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Doug De Montmorency :
exclusive interview 2014
French translation here.
Ok, let’s start from the beginning. Why Dario ? Is it an italian thing ?
It’s on my father's side. It’s not on my birth’s certificate, but it is on my passeport !
When and where are you born ?
In Santa Barbara, in october 19, 1964.
What about the name De Montmorency ?
My father came from Marseille. But I don’t know the family tree from him, I don’t have any idea…
What was he doing ?
He was born in Marseille, then he came to California in the sixties. He married my mother in California. I was born and they divorced quickly and I had no contact with him after that. He was a musician. I think he met her in a New York jazz bar, she was a musician as well. She played with many of the greats like Miles Davies and so on,but we’ll get to that later.
You play any instrument ?
A little bit of piano, but all my family was musicians.
Was your mom a singer ?
No, basically she was born into a typical American republican family, so of course her parents made her take music classes during school. She played a lot of orchestra piano, she even passed her master’s degree in music. She was forced by her square parents to play symphony piano.
It’s a bit like that over here in france, too. Kids from nice families play piano.
(laughs) Finally, she had enough, went "fuck you" to her parents and left for New York with her musical talent, and ended up playing in the jazz bars during the sixties.
Was she around, like, Greenwich Village ?
I don't know, but she played with Miles Davies, Stan Getz, Charlie "Bird" Parker and several others…
That is amazing.
She was humble about it and never really told me anything. I didn ‘t know what those names meant anyway when she finally spoke about it. Finally, she met my dad who was a stand-up bass player. Actually I don’t know if they met in California or New York, but it was done quickly, my father being a musician. He was a little bit naughty. (laughs)
Was he a studio musician ?
No, he was just a live musician, non-professional. And my mom never wanted to do it for a living. She just did it for herself to have fun.
So your mom just turned her back on her education and became the family’s first rebel.
Yes, and since then she remained in California and ended up living the hippie lifestyle in the sixties. That’s how I grew up, like a hippie. Really hippie.
Did she have an artist name ?
I don’t know if she used her name Betty, I think her nickname Kalina became her real name, Kalina De Montmorency. She wasn’t famous, she never wanted to make money or become famous. So we grew up poor, poor, poor. It was in this hippie neighborhood I grew up from age four, where I met my friends Tom Sims and Chuck Barfoot.
So you were pretty much living barefoot ?
Yeah, exactly !
Was that in Santa Barbara ?
It was in the small hills behind Montecito. Montecito is this nice and wealthy area, but behind it is this little area called Mountain Drive where I lived most of my life. It was a couple miles from the T-Bowl. We’ll get to that later.
What did you do for fun as a kid ? Were you riding sting-rays or were you into the traditional jock stuff ?
In primary school I got into track and field for a while. That was in fourth grade, when I was 7 or 8. At the same time I did a lot of BMX riding, even if it wasn’t really BMX, more like Sting-ray / Schwinn motocross. My two brothers …
Oh, you have two brothers ?
Yeah, but they are from my mom’s first marriage. It was in her straight life, the one I mentioned in the beginning. They were at least ten years older but were still living with us. They were hippies.
So they rebelled as well ?
Well, my father wanted them to be straight but they chose to live with my mom.
Your mom got the whole family on her side. Interesting.
I had this friend who was like my stepbrother, who had parents who were such a pain in the ass, really strict. So he ran away from home and came to my house. He was welcomed by my brothers and lived with us the entire time in the hills behind Montecito. I grew up with him and he was a major influence on me when it came to being radical. His name was Gordon but was nicknamed Gordo, or "the fly". Don’t know why he got that name but he was really radical. If I was riding my tricycle he would go "Hey wait Douglas" and tie a rope to it and run as fast as he could, pulling it over the small hills. He was really créative. He tried to build wooden wings because he wanted to fly off the small windy hill we were living on. He was just really wild.
Did you grew up in this alternative environment where the whole family was smoking weed ?
Yes, it was always around. My mom had done all the sixties stuff like LSD and everyone was smoking weed, but no hard drugs. My older brother stayed a bit more with his dad and was serious in school, but the youger one grew weed. He grew the best bud in the neighborhood. He threw parties and all the other hippies would show up, and I would always be there. I was 6 and they would be in their late teens. Of course I wanted to be with them. I would hear them talking really rudely about chicks and stuff. The girls would come over and I would be really bad, I was a little pervert. They would come and go “Oh look at little Douglas he’s so cute“. I at age seven would go "You just wanna get laid". I had a really bad mouth in English, I’d go "You just wanna get fucked in the ass !". (laughs) My brother told me about that because I didn’t remember. When they had parties with bands playing and everybody would be dancing I would go across the dance floor and touch the girls and all that…
How would they react to that ?
"Oh little Douglas, he’s so cute". (laughs) I was a little kid with an afro. Actually my dad had a mixed background, that’s why I’m a bit dark.
Yeah, what about his other half ?
