Lodge Guest, Macgregor Munson

Hurricane, Berkeley Skatepark. Photo by Big Hongry

 

Where do you currently live and where are you from ?

I live in Berkeley California, originally from Oakland just one city over.

Tell us a little bit about your past ?

I grew up going to a german private school all my life until high school. Looking back at it, it was a good school, but nobody there was ever really into the things I was into. Especially when I started skateboarding, I felt different then the rest and only really found my people outside of school and, now in high school. But I can’t complain about my childhood or my upbringing.

Why skateboarding ? How did it start for you ?

I was always interested in, nut I really started when my cousin, Trevor Morgan, gave me his complete set up when I was eleven. Long story short, his step mom who hates skateboarding kicked hi board and he gave it to me saying it was cursed. Cursed or not, I feel blessed to have found skateboarding.

What size set up, wheels & trucks do you currently ride ?

9inch decks, 58mm wheels, 169 independent trucks

Do you have any setup rituals, we need to know about ?

I usually keep it simple. Full black sheet of grip, nothing fancy.

Any sponsors ?

I’m on the 510 Skate Shop team. I also get occasional hook-ups from DLX SF on decks and wheels.

What kind of skateboarding do you prefer ?

I feel most at home with tranny and vert. The feeling of it is just so free to me, but I do plan on pushing myself harder in the streets.

Do you have a great skate spot in your home town you can recommend ?

I have to mention Berkeley Skatepark, because it’s my local park and I love it, but “Vertkeley” is the local vert ramp and we’re very lucky to have such a good vert ramp in Berkeley! Other than that there a some DIYs like Lower Bobs and Skate Park T.I. that are constantly getting sicker as well.

Who is your favorite skateboarders, under and over 30 ?

I really enjoy watching people like Grant Taylor and Jimmy Wilkins, their skating amazes me. I also really like Jesse Lindloff, Eric Winkowski and Daan .hey can do it all! Tony Trujillo, Dan Drehobl, Nail Blender, Peter Hewitt. All these guys inspire me.

School, work, not working or other occupation ?

I’m in my last year of high school. I’m super lucky to work at Berkeley skatepark as a monitor. I basically get paid to skate and kick out scooters, bikes and kooks. That’s the life!

 

BS layback, Vertkeley CA. Phot by Brian Fick

How is a normal day looking for you ? 

Get up tired as hell, pick up my girlfriend on the way to school. The first half of my school day sucks, but the second is nice because I have a lot of art classes. The, depending on the day I either work at the skatepark, skate vert, or skate somewhere else. Then I go home, practice the banjo and eat dinner with the family.

Tell us how a good long great weekend should look for you

Of course, hanging out with friends and skating is the main idea, but I enjoy doing new stuff. I don’t like doing the same shit every weekend. Trying to balance partying and productivity is another important part of the weekend I’de say. But yeah, skating a bunch, playing music with friends, exploring, spending time with my girl, that’s the good stuff.

 

Slash grind at 510 20 year anniversary jam. Photo by Big Hongry

How is this fall treating you ?

Great! I just came back from a trip to CPH and Berlin with my friends Ben and Quentin. We skated a bunch and it barely rained! It was still cold as fuck though! Now it’s raining back here in Berkeley though… We needed it.

Who are you hanging out with at the moment ?

At the moment I’m all by myself in my Kitchen at 5am. The jet lag still got me pretty good.

 

 

 

Who and what is your motivation at the moment ?

I’m motivated by my friends to get up and do things. Sometimes, especially these days with high school coming to an end and everyone making such a big deal about college I feel like I’m dealing with so much school, but my biggest challenge is to stay motivated to do the things I’m passionate about first and foremost. I’m not saying college is bad, I’m just saying I don’t want to put it above myself, if that makes sense.

Last country you visited ? and what happened there ?

Denmark. It was a blast! My friends and I skated a bunch of cool spots and even got to skate some vert. We met up with Thomas Kring in Copenhagen, who was kind enough to drive us out to Malmo to skate some vert! Thanks Thomas!

What was the last gnarly thing you witnessed ?

Not too long ago, I was skating Berkeley vert with Jimmy Wilkins. Just watching him skate is gnarly! He was doing huge lien airs and back disasters at least five times higher than my biggest airs!

What was the last item you bought ?

A post card from Christiania CPH.

Do you have any odd or strange things you do, that you wanna share ?

Skating is pretty weird! But other than that people tend to think I’m pretty weird at school, I don’t know exactly why.

What do you do besides skateboarding, do you have other hobbies, other interests ?

I love playing the banjo with our bluegrass band “Bammer”. Our first real gig is this month, december 18th! I also like ceramics and film making.

What is your to go to restaurant, you wanna share ?

Panini Pizza has the most greasy, cheesy, doughy pizza you will ever find. It’s so bad that it’s good…

When you cook food, what do you cook ?

Breakfasts are my specialty. Breakfast burritos, scrambles, crepes, french toast, all that good stuff.

How do you see the future of skateboarding ?

I feel like skateboarding is at a crossroads right now with the olympics and everything. TI feel like not only will the olympics change the publics view of skating, but also some skaters will grow up thinking it’s all about competition and take it way too seriously. No matter what, though, I believe that there will always be a core of skateboarders who keep it real. Skateboarding has survived weird eras in the past and I think it will always survive. That being said I do hope that things like scholarships and old-people-homes for skaters can become a thing as a result of the popularization of skateboarding

Who do we need to interview on the lodge ?

It would be interesting to see someone like Archer Braun get interviewed.

Do you ever think about a future with no skateboarding ?

I think for skateboarding to go extinct, either global warming would have to kill off humanity or there would have to be some kind of global war against all skateboarders, to the death. We might actually win that though.

With this interview, do you think we know you now for the better ?

Yeah! You definitely know me better now. And I will be around doing my thing.

Last words, thank yous, other, did we miss anything ?

I would like to thank Thomas Kring for intruding me and my friends to shredderslodge and Jimmy Wilkins for introducing us to Thomas.

 

 

Follow me on: