Lodge Pro, Willis Kimbel

Name:  Willis Kimbel

Current: Job / school: Professional Skateboarder, Seafood Research.

Where are you from? Grew up moving around a lot. Nowhere and everywhere feels like home.

Please name ( if posissible  ) please name a cool place from where you are from? Bermuda was the most magical of the places I  grew up. La Maddalena Italy.

Where do you currently live?  OSIDE, California,  USA

What nationaly do you feel the most? I am American, but Bermuda, Italy and Finland feel right.

Family status: Married

Age: 29

Sponsors: Creature, Indy, Nike SB, OJ Wheels, Bronson Speed Co. Mob grip, Next Adventure Camping Supplies, Shrunken Head skateshop,

Years of skateboarding: 25 years

Board size: 9’’ Popsicle or 9.75’’ shape.

Wheel size: 55mm

Trucks:  169mm Independents

I change set up every: Now and then.  Seems more frequent these days.

Current Board trend: Dark Throne

Please state your type of terrain on your board, 

Street: Yes

(Skatepark) Flow Street: Yes

Miniramp: Sometimes

Long board: Life is too short

Vert: Yes

Bowl: Pool Coping. Pools

Freestyle: All day baby. Handstand things ya know?

 

Please tell us about your daily DAY by the hours, we want to know how your day is looking like, 

Yesterday. Average day.

06.00  Woke up and made coffee that was too weak

07.00  Skate around block with the dog, hit the speed bag, ukulele

08.00  4 eggs, bagel, veg juice and banana.

09.00  Looked at the lack of surf

10.00  Skated Prince Park

12.00 Got burritos with my lady.

13.00  Jah

14.00  Cleaned out the truck

15.00  Found a bookshelf on the side of the road and put it in garage

16.00  Kicked it with homies in garage and tinkered on stuff

17.00  Beer run. Skated an old refrigerator in the alley.

18.00  Homemade seared scallops with asparagus on risotto

19.00  Bombed hills with the crew to the old bowling alley.

20.00  Strikes. Turkeys. Spares.

21.00  Beers. Strikes. High Fives.

22.00  Cruised back home. Sauna.

23.00  Sauna.

24.00  Kick it with my fam

01.00  Out

 

How are you doing at the moment?

What a time to be alive. I’m good.

How is your body at the moment, (injuries, knees, back, and so)?

We’re looking at about 115% health and power. Feeling good. Fortunate to be healthy.

When did you start to skate and why?  What tricked you into this?

I got exposed to it through my dad. I took an old deck and started balancing on an armrest of a sofa butt naked while watching a San Diego Chargers game when I was about 3 or 4.  Then he set one up for me, taught me about pants and it was on.

Do you think you made the right choice  (instead of playing football FX?)?

Yeah,  I love it. It’s not even a choice. It’s just in my nature. I tried other games and stuff. I don’t regret any of it. Made a lot of friends and learned a lot. Some places don’t have skateboarding so playing soccer or other “sports” makes sense if you wanna kick it.

 

 

 

Any person’s that  influences you at the moment?

Al Partanen. He rips and gives back to skateboarding by being such a G and building epic spots for people all the time. He’s showed me a lot of incredible music too. Full veteran medaled in savage road-doggin.’

What gets you motivated ?

Music, speed, wife, the unknown, food, getting lost, homies, earth.

Please comment your feelings, memories  (if you are that old)   & know how about Skateboarding in the

80s Airs blasted for real though.

90s Street doggin’ got buck town

2000+  Mathias Ringstrom did a casper  flip on vert in “The Storm” but I think that 99’

2010+  We’re all spoiled with so many wonderful things to skate.

 

Do you feel skateboarding is in a good way?

Yes. People skateboard all over the world every day. This is good.  It also makes me and my friends very happy. This is also good.

Where do you stand & please comment with skateboarding in the Olympics?

It’s going to be in the Olympics, it’s weird to think about but life’s too short to be distracted into negativity for something I love so much. Hopefully some less fortunate people get to be exposed to skateboarding from it. Not for it, not against it, and hopefully I get to eat a bowl of Wheaties with the homies face on it. Not even a fan of Wheaties but I’d get em.’

Where do you stand in terms of politics?

DIV ADAM FOR PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD

Who do yo chill with at the moment ?

The homies from far and near. Mad love for my peoples.

I’m have been on a mission lately in (with)

Peter Hewitt and Sam Hitz

Dream session would be, 

Burnside, but flipped horizontally so it’d be backwards with all the homies and loud music and 1,000 barley pops, and fire.

Lately I have been working on,

Making an hour glass in my garage. Didn’t know you had to bake the sand to get it totally dry.

When I was little I would like to,

GO.

When I’m home I like to,

Do whatever I want and hang with my wife and dog and cook like crazy anytime of the day or night. Play music. Mess with photoshop. Sauna, hit the punching bag, paint. read.

What kind of music to you listen to ?

