{"id":94962,"date":"2023-06-05T14:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T21:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/?p=94962"},"modified":"2023-10-11T11:12:21","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T18:12:21","slug":"load","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/load\/","title":{"rendered":"LOAD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JEFF \u201cLOAD\u201d STEPHENSON Interview by JIM MURPHY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LOAD AND AIMEE DAVIS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff “Load” Stephenson was the Lynyrd Skynyrd of motivational skateboard heckling. Riding a backyard pool and you’re still not even hitting tiles? Call in Load! Trying to do layback roll outs on gnarly pool coping and you actually think putting on a coper is a legitimate answer to make it work? Don’t even think about it. \u201cMuscle through that pool coping, weasel!” Of all of the Southern cast of characters in skateboarding, Load stood out because he reminded us of the inherent legacy of aggression and gnarlyness of skateboarding that keeps one\u2019s heart and soul alive in the session. Having a great sense of humor is pretty much all you need to bring to the sesh with the Rancheros and, even with all the ball-busting heckling, Load put you through, he would be the loudest one cheering you on after you pulled that locked in Smith grind or wheeler into the channel!  R.I.P. Load.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Load, what\u2019s up? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m just hanging out with a couple of friends at Thomas Taylor\u2019s house. Talk to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay. When were you born? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1961. I was born in Memphis, TN. When did you see your first skateboard? 1968. I remember when   Martin Luther King got assassinated three blocks from the housing project that I lived in. I was a poor white boy living in the projects in downtown Memphis, and I used to ride this old steel wheel board that my older brother acquired somehow. It was funny because it was so loud riding it down the street that this old lady used to come out and chase us with her butcher knife. [Laughs] That was my first skateboarding experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long did you live in Memphis? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived there until I moved to Atlanta on New Year\u2019s Day 1975 with my mother, my dog and my brother, which was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I grew up in the hood and most of the people in that part of my life are either dead or in prison. It was turbulent where I lived in Memphis, but it\u2019s a great town now and I love my heritage from there. My mother was a singer and she knew Elvis back in the day. She experienced Sun Records and Stax Records and all the rock n\u2019 roll soul. It made it into my blood, but I was glad to get out of there. When we got to Atlanta, it was a good thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the scene when you hit Atlanta? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I rode skateboards here and there, but I was a bicycle kid on an early Schwinn with motorcycle handlebars and I had the back tire on the front. Then I got into the Kmart skateboards and I was eating shit on those BBs going down hill. Then I was borrowing real boards and I got the bug. It was 1977 because I remember it was the year that Elvis died and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I started building ramps and riding ramps. I was always throwing wood together. I had no training, so I built some pretty crazy stuff that worked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you have any concrete parks yet? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had National, which was like a Kona replica. We had a snake run and a big bowl that was nuts. They built dirt mounds and a mountain and a real snake run down the hill into a big bowl. Everything flowed into this big freestyle area and the snake run dumped into a four-leaf clover. It was crazy. The first skatepark that they built here was called Skateboard Surf. It was in my area, but that thing wasn\u2019t even half an acre of concrete and there would be 200 people there. I was like, \u201cThat doesn\u2019t look like much fun.\u201d There was another place called The Tube, which was a concrete lump of shit. They attempted to build a Lakewood-style half pipe into a bowl. It was ridiculous. I think Thomas Taylor and Don Hillsman were the only people that could skate that thing worth a shit. The year I quit school and had to go to work was the year the skateparks closed down and that\u2019s when I really got hooked, wanting to ride all the time. When I wasn\u2019t working, I\u2019d go to closed down skateparks. You didn\u2019t have to have a helmet or pads. A skateboard is all you needed and there were no rules. That\u2019s when I started getting serious about skateboarding. It\u2019s funny because I met T.K. at a skatepark, the very first one in Atlanta that was closed down. We started hanging out and traveling around the Southeast and going to all of these closed down skateparks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RANCH RAMP. PHOTO COURTESY OF LOAD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Did you go to the Get-A-Way? