{"id":57430,"date":"2016-07-13T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=57430"},"modified":"2017-05-11T11:43:51","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T18:43:51","slug":"omar-hassan-juice-magazine-state-of-skate-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/omar-hassan-juice-magazine-state-of-skate-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Omar Hassan – Juice Magazine State of Skate Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name: Omar Hassan<\/strong>
\n Hometown: Costa Mesa, California<\/strong>
\n Age: 42<\/strong>
\n Sponsors: Vans Shoes, Black Label Skateboards, Rock Star Energy Drink, Volcom Clothing, Independent Trucks, OJ Wheels, Bro Style Grip, Layback Beer and Attic Skate Shop.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What set-up are you riding now?<\/strong>
\nI ride an 8 3\/8\u201d board. It\u2019s crazy because, over the years, I grew up on almost a 9\u201d and it went down to an 8\u201d and now I\u2019m riding an 8 3\/8\u201d. I ride Bro Style grip tape with Independent trucks, Bones bearings and OJ wheels.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most fun DIY, skater-built or renegade spot that you\u2019ve skated lately?<\/strong>
\nGrant Taylor\u2019s secret spot.<\/p>\n

Have you ever built something to skate?<\/strong>
\nThe pool in my yard, but I didn\u2019t build it personally. I haven\u2019t really built anything myself, but I\u2019ve skated a lot of cool stuff that people have built.<\/p>\n

Who do you like to skate with the most these days?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s pretty random. I go on lots of trips, so it\u2019s pretty much the whole team on Vans and the whole team on Volcom. I skate with Josh Borden a lot on a regular. I\u2019ve be skating with Colin Provost a little bit and Al Partanen, Darren Navarrette and Peter Hewitt. It\u2019s just guys that live in the area that I usually call up and hang out with.<\/p>\n

Coolest skateboard graphic you have seen lately?<\/strong>
\nI guess it might seem pretty selfish, but John Lucero has been coming up with some pretty cool graphics at Black Label that I\u2019m stoked on. He just came up with this series where he turned all of these models into these really ugly characters. The way he did it came out really cool because they\u2019re all old models that he created a little flair to and made them look ugly, but still cool.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing you\u2019ve ever skated in a skatepark?<\/strong>
\nI like Burnside\u2019s hip a lot. Even though it\u2019s been there forever, it\u2019s one of my favorite obstacles. I like a launch to a nice friendly bank landing. That\u2019s probably still, to this day, one of my favorite things to fly around and fly over.<\/p>\n

Who are your favorite\u00a0skateboarders of all time?<\/strong>
\nThere are so many. Mark Gonzales is probably my favorite skateboarder from when he was kind of coming up through the Vision days and he lived here in the Newport Beach\/Costa Mesa area and I got to be part of that time he was coming up and when he was transforming and changing skateboarding. Even before that, Duane Peters was living in Costa Mesa as well and he was always our local hometown legend dude that we really looked up to a lot. Through the years, I got to skate with Danny Way a lot. He\u2019s another huge influence from the late \u201880s to the \u201890s. For the newer kids, right now, there\u2019s a kid named Daan Van Der Linden from Denmark. Daan Van Der Linden and Grant Taylor are really pushing the envelope right now. I\u2019ve always liked skating everything and I like all around skateboarding and I think those kids are really opening doors to show kids what\u2019s cutting edge and cool nowadays. Pedro is one of my new favorite kids out there as well. He can skate any obstacle and he\u2019s really diverse. He can skate all terrain stuff really well. He\u2019s pushed the limit in transition area, but when it comes to having knowledge of street skating, he\u2019s well rounded too.<\/p>\n

Is there anything that hasn\u2019t been built to skate yet that you\u2019d like to see built?<\/strong>
\nNowadays with all the skateparks, it seems like there is a lot of stuff out there and a lot of different kinds of obstacles and there\u2019s not one thing that I think should be built, but there are lots of obstacles that I think are really cool that each park has to offer. There\u2019s nothing I could say that you could create that would be that much different because it seems like everything has been done almost. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s something way out of the box. One thing I think is cool is, when I was a kid, I used to look at old the Skateboarder magazines with people in skateparks and when parks were gone for awhile and it was just backyard ramps and street skating, I never thought that parks were going to come back the way they have. Now it\u2019s cool to skate all the obstacles that they are remaking from back in the day. I think it\u2019s rad that there are so many skateparks and options now. I always dreamed about skating all those old parks and now there are a lot of obstacles that they are building that are bringing back that whole skatepark vibe and mentality.<\/p>\n

