Robert Brink - Writer

Danny Supa

January 24, 2007 | Skip To The Comments (1)

Danny Supa
By Rob Brink
The Skateboard Mag, March 2007

Quiet, stylish, underrated, skating switch, lots of pop, New York City. These are all common words used over the years to describe Danny Supasirirat. But then, while pre interviewing some people, I got this:

"His tricks are best described as explosive...seriously. Each one is like watching a mini explosion. He puts his all into it.

-Kevin Imamura, Nike SB

"It's like a bomb goes off when he does his tricks."

-Chris Pastras

Two quotes about Danny Supa's skating, from two different talks and two different people who work very closely with Danny. Neither knew I was asking the other the same pre-interview questions. To get a reaction that specifically metaphorical from two entirely different individuals is quite remarkable. These comments go far beyond the generic and common "He's got a great style," type of thing. And it leads me to believe that Danny is a seriously well-defined, unique and talented professional skateboarder, who has left lasting and strong impressions on the people who know him. And that says a lot without saying a whole lot, which is the way Danny would probably prefer it.

What are you up to lately?
Just trying to finish up filming for the Nike video and then working on the Stereo video after that.

What's the one thing you miss the most about Harold Hunter?
Oh, there's like a million things. He would always make everyone laugh and do something that Harold would do, ya know? Like whatever town we would go into each night on a Zoo tour, he would make an announcement about all this stuff he was going to do, like "I'm gonna party tonight, I'm gonna do this!" And we would be like "But we're in the middle of nowhere, how are you gonna do all that?" But he would just be a party animal and get it done. He was a really caring friend. If he had $2 in his pocket, he would give you $1 of it. Thinking about Harold just makes me laugh.

How does losing someone like that in your life change you? Or change your skating even?
I just look at New York differently because a huge part of New York died along with him, because he was pretty much New York. And I just kinda don't want to live all wild the way some people do. I want to take care of myself. It makes me think about life and makes me want to do stuff to make my body and mind feel better.

What do you miss most about New York?
I miss my close friends and family. I miss skating through traffic in the streets. There's nothing like skating through traffic in New York. San Francisco and Philadelphia and Chicago are sick, but there's nothing like New York. There's so much energy in New York and it gives you so much energy. You are just out all night skating or with friends. People are just hangin' out on the block, you know? It's different.

Tell me a good NYC story.
I was walking across the street one time at 42nd and 5th Avenue and my girlfriend had a walking cast on, and this cab driver kept revving his engine at us, because the light was green and we were still crossing the street. I was like "Yo, chill out, we're just trying to cross the street." And he had a fare in the back and he was all wylin' out. Then he just kinda sped past us. So I was all pissed off so I hit his trunk real hard with a board and made a dent or whatever and I just kept walking the other way.

So all of a sudden I hear someone go "Hey watch out!" And this big huge six-foot-tall cab driver is running after me. His cab is parked a lane away from the curb, his door is wide open, the fare is in the back is like, buggin' out and he's running towards me. So I'm like "Oh man, what am I gonna do? This guy is gonna kill me!" So I take my board and hit him in the face with the griptape side and his glasses fell off and he was kinda dazed. And I turned around to see if my girl was alright, and next thing you know the dude grabs me by my sweater with his huge monkey hands.

I was kind of tough with him for a minute and a security guard came by and broke it up because we were in front of an expensive building. Basically he wouldn't let go of me and I couldn't get out of it. He was just real big. The cops came and I had to get arrested because I hit him with my board instead of my fists. The cops said "If you had used your fists I could have let you go." And I was like "What am I supposed to do, this dude is huge and he's running after me?" So I had to pay for his glasses and take an anger management course.

You seem very loyal...quitting Zoo because Todd [Jordan] and Anthony [Correa] got kicked off…
Yeah, Ecko came in and it was all good. We were getting paid more. But then they started wanting to do stuff like writing contracts for skaters and the guy was basically pointing at people and saying "You don't skate as much as this guy," or "you're living out in Cali and you don't even skate that much." And I was like "Dude, chill, you're in a suit. Just let the skater side of Zoo York handle itself." So basically kinda quit and got kicked off at the same time.