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went to Huntsville to the Get-A-Way a few times and it was epic. That place was amazing. We got busted skating there when it was closed down and the guy that owned it didn\u2019t even care. He was like, \u201cYou guys have a good time. Give me a couple of bucks when you\u2019re done.\u201d It was really cool. Only two people in an epic skatepark like that, it was pretty insane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killer. So you and T.K. were driving around hitting up abandoned skateparks? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. That was in \u201881 after the original Ramp Ranch. I failed to mention Lenny Byrd, Debbie McAdoo and Mike Lander and the guys that called themselves the Rancheros. T.K. and I met those guys and we put ramps together. Those guys ended up moving to Florida, so T.K. and I were just hanging out in limbo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about the Ramp Ranch. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Ramp Ranch was really important to me. It was the first ramp with a channel. T.K. built a ramp and these guys built a ramp and we moved them out there and put them together. Mike Lander threw it all together. He was crazy. He used to do the hippie jump barefoot over MGs at the car shows in Atlanta. Mike Lander lives in Florida now and he\u2019s a major chef. Lenny Byrd and the original Ranch, those are some of my fondest memories of being young and indestructible. There were three Ramp Ranches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where were they located? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Ramp Ranch was in Debbie McAdoo\u2019s backyard. Debbie was Mike Lander\u2019s girlfriend. She had a brother named Joker and he was a roller skater. This was during the Fred Blood and Duke Rennie days. That was the first Ramp Ranch. The second Ramp Ranch was at this guy Ken\u2019s yard, at a rental house in a high profile area. That was the one that had a clubhouse on the deck where we had the big contest in 1984. We had the six-pack entry fee, classic Atlanta. \u2018We don\u2019t want your money. Just bring a six-pack!\u2019 That was a really great time. That was Jimmy O\u2019Brien, Dave O\u2019Brien, John Hughes, Loin, West, Mike Chumley, Malachi… I could go on forever with the names. That\u2019s where we started building up a huge crew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just a crazy heckle game. Some people were freaked out by it, but this is skateboarding. This isn\u2019t cheerleading or volleyball! This is an aggressive situation, and we\u2019re a bunch of misfits, so lighten up! We were just having fun.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Was that the one in Thrasher? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. That was the one that Cab and all those guys said was one of the best ramps they\u2019d ever skated. That ramp lasted a few months, but it was in a high profile part of town and the neighborhood association just wasn\u2019t having it. We got shut down and that\u2019s when we started TK\u2019s Ramp Ranch 3 at TK\u2019s mom\u2019s house. That was the Ramp Ranch that everybody skated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe the scene in Atlanta when you guys had Ramp Ranch 3. Skateboarding had died and you guys had this killer ramp going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, we\u2019d work all day and then meet at the ramp after work, and we were stoners, so we got stoned. [Laughs] We\u2019d skate until dark and then we started putting up lights because in the winter, it gets dark at six o\u2019clock. We\u2019d skate until ten every night and we did that for years. If you want names, I can tell you names. Lenny Byrd, Tim Humphreys, T.K., Thomas Taylor, John Hughes, Don Hillsman\u2026 I could go on. During the Ramp Ranch 3, we had the infamous Thanksgiving Day contest and it was great. I would tell you that everybody on the East Coast was there, but there were also people like Mike Smith and Allen Losi and all of these great people from out West that came out for it. It was great. We pushed Paul Schmitt down the channel in a wheelchair. It was just crazy! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sick! I was there for a lot of those jams. My first recollection was hearing you call people out for being weasels. That was the first time I heard a heckle. Tell people what it means for Load to call them a weasel. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Laughs] I don\u2019t even know where \u2018weasel\u2019 came from. It could be that Frank Zappa album. A weasel is someone trying to weasel out of something. A heckle is just the way we used to push each other. We inherited it from reading the magazines. It was like, \u201cIf you don\u2019t grab it, we\u2019re going to take your board away. Come on, grind it, you weasel!\u201d We were relentless. It was nothing personal. We would heckle each other more than anybody else. It was just a crazy heckle game. Some people were freaked out by it, but this is skateboarding. This isn\u2019t cheerleading or volleyball! This is an aggressive situation, and we\u2019re a bunch of misfits, so lighten up! We were just having fun, but some people got bummed. Brian Brannon from JFA summed it up in an interview after he came through. He said, \u201cThe Rancheros are crazy. They\u2019re laughing, but they\u2019re not laughing at you. They\u2019re laughing with you.