Jon Goemann Unedited!
So here's the entire Jon Goemann interview...unedited and quite a bit longer than what came out in The Skateboard Mag this month. Right after I did this interview I saw Jon skating at the etnies Skatepark. It was rad to meet him so shortly after talking to him on the phone and he is one stylish motherfucker on a skateboard.
Jon! How's it goin'?
Pretty good, just getting Mexican food. What are you doin'?
Just gonna try to do this interview if you got time.
Ya I got time.
Are you guys back from Texas yet?
Ya we are just in Arizona now, we just dropped off Aaron Suski and we are getting some food and we're gonna try to drive back to California tonight.
What were you up to in Texas?
Just skating a lot of cool backyard ramps and stuff and just filming for the video and shooting for an article.
Were you doing demos too?
We had one towards the end, but it wasn't really like a demo. We did a signing before that but everyone was skating all at once. It wasn't like a normal demo.
Have you ever been to Texas before?
Ya, I went like two years ago for the Make a Wish thing.
Is there anything extra cool or extra weird about it?
Ya we were skating Austin. We skated that Banana Farm ramp. That was pretty cool and then just a lot of ditches and backyard ramps. That was pretty fun.
So Seamus [Editor's note Seamus was the Birdhouse Team Manager at the time of this interview, he now works for Zoo York], its spelled S-E-A-M-U-S but its pronounced Shay-mus? Isn't that weird?
It's kinda weird I guess.
Is that his real name?
Ya, Seamus Deegan.
He speaks highly of you.
Cool. Ya he's a good dude.
What did you do for Easter in Texas yesterday?
Not much, we ate some dinner then we checked out all these bats that fly out from under a bridge at night, so we all just went and checked that out. It's pretty cool. Sitting out on Easter night and there was a bunch of people there.
Bats?
Ya.
Is that a seasonal thing where the bats just kinda migrate or whatever?
I dunno if it is seasonal or if it they do it every night. But I think the people only gather to watch on Easter. I think its pretty much every night. It might be seasonal, I'm not sure.
I hear you eat a lot of candy? Did you rock a lot of Easter candy yesterday?
Not really. I mean I got some at the gas station just to snack on, but not much more than anyone else I don't think.
How much candy do you eat in an average day?
I don't know. Probably like six or seven things maybe—probably about that. I get a lot of donuts and random little candy bars at gas stations and stuff.
What are you favorite kinds of candy to eat?
I like a lot of different stuff. I don't know what my favorite would be.
I'm more into chocolate. I'm not into like Skittles and stuff.
Ya, chocolate is pretty good. Skittles can work though.
Like in a candy-less jam?
Ya, they can work.
What do you hate or totally avoid, candy-wise?
Candy-wise totally avoid? Ha-ha. Like gummi worms and stuff like that. I try to steer clear of those things.
Why? Do you have bad teeth? Or do you not like the texture or what?
I just don't like the texture. They don't really hurt my teeth. I am just not too into them. They just seem weird.
I'm not into gummi candy either except Swedish fish.
Oh Swedish fish are the shit! Definitely good.
Ya it seems to be the only non-chocolate candy I can deal with.
Ya I think that's probably me too. Everything else like gummi worms and gummi bears, unless you eat ‘em with ice cream or something.
Does your last name have one or two Ns in it?
Two.
People seem to misspell it a lot.
Ya, I get that a lot. Almost every time.
How old are you?
19.
And you ride for Vans, Analog and Birdhouse?
Ya and Active and Spitfire.
You know you aren't on the team page of the Vans site right? What's up with that?
I didn't know that. I don't go on websites too much.
Did you ever read what they wrote about you on your page of the Analog site?
Nope, never have.
Ok, well I'm gonna read it to you:
Jon is known for consistently delivering burley and unique tricks. Destroying rails with Fakie lips and Switch stance frontside noseslide, Jon is going to be around for a long time to come. Currently Jon is working on part for the new Birdhouse video (first one in nearly a decade). Jon Goeman can skate anything and everything, don't sleep on Goeman. [Sic]
Ha-ha, ya that's pretty weird.
They spell your last name with one N through the whole thing. Are you stoked on that?
Oh really? I don't really mind. I wonder who wrote that. That is weird.
