Why don\u2019t more people call Michael Jackson, Mike Jackson? Maybe we should call Jonny Manak, Jon Manak. He\u2019s somethin\u2019 else. He\u2019s got the right lust for life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Love,\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013<\/em> J. Jessee<\/p>\n What\u2019s your name?<\/strong><\/p>\n My name is Jonny Manak. That\u2019s my name.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your real name?<\/strong><\/p>\n My real name is Jonny Manak.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your middle name?<\/strong><\/p>\n My name is Jonathan Michael Manak, if you really want to get technical.<\/p>\n Johnny Michael Manak?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, Jonathan… If you\u2019re gonna be tough and throw in the middle name, you\u2019ve got to throw in the proper first name as well.<\/p>\n Jonathan Michael Powers?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, it\u2019s Manak.<\/p>\n Have you seen that graffiti on the side of the road on the I-70 right over 880 in San Jose? It says, \u201cJonathan Michael Powers!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n No, but I play in a band with a drummer named Eric Powers. Eric Powers is also the name of the drummer from Great White. He has no connection with Clay Wheels, though.<\/p>\n What about Bun E. Carlos?<\/strong><\/p>\n (laughing) I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n He was Cheap Trick\u2019s drummer, man!<\/strong><\/p>\n Who cares about Cheap Trick, dude?<\/p>\n They suck.<\/strong><\/p>\n (laughing) They suck so bad.<\/p>\n No way. In their time, they were probably pretty cool. I only like \u201cSurrender.\u201d It\u2019s Top 40.<\/strong><\/p>\n I like Cheap Trick because they look like they should not be in the same band together, but they are. That\u2019s kind of funny. That\u2019s kind of like saying, \u201cFuck you!\u201d to the we-all-play-in-a-band-so-we-all-have-to-look-the-same type of thing. It\u2019s like the band uniform shit\u2026<\/p>\n Is that what you guys do?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nah! I don\u2019t play in any band that dresses in uniforms! Come on!<\/p>\n That\u2019d be hot though. Uniforms are cool, actually.<\/strong><\/p>\n We all might be wearing 501s and black t-shirts, but I don\u2019t know if you call that a uniform. That\u2019s just what we all wear. We all just happen to look alike, but that\u2019s not on purpose.<\/p>\n That\u2019s cool though, because then it\u2019s more bonding. What about\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Why do I skate? How long have I skated?<\/p>\n Have you ever felt fat?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, I feel fat whenever I eat.<\/p>\n Are you self-conscious about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n Do you choke on cheese?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, but I eat cheese everyday. I eat cheese at least three times a day.<\/p>\n That\u2019s weird. I thought you were allergic to it\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Nah, I\u2019m a \u201ccheesetarian\u201d.<\/p>\n Have you ever had Cheez Whip?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. I used to put that Easy Cheese in a can in my backpack and carry it around. When we were kids, we\u2019d skate all around and carry that Easy Cheese everywhere. If we went to McDonald\u2019s you got Easy Cheese on your burger without having to order cheese. If we had candy or Gummy worms, we\u2019d put Easy Cheese on it. It was so awesome.<\/p>\n That was smart.<\/strong><\/p>\n All of the skaters that went to Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, [CA] carried Easy Cheese in their backpacks. We were all nerds and we all loved cheese. Then we started this fake band called Easy Cheese. We only played one show, but we recorded a demo. That was the first band that I ever played in during high school.<\/p>\n What was it called?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, the real name was Dysfunctional Swirl, but then we started calling it Easy Cheese because we were all eating Easy Cheese. It was pretty weird. My first real, real band that I ever played in was when I was ten years old. I was the lead singer and we were called Peanut Butter Wolf.<\/p>\n What?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. Then my brother became a world famous deejay and that\u2019s his deejay name: Peanut Butter Wolf. He played the Coachella Music Festival with Iggy and the Stooges and all those big buzz bands.