\u201d It was always in good fun. Skateboarding is an aggressive deal. We were tough and we still are. I get heckled by these guys every time I show up. They\u2019re looking at me right now like I\u2019m dead meat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Laughs] When skateboarding took off in the late \u201880s, were you looking to get sponsored? I was sponsored by all my friends, so I didn\u2019t care about being sponsored. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These guys used to hook me up with boards and wheels and anything I needed, so I was in a league of my own. I always did better after the contests when we started drinking beer and having fun. I was never good under pressure. I just wasn\u2019t competitive like that. On Saturday morning, I\u2019d be like, \u201cHell yeah! Bring it on!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LOAD PHOTO COURTESY AIMEE DAVIS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What about the road trips you used to take with the Rancheros? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida was always number one, going to Kona. There was Mrs. Ramos, bless her heart. We love her. We were getting busted and put in the box for not wearing wrist guards. She didn\u2019t like that back in the day. North Carolina, the Farm Ramp, was great times. Cedar Crest was one of my favorite road trips of all time. Cedar Crest was crazy. Going anywhere was fun back in the day. We\u2019d drive hours to go skate a pool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it like to show up at Cedar Crest at a Country Club in Manassas, Virginia? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scary. I remember my buddy, JB, was like, \u201cLook, be careful, man. This thing is fast. It needs some elbow pads because it will fuck you up!\u201d First thing I did, swellbow\u2026 I took a nice slam skating with Blaize, who was just unreal. I want to mention Blaize Blouin because he was one of my favorite skaters of all time. The dude was \u2018no rules\u2019. He would just fuck shit up. That was his whole outlook and he skated Cedar Crest like nobody else. I was stoked that I got to skate with him. We had some fun there. A little mayhem went down and some cops\u2019 tires got slashed and there were helicopters and it was crazy. It was great hanging out with Blaize and Buck and Lenny and all the dudes from the Northeast, like Josh Marlowe and Pat Clark. They would come down for our shit, like Booger. I was there when Micro and Puker ran into each other. That was a bad collision. It\u2019s times like that you never forget, no matter how many bell ringers you\u2019ve experienced. Those were good times. There were definitely some cops and helicopters. That\u2019s the way skateboarding was. There were no parks, no lights and no skate moms. It was just hellion rebellion! Then I built a few wooden parks and we started building roundwall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What parks did you build? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I built a park in Newburgh, NY. This guy, Tom Noble, we kinda went partners and built that. After that, I built a park in Bricktown, NJ, for Matt Lewis. He was a super cool surfer dude. It was a cool park. Then it was warehouse stuff and vert ramps that were too tall for a warehouse, but we made it work. Then it petered out and I went back to remodeling and building backyard stuff and we went totally underground. You had no choice. All of this backyard stuff started popping up and I didn\u2019t mind it because we\u2019ve always been \u2018No Rules\u2019. We don\u2019t want people telling us what to do or when to do it or how to be. That\u2019s always been the Golden Rule. When the industry went away, it didn\u2019t really matter. We just carried on like we had been and went underground, which is where you wanted it to be in the first place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were you still reading skate mags? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were probably ten years where I didn\u2019t see one magazine. I was skating, but there was really nothing that I was interested in. Then I remember the first Juice I got and I was like, \u201cWhoa! Holy shit! This is killer!\u201d It\u2019s the biggest magazine in the world with the smallest print. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Laughs] That\u2019s right. We have to pack a lot of good shit in there. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes! That\u2019s when I started reading magazines again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always been \u2018No Rules\u2019. We don\u2019t want people telling us what to do or when to do it or how to be. That\u2019s always been the Golden Rule. When the industry went away, it didn\u2019t really matter. We just carried on like we had been and went underground, which is where you wanted it to be in the first place.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes! When Burnside started building stuff and Vans started building parks indoors in the 2000s, were you aware of skateparks coming back? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. Paul Schmitt called Jimmy O\u2019Brien and said, \u201cThey\u2019re building this park out here. It\u2019s got water in it right now and the plaster is curing, but it\u2019s a replica of the combi pool.\u201d We were like, \u201cNo way!