Richie Jackson: Skateboarding’s Psychedelic Warrior
In 2016, professional skateboarding is a game of go-big-or-go-home. But in a world where death-defying aerials have become routine, where does Richie Jackson fit in?
Nowhere, actually. Which is precisely the point. To Jackson, creativity is king, and the benches, tables, rails and chain-link fences he encounters during a session aren’t obstacles, but integral props in the Richie Jackson Skateboard Circus. His latest video part for Death Skateboards is surreal, a bit silly and stuffed with “Holy shit!” moments, all of which have helped Jackson, 30, establish himself as one of the most recognizable faces in contemporary skating – even if he still dresses like a member of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. He is nothing if not unapologetically unique.
A day before getting on a plane to Estonia, Jackson took a break from his busy schedule to chat with Rolling Stone about his unique style, his love of Lou Reed and why there’s no shame in being a skateboarding hippie.
You recently posted a video of Noel Gallagher bashing skateboarders on your Instagram – what did you think of him calling you guys “fucking little idiots”?
Well, if at first he thought [skateboarders] were idiots, he now certainly thinks that, because of the way skateboarding at large reacted to it. I mean, I feel like every time I do an interview I can’t get through it without alienating some demographic. This time it’s probably going to be skateboarders as a whole, because I think [Gallagher] came out on top of that one. He maintained a sense of humor throughout, and if you’re posting death threats on Noel Gallagher’s Instagram, it’s hard for me to not think that you’re a moron. People are threatening his children and his wife. It made me ashamed, actually. He totally won that round and it was a little disappointing for me to see the way skaters handled that.
You’ve also been hanging out with Kyle Mooney from SNL. How did that friendship come about?
Yeah, we just were skating yesterday. I had seen his work on the Internet and I just ran into him in Santa Monica. He was crossing the street and I said hello to him and asked him if he wanted to come skate with me and now he does all the time. It’s crazy. He’s getting rather good.
How would you describe your aesthetic? You seem to be taking cues from the early days of skateboarding – the Sixties and Seventies in particular.
Definitely. Well here’s what I think happened: when skating was really picking up momentum, the musical movement that it was aligned with was punk rock. There was even a board that Vision put out called a “Hippie Stick,” and it was supposed to be like, “Oh you can beat a hippie with this stick.” The anti-hippie sentiment in skateboarding was very strong, because they were separate worlds at that point. But it was inevitable that the two would kind of coalesce and come together, because skateboarders don’t want to fight anybody, they’re mostly mellow dudes that want to keep to themselves and smoke a bunch of weed. Ultimately skateboarders are hippies. So I didn’t think there was anything wrong with combining the two. I think it makes more sense. Of course, I’m a punk as well and I always will be, but I didn’t think there was any shame in being a skateboarding hippie.
Richie Jackson: Skateboarding’s Psychedelic Warrior, Page 1 of 2