<\/p>\n What\u2019s a big buzz band?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s those bands that you hear everyone talking about.<\/p>\n Like Rancid?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, not like them, but they\u2019re big enough to be there.<\/p>\n Like Green Day?<\/strong><\/p>\n Put it this way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beastie Boys played at Coachella, so there were some pretty big bands at the show.<\/p>\n That\u2019s pretty cool.<\/strong><\/p>\n I was pretty stoked to see my brother on stage like that. It was pretty rad. He\u2019s cool. He\u2019s my pal.<\/p>\n How much older is he than you?<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s a lot older than me. He was born in \u201869.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not that much older…<\/strong><\/p>\n I was born in \u201877!<\/p>\n He\u2019s only 33.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m only 25! That makes him eight years older than me. That\u2019s a lot of years when you\u2019re a kid. Eight years ago, I couldn\u2019t even drive a car!<\/p>\n He could still kick your ass this whole time?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know. I would never fight my brother, but he\u2019d probably kick my ass.<\/p>\n What if he took a swing at you? What would you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d probably be stoked, because whatever I did to make him take a swing at me would probably be something really cool. I\u2019ve never done anything bad enough to make him take a swing at me. I love my brother.<\/p>\n That rules.<\/strong><\/p>\n I love my sister Amy, and my brother-in-law Carlos.<\/p>\n What\u2019s up, Amy and Carlos?<\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s up, Amy and Carlos?<\/p>\n It\u2019s like we\u2019re on TV.<\/strong><\/p>\n And I love my mom and my dad.<\/p>\n Where do your mom and dad live?<\/strong><\/p>\n My mom lives in Salinas and my dad lives in East San Jose. I love my step-dad that lives with my mom because they both help me out a lot.<\/p>\n What\u2019s his name?<\/strong><\/p>\n His name is George. I call them \u2018Ma\u2019am and George\u2019 like in that TV show, \u201cWebster\u201d. He didn\u2019t call her mom. He called her \u2018Ma\u2019am\u2019. I\u2019m short, small and old like Webster. Webster\u2019s old, but everyone thinks he\u2019s a kid. I\u2019m older, but everyone thinks I\u2019m in high school because I\u2019m so young-looking and short.<\/p>\n Not to rain on your parade or anything, but rumor has it that you\u2019re 25.<\/strong><\/p>\n Word on the street, huh?<\/p>\n Well, just a little word\u2026 <\/strong>Back to George, your step-dad\u2026 How long has he been with your mom?<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s been with my mom fifteen years. He\u2019s so cool. He put me through college and helped me get a degree in producing bands. My parents and my grandparents helped try to get me a future. Instead of going along with their wishes and getting a job recording bands for $60 an hour, I skateboard and play music.<\/p>\n Okay, go on. Have you ever entered contests?<\/strong><\/p>\n I enter every Tim Brauch Memorial Pool contest and any contest that has to do with pool skating in the area.<\/p>\n That\u2019s cool. How\u2019d you do at the last contest?<\/strong><\/p>\n I got an \u2018honorable mention\u2019. I guess that means I skated okay.<\/p>\n How many people were in it?<\/strong><\/p>\n There are usually about forty dudes. It ranges from guys like Chris Senn to Pete \u2018The Ox\u2019. Brewce Martin was out for the last one. It\u2019s all the gnarly guys that aren\u2019t afraid to jump in a car and drive a couple of days to skate pool contests. It\u2019s all of the guys that know what\u2019s up with skateboarding and are totally down to do whatever it takes to skate a pool. It\u2019s cool, because we\u2019re all skating for Tim and that\u2019s what really matters. That\u2019s why it shouldn\u2019t matter what place you get in that contest, because it\u2019s not a contest about winning. A lot of people may look at it that way, but if they do, they\u2019re lame because that has nothing to do with it. It\u2019s a way to celebrate Tim\u2019s life and to remember Tim.<\/p>\n Maybe they don\u2019t understand.