JP Walker Interview: the out-takesSo you thought you knew it all? Hell no! Tuck into the second course of J.P. Walker goodness...
DCMT: How do you set about hitting up a big rail, what are you thinking about?
JP: Before I even set the thing up, I'll just kind of stand over the rail and just look at it and pretend I'm on my snowboard. I'm just standing on the ground looking at it and picturing myself doing it. If I can do that I'll be like, 'Okay, let's set it up’.
Before I get on top of the drop-in ramp I'll have a buddy give a light pull up to the thing. I'm still just looking, but with a bit of momentum going, feeling what the snow is like. The snow is different in every scene.
When I finally get on top of the ramp, all I really think about is just getting on to the rail, just the first initial getting on, making sure I'm getting on in a way that's gonna avoid any consequences - maybe there's a drop on one side so I'll want to be sure not to roll over too much to that side 'cos I don't want to go over that drop.
At the same time, if I think I could get this first try, like a big 50-50 on a kink rail, I'll be thinking: don't go too far over but still stand up on it, and after that just square it up and look it down – once you get on you want to focus towards the end.
At the same time I'll be thinking: okay are these guys ready? Is the photographer ready? Are his flashes working – because you see those guys screwing around the whole time just trying to get ready? Is my buddy down there gonna stop any cars if they come? Okay, I hope no cars come 'cos I'm ready to do this...
So there are just so many things and it depends on the situation. Hopefully the jump holds because a lot of times, especially when you're in Helsinki, the snow is really bad. It doesn't bond that good. It's one thing to roll up on it on your snowboard and look at it, but when you actually put weight into it and ollie, is it gonna hold? I definitely don't want that to give out right when I ollie, so what happens if it does? Just in the back of your head you have 'if I feel that crack, and it's soft, don't obviously jump on to the rail; just jump into the stairs or something... ' so many things man.
DCMT: Do you have anything you do, right before you drop, like breathe in and out three times, or do you just kind of drop?
JP: No, no. I just go. Sometimes I'll start breathing a little deeper and stuff, and sometimes I'll take a deep breath, but it's not like I have to take any sequence of events.
DCMT: Have you ever been arrested to the point of having a criminal record for riding street features?
JP: No, never. I mean I've had run-ins and they give you a warning some times so if you get busted again they take you in and give you a ticket...
Actually one time I got a ticket in Colorado. I wasn't even snowboarding. We were filming and I was just kind of helping out, shoveling some snow. The cops came and we all got tickets. I actually went back and fought it later on because I didn't actually want to have anything on my record. They let us off of it which was pretty cool.
DCMT: Do you ever secure an actual license?
JP: I haven't in the US but I've been to Helsinki, in Finland, and they got permission for this handrail in front of a television station. There was no way you could even get to it and they were like, 'we'll let you guys hit this if you want'. In the US it would be so expensive to do it.
DCMT: What makes a perfect day?
JP: I mean anything. A big thing for me would be just the right friends. If you've got good friends you can have a good day when the snow's shitty. It just depends because obviously two feet of new and sun and not many people at your resort is really good you know – I mean that day at Brighton I was telling you about – that's like a typical day of like... that's like the best day at my local resort: three or four of your friends and there's two feet of snow and you know where everything's at. You know exactly when to go to this spot, when to go to that spot to get it, it doesn't really get any better than that. But like I said to you, I've had days where I just go over to the rail garden right by the house in Utah and it might be icy and rutted out and stuff, but with good homies it's the best time.
DCMT: Could you name four defining moments of your career / life?
JP: The first thing was meeting Mitch Nelson and Jeremy Jones because they were the two guys I started snowboarding with. Mitch Nelson basically taught me snowboarding because I burrowed his snowboard and rode down the hill in his backyard for the first time.
Getting on Forum Snowboards and filming with Peter Line because he was like one of my favourite, biggest idols. So to hook up with your idol and ride with him and see how he does it is obviously pretty major.
When we started those first Forum videos, Resistance and True Life, that was shortly after meeting Peter Line. I worked with a guy Sean Kearns on those movies and he was a pro snowboarder at one time and the guy that produced the Whiskey movies (Whiskey 1,2,3 and 4). I became really good friends with him and he had a lot to do with how I'd see snowboarding and business in snowboarding. He produced some of the best videos in snowboarding from Resistance and True Life and That.