Sicilian, with some influence from the Moors, I’m sure there’s some black or arab blood in the mix. Anyway, back to the family. I was too young to smoke with them, so they would let me eat the roach instead.
What about school ?
First, when I was 6, I was in a school called The Free School. All the hippies from there organized an alternative school in a park where childs were doing things like ceramics, drama, etc.
I went to school in Montecito which is where all the rich kids from the mansions on the other side, people like Steve Martin, lot of actors. So I went to this little school nearby. It was difficult for me cuz, I would bring my organic lunch sandwich with sprouts, avocado and wholegrain bread, no white bread, sugar or unhealthy food. The other kids would have their tennis lessons and all that, I was the hippie kid who knew how to roll joints. My mom always told me to stick to the natural stuff though, including mushrooms, no lab drugs. I’m glad to be here, so many people I knew are gone because of that.
So in second grade, I was at school and in my neighborhood were Chuck Barfoot and Tom Sims. I also met Marc Hollander who was going to a community school with the hippies. My mom didn’t like him and told me to keep away from him.
She must have felt the bad vibes.
Yeah, she was very spiritual. (laughs)
Weren’t they older ?
Yeah, they where like in their twentieswhen I was 8. They had already started skating down the road.
Had you witnessed the first 60’s wave of skateboarding already ? Did skateboarding already exist in your mind ?
No, not at all. I was still into track and field and was very fast, I’d always get the ribbon every time. I wasn’t passionate about it though. I was also getting into motorcycles.
How could you afford motorbikes ?
I couldn’t. I was at this wedding that was being held outside in the fields up in our neighborhood and my best friend showed up on a mini motorbike, a little Honda with small wheels. I went " Woaw". He asked if I wanted to come over to his house. Every member of the family had a motorbike, so I started to ride with them on their property which had avocado trees and all that. He had built little jumps and his dad had been into competition motocross. He was really good. That family’s home became my second home, I would sleep there all the time It became a big part of my childhood. I did lots of stuff with them. They took me skiing too.
Where did you ski ?
Mammoth Mountain, California.
So at that point it was still mainly bike and motocross.
Well, Tom Sims had started to build his boards out of waterskis, and that was in my neighborhood. He did that in his garage, with resin and sand.
Did you see him roll by ?
Yes, one day he organized a little competition and I remember that. He did that on a private road in our hippie community. Eddie Robertson from the Sims original team and Scott Hanson from the Juice bowl were there. And Marc Hollander too. It was mainly slalom.
Were you the youngest one ?
I wasn’t in the contest, I was on my bike watching and going "Wow" !
What kind of wheels did they have ? Was the urethane wheel out ?
Yeah, they had the red Sims Pure Juice wheels.
You never got into the clay or steel wheels. You missed that stage.
Actually, I had a Black Knight, but I don’t even remember riding it, just having it. I think my mom gave it to me for Christmas and she got it from a shop called Western Auto. I played with it like a toy, but I don’t remember riding it.
How old were you at that point ? 9 ?
Yeah, cuz that Sims competition is really stuck in my memory. I remember watching Scott Hanson and going "Wow, this dude is cool". You gotta remember who Scott Hanson was, he never made it in the pro scene, but he was a pioneer. Scott became a big influence, I guess he was just looking cool !
Wasn’t he in a couple movies ?
That was David Hyde. What was that movie ? "Skateboard", the one with Tony Alva and Leif Garrett. Here’s an important part of the story: the Hyde family grandfather owned a lot of property. They would give out pieces of land really cheap to people and help them build their houses. David Hyde was another Sims rider, but younger than me. So anyway, I was at that competition there on my little bike being in awe and super jealous watching the guys. They all had long hair…
Did they all have waterski boards ?
Yeah, but they also had shorter boards which were blue fiberglass Sims boards, I don’t know what they were called. They had the Pure Juice wheels and the Sims comps, and also these wheels called slalom, with ridges in them.
Did you go over to Tom Sims and asked for a board ?
Not on that day, but I went over later and he gave me a deal on some wheels and ACS trucks. I ended up getting my first skateboard which was called "T-six short stuff" and it was metal. I had the long cylinder Sims Bowlrider wheels on the back and Sims Comps on the front, dragster style. I think I started riding with my best friend Kenny on this road called Riven Rock in Montecito. There was a road near the College where Scott Hanson and Sims skated too, there are some old pics on Facebook now. And I knew Marc Hollander a little at this time, but I wasn’t skating with him yet.
What about the guys you mentioned in your "Who’s hot" article, Steve Monahan and Richard Vanderwick ?
That was the original Sims team when the Tea Bowl was happening. There are pics in the old magus of Monahan jumping of the Sims blue van. They were surfers from Ventura, like David Miller who was also part of the team. I grew up with surfing too, but I never professed, I dabbled all my life. I never became focused on it.
I don’t know how Tom Sims ended up getting Vanderwick and all those guys. Maybe Lonnie Toft was the connection between him and the Ventura guys. At that point, Marc Hollander sold me his Zephyr rocker board, a banana shape. It was blue and I put on my ACS with the two different sets of Sims wheels and it was great. After that I started to ride the Tea Bowl.