<\/strong><\/p>\n I just noticed a few of the guys there, and I\u2019m not going to name any names, are just out to win the prize money.<\/p>\n Who?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m not naming names.<\/p>\n You tell me and I\u2019ll name \u2018em.<\/strong><\/p>\n [laughing] Nuh-uh. I ain\u2019t naming nothing.<\/p>\n All right.<\/strong><\/p>\n Like when they did the Neil Heddings benefit, if some guy won a thousand bucks for the contest, and didn\u2019t give that money straight up to Neil, then he is a kook. Those kinds of people deserve to be burned at the stake. Why did you start skateboarding?<\/p>\n Why did I start skateboarding?<\/strong><\/p>\n Because when I was three years old, my brother got this blue plastic banana board. It was one of those little cheap store brands. Anyway, my brother used to tie it to the seat of his bike and just drag it around the neighborhood. You could hear his skateboard bouncing all over the street. We rode that board all over the neighborhood. By the end of the day, I had scrapes and blood all over, which I thought was pretty cool. Then I used to ride down my driveway on my skateboard. I knew it was a good day if I made it to the bottom of my driveway and made that turn at the bottom. There were bushes at the bottom of the hill, so if I didn\u2019t make that turn, I went right into those prickly-ass bushes. Anyway, that was fun. I loved it. I didn\u2019t even know there was such a thing as a skateboard industry. I was just riding down this hill in my front yard for years. That\u2019s all it was. There were no other skaters in my neighborhood. I didn\u2019t know that skateboarding was a sport. I thought it was just a toy that you could buy.<\/p>\n It still is.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, but when I was eight years old, I saw that movie, \u201cBack to the Future\u201d and on the way home, I made my mom stop at Toys R Us. That\u2019s where I thought you bought a skateboard, at a toy store. I didn\u2019t know there was such thing as a skate shop that sold skate stuff. We went in there and there was a board for $40. It was the \u201cExecutioner\u201d, the big old one with all the bumpers. My mom wouldn\u2019t buy it for me, because she said it was too expensive. Instead, I got the super skinny $20 Nash with the two suns and the grip tape. It didn\u2019t even have a graphic on the bottom. It just said Nash on the grip tape on top. It was like a banana board. To me, skateboarding was just riding. It was fun. I didn\u2019t know that you could fly curbs and do airs in pools, which people were doing at the time, but it wasn\u2019t on TV like it is now. I didn\u2019t know about that shit. For Christmas, I got a Rob Roskopp board. The Roskopp 2 with the arms coming out. That was my first pro board. Then I started skateboarding for real.<\/p>\n Okay, you\u2019re in two bands?<\/strong><\/p>\n I play guitar and I sing for Clay Wheels. I also did a project called The Resistoleros with Sammy Town from Fang. That album is\u00a0out on Steel Cage Records, on the East Coast. Clay Wheels has some new songs. We\u2019ve got songs in some skate videos like the \u201cThrasher\u201d video, \u201cPlaying In Traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n Can you sing any of them right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n Okay, great.<\/strong><\/p>\n I also play lead guitar and backup vocals in the Cliftons.<\/p>\n Has there ever been any jealousy between your bands?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, I don\u2019t think so. Maybe. I don\u2019t really see any of my other bands coming out to any of the other shows but I\u2019d feel kind of weird, too. It\u2019s like cheating on your girlfriend.<\/p>\n Do any of the guys in the band skateboard?<\/strong><\/p>\n Every band I play in, there\u2019s at least one skateboarder. I guess that would be me in some of the bands, though.<\/p>\n Who in The Cliftons skates?<\/strong><\/p>\n Alby Wasted and I both skate.\u00a0Oh, and Ray Stevens skates.<\/p>\n He\u2019s in what band?<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s in the Clay Wheels. Actually, that\u2019s his band; I play guitar in his band.<\/p>\n Ray\u2019s cool.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. Eric Powers the drummer in Clay Wheels skates a little bit.<\/p>\n What kind of guitar do you play?<\/strong><\/p>\n I play a \u201867 Mustang. I also have a \u201863 Gibson Melody Maker…<\/p>\n No way. What color? Cream?