It looks like it might have been written by someone who speaks a different language other than English.
It might be Quy Ngyuen the Team Manager but I can't see him really writing that. I wonder who wrote it.
I keep hearing about how late you sleep
Ah yea, ‘cuz I just pretty much stay up all night and sleep all day. Normally I do night skating unless I am on a trip, then I'll have to wake up early.
What happens when you pull and all-nighter but have to get up early for something? Are you just miserable all day?
Ya pretty much, or I just wont wake up and blow off what I was supposed to do and do something else.
If I don't get enough sleep I get this feeling like I have to puke all day long the next day.
I just get like it's just really hard for me to get up if I haven't slept much. But then once I am up I tend to be fine. I'll just drink more caffeine or something like that. It's just too hard for me to get up and actually get out of bed and take a shower and stuff.
But what about the trap? When you wake up early without sleep and then take a nap later?
Oh man, then you are even more fucked. If you do that you'll have to stay up all night and then the next night to re-get your schedule back. Cuz if you take a nap there's no way you are gonna fall asleep at night and then you are in this vicious cycle that keeps going. Ya, those things are hard to come out of. It's good with skating though cuz you pretty much can. Anything else and you'd be fucked.
What's the deal with you and bad luck? I keep hearing how you have a dark cloud floating over your head losing/breaking all the iPods and phones and shit?
Ya. It seems that way sometimes. Actually I just lost my phone this trip too. I have had like 10 iPods or something in the last few years. I got a Nano and I was all psyched on it ‘cuz you can skate with it and I always skate with iPods because once I started I couldn't really skate without it. I broke one and then right before I went on this trip I lost the other one somehow. I have no idea how. I skated Carlsbad park with it, put it in my car, went home, started packing, went back out to my car to get the iPod and it was just not in there. But it couldn't have been stolen cuz my doors were locked. Unless somehow it could have, but I dunno. Yeah.
So it just disappeared
Ya, I guess. Well it couldn't have disappeared obviously but like I dunno. I have no idea really. I haven't figured it out yet. I'll probably just end up finding it when I get back and have two iPods.
Do you pay for them or do people hook you up with them?
No I buy them myself. I don't have any iPod hookups, that would be sweet.
I'm not sure why they aren't hooking up skateboarders at this point.
It seems like they probably will. I heard they were going to. It would make sense for them to do it.
I heard there is some Euro contest happening this summer the iPod is sponsoring where they are going to have iPod obstacles and giant iPod video screens. So you are gonna launch out of a ramp and do a trick over a giant iPod to flat.
That's fuckin' crazy. So you are gonna launch over a giant video screen iPod while it's playing the footage?
Ya, something like that.
That's sounds kinda cool.
How about other sorts of bad luck like losing passports and tickets. Missing flights and whatnot. Are you a scatterbrain? Do you just not care?
No I do. Well, with the passport I don't know. I could have sworn I put the passport in my bag. But with the plane ticket, it was a return flight ticket. It was a paper ticket, but we had e-tickets so I didn't think I needed to keep it the paper one. So I kinda just put it in my bag or maybe I threw it away or something. So I had to buy a new one and the airline was supposed to credit my account but it never really happened.
Despite all this bad luck, you're a poker ace?
Not really an ace, I just play a lot. That's almost what keeps me up all night. There is this casino, Ocean's 11 that's like 10 minutes away from my house and I got this fake ID that works there, so I just go there every night and then wake up pretty late and go skate a park.
So you got a fake ID just to play poker?
Yea. Well, I've had one forever but its pretty much to go play poker.
How'd you get into poker?
I almost don't remember. I've been playing it for a while. It's been blowing up lately which kinda sucks. Now its like, everyone plays and it's the cool thing to do. It kinda sucks. I try not to play too many house games; I'll just go to the casino more than anything.
Ya, poker is super popular these days.
Oh ya, it's so trendy. It's almost kinda good though because you get all these people walking in that think they are the shit and they come and play but they are just so terrible. So it's good that it's that big, but at the same time, like just the average dude everyone is getting so much better at it that it's getting kinda crazy to play, but it's still good.
Why do you think poker got so trendy now?
