In this interview, KebbeK's founder talks about his background, the foundations and formation of KebbeK, politics and his vision for the skateboarding industry in the coming years. Another in the series by our correspondent from Paradise Isle, Mark Spironello.

How did you get your start skating?

I don’t really remember. I have two older brothers that had matching banana boards made from yellow plastic. I could “walk the dog” and do three-sixties on it before I was in grade 3, which is about when my first real memories of existence start clearing up. I grew up in Kimberley, British Columbia, a small town of about 6,500 people. In 1985, kids started riding wider boards and I knew I had to get one. I begged my parents and they finally got one for me a whole year later. From a department store in Cranbrook, it was a Roller Derby. I made them take it back so I could get a Loo Ganida. In hindsight, it was like taking back a piece of brown crap to change it for a piece of beige crap. It fell apart within a few months of my everyday downhill to school, about 5 km I think. I’d do that bomb at 7 in the morning down Hospital Hill, right up until first snowfall and as soon as the spring showed up. I was a little tyke that the hockey players loved to beat up. I liked team sports, but the teams didn’t like me. Skateboarding was my first activity where I felt I was as good at it, other than when I was a ninja. I felt I was maybe even better than most of the other kids, so I really had to look inside myself to improve. I loved competing against myself for a change; nobody else in Kimberley seemed put as much effort into it as I did. Eventually, I convinced a few friends to help build a skatepark across from my house and I asked Jody to be the president of the Frantic Skateboard Club.

Give us a little history of how and when Kebbek came to be?

KebbeK is an offshoot project of the company PM Skateboards that I founded in 1992, when I was 17. PM only made street skates until 1999. Jody was experimenting with some lowered boards called Highways. I helped him screen the graphics on his boards and we skated together whenever I could visit him in Prince George, where he was living. I had lived in Rossland for a few years with Jim Ziemlanski and I thought that the two of them had a lot in common. I introduced them and immediately they started concocting and creating. During the summer of 1999, I decided to do a traveling skate and music tour called “Hicks on Sticks” that was to be sponsored by a German software company. The CEO of this company was busted for embezzling huge amounts of dough, our tour being one of these so-called embezzlements. I was left hugely in debt and Jim moved to PG to live at Jody’s. I went to Montréal to dig myself out of the hole by starting an aquarium business for some coke-head who ended up scraping almost all the cash from the company. I couldn’t speak a lick of French when I got here but, within 1 year, I paid off all my debt and all my tour friends’ debts too. Jody and Jim were flat broke and begging me to buy them a CNC machine. I agreed but only if they moved to Montréal.

When they got here, they were already selling the lowered boards to Landyachtz. We decided to launch a new downhill board company called KebbeK to create friendly competition with Landyachtz since, at that time; all of their lowered boards were getting built by us. By being a second company on the market that offered low-riders, we knew that it would make Landyachtz look less weird and it was their success that kept our doors open those days. In the early 2000’s, most people thought the style was ridiculous.

Jody flat-out refused to work on anything. He was a royal pain in the ass, actually! I was paying off all of his debtors, yet he complained constantly. After over a year he couldn’t come up with any actual board designs for KebbeK and he refused to work on the aquarium stuff that was actually paying the overhead on the KebbeK facility. We had a falling out and he went back to Kimberley. I’m civil with him now. We’d been friends long before we got into business and I don’t think a single friendship should be sacrificed over the pursuit of earning; but I also don’t think there is such thing as unlimited entitlement. A man’s reward should be for what you’ve accomplished by the end of the day, not what you did two years ago. Jim was busting his ass to keep up with running the business and Jody felt that he’d already done his part and was content just sitting around reading internet bulletin boards. Jody moved back to Kimberley and I think he hasn’t ever been happier. He’s got one of the coolest races in the world going there, despite the fact that his rules stink. He’s got great mountains to ride and a lot of young up-n-comers that keep him on his game. I do miss the riding with him everyday! He and I used to hike through the forest every morning on Mont. Royal and bomb the Top Challenge hill at 6 o’clock.