You weren’t a surf-skater ?
Yes I was, but I was never satisfied. Every time I came out of the water I was frustrated. Mostly because of the crowds. I was a local, and I could ride the waves well, but when big sets would come in, I think I had a fear of the sea even though I could read waves real well. I was riding with Scott Hanson and this younger guy Tom Curren. He would skate with us too in the Sims days. He was a buddy of mine, not from skating but he grew up in the mountains with his father and we played in the snow together and would go play, stuff like that. He got serious about surfing afterwards, his mom pretty much saved him from us.
Is Ventura closer to the ocean ?
Well it’s like Santa Barbara but further South, about 40 minutes away.
Had you already heard of the Z-Boys and all that ?
No, I knew nothing about all that.
So you were enjoying it for what it was.
Yeah, I only knew that Sims made wheels.
Did he start with them before the boards ?
No, but his boards were these big the waterski things for him and maybe some other people. I think Marc Hollander might have been the second person to ride for him. Also, when Sims first went public, it was with those red Cranberry Pure Juice wheels. I remember seeing the first ones and they were on that blue fiberglass Sims deck, whatever that one was called. They had sealed bearings, but one side had a rubber seal cover. I have to ask Marc about that now. He still rips and is into music. He always kept skating on and on after it died.
He even got the cover of Thrasher.
Anyway, he was a real original Sims rider and Santa Barbarian from Tom’s neighborhood. Sims was a hippie too, and he looked like one. He looked like Jesus Christ. He lived in a tree house !
Did he have his workshop in his garage or was it some furniture shop ?
I don’t know, really. I was all handmade. He may have gotten help from this family called the Shott. I don’t know what he did with them, but the family dad was a great carpenter or something. But he was right there in the neighborhood.
Was Chuck Barfoot involved at that point ?
I don’t know exactly. They all originated from New Jersey. In a way, the roots of snowboarding are in New Jersey. Barfoot would always be around Sims, they were best buddies. Before snowboarding was invented, Chuck would be at Tom’s workshop doing different things like silk-screening and so on. I remember they came to the local parties and they were always around us. Anyway, I started to skate the Tea bowl a little with Marc and maybe Scott Hanson.
How did you discover that spot ? Was it with some older guys ?
No. I used to go down there with my brothers when I was little, there would be hippies swimming in there. It was a huge mansion from the twenties or thirties that got burned down, and from the top fo this hill, there were all these successive reservoirs and ponds with cascades of different shapes and sizes, little greek theaters. It was magnificent. It was a huge property guarded by security. Every once in a while the police would drop by and everyone would run and hide, because pot possession was still illégal. That went on for years…
Why was it built ?
I think there was a spring at the top with beautiful gardens, and all those reservoirs probably supplied the water for them. The Tea bowl was at the lowest level, all the way down. It had been dry for years, some reservoirs were in ruins, and that’s when the skating was on. Lots of people showed up, people from LA, I know Stacy Peralta was there one day but I was too young to pay attention. I just remember hearing about it. It was starting to become famous, some photographers showed up like Steve Bicell and Greg Hoglund later. He filmed too, we shot films with the Brooks Institute of Photography.
What about the maneuvers ? Was it all berts and slides ?
There was a lip you pushed from, and Sims would drop in on this 50 degree slope and carve up on the other side like surfing a wave in Waimea. The transition was pretty mellow, there was no angle like in a ditch. There are some great pics of Marc Hollander and Tom Sims kickturning on their longboards. After people started doing bertlemanns. The main goal was to carve around a tight transition to avoid the remaining water and up on a catwalk, and you had to pump. There was a big pipe sticking out too that you carved over. At that point it was still regular 180 bertslides, and the board would often fly out. Many people fell into the water too. It was stagnant and muddy, they would get really bad rashes from it. Riding there was still really surf-related.
I read people had parties at night there.
That came a little bit later. I slammed there, got a concussion and ended up in hospital. Iskated barefoot in the beginning. Later on, I remember wearing a helmet, and the Sims jersey, but not back then. They blew it up later, it was dynamited, but that’s when skateparks were happening and I was a pro doing other things. That was around 78, when I got my first pic in the magazine. But around 75-76, the bowl was pristine, perfect except for the water. I don’t know if it was the cops or the owner who put an end to it. It could be that the owner got sued because someone got hurt or something.
How did your mom react to that ?
The concussion was like, no big thing. She was pretty cool about everything and I basically had no parental authority. I stole her car when I was fourteen, a classic 1966 VW Bug. I learned to drive it with Scott Hansen and crashed it. My older brother still tells me today "Hey, not my fault if Mom wasn’t strict enough when you grew up". He would tell me that when I got in trouble later on.
Did you stay there or move around to other places before you got hooked up with Sims ?
I went to a ditch called the Bayou, and another reservoir we found in Montecito called "Left and Rights", but it was never known, I only went there with some friends.
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