Just being friends with him, that was pretty major.
And the last thing would be getting on Thirtytwo and StepChild. For me it's a re-start, revert to my whole life. It's like a whole new era. All of a sudden I'm cruising round with Joe Sexton and Simon Chamberlain, and these guys are like 10 years younger than me.
So all of a sudden I'm like how Peter Line was to me – I'm looking at it from another way.
I feel like I've got to hold up my reputation and stuff, so that kind of gives me some motivation to keep pushing it.
DCMT: Is it fair to say that True Life represented the pinnacle of your career at Forum?
JP: I would definitely say for me at Forum that would be a pinnacle just because, at least in my opinion, that was the pinnacle of Forum and I had the big closing part in that video and everything in snowboarding was booming at that time. In a way it almost felt like the peak of snowboarding altogether. I feel like Forum never really reached a higher peak than that still to this day, maybe it got close in 2007 after the release of "that" but as for my own personal peak I feel like it surpassed True Life.
DCMT (Tom Honey): Why go to StepChild, a small Canadian company, rather than one of the more established American ones?
JP: The one thing that kind of got me turned off from Forum in a way was that I just began to feel that it became too big. It just wasn't the same thing that it had been and to me StepChild was more like how Forum was back when Forum was at True Life and Resistance. It felt like it was more what I was about and I didn't want to get in that situation again where I was working for a company that wasn't going in the same direction that I was.
I knew Simon pretty good and I knew Sean Johnson one of the owners pretty good. But just watching that first video they put out, Child Support, I just got that vibe off them, it just felt like the right thing to do.
DCMT: What's been the proudest moment of your career so far?
JP: I don't know what the proudest moment would be, but definitely at the end of the year when you see your finished video part, that's a proud moment. I couldn't say one thing more than another really, I guess when I landed that double cork maybe, I wasn't like proud, I was just like shocked and stoked.
DCMT: What's the most pivotal video part you've seen?
JP: The one part that I'd say has helped shape me the most would be a section in a Mack Dawg video, it's called The Hard, Hungry and the Homeless, it's a section with the whole Joyride team: Dale Rehberg, Nate Cole, Roan Rogers and Jake Blattner.
It wasn't necessarily one guy's part, but all these guys in that section. That was one of the first really sick teams in snowboarding where everyone was really good and had a unique style and did progressive tricks. I remember just watching that part over and over getting hyped on that.
DCMT: What are the craziest tricks you've seen this year?
JP: The only stuff I really saw in person was what Simon and Joe did because I was mainly filming with them. They both did some pretty amazing stuff but I don't want to give away what tricks they did.
DCMT: Are you a fan of some of the other rail riders, have you seen Eiki Helgason and one or two of those guys?
JP: Ah yeah, for sure. That dude is really good – obviously. I wouldn't call him just a rail rider, he obviously can hit jumps and stuff too and I think that's pretty key, especially nowadays. It seems like snowboarders specialise in different areas of snowboarding but there's not too many people who are just good at snowboarding on anything and everything. It's cool to see that.
But there's tons of new kids that are really good at handrails, and jumps too.
DCMT (Jon Weaver): Riders like Eiki Helgason and the whole Quebec crew are doing pretty crazy stuff just to get free boards, the game has changed – would you still make it?
JP: Would I still make it? And that's from Jonathan?[Laughing] Yeah man, those guys are definitely doing crazy stuff just for some boards but I don't think it's any different than back when I was trying to get free boards. I mean yeah, the tricks are different, and the stuff's different, but the mentality is still the same. I told you about how I was at the rail and, I'm gonna try a frontboard on this rail but I've never seen it been done and it's never really been done, and I'm trying to figure that out in my head without ever seeing it. All this stuff, so much of it's mental. So even though the consequences might be higher on some of that stuff, it's still basically the same thing: if you can figure it out in your head you can do it. (Tell Jonathan to check out my new part.)
DCMT: Tom Honey sent us this link and I thought it'd be cool if you could tell us what you think?
Aint no Mountain High enough (other than Cas) from Tom on Vimeo.
DCMT: Would you ever venture into a snow dome?
