Karl Watson
Photography by Steve Kuryatnik

From the first time I met Karl Watson I knew there was something special about him. He was one of those people you knew right away whether you were going to like them or not. Being a part of the skateboarding scene in San Francisco for the past six years, I’ve had the honor of skating with him on a number of occasions. If I were to try and explain what it was like to watch him skate, I would say that if you’ve seen an eagle swoop down from the sky and snatch a fish out of the water, you have an idea of what I’m talkin’ about. Ultimate grace and effortless precision combine into a vision of someone floating on a cloud. He’s one of those people who make some things look so good, so easy. I’ve seen Karl grow as a professional skater, and you could even say I’ve documented his history in skateboarding for a period of time. If I were to choose my favorite skaters of all time, one would definitely be Karl Watson, but that’s only half the story. If you ever have the good fortune to meet Karl, you’ll understand that not only is he an amazing skater, but he is also an amazing, talented artist and a father as well. I hope that in some way this interview helps him to gain some of the recognition he deserves. His impression on skateboarding will never be forgotten, and as far as I’m concerned his time has come. -Jesse McMillin

Jesse: What year did you start skating?
Karl: Christmas of ‘87, almost thirteen years ago.

Man, that’s a pretty good chunk of time. What got you into skating?
Well, I’d definitely have to say the transportation aspect. Especially in the city, where having a skateboard is probably one of the most versatile forms of transportation you can find.
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve always found skateboarding to be the best way to get around in a city. You can go just about anywhere and have a lot of fun doing it, and never have to carry a lock because you carry your wheels with you. You’re originally from S.F. aren’t you?
Well, to be more exact I’m from Oakland, but yeah I’ve lived in San Francisco all my life.

Who were some of the guy’s you started skating with?
Well, my real introduction to skating came through a friend of mine Nick Lockman. About the time I had first started, I ran into him skating down the street. It’s kinda funny because we had met for the first time about a year before. I was riding my bike and saw him trying to ollie off this jump ramp. He kept bailin’ and every time he would bail I would start laughin’. After a couple of bails, he got pretty mad and tried to chase me with his board. It ended up that his dad had to come out and break us up. It was pretty funny. But anyway, when I met Nick skating down the street I was really in need of a new stick, and it just so happened that he had some used ones that he was tryin’ to sell. He took me up to his place and hooked me up with a board. After that I never paid for a board again, I just rode used ones. Whatever I could get my hands on. Nick Lockman, another friend of ours, Sam Smythe and I started skating a lot together. Then one day Nick took me down to Embarcadero, and after that it was all over, skating just took over.

A lot of people have said that Embarcadero was almost like the Mecca of skateboarding. Would you agree?
It was more than that for me, it was a community. All original city heads. You had to earn your acceptance into that crew, and the ridicule, everyone had to go through the ridicule. You got tested and if you could hang you were in.

What was it like skating at Embarcadero? What kind of things would go down there?
Skating all day and all night long. Sometimes people would even sleep overnight there, but not me. I think one of the reasons why I got sponsored skating was because of all the people around me at that time who were skating so well. I guess it must’ve rubbed off on me. So I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you skate with people who are better than you, you succeed faster.

So, who was your first sponsor?
I got sponsored by Dogtown and then a few months after that Dogtown broke into another company called Think. Nick Lockman, Sam Smythe and I were the first am’s on Think. In fact it was little Nick who came up with the name Think and their original lightbulb icon. They were going to call it Move at first, but after Nick gave them the idea for Think they changed it.

Who were the sponsors that followed Think?
New Deal was first for a couple of months, then I went back to Think again.

What made you go back?
I missed the Think family I guess. I skated for them for a while and then I got hooked up on World Industries.

World Industries! Wow, what was it like to skate for World?
It was so much fun! They had this skatepark for us to skate at, more like a training facility, where you could stay all night and skate if you wanted to. There was this little room there with about four bunk beds in it. Chico Brenez, Jeron Wilson, Richard Mulder, Mike York, Daewon Song, Shamille Randall, Ben Sanchez, Danielle Costillo and I would sleep over nights and just shred all night long. They were even payin’ us am’s a hundred dollars a week.
That sounds nice. It sounds like they took pretty good care of you guys there.
Oh yeah, at the skatepark there was a closet full of prototype blank boards, and you could just go and take one whenever you wanted. Man, that was a fun time in skating: skate all day long and then come back to log your footage in for the video. They had this big editing room, you could just go and put your footage in the computer right there. Every weekend they would fly me down to LA to film with Socrates. It was like having your own personal filmer. We were filming for the Love Child video.

Were you pretty excited about the video coming out?
Very excited. That would have been the second video I was in.

What was the first video you were in?
The first video was Think Crime. Man, I was so excited for the Love Child video to come out. I really worked hard for that video, I had some of my best stuff in there. When I got the video in my package, I was so excited I went right over to my friends house to watch it. We put the video on, and man we were so stoked! I couldn’t wait to see my part. We watched the whole video waiting, but when it was over my name and face were nowhere to be found. Not even a trick or an acknowledgement, nothing! I couldn’t believe it, I felt so ashamed. That really hurt me man.

What do you think happened? What went wrong?
I don’t know man, to this day I still don’t know. I guess somebody just didn’t like me. Anyway, I kept on skating for them for a little while, but it wasn’t really going anywhere.

Where did you go from there?
After that I skated for Stereo. I wasn’t fully on the team, but I was gettin’ flow. Mike York had kinda connected me, but it didn’t really work out for either of us. After that I skated for this little company called Clean Skateboards. That was where I first turned pro. I wasn’t really ready to turn pro at that time, but it did really make me have to push myself to excel. Clean was a lot of fun, and a good learning experience. It was also the first company that I had the opportunity to travel with. I traveled to England, Germany, and Norway. Oslo, Norway. Norway was probably the best. The people were really nice, the air was fresh and beautiful, it was really nice.

What happened with Clean? Did you quit or what?
I guess I just needed to move on. After Clean I skated for this company called Profile. Profile was Spencer Fujimoto, Henry Sanchez, Stevie Williams, and myself. It was a really good experience for me because with Profile I really got a chance to work closely with everyone in the company, from the owner to the guys doing graphics and other stuff like that.

So I guess that brings us to Mad Circle, where you and I really got a chance to know each other.
Yeah, from the first time we met I knew you were cool. That’s why I asked you to do this interview.

Hey thanks, Karl. I was pretty excited to have the chance to do this interview as well. Hey what’s up with that photo over there? Is that you and your son Elan?
Yep, that’s me and my lovely son Elan and my beautiful wife, Nicole.

How old is Elan?
Four months, three weeks and six days old. Should I get down to the minutes and everything? Let me see, six days, twelve hours and twenty-one minutes.

Whaaat!! I can’t believe you’re so exact! Precision definitely seems to be one of your strengths. Not only in your skating and your art, but in the rest of your life as well. That’s awesome. You, your woman and your son, a tight little family. What’s it like being a father?
It’s the best experience you can possibly go through. I wish more people would realize that and stop abusing their procreation abilities.
I know what you mean, having a kid is definitely an amazing experience. What’s your favorite thing to do with Elan?
My favorite thing to do with Elan also involves his mother, because he’s always so happy when she’s around. I love just waking up in the morning with him. Every day he wakes up first with his cute little noises. Me, I’m always second to wake up because Nicole is such a heavy sleeper. Then Nicole wakes up, and man, when he sees her it’s all over. He starts wigglin’ and squirmin’ like a little worm. Gosh, I love my little family, it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to me.

That’s really beautiful. A strong, young father taking care of his family. So getting back to your skating, who are a few of your favorite skaters?
Well, personally I think anyone who can ollie is pretty good, because it’s pretty amazing what it takes to make a skateboard do some of the tricks people are doing these days. But if I had to choose a few of my favorites they would have to be Bryan Anderson, Ray Barbie, and Rodney Mullen... and hundreds more that would take way too long to write.

So the new news is that you are riding for Expedition, is that right?
Yeah, I’ve recently been accepted to a team of rippers who know how to push skating to the limit. I think Expedition has one of the strongest teams out there right now, and I’m really proud to be a part of it.

Who are some of your other sponsors?
Thunder Trucks, I-Path Shoes, Individual Clothing, S-One Insoles, and FTC. And then there’s Satori Wheels.

Satori?...That’s a pretty interesting name, what does it mean?
Well, I guess the best way for me to explain the meaning of “Satori” to you would be to give you this quote from the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman: “Now let me tell you about Satori, a Zen concept. Satori is the warrior state of being; it occurs at the moment when the mind is free of thought, pure awareness; the body is active, sensitive, relaxed, and the emotions are open and free. That is the experience of Satori.”

Wow, I really like that. I’ve always thought skating had a very Zen feel to it. Well, I guess that just about wraps up this interview. You know what time it is now don’t you?
Shout out time, huh?

Yep.
I’d like to give a big What up to Nicole and Elan, and I want to say I love you to my momma, and peace to all the rest of the beautiful beings out there.