If my friends weren't going to be there, then I just didn't want to be on the company and I'd rather just not get paid. It hurt me to leave Zoo because of Jeff Pang and Rodney and everyone but I just had to do it. I'm not gonna just be on a company with random people. I want to be on a company with people I like, that's what skating is about. Not just throw some people together, go out to a nice dinner and everyone is all quiet and shit.

And you were with them for almost 10 years?
Yeah, about ten years—since 1994 and I turned pro around 1999.

So leaving was a huge risk…
Yeah it hurt me. I looked at all my Zoo clothes and stuff like, "Fuck, what am I gonna do now? Who wants to put me on?" But I kinda didn't give a fuck and just wanted to skate.

Well, it's kind of honorable. Having your friends' backs, not choosing the paycheck over the happiness. And waiting it out to see what happens instead of rushing to find something stable or the money.
Hell yeah man, I appreciate that. Because if you work hard enough, you'll get what you deserve. It got to the point where they would tell the team manager to find out what lines I had filmed on each day or what tricks or who I went out with. I was like, "Are you kidding me?" I tried to say all this stuff in my TransWorld interview but they cut all of my shit out. I was pretty bummed about that.

So after quitting Zoo you were on Vehicle for a bit, but basically Nike was your main support, right?
They definitely supported me throughout that stuff and they believed in me and didn't have any doubts. They were like "We know you're gonna get something soon."

And how did the Stereo thing come about?
I really wanted to make Vehicle happen but it just didn't happen. It was going real slow and we didn't have a lot of money. But I was actually skating with Benny Fairfax in Puerto Rico on a Red Bull tour together. I was kinda drunk one night and I hit him up like "Yo what's up with Stereo?" And he was into it and said he'd talk to Chris [Pastras]. And a couple months later I was on because Chris was down for me and I guess the team was too. I knew Dune [Chris Pastras] from back in the days too when he used to come out to Zoo and chill with Rodney. All we had to do was wait for the okay from Jason [Lee] because he wanted to see some footage.

I was just gonna ask you if you call him Dune.
Yeah I call him Dune or Chris—doesn't matter.

Stereo is a style-based team, as you're known as a style skater for sure, so were your influences more style-based skaters as well?
I would just skate the way I skated. Not trying to imitate anyone but we just skated in New York—slashed the curbs and skated around and just did tre flips on the way down to the Banks or whatever. It was so fun and it was our style. Just cruising, and if people got left behind then they got left behind and would call us like "Where are you? I'm gonna jump in the train and meet you!" And we'd be like "Damn, I thought you were right behind us!" We'd be like 30 deep, rushing up Midtown at night. That's what I miss.

How did New York City shape your skateboarding?
There's so much that goes down and you gotta watch your back. Like weirdos and stuff. You gotta look around all sides of you at all times because you don't know if a car or a bike messenger is comin' around or something. So you have to watch that and get used to all the cracks and all the crazy terrain and stuff. It's actually funner to skate stuff that's kinda messed up, ya know? It makes it more challenging.

So in skating now, whose styles do you admire?
Oh, good one. I've always liked Mike Carroll's style. He's one of my favorites. For the new guys, I like Omar Salazar's style. He's really fuckin' spontaneous.

How about your personality?
A lot of people tried to fuck with me when I was real young and shit in New York, so I would not try to…well not put a mean face on but not put a happy face on. So some people think I look mean but I'm really a nice person. I actually started talking more when I moved out to California when I was young, and then when I came back to New York, people were like "Damn you talk a lot more then you used to."

I always wonder what you quiet dudes are thinking about the rest of us. Is it like, "I wish everyone would just shut the fuck up already!"
Nah, I just like to observe sometimes. Or people are talking about stuff I don't want to talk about so I don't even say anything. But if I have something to say. I'll say it for sure. But sometimes I'm real quiet, but I get talkative if I'm comfortable around people. But I don't want to blab on about stuff when I don't know the people around me. So I just kinda like to not talk sometimes.