Jim and I focused our energies on unique designs that would separate us from Landyachtz but still back up their image. KebbeK quickly surpassed PM in regards to sales and now it’s front and center as to why the business operates.

What is the scene like in Montreal?

Montréal is one of the coolest cities on the planet. I’d always wanted to live here so I jumped at the opportunity to come. I was offered a job by Fausto Vitello to go and work at the Thrasher-Deluxe enterprise in San Francisco but chose Montréal instead. Not to disrespect San Francisco or anything --running into the Gonz bombing hills in his hometown was one of the greatest memories I keep!

Montréal has the world’s most beautiful women, despite their flashy tempers. The arts culture and music scene here rivals New York and, as far as an industrial center, we’ve got everything from clothing to aeronautics industries. I’m sure you meant this question to be about the skateboard scene, but I’m not going to claim Montréalers have anything more on anyone else. There are amazing rippers everywhere. Montréal has a lot of people into it, and it’s a true brotherhood. No cliques or any of that garbage. The French and English are at loggerheads everywhere else in this city, but not amongst the skaters.

Why is it that Canada seems to produce the world’s best speedboards?

Jody Wilcock and Jim Ziemlanski are Canadian.

Tell me about the process involved with designing a deck. Take the Flushcut, for example…how did it come about?

The Flushcut is Jim’s baby, he put years into that thing before it was just right. Jim is the most meticulous designer I’ve ever met. I could never repeat the processes he went through to do that deck; I’m too impatient. I’m better off discussing the new Hairpin.

The Hairpin is probably the most advanced lamination in skateboard history to date. It was my personal greatest achievement in design. It was a real struggle trying to create the two surfaces that make up the male and female of that mould. I do everything in CAD/CAM software. It first comes from pure thought. Then, you create numbers to quantify those thoughts and away you go. I wanted to make something that had real rebound coming from the necks of the deck, as well as to create a concave that followed the shape of the board. I dabbled with that when designing the Evo for Landyachtz with the tapered concave, but I needed to add camber to the hairpin and have the concave get narrow then widen back out again. It took a really long time to get it right. I pressed dozens of decks that just popped apart after pressing or veneers just split as soon as I started squeezing them. Pierre has the most skill in graphics design but I’m a little bit forceful on my partners as to what I want to see the final image look like. They think I’m a bit of a graphics nazi.

tell us about DRAS and what we can expect in the future.

DRAS is the dream of many but it is going to take an army of a network to make it happen. The overall goal is to create a pay-cheque for the world’s best riders in slalom and speedboarding. It will revolve around the concept that event organizers should be free to conduct their events how they see fit and the racers will show up with their own cash purse. In exchange, the racers will get to sell off some of the banner space available at races. For the first year we will be hanging banners at GSI, IGSA, and Timeship races. A pretty good start as far as races go; too bad we haven’t raised any money yet. This whole first season may just be about creating a media portfolio to offer the big companies. People can contribute by going to www.skatefast.org, signing up and giving sponsorship suggestions in the forum. The future should be not just a pay-down to 16th place, but the top 16 actually not even needing to have another job to support themselves.

Where do you see the skateboarding industry in 10 years and where does Kebbek fit in?

The next ten years will be great! I see Randal getting knocked off his throne. That garbage they’ve been selling us for so long could have been so much better if they’d have just spent a little effort on quality control. We still intentionally drill our boards with holes in the wrong places to compensate for Randals. I look forward to the end of that. Here’s a little note to people out there: NEVER drill a board to fit bad trucks. Widen the holes on the trucks with a slightly larger bit -- aluminum is soft, it drills out very easily. A wider holed board will eventually get sloppy. Randal himself is a nice guy, nothing against him personally. I just want to see people start using the options that are out there.