JP: Yeah – I have been to one in Japan actually. I've been twice. ! It's pretty sketchy – I went there with the jib board and really dull edges and it makes it dangerous to ride. I'd like to go to a place that was actually better because it does look really fun. The one you showed me looks way better
DCMT: Yeah they're great for building up your tech skills...
JP: Yeah, that's like there's so many good Finnish riders right now, there always have been, and it's crazy when you go to Talma. When you see what it is and what they ride on: it's basically one jump and a T-bar that goes up and it takes you to the top of the jump. Those guys hit the jump like 100 or 200 times in the day because that's all it is, and then they get to see all their friends doing it as well, so they just become so good – it's just like they become machines. It might take a while to diversify and hit different types of jump and to ride powder and stuff but it's such a good way to start because it like ingrains the technique.
DCMT: Is snowboarding a sport? Can it be called a sport or is it different?
JP: I guess I would call it a sport but I don't really consider it one; I consider it more of a lifestyle, more like an art form I guess. There are teams in snowboarding and it is athletic and what not and there are competitions, so I guess that makes it a sport but that's not the way I look at it, it's not how I perceive it.
DCMT: I read that you're not so into big competitions like the X-Games but that you had competed in them years ago, can you tell us your perspective on that?
JP: I've been in a few of those, maybe like three or four. I got kicked out one year because I jumped off the chair lift get to the top of the start gate faster – so I could get more runs in to practice. They saw me doing that and kicked me out. I was banned for a while. I didn't really care but then they lifted the ban and invited me back. There's definitely some good contests, and some cool contests, but, especially the X-Games – it's more like a TV show than a contest. They do so much production before the contest even starts: they've filmed all these segments and have done all theses things that if the guys they've done the stuff for don't make it to the finals then their whole TV show's kind of messed up. So I kind of think it might not be 100% fair all the time – not to say that I've been judged unfairly or anything, I just don't think that a lot of people get a fair shake at that one; I don't really back ones like that but, like I say, I think there are some good ones out there.
DCMT (James North): Do you feel that snowboarding lacks events like the Nixon Jib Fest where the competition operates on full rider involvement and forms a kind of invitational anti-contest?
JP: I don't know. The thing that was cool about that is that it got people to start thinking more like that. I think lately like the Grenade Games – it's not like the Nixon Jib Fest – it's definitely more rider involved and it's a little more laid back and stuff. A lot of other people and other snowboarders have taken it upon themselves to make events and be more involved in events. I don't know if it's really lacking, I don't think there will be anything like the Jib Fest again because the thing about that was it was so exclusive to the point that we didn't even let people come and watch it. There were no spectators, the only photographers or riders or any media were people that we chose and that we wanted to be there. There were no judges it was all based strictly on what the riders felt was right. While all that was happening we were able to film for the Mack Dawg and Forum videos that we were filming for – it was kind of two birds with one stone. Nowadays you're not going to go to a contest and get shots for your video part but back then it worked because we were able to bring our own film crews – all that stuff we had built for the Jib Fest, like the curve rails and the stair set – they were all brand new features, you didn't ever see those at resort. It kind of got resorts to step their game up: the next season Bear Mountain and Snow Summit had put all those features in their park. It just served so many purposes. Now you can't even go to a park in the US and not see a 20-stair set but back then it was the biggest craziest thing.
DCMT: Do you ever work solely with a photographer or is it always both a photographer and a filmer?
JP: It's usually both – although just a filmer goes down quite a lot. Just shooting photos hardly ever goes down any more. Maybe like ten years ago that was more common. I think now, just because a video seems to me the main thing you're going for and maybe the photographer's only gonna shoot a still photo, you kind of need the video confirmation to go along with it – so you're not gonna do something crazy for just a still photo.
DCMT: I read you once liken a snowboard to a billboard with regard to sticker placement – do you still stand by that and does that mean it's still cool for groms to plaster their snowboards with stickers?
JP: Ah yeah I mean, it's cool I guess – it's part of it. Being a pro nowadays your sponsors are so critical about your stickers on your board. Awhile ago it didn't really matter but now it's in with your contract that you've got to have stickers on your boards and stuff – it's kind of wack. If a kid just wants to put stickers on their board I think that's all good.