\u201d My son was living in Redondo Beach, so I got to hit that thing pretty early. I never got to skate the real Upland, the original combi pool. I hear it was a lot gnarlier, but I was like, \u201cDamn, this thing is gnarly.\u201d It was so fun. I was looking at this dude doing a lien air on the flat wall of the square pool and I was like, \u201cThat\u2019s Salba!\u201d I was skating with Salba and didn\u2019t even realize it. That was pretty cool. That started the ball rolling again. I was freaking out on the combi pool. That was by far the best thing I\u2019d ever ridden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You went to the Get-A-Way when it was closed and here it is, all these years later, and you\u2019re seeing concrete parks again. What were you thinking? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that it\u2019s fully come back around, I wish Jeff could have kept his head on straight and I wish Rogowski could have kept his head on straight. I can\u2019t imagine the hits that those guys took. I mean you\u2019re living like Elvis one minute and the next minute it\u2019s like, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d It was weird. There are some people that I wish were still around. There are other people that hung on and made fantastic comebacks too. It\u2019s just like history, it happens. I would say that only the strong survive, but that would be bullshit. I wouldn\u2019t want to disrespect anybody like that, but there were a lot of heavy hitters that took some heavy hits. I mean, what do you do when the bottom falls out? Look at Lance Mountain. After all the controversy between me and Lance, back in the day, I respect that guy so much. He pulled it. I don\u2019t know how he did it. He still rides and it\u2019s amazing what he can still pull. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe what went down at the Arkansas Ramp Jam between you and Lance. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, everybody was killing it and Lance bailed a 540 and he got pissed. He threw his board into the crowd in a fit. My chick ducked and it hit me in the face. Luckily, it didn\u2019t hit her or I would have killed him. I went and gave him a little tap on the head to even the score. No big deal. We\u2019re buddies now and he cracks up when he sees me. He has photos of me on his wall with our arms around each other. We were both young and stupid, but it\u2019s water under the bridge. It\u2019s not my proudest moment, but it is what it is. People love talking about that shit, but he ain\u2019t mad at me and I ain\u2019t mad at him. I\u2019ve got a scar on my face and he\u2019s got one on his. It\u2019s all good.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that beef went down, what was it like the next time you guys saw each other? How did you bury the hatchet? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was like 25 years later. He came here to Atlanta and skated some pool that we were riding and I missed it. I was like, \u201cDamn it!\u201d I was pissed. Then I got to emcee some big deal where we all skated down Peachtree Street, which is the main drag in downtown Atlanta. I didn\u2019t realize that Lance was going to be there. It was an art show and, when I saw his little miniature coffee table pools, I was amazed. Actually, he came up to me like, \u201cHey, Load, what\u2019s going on?\u201d I was like, \u201cLance!\u201d It was like nothing ever happened. We were arm in arm getting our pictures taken. I was like, \u201cHey, man, we were just two people, young and stupid.\u201d It\u2019s cool. We\u2019re all good. I\u2019m too old to be worrying about stupid shit like that. That was definitely not the first time I hurt somebody\u2019s feelings back in the day. I\u2019m totally humbled by skateboarding. It\u2019s the best thing that ever happened to me. Just doing this interview is crazy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hell, yeah. I want to get your frame of mind when you saw the combi built and Vans opened all those skateparks. Having seen the parks in the \u201870s, did you have a feeling of whether it was going to work? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I saw the concrete that was happening and, at the same, Burnside was going on and people were experimenting with concrete. Things were going backyard and Chicken and Bellmar had their pools built. I saw what was happening. I was hoping that one day they would look at bowls and ramps and ledges and make something for skating, just like swing sets and soccer fields. I saw it coming. I knew it was going to happen. There was no way it couldn\u2019t happen, especially once things like Fuel TV came out, and the next thing you know every commercial on TV had a skateboard in it. We were finally being acknowledged. It took a long time, but whatever. Hell, I never made a dime off of it that I didn\u2019t earn, but I\u2019m just glad. I know groms who are probably going to be in the Olympics that I used to announce for and I think that is pretty frickin\u2019 cool. You know what I mean? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. As a master carpenter that has built skateparks, did you want to get into building with concrete? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just don\u2019t have the patience to finish concrete. I can do all the form work, but when it comes to troweling and finishing, I hadn\u2019t really sunk my teeth into it. We had the best DIY park ever and my skate young\u2019uns had it under control. I\u2019d kick down money, but they\u2019re like, \u201cNo, Load, don\u2019t even worry about it. We got it.\u201d I\u2019m just no good at that trowel. I\u2019ll dig, but I\u2019m a carpenter. I\u2019ll do all the forms you want, but I\u2019m a carpenter and I\u2019d rather do what I do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Okay, let\u2019s go back to the next phase of concrete getting to Atlanta. When did you start getting concrete parks? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got a spot in Mountain Park that started rolling. Athens happened before anything here in Atlanta. That was a Grindline park. We went out there and tried to help, but we were pretty much just getting in the way. Grindline is where a bunch of our boys got started, helping those guys. They built our Fourth Ward park and that\u2019s where a bunch of these young guys around here got hooked up with doing concrete. Now it\u2019s just going crazy. We have all these concrete artists that are really good with that, so I just leave it to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you blown away with how the kids are riding roundwall? They\u2019re just charging it? Is that what\u2019s going on in Atlanta? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yeah. It\u2019s crazy. We\u2019re big. We\u2019ve got a big street hub going on and always have because we\u2019re a big metropolis, but it\u2019s ATV all the way now. These kids are coming out of the woodwork and they skate everything. They hit stairs and handrails on the way to the skatepark. They\u2019re just carve grinding the hell out of everything that gets in their way. It\u2019s amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are they still riding vert ramps too? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, we\u2019ve got one vert ramp at this park on the outskirts of Atlanta. It\u2019s a smaller ramp. We have everyone trained to skate vert, so, if there is some vert, we\u2019ll hurt that just like everything else. It\u2019s all aspects. Our DIY\/DUI spot has everything you can imagine. It\u2019s amazing. These guys are into it. They build something and they skate it. If there is room to go big, they go big. If it\u2019s something small, like a couple of kickers, they are really creative with it. That\u2019s where it\u2019s at now. Our fourth generation is just killing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, skateboarding is just getting bigger and bigger and now it\u2019s in the Olympics. What do you think of that whole thing? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I\u2019m kind of stoked that I have the possibility of knowing kids that were groms back when I was announcing that could go to the Olympics. As far as my own perspective is concerned, I\u2019m a soul surfer. I\u2019ve never been on that competitive edge. I\u2019ve always done it for the love of skateboarding. Regardless of what happens at the Olympics, skateboarding will never change. There will always be people that just skate for the love of skating. Then there will be people that will train and make money and dedicate their lives to it. That\u2019s one of those \u2018to each his own\u2019 things. I\u2019m sure there are people that play tennis for fun or go out and throw a football around or play softball on the weekends for fun. It doesn\u2019t have to be in the Olympics, but I support it. I think it\u2019s cool. Every time I see an insurance commercial, I see a kid on a skateboard. It\u2019s all good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, you\u2019re a parent. When you\u2019re around other parents in Atlanta, what is their perception of skateboarding? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I\u2019m seeing more parents pushing their kids towards the Olympics and whatnot. That\u2019s my perspective when it comes to the average. The people that I know that have kids that skate could give a shit. The soccer mom thing is kind of weird. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you think it affects kids that are getting jocked out for skateboarding? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think, if you\u2019re a kid and you love skateboarding and you think you\u2019ve got what it takes to be in the Olympics, go for it. Most kids that skateboard are outlaws or outcasts or misfits, most kids I know anyway. You get your golden boy every now and then, but let\u2019s face it, I mean look at me. [Laughs] I think it\u2019s great and I support it, if that\u2019s where you want to be. My boy, Pat, is raising hell about it, saying, \u201cAre you wanting skateboarding in the Olympics? What the fuck?\u201d I support whatever. If you can ride that useless wooden toy, get the best out of it, you know? Do whatever fits you. We\u2019re all individuals. That\u2019s the thing about skateboarding. There is no organization. You don\u2019t have to be a team player. You can be an individual and there is no criteria to meet. I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s at where it\u2019s at. I think it\u2019s great. If these kids want to be Olympians, more power to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think about more big mega corporations getting into skateboarding? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the way I see it, the more money, the better, but there you go with the separation. You\u2019re going to have people in it for the money and you\u2019re going to have people in it for the love of it. That may drive it further underground. It\u2019s like everything else. Not everybody that plays baseball is looking to be pro. Some people just like playing baseball or soccer or riding a bicycle. It\u2019s a recreational pastime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the Ranchero philosophy and lifestyle still going in Atlanta? Do you have any younger kids that you would call Rancheros now, or is it just the older crew that are Rancheros? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have the most amazing crew of young skaters. There are kids that have never even seen me that know who I am, just because our scene is so tight. We\u2019ve always kept it going. One generation meets the next and there are no gaps. Everybody is connected. The ATL is a great place and I\u2019m definitely very proud to be a part of it. Our young guys, a lot of them are turning pro and they\u2019re killing it. It\u2019s really cool. Some of these guys are putting Atlanta on the map. You ain\u2019t got to live in California to be a pro skater anymore. That\u2019s just the way it is. Wherever you live, all you got to do is promote and represent. If you\u2019re a badass, it doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from. It\u2019s where you\u2019re coming from! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right! Is there anyone you\u2019d like to thank? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to mention my lovely wife, Jenna. She keeps me in line and she\u2019s like, \u201cGo skateboarding. Please go skateboarding.\u201d She totally supports me. She\u2019s great and I\u2019ve got a son out in Cali. I\u2019d like to thank Tim Payne. Tim sent me to Europe back in the day and let me build a couple of parks for him and that was really cool. He has done a lot and I respect Tim. I want to thank anybody who skateboards and I\u2019d love to thank all the young kids. Jason Jessee introduced himself to me one time. I\u2019d love to thank him for that. I was like, \u201cWhat?\u201d Sick! Hackett. Thanks Dave! Thanks to all the dudes that came out of the woodwork after Dogtown and Z-Boys, and thanks to all the guys that were there before that. Thanks to all the old dogs that love what they do. I could sit here forever thanking people. I have to give props to my young crew that supports me. Everyone from the old crew, they know who they are. We have a young crew, like Grant\u2019s crew. He\u2019s an amazing skater, and there are a bunch of other skaters in his crew that kill it, and I just love them kids. They\u2019re good to me. Wait. I\u2019ve got a list: Mark Shuggs, John Moore, Tim Nun, Chris Buely, Fred Franklin, Brian Lyljie, Punky, Mark Noland, Rodger Hackett, Thomas Taylor, Lepracon, Don Hillsman, T.K., Lenny Byrd, Mike Lander, Steve, Jay, Debbie McAdoo, Joker, Ivan, Chuck Hults, Tim Humphreys, Russ Mullis, Jimmy O\u2019Brien, Dave O\u2019Brien, JB, Loin, West, Mike Chumly, Maliky, Kevin Slam Brand, Derek Rosenroq, Rob Miller, Down Home, Henry Parilla, Roacher, Chris Alfelder, Sushi, Bill Hubbard, Bave Holbrock, Geordie, Tatoo Joel, Jodi, Laura, Pam, Luxford, Shannon Smith, Roobsie, Ricky Mattern, Martin, Eric Beck, Raymando, Big Al, Rob Tidwell, Fred Reeves, Stormy Pruit, Bobby Boyd, Jay Bud, Kamah, Pat McClain, Zeke, Grant Taylor, Sethafari, Jason Fowler, Peyton, Stinky David,      Graham Bickerstaff, Lil G, Ryan, Flyn, K Rad, Santee Slack, Cole, Toad Boy, Matt Rat, Shawn Coffey, Chris Coffmen, Troy Cabucci, Justin Brock, Dan Plunket, Jeremiah, Jonah, Luke, Zion, Leete, Jason, Ray Fennessey, Dave Allen, Will Boatrite, Dale Struble, Big Mark, Chris Solemon, Ian, Kaden, Cam, Austin Gordan, Spath Bros, Braman Brothers, David Houser, J.T. McCracken, Steve Gaffney, Hannah Chumley, Mark Tucker, Joey Fry, Steve Shugs, Bill and Dean Sammons, Gary Thompson, Tim Cheek, Gar Poe, Pat Kelly, Rodger Hackett, Mike Hunt, Scott Gibson, Silas Fiction and Jay Cabler. Patlanta is one of my foster sons. There are all kinds of good people around. I just love skateboarding and I never quit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Load! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I appreciate the interview. Thanks a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, ORDER ISSUE #79 AT THE JUICE SHOP\u2026<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JEFF \u201cLOAD\u201d STEPHENSON Interview by JIM MURPHY PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LOAD AND AIMEE DAVIS Jeff “Load” Stephenson was the Lynyrd Skynyrd of motivational skateboard heckling. Riding a backyard pool and you’re still not even hitting tiles? Call in Load! Trying to do layback roll outs on gnarly pool coping and you actually think putting on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94965,"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-94962","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\/2023\/09\/LOAD-IMG_20161027_0002.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94962","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=94962"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95101,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94962\/revisions\/95101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juicemagazine.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}