Best road trips you ever took?<\/strong>
\nI think some of the trips to Australia have been really awesome because they didn\u2019t take out a lot of the old skateparks there like they did here and skateboarding never really got illegal there. Some of my favorite places to skate are some of the old skateparks in Australia that are still existing. Vans sends us on trips there every year and it\u2019s always fun to skate in Australia because the weather is good and the parks are really cool. Pizzey Skatepark and all those parks from the late \u201870s and early \u201880s are fun to skate because I think they are a little more challenging and they have history too. It\u2019s cool to skate stuff that has been pre-existing for that long.<\/p>\n

Are there any skate-related charities that you support?<\/strong>
\nWell, Steve Van Doren seems to have us supporting stuff all the time. Actually, we\u2019ve been doing this thing where we go to Guantanamo Bay to do a demo for the troops\u2019 kids there. They have a skatepark on each base, so I\u2019ve been to Guam and Japan and Guantanamo Bay before. It\u2019s a cool place to go and do a skate demo because those kids have to live there with their parents and their parents are doing a lot for our country. For them to even have skateparks and support skating is cool. That\u2019s one of the things that we do to give back. Steve Van Doren always seems to have us doing something to help others, whether it\u2019s kids with special needs or supporting the military troops kids that are on those bases and never get to see skateboarders outside of the base. When we get to go there and skate with them, it opens their minds to what skateboarding has to offer and they can see new tricks and different ways of riding that they don\u2019t get to see every day. You\u2019d be surprised how big skateboarding is in places like that where people don\u2019t get to go. You also have Pedro Barros in Brazil and he does a lot for the community there. It\u2019s rad to go places like that and see what people are doing in Brazil and what Pedro creates for the skate scene there. He\u2019s got the backing and he gets to create really cool skateparks and he\u2019s got a full compound in his yard that he built for everyone to skate. Supporting a crew of people in Brazil like that is rad because they may not have the money or the means to be able to afford it. It\u2019s really cool to go to places like that and see what they\u2019ve done for skateboarding and how much they support skateboarding.<\/p>\n

What music have you been listening to?<\/strong>
\nI like all different kinds of genres. I went to that Punks Not Dead fest and it was cool to hear all of that music. The Dickies and Bad Religion were playing and I grew up on all that stuff. I like certain types of hip hop music too. Guys like Tupac will always be relevant to me. I like reggae as well, like Barrington Levy and Gregory Isaacs. Every mood that you\u2019re in is what music is about to me. If I\u2019m chilling, sometimes I\u2019ll just listen to reggae. If I want to get hyped, I\u2019ll listen to punk rock. In the generation I grew up in, you didn\u2019t necessarily have to be a punker or into rap or into reggae. You could be into everything. It was all diverse.<\/p>\n

What do you consider the responsibilities of a professional skateboarder?<\/strong>
\nI think the responsibilities are to represent skating in the way that you see it, as far as being your own individual and having your own individual style and being more of a leader and not a follower. You do what you do in skateboarding and try to progress skateboarding without mimicking or trying to be someone you\u2019re not. That\u2019s what I think is cool about skateboarding. Everyone has their own individual style and technique. It\u2019s not something contrived. It\u2019s something that\u2019s being you. If you can show your personality and your skateboarding skills and be cool in both areas, I think that\u2019s what being a pro skateboarder is. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s about winning contests or having the best video part. All of those things are good to do, but it\u2019s a combination of everything. Having a good personality behind some skills goes a long way.<\/p>\n

