCI:

“It seems far more publicized in skating. Skateboarding is more about doing your own thing. It’s kind of on you. There aren’t going to be drug tests or anything.”

“When you’re young, it’s like more normal to be around experimentation and those situations. As you get older, it get’s a little less common. I think using drugs later on is where it gets more dangerous—when it’s not experimentation anymore.”

“Skateboarding might get your kid around some sketchy situations. But that’s what life is about. If you raise your kid right, you know they’re going to make the right decisions. Skateboarding takes a kid out of that shelter. Some day, whether you like it or not, that’s going to happen regardless. Making mistakes later on can be a lot more costly.”

“I’ve seen firsthand pro skaters that skate better zooted.”

Here's the Divulge text:

Cult Classic

Gino Iannucci reflects on a bigger pond, corporate crossover, and the road from 101

Words Mackenzie Eisenhour

Progression always arrives in waves. A group of individuals, feeding off a common catalyst, spearhead the evolution of skateboarding and stretch it to include their own definition of the pastime. It happened in the ‘70’s with the Z-Boys, it happened in the ‘80’s with the Bones Brigade, and back in the mid-90’s, it happened with a group of World affiliates including, Blind, Plan B, and 101 teamriders. At the crest of the mid-90’s wave, Gino Ianucci brought speed, finesse, style, and creativity to what could have been one of the more awkward phases skateboarding has endured. While much of the emphasis at the time was on a heightened level of difficulty, Gino managed to safeguard skateboarding’s fluidity and ensure that progress need not sacrifice style. As the mid-90’s swell berths new tides, the shoreline is changing. Big money, bigger companies, and adult life all add up to the ultimate test of any progressive movement—the test of time.

What has been the biggest change in professional skateboarding since ’96?
It’s definitely more of a job now. Not that that makes it better or worse. There’s definitely a lot more money in it now then there was in ‘96. I mean nowadays you see pros doing ads with Bentleys, Lamborghinis, diamonds, and foxes. To me that shit’s just whattev’s. I kind of miss the days when skating was hated on—a little more underground. Skaters used to be like these hoodlum outlaws. That’s really what we traded for what it is now.

What would you have said two years ago if somebody told you you were getting a shoe for Nike?
Two years ago, it would definitely have been unbelievable. Just picturing my shoe sitting next to Jordan’s up in the store or something. The way skateboarding is right now it doesn’t even seem that crazy. It’s so big; it’s almost understandable now.

How was it filming the commercial?
Pretty strange for sure. Like 20 people standing around, huge camera units, and this closed off double-set. They had like a full permit and all that. This guy was standing right next to me and he’d yell action for every try.

Did they understand that it was switch?
I doubt it. I tried to explain that it was like a 180 going backwards but I don’t think they got it. I kind of had to just tell them, “Look, just trust me, its going to look cool, it’ll work for the commercial”.

Was it their idea to run all the slams?
Actually, I made the trick second try and they wanted to shoot more so I kept trying. After I made it once, I just couldn’t get another one to go. When I was leaving the set the guy was like, “I think we really caught something there. We’re going to use more of you falling and not so much of you landing it.” At the time I was kind of pissed off but when I saw the finished one it actually came out good.

What goes on inside the Nike headquarters in Oregon?
You always kind of wonder what their headquarters are going to look like. I mean you know how big the company is. I’m used to going down to the skate companies and the product is like right there stacked up. At Nike it’s like this whole college campus with nothing but offices. You don’t see any of the shoes around the offices. It’s just this whole community with this nice landscaping and all that.

How did the backside heelflip over the gonz gap happen?
That was the first time I was in San Francisco. We were actually about to fly home in a couple hours, and we went to skate EMB to kill time. Nobody was really skating that day. It was me, Keenan, Keith Hufnagel, and I think Jamie Thomas was there. Gabe Morford was shooting photos. I went up and looked at it and just got psyched to try something over it. At the time I was running backside heelflips every which way so that’s what I tried and it worked out. That and the switch flip down the Hubba stairs that same day were pretty much the first coverage I ever got.

What was the best trick you ever witnessed at the old World park?
I got on 101 after a lot of the real crazy stuff had already gone down. I do remember Keenan doing a fakie pop shove-it to fakie 5-0 frontside halfcab out on the ledge. At the time that was pretty amazing. The footage got lost.

What’s up with your skateshop?
I was looking for something to do out here and I had a friend who owned a tattoo parlor. The basement was empty and he had another friend who wanted to open a shop so we all got together and went in on it. It should be done by the beginning of May. It’s called Poets, from Poet’s Corner which was around were I grew up.

