Corey Duffel.

The first question I'm going to ask you, Corey Duffel, who does your hair?

I do my hair; get bored, cut it, put some dye in it Have you ever paid more than $200 for a hairdo?

Nope. I got a friend who's a hairstylist. He's hooked me up before, my friend John. He might charge other people $200--but I ain't paying no money for a hairdo.

Paying money for a hairdo is kind of stupid.

Yup. If there are other things to buy, I'd rather buy records with that money.

Vinyl's pretty hard to find nowadays, isn't it?

Yup, eBay.

How old are you now?

Twenty-two.

Twenty-two, and you've been pro now for about four years?

Yeah, four years. Think so.

And you're with the Foundation Super Company? They treat you well?

Yeah.

Is Angel pro yet?

Nope. He should be.

He's pretty good.

Fuck yeah, Angel's the shit.

Why'd they cut Ethan off Vans?

I guess some new broad's working over there, didn't like Ethan, and they don't realize style when they see it.

He's been repping Vans longer than anybody.

Fifteen years, I think.

You pretty much can't buy that.

In my opinion it's totally stupid. When I think of Vans, I think of guys like Ethan, Cardiel, guys that have been there for a long time, dudes that have been repping it, guys that have OG style; just sick skaters. Those other people want to buy into new crap, but Ethan brings the style to Vans. I think it's a bad mistake on their part.

Well, corporate talks, bullshit walks. We all know that. How come in all your ads you're always posing with your fist in the air? What are you doing? Those Sessions ads, what's up with that?

That's a bunch of crab.

That's called attitude? Or is that just bullshit?

A lot of that is bullshit. I don't mind having the portrait, but it is kind of bullshit. That's normally when you don't get the photo on time.

You bang big rails, but then you're standing there against the wall, giving me the fist. What kind of bullshit is that?

Last minute crap, I guess.

What shoe company you riding for now?

Nobody.

You don't ride for Poot shoes?

Nope. No shoe gig. Just waiting for this video to come out; comes out January.

Cataclysmic Abyss? I saw it. You asked me at the trade show. I'm the only one who ever pronounced it right.

Yeah.

Third grade was pretty hard, but I did pass.

Good for you, man. Proud of you, Jake.

You got last part, Corey?

Oh, I hope not. I want Ethan to have the last part.

I want Ethan to have last part, too. He deserves it.

He's just the guy everybody wants to watch skate.

He's smooth; he's real good like that.

Fuck yeah.

What's the biggest lipslide you've ever done?

I have no clue.

You fucking know.

I'm trying to think, man.

Twenty-stair? Eighteen?

Probably 18. That's probably it.

That's the ad?

It was actually a Pig ad.

What about Pig wheels?

Pig's good.

Pig wood's out.

Yeah, Pig wood's out. You should never name a company after your wheel company anyways. That's bad, 'cause then you're repping something else with--Pig wheels are the shit, I think. There are only two wheel companies in my mind that stand out: Spitfire and Pig.

Did you get money for the wrestling coach whooping up on you?

No, I never got anything out of that besides some long hearings from some judge yelling at me, telling me I'm a hoodlum.

He yelled at you? Called you a hoodlum?

Yeah. Blamed it all on me. So we just walked out of the whole thing, going "This is a bunch of crap." It's just typical America; someone else looks a different way. The clean-cut version's going to win over the skate-punk kid.

What percentage of Corey Duffel is talent compared to the percentage that is costume and flair?

I hope I'm more skills than costume, 'cause I don't think of it as a costume. I'm just into rock and roll, that's kind of what I do. I ride a skateboard, that's my goal. I'm not trying to cash in on having some kind of crazy flair. It ain't my cup of tea. I hope people understand I skate for skill compared to--I have goofy hair, I have some tight pants, that's my kick. Otherwise, I'm not trying to cash in off this shit. I'm just trying to skate.

You're just trying to do what works for you. That's smart. Looks can only get you so far in life. After a while ...

You're going to get bored of it.

I remember at the Tampa contest you had a shirt that said "Who the Fuck is Jim Greco?" What's up with that?

I was making a reference to Keith Richards' "Who the Fuck is Mick Jagger" shirt. I thought it was all fun and games. People said I looked like Jim, and he was a buddy of mine at the time. I thought I'd be a clown and write something silly, and it got blown out in the wrong way. Fun and games.

But those guys, they take it wicked serious, too. Jim Greco's one of those dudes who's like, "Come on guys, get over yourselves," right?

Yup. He did take it seriously. And when I was 15 I did a lot of stupid shit. That's what happens when you're a teenager, you learn from shit.

Your first ad was a Think ad that didn't even have your name on it, mellon grab down some stairs.

That was my second ad, actually. But yeah, they didn't put my name on there--and it had some poem that looked like I wrote it, but I didn't.

We're over that. Who do you think are the top guys right now when you look for skaters? Obviously Chris Cole is rewriting skateboarding as we speak, and we're watching this go on; it's pretty incredible. You're a talented skater as well. Arto told me he's afraid to leave the house sometimes, 'cause he's like, "What? I got to back lip 18 just to go skateboarding?" Skating's at a very high level.

There are dudes like Cole who are stepping up a notch, guys like Rowley who always keep pushing it, but then there's also other dudes. Like Gino, he looks sick to watch skate. I'd like to see a Gino part, or Ethan. I think a lot of that shit's coming back in the skateboarding world. You can only keep pushing things so much, where it's refreshing to see Trujillo out there.

It's old school; it's new school.

Someone noseslides a 20-stair handrail--I want to see them kickflip noseslide that bank. It ain't going to happen.

No, that ain't going to happen.

That's why it's sick having guys out there like Angel come back. Angel can fucking rip a handrail, and back Smith a fourteen-foot bowl that's just as buttery, you know? And then look at Daewon Song, right now. He's fucking pushing new shit.

He says in his interviews that he wakes up in the morning and he wants to skate. That's important in any occupation.

Then you got Jerry Hsu out there. Jerry's a well-rounded guy, got everything. He's killing it. The Enjoi part was sick.

His Enjoi part was sick, but he didn't do anything after that. That came out in January, and that was all last year.

Yeah. I think he'll come back, though. He's going to have some sick shit.

He should.

I was watching the whole Enjoi video; it was refreshing.

They had some highlights.

Then another skater out there is the Luda Crooks. Chet is sick. They do their own shit.

I just went on a trip with him to China, and that guy--he doesn't give a shit.

Exactly. Luda is badass.

Where do you want to be in five years from now?

Doing the same stuff I'm doing now. Just having fun, kicking up the jams.

You live out in Walnut Creek? You own your own house?

I have a place outside of Richmond; it's a town called Rodeo next to Hercules, a little shithole.

Out there by Martinez and Antioch and all that?

It's actually more towards the Bay, it's off of 80, between Richmond and Vallejo. It is a shit town but you got to start somewhere, you know. Without a shoe sponsor, it's the only thing I could afford.

The formula is the board buys the car, the shoe buys the house.

I think you're on to something. That's rocket science right now. I think that's what I need to figure out.

Well you had the 88 thing going, and that went sour.

Eighty-eight was sick, but yeah, it went bad.

Ed Dominick's a pretty crazy guy.

Ed rules. He's a fun guy.

Anything you want to say about skating in general?

Skate fast, get your kicks, keep doing it. Don't worry about what anyone else says.

How many times you break your wrist?

Left one four times; right one twice. Screws in both of them, and surgery both. Hip taken out and hip bone put into my left wrist. Shit sucks, but it ain't going to slow me down. Keep skating.

Never say die.

Sabbath. Fuck yeah.