DCMT (James Thorne): Your video sections are always pretty gangster in the movies (Resistance, True Life etc) but you always seem pretty squeaky clean as a character – was that a planned image or just what you were into at the time?
JP: It was just was I was into. Back then hip hop was way better... I was super into it so it came through in my style snowboarding. I guess I am squeaky clean: I never really got sidetracked by too much partying or drinking because I always wanted to keep it 100% with my snowboarding. It's not any news flash that a lot of these guys get a little bit of money and fame and they can't really handle it – the next thing you know they've partied their whole career and life away. I just didn't want to go down like that.
DCMT: A British rider, James Phillips, who apparently has been mistaken for you on occasion, wanted to know if you've ever had any strange experiences from avid fans or groupies?
JP: One of the weirdest things was this guy who wanted me to hook up with his girlfriend. He came up to me in Whistler and said, 'Hey, I'm so-and-so, and this is my girlfriend so-and-so, and she is yours for the night.' and then just started trying to give her to me and I was like, 'Nooo dude'.
DCMT: Do you listen to music when you ride – what kind of stuff is good?
JP: I don't usually when I ride because almost always I'm riding with friends and it seems like we're always just talking and talking about snowboarding. Maybe how I said about getting Jeremy to point me off a cliff or something – there's too much dialogue for me to wear headphones and I can only think of a few times ever when I've gone to a resort by myself and taken laps and would actually have wanted to. I like to be able to hear the snow and hear how it sounds. When we're in the backcountry we'll have music when we're building jumps and stuff – I don't know if you saw it but - I had a stereo built into my snowmobile with speakers that's good for when we're building jumps. Hip hop is definitely what I'm most into but lately I've been listening to a lot of reggae – I don't know why. I listen to anything really but it's definitely been on the reggae channel a lot recently.
DCMT: Is there anything you wanted to say?
JP: I need to get out there in the UK sometime! I wish it snowed there in the cities because it seems that's the only time I go anywhere is when there is snow on the ground. Thanks to any fans that I've got over there in the UK, be on the look out for the video coming out. It's gonna be available for free download from September 9th.
And check all the movies JP's starred in here...
Posted by name - Tue, 05/01/2010 - 2:15pm
So you thought you knew it all? Hell no! Tuck into the second course of J.P. Walker goodness...
DCMT: How do you set about hitting up a big rail, what are you thinking about?
JP: Before I even set the thing up, I'll just kind of stand over the rail and just look at it and pretend I'm on my snowboard. I'm just standing on the ground looking at it and picturing myself doing it. If I can do that I'll be like, 'Okay, let's set it up’.
Before I get on top of the drop-in ramp I'll have a buddy give a light pull up to the thing. I'm still just looking, but with a bit of momentum going, feeling what the snow is like. The snow is different in every scene.
When I finally get on top of the ramp, all I really think about is just getting on to the rail, just the first initial getting on, making sure I'm getting on in a way that's gonna avoid any consequences - maybe there's a drop on one side so I'll want to be sure not to roll over too much to that side 'cos I don't want to go over that drop.
At the same time, if I think I could get this first try, like a big 50-50 on a kink rail, I'll be thinking: don't go too far over but still stand up on it, and after that just square it up and look it down – once you get on you want to focus towards the end.
At the same time I'll be thinking: okay are these guys ready? Is the photographer ready? Are his flashes working – because you see those guys screwing around the whole time just trying to get ready? Is my buddy down there gonna stop any cars if they come? Okay, I hope no cars come 'cos I'm ready to do this...
So there are just so many things and it depends on the situation. Hopefully the jump holds because a lot of times, especially when you're in Helsinki, the snow is really bad. It doesn't bond that good. It's one thing to roll up on it on your snowboard and look at it, but when you actually put weight into it and ollie, is it gonna hold? I definitely don't want that to give out right when I ollie, so what happens if it does? Just in the back of your head you have 'if I feel that crack, and it's soft, don't obviously jump on to the rail; just jump into the stairs or something... ' so many things man.
DCMT: Do you have anything you do, right before you drop, like breathe in and out three times, or do you just kind of drop?
JP: No, no. I just go. Sometimes I'll start breathing a little deeper and stuff, and sometimes I'll take a deep breath, but it's not like I have to take any sequence of events.