Rundown your September 11, ’01 day.
I was in my car when I first heard about it on the radio. I was down in Long Island and all these cop cars were just flying by. I finally got home and just watched the whole thing on television. I pretty much hung out at my house and watched it up until today. Personally I’m over the coverage of it. The whole fireman, FDNY thing has gotten to the point where it’s being exploited. Out here, they’re putting up memorials left and right. Every train station and street corner has a golden statue of a fireman holding a baby or something. It’s cool, but overkill is overkill. It just cheapens the initial reaction. They should have ended it with the special Robert De Niro hosted and just move on.

What do you think they should do with the spot where the buildings were?
I actually liked the light idea, but then when they finished it it just looked like shit. I think they just need to move on. Build something and keep moving. Build a vert ramp or a skatepark there.

If you only had three tricks, what would they be?
360 ollies, switch backside 180’s, and nollie heelflips.

What does going fast do for your skateboarding?
To me, that just feels like the right way to do it. I’ve had people tell me before like, “Maybe you should go a little slower.” but I couldn’t really mess around with going slow. Just flying into a ledge or something and coming out with speed, that just makes the whole trick complete.

What kind of mark did Keenan leave on NYC skateboarding and life in general?
His mark, and really what he left everybody who knew him was his personality. Everybody knows that just being around him was enjoyable. His personality came through in his skating. Just watching him skate was enjoyable, he looked so unique on a board and chose unique tricks to do. Keenan never stressed being pro or any of that. He didn’t want to skate everyday. But when he did, he f---ed it up, because he was psyched to skate. He never looked at it like a job.

 

Skaters and Drugs Outtakes: Brian Anderson

I'm just going to keep rifling these off. Here's BA. Again from Skateboarder in '03 and this. Shots out to 3D Skateboards. Photo: Templeton. —ME

BRIAN ANDERSON:

“I kind of hate to say it but if you’re a skateboarder, there’s a good chance that you’ll be hanging out in an area where drugs are available. It kind of depends on where you live.  But, there are positive sides to that as well as negative. On one hand its good for your kids to be exposed to real life and the real world because once they see how it works they’re usually going to be less tempted to rebel. On the other hand, depending on the your child’s personality, exposure to even something minor could trigger an addictive personality and make that child do downhill. It really depends on the individual. But as a parent, you should be able to read your child and keep that from happening.”

“They’re talking about alcohol. I mean its something that everybody in our society knows about. I can understand that. I mean, that’s their thing. That’s who those guys are. If those guys are willing to portray themselves with that image, hey, they have every right to do that. If somebody else wants to have a skateboard company that’s against doing drugs, they can do that too. To each his own—within reason. I mean there shouldn’t be like an ad in magazine with someone shooting up.”

“The most important parts of skateboarding that need to stay alive are really at the actual skatespots. It’s not so important if magazines and video are showing this or that so long as people are still able to do enjoy their atmosphere the way they always have at the spots. No matter how clean skating gets I think you’ll still be able to go out to a pool or a ditch and see guys having a beer or smoking a joint. And there are kiddy spots and more adult spots. I don’t think you’ll be rolling into the Vans Park with a joint in your mouth.”

“I’m happy with the experimenting that I did. I was always surrounded by friends, be it a sister or good friends that told me, ‘If you’re going to do acid, you know, be careful, go out in the woods and drink plenty of water.’ I mean you don’t just go out, buy a hit of ecstasy, swallow it, and go out to eat dinner with your parents. There’s just a time and a place for things like that.”

"I’d like say that I have no regrets. I’ve probably taken more acid then one individual should take. But I was always constructive. That’s how my friends where. It wasn’t like a Beavis and Butthead episode. It was like something creative to do at that time and we all eventually grew out of it.”

“When and if I have children, I’ll tell them when their like twelve years old, ‘If you’re going to experiment with sex or drugs, don’t be afraid to ask about it. I’d rather you to do it at home. I’ll leave you alone. But just be careful.’ because kids are going to do it anyways. That’s the only reason I’m talking about this. I don’t usually like to share my life in a magazine but drugs are an important topic. Kids just need to know, drugs can be interesting but they’re also not for everybody, and if you’re not responsible, they can get crazy.”

Skaters and Drugs Outtakes: Duane Peters

This one is pretty heavy. Here's Duane Peters' take from back in '03. Photo: From the TWS 30th Anniversary Issue. Duane was number 23 on our list of most influential skateboarders of all time.—ME

DUANE PETERS:

“If you’re interested in drugs, you’re going to experiment. In my case, punk rock was really new. I was young. I came from a broken home and skateboarding was already a good outlet from that. I started drinking real early. I really liked the (Sex) Pistols. I liked Sid Vicious. I liked the destructiveness of it. It looked appealing and attractive. As soon as heroin came around I was in. I found it and it found me.”

“I know plenty of guys that smoke weed and will never try heroin. It’s a matter of whether you enjoy upping the stakes. If you do, there’s going to be price to pay. The maze of life gets harder. You could end up dead. It all depends on the luck of the draw. In my case, it totally took over my life. I was completely satisfied with drugs. I became everything I never wanted to be. At a certain point, you cross the line and there’s no way out. You can’t even leave your house without it.”

