87When did you first meet Dylan? Were you
with us on Alien already or did you meet
him before when you were a Zero baby?
I was a Zero baby the first time I ever saw
his beautiful being. I woke up at that fucked-
up Black Box room. I was 12 years old and
he was shooting pool to “Hello, Goodbye”
by the Beatles at eight in the morning. He
kept repeating it and didn’t care I was sitting,
watching on the floor, ’cause I was all scared
and lonely and shit and wanted to be home.
He let me just hang and made peaceful eye
contact with me. He made me feel okay and
he was also solo. Jon Goemann bailed on him
and he was just shooting pool and smiling. I
just sat and watched. He made me feel safe
with his eyes and a smile.I never knew that. That’s so cool.
When I hear “Hello, Goodbye” now it makes
me cry a little and smile. Dylan was a true
original.
Absolutely. God bless the sleeping prince.
Amen.
What was your first photo in Thrasher?
How old were you?
A frontside ollie on a water slide. I was 16.
Burnett shot it.I remember that photo.
I was solo skating and he just came over and
shot it. I get embarrassed sometimes skating,
so skating solo was my favorite when I was
younger.
Right? Nobody else around, just you and
the photographer. I get it.
It’s weird. It’s like looking in a mirror: Oh, fuck,
I look like that? When I skate I want it to look
natural and if it is forced, I hate it. Fuck that. I
like it just to flow and feel good. So when I feel
like I’m forcing it, it’s not right. I want it wild
and raw.You will never look forced on a board.
You are so much better than you know.
I feel like most especially talented
skateboarders don’t know how good they
really are—KB, Gino. There are certain
people who don’t know they really could
do just about anything. I wanna see you
start doin’ nollie frontside flips and tech
shit. You can do all the tech shit.You used to say, “Donny could do it.” That
made me smile.
We still say that when we see some
psycho possibility in the streets: “Donny
could do that.” Me, AVE and Benny still
say that.
Those are my guys!
Sage gets it a lot from me. I’m always
telling him shit I think he could do.
Sage is so sick!
“Hey, Sage, look, you can get up on this.”
Sage is the best. He’s so sweet also.
He is.
Sage has vicious pop.
Basketball pop. I’m gonna wrap this up
with a couple questions.
I’m nervous.Don’t be. You’ve had good answers. Do
you plan on having children in our ever-
warming world? Do you think about it
much?
I want a family.Okay. Who is someone that helped you
get where you are that you haven’t
thanked enough?
I want to thank you, Dill. You helped me and
checked me when I needed to be checked. I’m
still working on my existence, but thank you.
I want to thank my father. He’s done so much
for me. Also Steve Chalme, AVE, Benny, my
family. I honestly can’t believe I have even had
this life. I thank my brothers and sisters, the
loved ones that helped me, the loved ones I
hope I can help through thick and thin. All I
can say is thank you!
And lastly, is there anything that you
would like to say to the kids out there?
Love your life.
Right on, Donovon. Have a good night
and thank you for doing this interview.
Thank you. And love you.“I GET EMBARRASSED
SOMETIMES SKATING,
SO SKATING SOLO
WAS MY FAVORITE”
COLEN