Le skateur Jason Dill s’est entretenu avec Vice et revient sur les débuts de la marque new-yorkaise Supreme, l’avenir avec sa marque Fucking Awesome et enfin ses futurs projets avec Vans Syndicate.
Before we get to Fucking Awesome, you’ve been skating a long time, what are the worst things you’ve seen skateboarders wear?
Man, the whole big pants, small wheels era between 1990 and 1992 is pretty hard to look at and live with. Luckily I was young then, so that’s my excuse for dressing stupid. I was massively influenced by Mark Gonzales, John Cardiel and Corey Chrysler, so some days I looked OK–I’d be in a flat brimmed baseball hat and a button up with big khakis–and other days it would be burgundy cords, a striped shirt and half cabs like Gonz.
Did you ever help out in the creative process at Supreme or were you just hanging out there?
No, I just always repped their shit because when I first came to New York those guys really took me in and guided me. They were so good to me that I was more than happy to wear Supreme. I really didn’t ride for any big skate clothing companies at the time and was mainly skating in Filas. Man, it was a different world back then.
I noticed you didn’t put out any FA stuff for a while. Why was that?
Because I was more interested in blacking out and consuming drugs. I was in search of non-reality, and I had a great time. Plus, I felt as though FA was getting way too out of hand. I wanted it to stop because I was scared of what it could become if I continued at that point.
Obviously you have all the links with Supreme, but I read somewhere you hate streetwear generally. Why’s that?
Oh, it’s just what all that shit represents. The stencil bullshit, the wheat-paste bullshit, the fake skate bullshit. I just can’t believe kids buy into all that. It’s like, « nice Obey hat, bud. » You know?
Wouldn’t you define FA as streetwear, though?
No, I think of it as an idea company. I only make something when I feel like it’s right, or if I have the right materials. I don’t use the internet, I find everything I put out by hand, and sometimes I don’t find enough material, or I make stuff and then I just don’t like it. Also, Fucking Awesome isn’t seasonal, it’s just there when it’s there, and I don’t make much of it. I constantly shoot myself in the foot from a business standpoint actually ’cause I make it for sale but at the same time I don’t want you to have it. It’s a bit of a personality disorder company.
Where do you think it would have ended up?
Umm, just blown out, blogged out, internetted out. Too overexposed basically. Mass appeal scares me the most because I hate the masses, so letting FA go for a while made sense. I mean, shit, it would be cool to make money, but that seems to always go hand in hand with some sort of corniness.
True, but FA has the potential to last far longer than any skating career. Is that something you’ve thought about in terms of making money? Do you want to keep going with it or are there other creative projects that you think might take over?
Fucking Awesome really has nothing to do with skateboarding, it never has. I’ve actually just begun working with Vans Syndicate as well, which is only sold in places like Supreme and other fine skate shops, and I really like everything that they do. It’s a place where I can make just about anything I can think of in a Vans aesthetic, and they won’t trip, which is a good thing ’cause I can’t skate in any other shoes than Vans. The silver and black snakeskin authentic I made is in stores soon actually. Yeah, tell me about it.