I don't know. I guess cuz it's a skill game but any lucky guy could win, you know what I mean? I don't know, it's a weird game to play but as far as gambling it's probably the best game to play. Unless you are gonna play like chess or something. I could see people doing that.
What got you into it?
Just me and my friends would always play with each other once a week. The same seven or eight dudes would get together and play. Actually the movie Rounders too. That was pretty cool. We saw that right when we started playing and that was pretty sick so we started playing poker a bunch after that.
That's kinda like how people got into skating from Gleaming the Cube or Back to the Future.
Ya for sure then they tried it and got addicted.
So you got hooked on poker cuz of Rounders?
Well not just cuz of that but ya, pretty much.
That Ocean's 11 casino is pretty sketchy huh? I drive by it a lot and laugh.
Oh it's so small but it's not a casino where there is blackjack and stuff like that. There's just a little room for blackjack. But besides that the whole thing is just this massive poker casino. And they just make money off your barns and an anties and stuff like that. So they just make a small percentage. There's not like slots in there or anything like that, it's just a strictly-poker casino so it's kinda cool.
How late is it open?
24 hours.
What's the longest you have ever sat there playing?
It actually wasn't too long ago I had a 24-hour session. It was pretty gnarly.
Do you even notice the time go by?
No not really, unless I'm losing, I'd probably leave. But if you have your right seat and you are runnin' good and you have you're right seat and things feel right you can just play forever. Because you don't have to do anything but sit down. And you don't always play; you more pick your spots. So sometimes you don't even play for an hour or so after you sit down. Or you can just play every hand. I don't know. It's a weird and crazy game.
What's the most you ever won?
$700. I don't play in the bigger games that much. I just buy in with $40 or $50
What's the most you ever lost?
About $200. I just lose and buy in, lose and buy in and lose. But normally if I lose I try to win my money back but if I lose a second time I just end up leaving.
So you aren't addicted to gambling?
Na, if I keep losing I'll just leave. It's more just something to do when I get bored pretty much. It's more like entertainment.
Have you won or lost more money overall since you started playing?
I'm pretty sure I've won more, but you can't know for sure. I'd like to think that when I go I win more than I lose for sure.
Do you have any really good poker stories? Has anyone ever gotten pissed at you at the table?
Well, ya, people get bummed if you get on a winning streak. Or if bluff someone once they keep trying to call you with really bad hands just cuz they saw you bluffed that one time. But it's almost good to do because once someone knows that you are capable of bluffing, often you'll get called more that normal and it will keep going on. Or if you show them like five good hands right away they will fold more because they will know you has this or that the last time. You just have to remember the patterns and what you did and stuff like that.
Ever get in any fights or kicked out of the casino?
Na, just the guy questioning me about my fake ID. He made me take my hat off and fully questioned me about it. But I knew all the answers. Now they know me by name so they just let me in.
Do you have any special poker flair?
That's actually kind of funny. But I think it is almost a weakness I think—when you see dudes with like shades. I'll rock my iPod because sometimes you get so bored sitting there for so long if you aren't really playing. But I think it's pretty funny when dudes rock like full shades and crazy hats and stuff.
Like I saw this one guy on TV once wearing sunglasses, but upside down. What's that all about?
Oh ya, that's Marcel Luske! He's like a Swedish dude [Editor's note: Marcel is actually Dutch] he rocks his sunglasses upside down and a crazy suit and a hat with his visor all crooked up right?
Ya, what's up with that?
In poker you'll find a lot of crazy dudes, its kinda like skating. Just weird flair and people are known for being lame or being dicks. But that dude is kinda crazy. He's pretty good though.
Who is that fat guy who wears the glasses with the reptile eyes on them?
That's Greg Raymer. They call him Fossil Man. He wears those crazy glasses and has this statue of a fossil to protect his cards. Cuz you are supposed to protect your cards so no one flips them over and ruins the hand. I just put chips on mine, but some people have special flair. But he just got called Fossil Man cuz he had a fossil on top of them and probably because he is pretty fat, which kinda helped too. Yeah, I definitely see him rocking weird gear.
What a douche. Tell me the story of Slash and the black widow.