“I wasted so many years. I did jail time. Heroin made a wreck out of everything around me. Right off the bat, you hurt the ones you love. You do anything you can for a fix.”

“I was sixteen-years-old, doing the Skateboard Mania show and I had television producers shoving coke spoons up my nose. All of a sudden, you’re at mansions on the hills with Hollywood types and model chicks. They’ve got living rooms with Jacuzzis and water falls in the bathrooms and some producer is putting coke up your nose and pouring you drinks. What are you gonna do? You’re going to fuckin’ whip it.”

“It wasn’t until shooting up came in that you really had to hide it. I’d be at a nice house and somebody would draw a line of coke on the table and I’d ask them, ‘Is this line mine? Because if it is I’m going to do what I want with it.’ I’d scoop it up, take it in the bathroom, get my rig out and shoot it. Then I’d go back and ask for another one. Next thing you know, I’m not at any of the parties anymore. I’m a complete loner and I’m homeless. You finally have a wake up call and your pushing a shopping cart, hiding some fucking blanket you found because you think somebody is going to steal it, and people are calling you a bum.”

“I was shooting up, living in a ditch and got rushed by these three Mexicans for a piece of shit watch that didn’t even work. They stabbed me seven times in the knee and three times in the back with these fucking shanks. I was swinging my board around at these fuckers and the funniest thing was I was rushing so much from the coke that I couldn’t climb out of this four-foot ditch. I finally got these guys off me and I was running down the street covered in blood when the cops came. I had three warrants but they told me to get the fuck out of there. They wouldn’t take me in their car because I was such a fucking mess. You have to use your imagination but everything bad that could happen happened to me”

“I used up all my tokens early. When they’re gone you don’t get anymore. Take it easy and you can make the party last your whole life. Otherwise, you end up with some big decisions and you can’t have it both ways. My statement to the world is ‘Don’t use up all your tokens.’"

Skaters and Drugs Outtakes: Andy Roy

Here's Andy Roy talking candidly about Heroin addiction in '03. Andy has cleaned up a couple of times and is hopefully done with this beast for good. Was stoked to see him have a guest trick in the Deathwish video. Again, the original Skateboarder article is here. Photo: Tobin Yelland

ANDY ROY:

“They (Skateboarders) don’t have no responsibility, you know. They just get paid to go skateboard. You don’t have no schedules. You can sleep in if you want. You don’t got no one telling you what to do. There’s all the traveling you know and you’re on the streets. Then you got like the street drug dealers. They’re always out to make money.”

“What happened to me was, I grew up with all my friends, and they didn’t have an opportunity to go and do what I did, like traveling and skating, so they just stuck around Santa Cruz and they would drink and smoke weed. The next thing you know heroin hit my crew big time. I came back from a skate trip and they were like here try it. I tried to smoke it and at first I didn’t understand it, I didn’t like it. I would keep coming back from trips and one time I broke my foot, went home to visit, and just never left. I got sucked in.”

“It’s a physical drug. I got hooked. At first we were just smoking it and then eventually you don’t get high anymore so you take it to the next level. The first time I shot up was with Jay (Adams). It’s a heavy thing. Its like whatever pains you have, physical or mental, it takes them away. Its like the best high at first. But then you do it three days in a row, and if you stop, you’re going to feel it. You get anxiety, you get cramps in your legs, you can’t sleep at night. All you do is think of that drug, that high, and than you’re body just freaks out and you have to go do it. You’re like a complete slave to it.”

“Its everywhere. It’s in every town. You can’t believe it. Business people do it, like some people you can’t even imagine. Some people can just hold it, and other people can’t. Me, whatever I do, I take it to the fullest. Heroin led me to the gutter. I lost everything.”

“Finally, I’m doing good. I’ve relapsed so many times and said that I’m done with it. But I’m 31-years-old now. I’ve met a new girl that doesn’t mess around. She’s beautiful. I don’t have that craving no more. I’ve been threatened with prison, like, if I get in trouble again, I’m gone. I’m just tired of running around and just hustling for money everyday. Its so stressful that you can only take so much. I think my body has just given up. I can’t do it no more. It wore me out.”

“It doesn’t take all those rehabs and all that to be done with it. You just have to decide in your head.”

“I’ve seen people give up all their belongings. I’ve seen people steal from their own parents. I’ve seen people give up their dignity. I’ve seen men do sexual favors you know, its just gross. The horror stories wouldn’t even make it into your magazine. It’s just disgusting. It makes you into an evil person. It takes your pride and your soul, and you just wait for that next fix. You’ll do whatever it takes. I was on the streets. I went from traveling and skateboarding to having nothing. It’s such a violent world—just straight gutter.”