DCMT: Have you ever been arrested to the point of having a criminal record for riding street features?
JP: No, never. I mean I've had run-ins and they give you a warning some times so if you get busted again they take you in and give you a ticket...
Actually one time I got a ticket in Colorado. I wasn't even snowboarding. We were filming and I was just kind of helping out, shoveling some snow. The cops came and we all got tickets. I actually went back and fought it later on because I didn't actually want to have anything on my record. They let us off of it which was pretty cool.
DCMT: Do you ever secure an actual license?
JP: I haven't in the US but I've been to Helsinki, in Finland, and they got permission for this handrail in front of a television station. There was no way you could even get to it and they were like, 'we'll let you guys hit this if you want'. In the US it would be so expensive to do it.
DCMT: What makes a perfect day?
JP: I mean anything. A big thing for me would be just the right friends. If you've got good friends you can have a good day when the snow's shitty. It just depends because obviously two feet of new and sun and not many people at your resort is really good you know – I mean that day at Brighton I was telling you about – that's like a typical day of like... that's like the best day at my local resort: three or four of your friends and there's two feet of snow and you know where everything's at. You know exactly when to go to this spot, when to go to that spot to get it, it doesn't really get any better than that. But like I said to you, I've had days where I just go over to the rail garden right by the house in Utah and it might be icy and rutted out and stuff, but with good homies it's the best time.
DCMT: Could you name four defining moments of your career / life?
JP: The first thing was meeting Mitch Nelson and Jeremy Jones because they were the two guys I started snowboarding with. Mitch Nelson basically taught me snowboarding because I burrowed his snowboard and rode down the hill in his backyard for the first time.
Getting on Forum Snowboards and filming with Peter Line because he was like one of my favourite, biggest idols. So to hook up with your idol and ride with him and see how he does it is obviously pretty major.
When we started those first Forum videos, Resistance and True Life, that was shortly after meeting Peter Line. I worked with a guy Sean Kearns on those movies and he was a pro snowboarder at one time and the guy that produced the Whiskey movies (Whiskey 1,2,3 and 4). I became really good friends with him and he had a lot to do with how I'd see snowboarding and business in snowboarding. He produced some of the best videos in snowboarding from Resistance and True Life and That.
Just being friends with him, that was pretty major.
And the last thing would be getting on Thirtytwo and StepChild. For me it's a re-start, revert to my whole life. It's like a whole new era. All of a sudden I'm cruising round with Joe Sexton and Simon Chamberlain, and these guys are like 10 years younger than me.
So all of a sudden I'm like how Peter Line was to me – I'm looking at it from another way.
I feel like I've got to hold up my reputation and stuff, so that kind of gives me some motivation to keep pushing it.
DCMT: Is it fair to say that True Life represented the pinnacle of your career at Forum?
JP: I would definitely say for me at Forum that would be a pinnacle just because, at least in my opinion, that was the pinnacle of Forum and I had the big closing part in that video and everything in snowboarding was booming at that time. In a way it almost felt like the peak of snowboarding altogether. I feel like Forum never really reached a higher peak than that still to this day, maybe it got close in 2007 after the release of "that" but as for my own personal peak I feel like it surpassed True Life.
DCMT (Tom Honey): Why go to StepChild, a small Canadian company, rather than one of the more established American ones?
JP: The one thing that kind of got me turned off from Forum in a way was that I just began to feel that it became too big. It just wasn't the same thing that it had been and to me StepChild was more like how Forum was back when Forum was at True Life and Resistance. It felt like it was more what I was about and I didn't want to get in that situation again where I was working for a company that wasn't going in the same direction that I was.
I knew Simon pretty good and I knew Sean Johnson one of the owners pretty good. But just watching that first video they put out, Child Support, I just got that vibe off them, it just felt like the right thing to do.
DCMT: What's been the proudest moment of your career so far?
JP: I don't know what the proudest moment would be, but definitely at the end of the year when you see your finished video part, that's a proud moment. I couldn't say one thing more than another really, I guess when I landed that double cork maybe, I wasn't like proud, I was just like shocked and stoked.
DCMT: What's the most pivotal video part you've seen?