Which skate shops do you support?<\/strong>
\nWell, there\u2019s a local shop here, Attic Skate Shop and it\u2019s a buddy of mine. He grew up in the same area and he\u2019s kind of a ma and pa skate shop. He doesn\u2019t really deal with too many corporate companies and he\u2019s got a lot of hardgoods. I think he keeps it stocked to the point where it\u2019s all really good hardgoods and he sells to more of the local kids. Everybody knows about him and he\u2019s got a good underground base of kids. It\u2019s right across the street from the Costa Mesa Skatepark, which helps. I\u2019d rather support a real shop with a guy that is actually into it and is in the field doing it all the time than a shop that you ride for strictly for money. I try to support them and they support me and it\u2019s a homie situation.<\/p>\n

Favorite skate photo of all time?<\/strong>
\nThere is one that Anthony Acosta took of me in Puerto Rico. I\u2019m doing a stalefish in a bowl and it was a really cool spot. It was kind of in the favela, so it was kind of dangerous to go into there. These guys built it in this favela area so it\u2019s built on the beach in a really special setting and I think he captured the moment and the vibe when we were there. He\u2019s a great photographer as well. It\u2019s one of my favorite shots I\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

What is your take on girls skateboarding?<\/strong>
\nWell, skateboarding is not a sport and it\u2019s not something that\u2019s controlled. With the organizations involved in skateboarding, you don\u2019t have to be a contest skater. It\u2019s not super organized so, when it comes to girls skating, it\u2019s pretty mutual to guys skating. There\u2019s no differentials except that one has different genitalia. [Laughs] I think girls skateboarding is awesome and it\u2019s been going on forever and there are a lot of people like Cara Beth. When I was a kid, she was one of the first girl skateboarders to cross that line where she was so good at skateboarding that you had to respect her. She took skateboarding to the next level. Now you see all these girls that skate and she really set the pace of making it so it\u2019s not looked upon as being any weaker or stronger than guys skating. It\u2019s all mutual. I never thought that skating, in general, was going to get as big as it is and I think that girls skating has gotten really big now. Another thing that\u2019s cool is that there are all of these city parks now and, since it\u2019s been so supported by parents and cities, you can go to any park in the world and there is a girl out there ripping. That\u2019s how it should be. It\u2019s cool. It\u2019s not like football or professional baseball. A lot of the girls that are professional skateboarders nowadays deserve to be professional skaters because the talent is there. The girls have really stepped it up. You have Elissa Steamer and now you\u2019ve got Leticia Bufoni and all these girls that are out there ripping. It\u2019s really good for skateboarding. The only other thing that compares to it is surfing. I think girls that surf are really talented as well. In surfing and skating, I think some girls are on the level of a lot of professional guys, so it\u2019s not abnormal to see some girl at the park ripping on half of the dudes there. It\u2019s really cool to see because that\u2019s what makes skateboarding cool and special. We don\u2019t discriminate. I think girl skateboarding is awesome. To each his own. Everyone just go out and rip and have fun.<\/p>\n

What skateboarding memorabilia do you have that means the most to you?<\/strong>
\nThis sounds ridiculous, but I have this one Polaroid photo from years ago. I was driving home and Mark Gonzales was at this bus stop with Ron Emory. They just happened to be at the same bus stop together and Mark had a Polaroid camera and he was like, \u201cHey, can you take a photo of me and Ron?\u201d At the time, I didn\u2019t really know Ron Emory that much, other than I knew he was in T.S.O.L. I was really young, so I took this photo of them, and then I said, \u201cHey Mark, do you mind if I take one for myself. I want to have a photo too.\u201d So I have this photo of Mark Gonzales and Ron Emory at this bus stop. It\u2019s just random. It\u2019s one of those things that I was always really stoked on more than any board or helmet, just because it was one of those random moments. Being there and being able to have that photo was pretty sick for me. I know that sounds random, but that is one of the coolest things I\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

Who contributes the most to your local skate scene?<\/strong>
\nSteve Van Doren, obviously. That guy is like Santa Claus to everybody. I think he\u2019s been a huge influence on why there is so much more transition skating going on. He\u2019s down for street skating and he\u2019s built skateparks when no one was doing it. He\u2019s always throwing benefits and events and contests and he\u2019s been a lifesaver for skateboarding. He\u2019s always made sure, that as big as Vans got, the focus and core roots came from skateboarding. I think, singlehandedly, he\u2019s one of the biggest influences in skateboarding over all the years by far, in my mind. He\u2019s the biggest team player.<\/p>\n