It was actually kind of a joke at first but he got pretty bummed. I had known him for like five years before he was Slash, he was just Brian Hansen, a normal dude, like a random kid skating Vista. And he was like really afraid of spiders all the time. But his nickname is Slash so he can't really be called “Slash” and like, be afraid of spiders.
So I found this black widow in my room. It was kinda sketchy, and I was just gonna throw it away, I wasn't even intending on doing anything. But we just kinda got bored one day and we called him up to make sure he wasn't home. I had the spider in a cup and we had this CD just in case his mom answered to tell her we were gonna return it to him so she would let us in his room. Then we just dumped it in his bed. It was kind of a joke but he got pretty bummed.
Can't black widows kill people?
I dunno, I just heard they can't even pierce skin. I am sure it could, that's what I heard my whole life, but if you get to the hospital after you are bit, you aren't gonna die. Say you get bit by one and never go to the hospital, then maybe you'll die, but probably not. But I am sure a brown recluse spider is way more deadly than a black widow. People get bit by those and black widows and live all the time.
Did it ever occur to you that Brian might actually get back in his bed and get bit and die?
Ya, I mean it kinda did. It was more like a joke-type thing, like I wasn't trying to hurt the guy. Even if he did get bit, I wasn't trying to kill him. I was assuming he'd go too the hospital. It was just a joke.
Did he find it?
No, but he found out I put it in there cuz he got all paranoid and was calling us back, like “why we were calling? What were you doing at my place?” And my friend Dylan eventually ratted me out.
The rumor I heard was that that Slash knocked you out after that spider prank and vowed to do so every time he saw you for the rest of his life.
Really? Who told you that?
Is that true?
Nah.
Really? That's some crazy gossip then, getting spread around and completely exaggerated. So you have been on Birdhouse for over three years now?
Ya, like two or three something like that.
[Editor's note: According to Seamus, Jon has been on the team for about three-and-a-half years now.]
Seems like the team has gone through a ton of changes in the last few years. How would you describe it to someone who maybe still thinks of it from the era of The End?
When I first got on there wasn't really anyone running it. Like Brian Sumner was deciding who would get on, but there wasn't really a team manager. Then this dude John Hampton that worked there that was pretty much the team manager, he was kinda this cheesy dude and all this lame shit, so that's what made it so bad for a while. But now we have Seamus and there's been a lot more skating and going on trips and filming and its not a lot of cheesy shit anymore.
Seems like people are getting more amped on Birdhouse lately, like it's losing the ‘little kid company” stigma.
Ya, I don't think of it like that, but its definitely changing for sure. I like it.
Do you have any good Birdhouse tour stories or good Tony Hawk stories?
There weren't any good ones on this trip, and I have only met Tony a few times. I'm not like homies with him. He's kinda doing his own separate thing.
Who do you like to watch the most on the team?
Suski is pretty cool, Sumner or Shetler. Those guys have been killing it lately
Jon's phone starts beeping.
What' that?
Someone is trying to call Seamus. I guess I'll just ignore it.
Ok. How about Westgate? He's sick. Kinda reminds me of a little Donny Barley or something.
Ya, I think he does more flips tricks, but I can kinda see that. East coast dude with a lot of power. Real casual.
Do you envision going pro for them anytime soon or is that way off?
I'm pretty sure that's way off. I don't know. I'm just kinda trying to film and skate and do whatever now.
How is filming going? When should we expect a new video?
There was a deadline like a month ago for all the footage but I am just taking my time trying to make a video the best I can so it might not be out for a while.
What else are you working on right now? Anything for any other sponsors?
[Editors note: Incessant horn honking and screaming in the background.]
What's goin' on back there?
Seamus is honking the horn and going crazy playing music and shit.
Dude, we're trying to do an interview here, tell him to chill.
[Editor's note: this is where the interview goes lame because Jon is feeling the pressure from his TM to hurry up.]
Is that about it?
No I got like 10 more questions!
10 more?
Ya, can you deal?
Ya sure.
What's your favorite stuff to skate?
Probably bowls, transition or flatground every now and then I guess.
What's a trick you can't do or really suck at?
Ahhh, Frontside flips. That and kickflips in general. But frontside flips more so than the rest of ‘em
Seems like that's a trick you either just have on lock like Reynolds or you suck at it. Why do you think that is?