As far as KebbeK’s place in the future, that’s a good question. Our goal is to remain a positive influence on skateboarding, but the skateboard industry I’m afraid, no longer exists. The skate industry has actually become an appendage of the toy industry. The majority of boards are now imported from China to toy conglomerates that have to negotiate with the big box retailers. Frankly, the whole thing saddens me but I’m not sticking my head in the sand. As soon as KebbeK is no longer able to innovate because economies of scale leave no room for research and development, I’m throwing in the towel. Right now, this is a way for Jim, Pierre and I to express ourselves and more importantly, to improve the feel of riding a skateboard. If we become complacent, these decks might as well get built in China, too. One out of every five humans lives in that country but, I guarantee you, not one out of every five dollars in this world is in those people’s wallets. China is set to eventually lead the global economy as the United States has done over the last century and honestly, I think it’s only fair. Hopefully the U.S. will give up that control without the use of their massive weaponry. India and China being lifted out of their poverty will be the true reflection of a global democracy, a fundamental backbone to the United States mindset. I know that their working conditions and pollution control are atrocious, but I’m sure they have enough self-respect as humans to deal with that pretty quickly. Hopefully, in my daughter’s time, equality and democracy can also include the people who don’t have white skin. As it stands, I build every KebbeK deck right here in Montréal and I will stay with the company as long as it can keep doing it that way.

Tell me about the first deck you ever built.

Plywood and roller skates, but we are all sick of hearing about that by now. I cringe every time I read that in Concrete Wave. Let’s move on!

Who is your support group?

Do you have any advice for aspiring skateboard builders/companies?

Build something to ride, not something to sell.

What or who inspires your boards?

I get my greatest inspiration from the online forums. It is amazing to go onto Silverfish or NCDSA and get instantaneous, unbiased response to the KebbeK creations. Jim has provided the company and me both a huge amount of inspiration, especially with respect to robotics. He has a very bizarre working method that usually involves pulling all-nighters. Pierre is a very huge contributor to the style and look of what we do and his skateboarding experience is very diverse. The whole KebbeK team has a say in the way things are done. That’s why KebbeK has the biggest pro team of downhillers in the world: they are what move the company forward.

What’s your everyday personal set up?

Of course I have a huge quiver, but the three main decks are: my pro-model speedboard with JimZ hangers and Flywheels, my slalom deck is Pierre Gravel with Trackers, one offset and Manx wheels, and my street skate is a PM, with who cares what trucks and wheels! I love the feel of an ollie.

Describe your ideal session.

It’s just me and Dwayne Pereto. He’s got more balls than anyone I’ve ever met. Just the two of us charging Westmount, doing Devil’s Toy top-to-bottoms and riding in taxis back up. If it were ideal, I’d have a remote control for the stoplights.

As far as a Dream Session, it’s probably the Portillo Highway in Chile, the one that drops down from the Andes at the Argentina border. I’d have the whole KebbeK team there, plus Tom Edstrand, Jody Wilcock, Will Brunson and the rest of the Timeship Crew, Freddy Desajrdins, Rob McKendry, Jimmy Flindt, The Rogers Bros, Chaput, Mischo Erban, Ryan Theobald, Jesse Tynan, Anthony Smallwood, Doug Dupin, Craig McKune, Stephen Daddow, Hadrien Salmon, Jeff Woodfine, Darryl Freeman, Rick Kludy, Ross Barradoy… man, I could go on forever! I love riding with so many of the people who’ve been racing over the years. Josh Evin used to bomb with us in the early days, maybe he’ll get back into it after is street-skate career is over.

What new products have you got in store for us this season?

I’m building a spaceship that travels through time; it will have cup holders that counter the effects of anti-gravity.

As the longboard market continues to grow what sets Kebbek apart from the competition?

It’s not a longboard baby, it’s a speedboard!

What is your favorite type of pie?

Humble.

Post Script, from Ian Comishin: "Two days after I finished this interview, Fausto Vitello died while riding his bike. This is something that deeply saddens me. Fausto was a man that all skateboarders should appreciate: he gave us Independent Trucks, Thrasher Magazine, Spitfire Wheels and much, much, more. I was on the phone with him on the Wednesday before he passed and it was the first time I'd spoken to him in almost six months. It's kinda surreal to hear he's gone."