Top three favorite skate tricks?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not necessarily one trick. I think it\u2019s the way you do it. The way that Jeff Grosso does a handplant is a favorite one for me. It\u2019s style and technique. If you\u2019re going to do a handplant, you might as well do it correctly and do it well. My second favorite would be a front board slide or a smith grind or a lip slide and the way some people have figured out how to sit on it and slide and grind properly. Obviously, lip tricks and airs would be the same. I also like the way things have progressed with how to flip your board properly. I think taking kickflips to board slides or 360 flips and flip tricks is progressing in general. It\u2019s not necessarily one trick or another. It\u2019s the way they have progressed it and perfected it. The handplant and the way you do that is obviously insane. The way you can stand on the lip and ride it properly and the way you can flip catch things and perfect that and make it look good. There are variations of doing that. I\u2019d say it\u2019s the progression of those three things.<\/p>\n

Do you think skateboarding should be in the Olympics?<\/strong>
\nObviously, we\u2019ve tried over the years to keep away from the Olympics because of the simple fact that skateboarding is always supposed to have been an underground thing and we took pride in it being underground. With the corporate entities involved nowadays, they are trying to take away from that original blueprint of what skateboarding is. Skateboarding wasn\u2019t ever supposed to be organized. Skateboarding wasn\u2019t ever supposed to be bought or sold and nowadays with the corporate entities involved with skateboarding and the lack of knowledge of the history of skateboarding, the corporations are really trying to steal the heart and soul of what we created as kids. Growing up, we were skateboarding because we didn\u2019t want to be part of the football or basketball team. We weren\u2019t doing the traditional sports that everyone was conformed to doing. Personally, the way I grew up skating, it should never be labeled as a sport or an Olympic type activity, for that reason alone, but everyone has their opinion and their views. My viewpoint is that the Olympics never had any interest in skateboarding until the big corporations got involved and now there\u2019s money to be made. That\u2019s a sign of the times with the way it\u2019s going and where it\u2019s going. There will always be two sides of skateboarding so it doesn\u2019t threaten what I do or what I believe in or what skateboarding is to me because there will always be that other side of skateboarding that the Olympics and the X Games don\u2019t understand. Having roots in skateboarding gives you the power to understand it more. Of course, I wouldn\u2019t like to be in the Olympics. At the same time, it\u2019s going to probably go there. It will rule over any decisions we might want. It is what it is. I\u2019m not saying that anyone shouldn\u2019t enter the Olympics or that skateboarding shouldn\u2019t be in the Olympics. I just think that\u2019s not why I or a lot of my peers got into skating. It wasn\u2019t to be an Olympic champion. We were just anarchists doing our own thing and that\u2019s what skateboarding will always be to me and to a lot of people that grew up in my generation and my era.<\/p>\n

What is your proudest moment in\u00a0skateboarding so far?<\/strong>
\nIt would be just to see the progression of it all. It\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been able to be a part of, and watching the transition of skating go from where it was when I started as a kid looking up to these guys and looking at the mags to where it\u2019s gone now and watching the progression and how insanely rad kids are getting and how far people have taken skateboarding is insane. To me, a proud moment is seeing Pedro Barros airing the middle of the Combi. Seeing things like that and being able to be a part of it is what I\u2019m stoked on. Those are some of the proudest moments to me. It\u2019s not necessarily what I\u2019ve done. It\u2019s what other people have done and what I see and what I get to be a part of. I\u2019m seeing history happening all the time. Every day there\u2019s someone doing something more progressive and rad. I\u2019m proud of just being there and being accepted and being able to be a part of it all and seeing history all go down.<\/p>\n

