Dan Drehobi Dead Man Skating - Interview

Thrasher Magazine, Oct, 2001 by Michael Burnett

Dan Drehobi is one of the few skaters who doesn't have to jump through embarrassing hoops of media coverage to sustain his status as pro. As with dudes like Hewitt, Stranger, lannucci and Mariano, his stature grows through word of mouth and tall tale rather than death lens and promo loop. Staggering spontaneity makes Corpsy a you-need-to-see-him-in-action-to-understand-why-he's-so-good type of skater. His elasticity, on-the-fly creativity, and ability to glide through ankle-wrenching transitions of every pitch are reasons why his skills don't always translate through photo and video, but make everyone in attendance stand up and scream. He's a hometown boy done good; a skater's skater; a natural. And although his "I suck at life" attitude can make for a somewhat guarded interview, it's a refreshing change from the hip hop-driven self-aggrandizing quagmire that, as of late, has threatened to suck out skateboarding's soul in exchange for tacky mall jewelry and a guest appearance on TV's Blind Date.

What best describes your early days of skating?

I don't know. Launch ramps?

What was your move?

What?

Did you have saran wraps?

I can't answer that question!

What do you mean?

What?

What was your first skateboarding memory?

Hella jump rampin'. Mini-ramp. I remember learning the acid drop. I was pretty psyched on that. I set up a railroad tie down a loading dock and learned boardslides down it, Pretty psyched on that.

Do you have memories of learning to ollie?

I did my first one on accident. I was riding down the street and there was a puddle and I ollied off this curb and cleared it and I was thinking, "Holy shit! I just ollied!"

Were you a hometown hero?

I guess I was kind of a hometown hero. I had friends that were pretty good too, but they didn't stick with it. I came back to town and I was sponsored, so I guess that made me kind of a big shot. "Hey, I'm sponsored now!" But my friends didn't care. It was the same as ever.

Did you ever do anything shameful to get sponsored?

I don't think so. It all kind of worked out pretty easily, as far as sponsorship. I got on a shop called Mid-Maine Skates and the guy there had his own blanks and would give them to me. Then I got on Who Skates. I was apparently supposed to have a pro model. They never made me a board, but they made a flier and passed it around saying that I was going pro for them. But at that time I had already gotten on Foundation.

And Andy MacDonald was on Who with you, correct?

Yeah. I never really got to hang out with him that much. He was always on the vert ramp. He learned the double flip indy grab. Lots of mummies.

Could you do the mummy?

No. I couldn't do the mummy.

How'd you get on the Foundation?

I got sponsored by them while skating the Blockhead ramp. Tod was all, "Hey, you want to ride for us?" I didn't understand it, though, cause all I did was frontside airs. I told him, "Yeah, but all I did was frontside airs," and he's all, "Yeah, whatever. We suck."

Was this when Foundation was still at World?

No, this was in the garage days.

So it was you, Beagle, and Bobby Ferry?

Yeah, I guess. And then I got kicked off in an ad.

How'd you find out?

It was great. That same day I'd broken up with my girlfriend and then I went down to the skate shop and saw the Foundation ad and in tiny type at the bottom it said, "Dan, you're off the team." I was pretty stoked. Pretty excited.

Did you ever talk to him after that or did you pretty much take it at face value?

Later on I had a Firing Line and it said, "Who's Lame?" and I said "Swank," so I guess I got 'em there. I don't hold a grudge or anything. He did what he had to do.

So you never did anything shameful for sponsorship?

Like I said, it came pretty easy. To get on Foundation all I did was airs.

So you moved to California after high school?

After high school I worked at Domino's for eight months and then moved to Texas. I lived in Austin and skated with my friend Jamie all the time. I went back to Maine to visit and ended up getting stuck there, and then I moved to San Diego.

Was this in the H-Street days?

Yeah, but towards the end, more in the Carbajal/Paterka era, It was great--everything I ever imagined, I guess. It was just like what I saw in the magazines.

And then you moved to San Francisco right in time for the EMB hey day?

Yeah, pretty much. I showed up at EMB and there were 300 kids skating down there. Craziness.

Did you get along with everybody from the start?

Yeah, pretty much. Nobody really flicked with me too hard. Dudes were vibing each other down there.

What was some sketchy shit you saw down there?

I never really saw too much sketchy shit. I remember Keich trying to ollie this chick and he ended up smacking her in the back of her head with his truck. They ran Picky Oyola out of there. He yelled "nigger" and they ran him off. A dude with a pit bull was chasing him as he ran.

Was Jamie Thomas the talk of the town when he showed up?

Maybe with those guys down at EMB. I used to hang out with Jamie back then. I saw the naked video. I think he did a frontside 360 over a fence off a bump naked.