Grindline the band, Bathory, Dark Throne, Jerry Reed, Arctic, The Shrine, Lee Scratch Perry,  Arctic, Merciful Fate, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Kim Larsen, Big L, Ravi Shankar, Enya.

I normally call my homies for,

Bowling

Your homies are,

Fucking Badasses

I enjoy going to,

Empty beautiful places.

 

 

FAVORITS

Beer: Big cold ones. Preferably yours. Pilsners in a glass.

Wine: Sake Sho Chiko Bai big bottle. junmai ginjo

Liquor: Jaloviina

Breakfast: I love crock pot breakfast. Just a big bucket of wet meat that falls apart. And Fruit.

Lunch: Sushi or Al Pastor Burrito

Dinner: Steak scallops and asparagus

Late-night snack: dark chocolate with peanut butter on it and a dollop of greek yogurt on top.

Like 20 of em before getting back into bed.

Resturant: Umi sushi in San Rafael, CA. The guy Yoshi is a ripping surfer and has the best fish I’ve ever seen every single time. UMI UMI UMI

Skateboarders: Neil Blender, Tim Dorfus, Wes Kremer,  Adam Soles

Skatepark: BURNSIDE and SUVILAHTI

Skate spot: WINDELLS

Skate film / clip: My dad skating Del Mar in 70’s doing a front disaster on vert with no nose or concave.

You fave Tricks: Back side air. Switch push. Grinds.

Art: Desiree Melancolin.

Film:  Gummo

Music: Old people make good music. This old man in Guadalajara playing guitar in a taqueria on an OJ Wheels trip might be my favorite I’ve ever seen.

Book: Robinson Crusoe

City’s: CPH  Straight up #1.  Portland, Helsinki, Bay,  Barcelona, NY, SD,

Writers: Aesop’s Fables are rad.  John Steinbeck

Actors: This guy that I’ve known for years who shares mutual friends and always acts like we’ve never met. I don’t mind it. He’s a damn good actor though.

Skaters: Tom Inouye, Eniz Fazliov, Blender,  Hugo Bosserup and Ville Vester

Homeboys: Mike Tyson, Roberto Baggio even though he blew it, Wayne Gretzky.

Random’s: Matt Moffet

Tablet: Its a waterproof frisbee right?

TV: Don’t own one and haven’t for ten years. I do enjoy them in hotels though.

Camera: 35mm Minolta

Phone: I’m a slave to the apple.

App: Maps. I love maps.

Car: Ford Ranger

Bike: Christiania bike.

 

When was the last time you really won big time?

Bowled a 300 yesterday morning

When was the time you really lost big time?

Psoriasis covered my whole body outta nowhere. Insanity. Felt like a fucking leper for 3 months.

When I travel, I always bring,

A positive attitude man. Shoes.

Best travel advice I can give is,

Journey, not destination. If asking for directions ask for the best route instead of the fastest route.  Instincts, follow them.

Best life advice I can give is,

Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without

Are you good with money  (do you plan, safe it, cash in or blow it)?

I try.

When I do not skateboard I,

Kick it with my wife, talk shit with the homies, play music, learn stuff, cook, fish, surf, explore, tinker in the garage.

My fitness program is,

Present and very inconsistent.

Do you care about your health?

Yes

Anything that concerns you at the moment?

My country’s leadership.

When I get old I want to,

I’d like to still laugh my ass off and not be too serious. Hopefully I can play the blues on a porch with my wife after catching a big fish on a fly I tied from my dog’s chest hair that morning, and have an SS El Camino.

I would NEVER,

Rename myself Chad Campbell or not go to sauna without löyly

I would like to see more of,

Shooting stars, random acts of kindness.

That one time where I was in jail because of,

Monopoly

I should do more of,

Mexico. I love Mexico.

My future looks like,

Ya never know man. Happy I’m guessing.

I dream of some day that I would,

Have land and a home that I could make my ideas creation dreams possible. Make a campground-ish skatepark property.

On Netflix / YouTube / Internet I watch,  

DANNY DICOLA

 

 

If I could change the world I would, 

I can and I will. In my own little way.

Everybody should own a, 

Pillow

The hobby I have, no one knows about is, 

Writing. Not anymore.

I will never get rid of, 

My lucky tapeworm. Fool loves my diet.

I would love to be in a movie with, 

Bill Murray

Any regrets in life so far? 

Not being in a movie with Bill Murray.  I regret not jumping in a lake after camping before a really long drive from Montana back to Oregon. I regret letting 2 lobster tails go bad in my fridge on a trip.

Who should we follow on social media at the moment ? 

@wheelbarrow

Random story’s you want to share? 

The first time I ever got to come to CPH I didn’t get on my flight home and survived as long as I could because of the opportunity Keld and Frederick and Rune gave me, and it was one of the most influential decisions of my life and I am forever grateful to get to have experienced this place.

Thanks to 

Copenhagen, Frederick and Keld, Rune, Alis, Wonderland, Everyone at Nike, Creature, Indy, OJ, Bronson, Mob, Suomi, Jenni, Family, skateboarding.