JP: The one part that I'd say has helped shape me the most would be a section in a Mack Dawg video, it's called The Hard, Hungry and the Homeless, it's a section with the whole Joyride team: Dale Rehberg, Nate Cole, Roan Rogers and Jake Blattner.
It wasn't necessarily one guy's part, but all these guys in that section. That was one of the first really sick teams in snowboarding where everyone was really good and had a unique style and did progressive tricks. I remember just watching that part over and over getting hyped on that.
DCMT: What are the craziest tricks you've seen this year?
JP: The only stuff I really saw in person was what Simon and Joe did because I was mainly filming with them. They both did some pretty amazing stuff but I don't want to give away what tricks they did.
DCMT: Are you a fan of some of the other rail riders, have you seen Eiki Helgason and one or two of those guys?
JP: Ah yeah, for sure. That dude is really good – obviously. I wouldn't call him just a rail rider, he obviously can hit jumps and stuff too and I think that's pretty key, especially nowadays. It seems like snowboarders specialise in different areas of snowboarding but there's not too many people who are just good at snowboarding on anything and everything. It's cool to see that.
But there's tons of new kids that are really good at handrails, and jumps too.
DCMT (Jon Weaver): Riders like Eiki Helgason and the whole Quebec crew are doing pretty crazy stuff just to get free boards, the game has changed – would you still make it?
JP: Would I still make it? And that's from Jonathan?[Laughing] Yeah man, those guys are definitely doing crazy stuff just for some boards but I don't think it's any different than back when I was trying to get free boards. I mean yeah, the tricks are different, and the stuff's different, but the mentality is still the same. I told you about how I was at the rail and, I'm gonna try a frontboard on this rail but I've never seen it been done and it's never really been done, and I'm trying to figure that out in my head without ever seeing it. All this stuff, so much of it's mental. So even though the consequences might be higher on some of that stuff, it's still basically the same thing: if you can figure it out in your head you can do it. (Tell Jonathan to check out my new part.)
DCMT: Tom Honey sent us this link and I thought it'd be cool if you could tell us what you think?
Aint no Mountain High enough (other than Cas) from Tom on Vimeo.
DCMT: Would you ever venture into a snow dome?
JP: Yeah – I have been to one in Japan actually. I've been twice. ! It's pretty sketchy – I went there with the jib board and really dull edges and it makes it dangerous to ride. I'd like to go to a place that was actually better because it does look really fun. The one you showed me looks way better
DCMT: Yeah they're great for building up your tech skills...
JP: Yeah, that's like there's so many good Finnish riders right now, there always have been, and it's crazy when you go to Talma. When you see what it is and what they ride on: it's basically one jump and a T-bar that goes up and it takes you to the top of the jump. Those guys hit the jump like 100 or 200 times in the day because that's all it is, and then they get to see all their friends doing it as well, so they just become so good – it's just like they become machines. It might take a while to diversify and hit different types of jump and to ride powder and stuff but it's such a good way to start because it like ingrains the technique.
DCMT: Is snowboarding a sport? Can it be called a sport or is it different?
JP: I guess I would call it a sport but I don't really consider it one; I consider it more of a lifestyle, more like an art form I guess. There are teams in snowboarding and it is athletic and what not and there are competitions, so I guess that makes it a sport but that's not the way I look at it, it's not how I perceive it.
DCMT: I read that you're not so into big competitions like the X-Games but that you had competed in them years ago, can you tell us your perspective on that?
JP: I've been in a few of those, maybe like three or four. I got kicked out one year because I jumped off the chair lift get to the top of the start gate faster – so I could get more runs in to practice. They saw me doing that and kicked me out. I was banned for a while. I didn't really care but then they lifted the ban and invited me back. There's definitely some good contests, and some cool contests, but, especially the X-Games – it's more like a TV show than a contest. They do so much production before the contest even starts: they've filmed all these segments and have done all theses things that if the guys they've done the stuff for don't make it to the finals then their whole TV show's kind of messed up. So I kind of think it might not be 100% fair all the time – not to say that I've been judged unfairly or anything, I just don't think that a lot of people get a fair shake at that one; I don't really back ones like that but, like I say, I think there are some good ones out there.
DCMT (James North): Do you feel that snowboarding lacks events like the Nixon Jib Fest where the competition operates on full rider involvement and forms a kind of invitational anti-contest?