Pastras calls you Uncle Supa. Why is that?
We were in Miami one time, at the ghetto bank spot and we saw this little helpless little defenseless dog. He couldn't be more than two weeks old and someone just left him there. He was all malnourished and really shaking—he couldn't even walk. So I got him a shoebox and Clint [Peterson] got him some cat food, because it was the closest thing we could find. So we were like feeding him and stuff. Then I took him into my hotel room and washed him up in the sink and just chilled with him for a bit. Then the next day I brought him to the vet and actually got an owner for him. I was pretty psyched to do that, so I guess that's why they call me Uncle Supa.

And you have a thing for buying gadgets? iPods, cell phones?
I like electronics a lot. I think its 'cuz I'm Asian.

Tell us about Sean Sheffey trying to tackle you mid contest run?
Oh man, hope he doesn't kill me for this, haha. It was my first World Cup contest in Germany. And I guess the whole time he was just trippin' out—just kinda being Sheffey. So I started taking my and before I even dropped in there was a piece of paper getting thrown at me. Then I tried a tre flip over the hip and bailed it. So Sheffey runs up the same hip and just jumps over it, like he was ollieing. And I went to pick up my board and I feel a fuckin' pole kinda just jab me in the back. And I'm like "What the hell?" I can tell its metal, but he didn't hit me hard with it, he just touched me with it. So I turn around and it's just me and Sheffey on the course, and Sheffey is already like 15 feet away from me, with this huge metal rod, just swinging it in circles. So I went over and told Greg Carroll, who was announcing, that I wanted to take my run later. I ended up taking my run later, didn't make any tricks 'cuz I was all shook.

So later on I was on top of one of the bank ramps, talking to Chris Lambert and Sheffey walks by and he's like, "Hey what's up Chris?" Then he looks at me and goes "Don't fuck with me Supa! Don't fuck with me! Im'ma fuckin' kill you!" And I was screaming at him, like "What the fuck did I do to you? Just tell me what I did!"

I remember back in the day being at Tampa pro, back when Sheffey was skating. And I was standing next to Kenny Hughes and Donny Barley during practice and they were like "Dude Sheffey is skating the course; I'm not goin' in there!"
Yeah, dude…the whole time I was just bugging out, like "Why the hell does Sheffey hate me?" Because we've always been chill—we had been friends for a while. And then like a year later, I'm sitting at a bar in Cali and he comes and sits right next to me, and I'm like "Oh shit, what's gonna happen?" So he puts his arm around me and kisses me on the cheek and he's like "Yo Supa, I'm sorry, I was just drinking or something." So I was like "Yo man, I already forgot about it. I don't even care, it's all good." And ever since then he's been super chill to me.

Who are your favorite skaters right now?
Everyone on Nike pretty much. I like Dylan Rieder a lot. Damn, there's a lot of heads I like right now.

Is Gino still skating? I heard he's been filming with Dan Wolfe for the Nike video.
Yeah, he's actually been ripping. He's gonna have some dope stuff.

He's my all-time favorite. I was so bummed when I heard he supposedly retired or whatever.
Yeah he's one of my favorites too. Some people just need to chill and get away for a while and then come back into it. But Gino's always had it; he's just doing his thing.

What has skateboarding given to you and what do you feel you have given it?
Skateboarding's given me a lot of joy. Just skateboarding and landing tricks and making friends all over the world and being able to travel. I never thought I'd be able to pay my bills with it. And hopefully I can give back to skating by getting kids psyched to do switch stuff or if kids want to start skating like me or get something—I get psyched. Like when kids bring up photos of me to sign or something. I just hope I'm giving something back to the kids that gets em psyched to skate, that's all.

What are your fondest memories from your life skateboarding?
Ah man, the New York nights, you know, skating all night at Astor Place—just hanging out all night and skating until like four or five in the morning, then going to Burger King in the morning to get coffee then still skating.

Me and Vinny would always just film each other, back when he lived in Jersey and stuff. I would go to chill in Jersey him, because I lived in upstate New York for a little bit. We would just skate and film each other, just me and him, and we would look for the biggest stuff to ollie down and shit like that. Just experiencing life through skateboarding—all random stuff, ya know?