\"Omar<\/a>
Killing it in the 51st state of America. Omar Hassan with a stalefish oceanside in Puerto Rico. Photo by Anthony Acosta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOUT THE JUICE MAGAZINE STATE OF SKATE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we started Juice Magazine 22 years ago, you could count the number of skateparks on one hand and grindable pool coping was mostly a distant memory. Now there are thousands of skateparks all over the world, along with a vast quantity of DIY spots built to skate. In 1993, the majority of skateboarders listened to punk rock or hip hop exclusively. Now skateboarders listen to almost every kind of sound created. Two decades ago, skateboarding related charities were non-existent. Today, there are numerous non-profits giving back to skateboarding in many ways. One of the most important differences between now and then is that, 22 years ago, there was a clear division between old school and new school skateboarding. Now that wall of separation has followed the same path as the Berlin Wall, allowing for an unprecedented unification of skateboarders all over the globe. Great strides have been made for girls that skate as well as the acceptance of skate history and long overdue recognition for skateboarding\u2019s pioneers and its artifacts. At the same time, the current generation of skateboarders is taking skateboarding to new heights, previously unimaginable. As the landscape of the skateboarding industry changes on a daily basis, and the topic of skateboarding in the Olympics rears its head once again, along with the disturbing subject of who controls skateboarding being tossed about by corporate entities, we decided it was time to take a good look at the State of Skate. We asked 20 questions to 100 skateboarders, ages 8 to 58, and found that skateboarding is as diverse as the skateboarders that are addicted to it, no one controls skateboarding except skateboarders, and the State of Skate is savage and strong. Now get out there and skate tough!<\/p>\n

JUICE MAGAZINE STATE OF SKATE <\/strong>features interviews with 100 skateboarders including: Tony Alva, Dave Hackett, Chris Strople, Duane Peters, Steve Olson, Dave Duncan, Steve Alba, Tony Magnusson, Pat Black, Jesse Martinez, Bill Danforth, Jim Murphy, Ric Widenor, <\/span>Lester Kasai, Glen Charnoski, Bryan Pennington, Peter Furnee, <\/span>Jeremiah Risk, Ryan Smith, Jason Jessee, Omar Hassan, Cam Dowse, Jen O\u2019Brien, Depth Leviathan Dweller, Brett Roper, Travis Beattie, Chris Gentry, <\/span>CW Dunn, Chris Albright, Charlie Wilkins, Cairo Foster, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, BJ Morrill, Dr. Lenore L.A. Sparks, Sid Melvin, Jesse Irish, Packy Fancher, Greg Lutzka, Jimmy Larsen, Adam Dyet, Luis Tolentino, Greg Harbour, Frank Faria, Ryan DeCenzo, Dave Bachinsky, Johnny Turgesen, Casey Meyer, Edward Sanchez, David Gravette, Ben Hatchell, Brian Geib, <\/span>Felipe Gouveia, Eric Santos, Kyle Smith, <\/span>Cameron Revier, Josh Stafford, Justin Grubbs, Etienne Eden Archila, Sanzio Piacentini, <\/span>Josh Elder, Eddie \u201cMighty\u201d Moreno, Kevin Kowalski, Otto Pflanz, Jeremy Smith, <\/span>Adam Wiggins, Jimmy Wilkins, Danny Gordon, Jake Hilbish, Corey Blanchette, Adam Legassie, <\/span>Nick Santos, Trey Rounds, Curren Caples, Justyce Tabor, Andy Anderson, Sarah Thompson, <\/span>Coral Guerrero, Collin Graham, Derek Scott, Ace Pelka, Sonny Rodriguez, Jarren Duke, Mikayla Sheppard, CJ Titus, Noah Schott, Emily Earring, Julian Torres, Wyatt Wisenbaker, Josh Forsberg, Nathan Midgette, Roman Pabich, Yago Dominguez, Jack Winburn, Jonas Carlsson, Kiko Francisco, Bryce Ava Wettstein, Desmond Shepherd, Matty Jessee and Luke Kahler.<\/p>\n

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #74 BY CLICKING HERE…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name: Omar Hassan Hometown: Costa Mesa, California Age: 42 Sponsors: Vans Shoes, Black Label Skateboards, Rock Star Energy Drink, Volcom Clothing, Independent Trucks, OJ Wheels, Bro Style Grip, Layback Beer and Attic Skate Shop. What set-up are you riding now? I ride an 8 3\/8\u201d board. It\u2019s crazy because, over the years, I grew up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4027,4028,4041],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-interviews","category-skate-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Omar_Hassan_Stalefish_PuertoRico-ACOSTA-e1458509837381.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57430"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62589,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57430\/revisions\/62589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}