JP: I don't know. The thing that was cool about that is that it got people to start thinking more like that. I think lately like the Grenade Games – it's not like the Nixon Jib Fest – it's definitely more rider involved and it's a little more laid back and stuff. A lot of other people and other snowboarders have taken it upon themselves to make events and be more involved in events. I don't know if it's really lacking, I don't think there will be anything like the Jib Fest again because the thing about that was it was so exclusive to the point that we didn't even let people come and watch it. There were no spectators, the only photographers or riders or any media were people that we chose and that we wanted to be there. There were no judges it was all based strictly on what the riders felt was right. While all that was happening we were able to film for the Mack Dawg and Forum videos that we were filming for – it was kind of two birds with one stone. Nowadays you're not going to go to a contest and get shots for your video part but back then it worked because we were able to bring our own film crews – all that stuff we had built for the Jib Fest, like the curve rails and the stair set – they were all brand new features, you didn't ever see those at resort. It kind of got resorts to step their game up: the next season Bear Mountain and Snow Summit had put all those features in their park. It just served so many purposes. Now you can't even go to a park in the US and not see a 20-stair set but back then it was the biggest craziest thing.
DCMT: Do you ever work solely with a photographer or is it always both a photographer and a filmer?
JP: It's usually both – although just a filmer goes down quite a lot. Just shooting photos hardly ever goes down any more. Maybe like ten years ago that was more common. I think now, just because a video seems to me the main thing you're going for and maybe the photographer's only gonna shoot a still photo, you kind of need the video confirmation to go along with it – so you're not gonna do something crazy for just a still photo.
DCMT: I read you once liken a snowboard to a billboard with regard to sticker placement – do you still stand by that and does that mean it's still cool for groms to plaster their snowboards with stickers?
JP: Ah yeah I mean, it's cool I guess – it's part of it. Being a pro nowadays your sponsors are so critical about your stickers on your board. Awhile ago it didn't really matter but now it's in with your contract that you've got to have stickers on your boards and stuff – it's kind of wack. If a kid just wants to put stickers on their board I think that's all good.
DCMT (James Thorne): Your video sections are always pretty gangster in the movies (Resistance, True Life etc) but you always seem pretty squeaky clean as a character – was that a planned image or just what you were into at the time?
JP: It was just was I was into. Back then hip hop was way better... I was super into it so it came through in my style snowboarding. I guess I am squeaky clean: I never really got sidetracked by too much partying or drinking because I always wanted to keep it 100% with my snowboarding. It's not any news flash that a lot of these guys get a little bit of money and fame and they can't really handle it – the next thing you know they've partied their whole career and life away. I just didn't want to go down like that.
DCMT: A British rider, James Phillips, who apparently has been mistaken for you on occasion, wanted to know if you've ever had any strange experiences from avid fans or groupies?
JP: One of the weirdest things was this guy who wanted me to hook up with his girlfriend. He came up to me in Whistler and said, 'Hey, I'm so-and-so, and this is my girlfriend so-and-so, and she is yours for the night.' and then just started trying to give her to me and I was like, 'Nooo dude'.
DCMT: Do you listen to music when you ride – what kind of stuff is good?
JP: I don't usually when I ride because almost always I'm riding with friends and it seems like we're always just talking and talking about snowboarding. Maybe how I said about getting Jeremy to point me off a cliff or something – there's too much dialogue for me to wear headphones and I can only think of a few times ever when I've gone to a resort by myself and taken laps and would actually have wanted to. I like to be able to hear the snow and hear how it sounds. When we're in the backcountry we'll have music when we're building jumps and stuff – I don't know if you saw it but - I had a stereo built into my snowmobile with speakers that's good for when we're building jumps. Hip hop is definitely what I'm most into but lately I've been listening to a lot of reggae – I don't know why. I listen to anything really but it's definitely been on the reggae channel a lot recently.
DCMT: Is there anything you wanted to say?
JP: I need to get out there in the UK sometime! I wish it snowed there in the cities because it seems that's the only time I go anywhere is when there is snow on the ground. Thanks to any fans that I've got over there in the UK, be on the look out for the video coming out. It's gonna be available for free download from September 9th.
And check all the movies JP's starred in here...