Ya, I definitely don't. It's a weird trick. But you don't want to have like, the Muska flips where they go between the legs. It's so hard to just get ‘em right. I dunno, it's just a weird trick.
So you decided to drop out of high school to travel and skate more?
It wasn't really a decision like that. But yea I dropped out like two years ago. My teacher was really lame. I was supposed to be able to just leave school whenever I wanted to travel. She was like “Yea, ok, that's fine.” So I told her I was goin' on this trip one time but then she called my mom like “Where's Jon? He's supposed to be in school?” So I completely told my mom and she was like, “You can just leave if you want now that you are 18.” She didn't really care.
How far did you get?
I was in the beginning of my senior year.
And your dad doesn't know huh?
Ya he still doesn't know. He thinks I'm still there. I am just gonna try to get my GED, but, I don't know. I'm kinda fucked with that one.
Are you ever gonna break it to him?
Well, I want to but I dunno. He just asked me the other day when I'm going to graduate. He does pay attention but not that much. Like he doesn't know exactly how old I am and stuff like that, so I can kind of get away with a lot of stuff.
Is that your real dad?
Ya.
Damn, and he doesn't know how old you are?
Well he knows how old I am, like, generally, but he doesn't know things like grades and stuff.
Maybe you should just wait until you have some fat paychecks from your board sales?
Ya that might be a good time to spring it on him.
What are you into besides skating and poker?
That's pretty much it. Like that and music.
They tell me you're a Morrissey fan
Ya Morrissey is sick, I like him. Who is “they?”
Ah, Seamus, people from magazines, people from Vista.
Ahhh.
Rumor has it you have a full sleeve of tattoos but you keep it covered.
Ahh, no that was actually just a joke. I found this nylon thing that was like a fake sleeve of tattoos that you just slide on your arm and I took some photos and sent it to Seamus and he was like “Oh my god you got sleeves, when did you do that?” I just tried to keep that one going for a while. Nah, I don't even have any tattoos.
When I ask people to tell me about you they seem to say a lot about your style. Do you ever consciously think about your style and work on it? Or is it just 100% natural and unplanned?
I don't work on it. I don't think I have a good style at all. [Laughter.]
[Editor's note: More incessant banter in the background.]
Seamus is like driving the van around in circles staring and pointing at me.
Am I holding you up?
No.
Some people just can't look bad maybe Gino, Guy
Ya, I am pretty sure if you see me do a frontside flip you'll say I looked bad.
Whose style are you into?
Drehobl is really sick to watch, ya. I'm gonna go with Drehobl. He's sick.
What started you skating?
There was just a pool down the street from my house. Like little curbs and a pool. It was fun to mess around on and it was like five minutes away.
Who did you look up to back then?
No, no one I can think of. I just skated with homies and stuff.
Who are your favorite skaters now?
Probably just Drehobl. I gotta get in the van now man.
Can you talk while you are in a van?
Ya I guess.
[Editor's note: Lots of music and noise and yelling in the background.]
Sorry about that man, I need to get two to 3,000 words out of this. What videos get you psyched?
Wait what? I can't hear in the van, what was the question?
What videos get you psyched?
The old Plan B videos. More recently, Free Your Mind was pretty cool. Good to watch.
You've been in Vista your whole life; do you plan on staying there? I lived there for a year I thought it kinda sucked.
I definitely want to move out, I just don't know where or when. Ya it kinda sucks but its home.
Where do you like to skate when you are home?
Carlsbad park or Zero park. We go there at like 12 where no one is skating and it's great.
What happened to the Oceanside park, I used to go there all the time, then I moved and now it's gone?
Ya that place was fun. They took out the pyramid and the city tore it down and said they were gonna build a cement park but they never did. It just got torn down.
A lot of people tell me you are pretty quiet do people ever confuse that with you being unapproachable or an asshole?
I don't think so. I don't know. Maybe some might. I guess maybe sometimes but I don't think I am.
If you weren't so into skating right now, what do you think you would be doing?
I might just be playing poker or something like that. I have no idea. Probably be back in school for sure.
How about after your career in skateboarding? Any plans?
I don't know right now.
I know you're barely getting started but how would you like to be remembered in skateboarding, or what mark would you like to leave in skateboarding?
I don't know.
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