Dan at his Finest. Photo: Hammeke
Words: Eric Witmer.
Photos: Jon Coulthard, Joe Hammeke.
I never really thought I’d be sitting here writing up an intro about Dan Drehobl. Seriously, it’s an honor. This guy rules. Dan has been around for quite some time now and is still producing quality footage and photos. He’s not stopping. He’s one of those dudes who you’ll see a photo of, and the first words you say are “that’s gnarly.” Because that’s what Dan is…gnarly. Not to mention he’s a genuine, down to earth guy who just wants to have a good time. So with all of this I present to you, the Dan Drehobl interview. Enjoy.
What’s up Dan? How have things been for you, man?
Things have been good, just been skating. I got married a few months ago and that’s pretty awesome. I was just recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. You would probably think that would suck but other than it being annoying having to test my blood sugar and inject insulin daily, in a way it’s a good thing. Now that I’m on medication I’m feeling better than I have in years.
What happened over at Elwood? Did you quit, or did things over there fall through?
Things fell through. The owners decided they could save some dough by kicking off their skate team. Really sucks because I thought we had a pretty good thing going.
How do you like Ergo? You seem to fit in pretty well there.
Everything is going great with Ergo. I just went on a little trip and everyone on the team gets along pretty good. I’m just starting to work on getting some more skate friendly gear going with them.
What was it like growing up in Maine? How was the skate scene?
Looking back, growing up there was awesome. At the time I hated it and just wanted to go somewhere else where there was more to skate. The scene was small but it was pretty cool. If you skated and lived in Maine, you knew pretty much every other skater in the whole state. The winters were pretty harsh and the salt they put on the roads makes the ground really rough. One year we would have a nice bank or ledge to skate and then the snowplows would come though and fuck everything up. It’s not California by a long shot, but I think it helped shape the skater I am today.
How did you deal with the terrible East coast winters?
The winters sucked and that was the biggest reason I wanted to move. For the last few years there was an indoor park that we could skate but before that we would just deal with it. Either not skate or bundle up and skate a snow bank. We would shovel off ramps and skate them with ice frozen into the wood. It could get pretty sketchy.
Did you grow up having a mini ramp? It would explain why you’re so good at tranny and it would definitely get you through long winters!
I always wanted a ramp and my parents had a huge yard but they never allowed me to build one. They thought it would turn into a big party scene and attract trouble. There were always a few ramps around that we would skate.
Is there anything in the works over at Krooked? A video perhaps?
There has been talk of starting to work on a new video, probably in another year or so.
Boardslide to fakie. Photo: Jon Coulthard
What’s it like having Mark Gonzales as the head guy at Krooked? Does it ever get crazy?
It’s amazing, Mark has always been my favorite skater.
Do you have any good Gonz stories that you could share? Perhaps your most memorable?
The dude has reflexes like a cat. When he kickflipped the Gonz Gap way back, when he would bail he would run and jump and put his foot on the edge of this garbage can that was in the middle of the gap and then spring off it and then jump up to the top of the gap. Like in just two quick jumping steps, bing, bing. Well one time when he went to do this his foot slipped into the garbage can and he just pull his foot back up really quick put it back on the edge of the can and jumped up to the top no problem. My friend Greg and I both saw it and looked at each other like holy shit. It’s kind of hard to explain but basically any normal human would have just eaten total shit but he pulled it like it was nothing. And then he went on to kickflip the gap which nobody else had done before even though tons of other dudes had gone there and tried it only to come up short.
How did becoming a character in Skate 3 come about? Was it random, or something you kind of wanted to be a part of?
There are two skaters in charge of getting that game put together and they just hit me up, I’ve only played that game for about 5 minutes so I don’t know much about it. I’m not really into playing video games.
How did Lowcard come together? Were you just homies with the guys who ran it?
Lowcard is my buddy Rob Collinson’s baby, we grew up skating together in Maine. Now he is also doing Strange Bird distribution and I’d say he’s doing pretty good for himself.
What made you move out to San Francisco?
Growing up skating in Maine I would see California in the mags and videos and always dreamed of skating out there. After graduating high school I tried moving to San Diego but I couldn’t find a job and eventually ran out of money. After moving back to Maine and spending another winter back there, I knew I had to get out so I decided to go to art school in San Francisco. Pretty much as soon as I got out here I met Bryce Kanights at Thrasher and Greg Carroll at Think and started getting hooked up. About a year after living here Greg asked me to go pro, so I did and ended up dropping out of school so I could travel.
Blunt to fakie. Photo: Jon Coulthard
How bummed were you when you saw that Foundation ad from a while back that said at the bottom, “p.s. Dan, you’re off the team”?
That sucked pretty bad but I think it all worked out for the best.
How were the old days back at Think? What happened that made you leave?
Those we’re some of the best times of my life. Phil Shao was one of the best skaters of all time and a really intelligent and rad guy. I really miss him. After over 10 years with Think I just felt like I just needed to make a change.
Can you see yourself working for Deluxe one day?
Maybe, I haven’t really given it much thought.
Is there anyone that works at DLXSF that you secretly hate? Now’s the time to tell them!
Not really, I try not to hate people and nobody over there has ever really given me any reason to.
On an average day, how many cigarettes are you smoking? And are you starting off the day with a cup of coffee as well?
I smoke about a pack of American Spirits a day and yes I drink coffee, I’m drinking a cup right now.
Are you one of those guys who goes to bed with a cig in his mouth while he’s sleeping?
I have done that before after having too much to drink but it’s really not cool. My wife doesn’t let me smoke indoors anymore which I prefer.
Are you trying to quit soon, or just not even bothering?
Maybe I will one of these days. I’m sure I would feel a lot better if I did.
Isn’t Berkley park one of those places where if you fall, you get some weird toxins or something in your body?
I barely skate that park anymore. There is chromium in the soil under the park and when it rains a lot the puddles there are toxic. After spending a winter skating there I started to get nose bleeds a lot which is one of the first signs of chromium poisoning.
Going back to your Free Your Mind part. How was it skating tranny with Tony T?
Tony is an amazing skater. I’ve known him since he was about 14 and showed up out of nowhere doing kickflip methods. I really miss Jim’s ramp.
What skateboarders did you look up to growing up? How about now?
Growing up I’d say Mark Gonzales, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero, Jeff Phillips, Sean Sheffey, Mike Vallelly and the list could go on and on. Currently there are so many dudes shredding at such a high level I wouldn’t even know where to start and the list would just go on and on and on.
If there is one thing that you could take back or redo involving your career as a professional skateboarder, what would it be?
I probably should have taken the time to get 360 flips better, and I probably shouldn’t have quit trying to land a 540 also.
The interview has come to a close. Thanks for this opportunity, Dan. Any shout outs or last words?
Thanks everybody, bye. Keep on, keep on truckin’.