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Melody Maker has a dark burst that starts out yellow and then fades into a really dark color around the edge, like the old DogTown boards. It has the airbrush look. I\u2019ve also got a Blues Hawk and then that S.G. that I covered in pink fur over here when we were working one day. I still owe Mike Fox $250 for the Melody Maker.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s Mike Fox?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Fox is God! He knows how to play guitar and fix guitars better than anybody. He\u2019s the nicest guy. He played in the Drunk Injuns, The Dwarves and Los Olivados. Mike is amazing. He should be rich and famous, but he\u2019s not.<\/p>\n Yeah, he\u2019s rad. He worked where?<\/strong><\/p>\n He worked at Starving Musician Repair Shop, but they laid him off.<\/p>\n What kind of shit is that?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your favorite band to play in?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know. Clay Wheels is definitely the most solid band I play in, as far as talent, musicianship and songwriting. Clay Wheels has lots of talent.<\/p>\n Does Ray have a regular job?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nah, Ray Stevens is a genius. He figured it out to where he could just play music and not have to work. God bless him.<\/p>\n God bless him.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Clay Wheels is fun because there\u2019s no stress and we get to play surf instrumentals.<\/p>\n But you guys don\u2019t surf.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah. So? We surf on concrete.<\/p>\n No, you guys shred.<\/strong><\/p>\n We shred?<\/p>\n Yeah.<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re skate rock.<\/p>\n Rad.<\/strong><\/p>\n When you\u2019re skating a pool and you\u2019re listening to surf music, you don\u2019t need to be a surfer to enjoy surf music. It\u2019s music. It\u2019s meant for people to listen to and enjoy.<\/p>\n No, I just want to force opinions on people.<\/strong><\/p>\n I know. You\u2019re making me say things\u00a0that someone\u2019s going to be pissed about. Someone will come up to me later and say, \u2018Dude, I heard that you said this about that, blah, blah, blah…\u2019<\/p>\n No, no, no. Okay, when they come up to you, just hug them and say, \u201cEverything\u2019s cool. Sorry I said that\u201d. Just hug them and say, \u201cYou know, you\u2019re right. You learn something every day, man. Every day is a school day thing.\u201d Kiss him on his neck and just kind of push him away a little bit.<\/strong><\/p>\n Or I can kiss him on the lips and then punch him in the face.<\/p>\n No, man. No need for that.<\/strong><\/p>\n (laughs) Okay, I won\u2019t kiss him on the lips then.<\/p>\n Yeah, save that for Riker\u2019s Prison barge, keister bunny.<\/strong><\/p>\n (laughs) Keister bunny!<\/p>\n Okay, so you\u2019re really obsessed playing with the bands you\u2019re in and skateboarding still feels all right?<\/strong><\/p>\n Skateboarding is fun as hell. I love all skateboarding. As long as it has four wheels and eight bearings\u2026 it\u2019s on. I don\u2019t care if you skate curbs, handrails or ledges. I prefer to skate pools, but I\u2019ll skate everything else, too. If all that was left on Earth was backyard pools and there was no other form of skateboarding left, I\u2019d be mad, but not that mad.<\/p>\n Well, you never know. That could be soon, with all these terrorists.<\/strong><\/p>\n No, but what I\u2019m saying is that if the whole world was made out of pools with different trannys, different deathboxes, different lights, different obstacles, I wouldn\u2019t need to skate anything else.<\/p>\n Do you have anything else?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don’t know if I thanked anyone, but Jason and Heather Jessee, the Automodown crue, Justin and Joel at Sessions, Bob at Circle-A, Brent, Henry and Myche at Systems, Mark Waters at emerica, my homies behind the lens – Greg Hall, Morgan Delaney, T-bone, Arron Jones, all the guys in the bands I play in, Ray and Eric with Clay Wheels, Alby, Billy Bob, Vern, and Alec with The Cliftons, Sammy, Ike, and Brian with the Resistoleros, Dave and Dave with The Odd Numbers, and Johnny, Pete and Fozzy with the Texas Thieves, my family, Terri and Dan at Juice Magazine, Shitbird Dave, the BMC, the TMA, Fresno crue, and to three guys who inspired me the most\u2026 Tim Brauch, Jason Adams and Chet Childress…<\/p>\n