Brian Brannon Interview Continued
What’s your favorite skateboard graphic?
Salba Bevel. It inspires me to look at it.
The Salba Bevel. Really? I mean it’s a pretty simple looking board. Is it really the graphic, or does it just take you back to a favorite time?
To me it’s just an iconic look. You don’t need a lot of bells and whistles if you have something solid. It definitely takes me back to the day. I can just look at it and be inspired… Sure, there are a lot more graphics that are over the top and a pretty friggin’ excellent and I’m sure if I wracked my brain I could name off a lot that were cool as hell. But off the top of the nod, if you ask me what was my favorite graphic I’d probably say the Salba Bevel, though I also liked the Caster Tom Inouye “Inouye’s Pool Service” and Chris Strople graphics as well. Just some good solid graphic design on those.
How long has the current lineup of JFA been playing?
I’m going to say about 5 or 6 years, which is longer than most bands these days. The new guys are tight and fit right in.
How often do you guys play out?
Probably about one or two times a month when we can. We all have regular jobs and families so big world tours are kind of hard to do, but when we can fit it in, we definitely do. I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve stayed together so long is that we never took it too seriously…
Now it’s time for your interview Rorschach test:
Skateboarding in the Olympics, good or bad?
Good for whoever’s in it. A lot of hype will certainly ensue though. Am I against it? Nah, you can’t fight that shit. All you can do is stay true to what you want to do and don’t let extraneous shit bum your trip.
Old Navy or Hot Topic?
Old Navy Wooden ships and iron men.
Mac or PC?
Mac and cheese.
Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth?
David Lee.
Jazz or Funk?
Funk. The Meters, Bootsy. George Clinton.
Digital or analog?
Analog.
Print or online?
Print.
Peppermint Patty or Lucy?
Peppermint patty. Lucy was a bitch.
Crunchy peanut butter or smooth?
Smooth.
High Life or PBR?
Millers.
Nash or Variflex?
Variflex. Because Lance rode for them.
Batman or Spiderman?
Spiderman because my daughter likes him.
Your daughter digs Spiderman, so does my son. He’s three (four by the time this got published. ) How old is she? Do you have any other kids, and are you married?
She’s 6. She digs everything from bats and ghosts to dogs and butterflies. Likes to push around on a skateboard laying down on her stomach, which is how I started out, so it’s all good. No other kids. Just two good Rottweilers. Been happily married for 13 years.
Has she seen you play? Does your daughter “get it?”
Yeah she’s been to a few shows. She liked it when we played at Etnies. She thinks I’m crazy, which I guess I am.
What are you doing for a living?
I edit technical magazines for the IEEE Computer Society. I’ve been working on one called Intelligent Systems about the latest advances in artificial intelligence.
Did you see that Haynes manual for the Apollo 11 lunar landing module?
Just checked it out. Pretty interesting. It blows my mind that they were able to shoot men onto the men more 40 years ago and we’re still the only country that has done it. To me that’s a tribute to good old American ingenuity…
Who did you vote for in the last election.
I voted for Obama for the reasons of hope and change.
So how do you think Obama is doing? Did you see that piece in the Onion? When he was elected the headline read “Worst Job In America Given To Black Man.”
He’s got a tough row to hoe for sure. It’s not like everything was peachy-keen when he took over the reins. Plus the Republican are going to hammer him on everything he does. I mean he just got the friggin’ Nobel Peace Prize, and they’re hammering him on that…
What’s the story with your Navy gig?
I joined the Navy Reserve after 9/11 because I wanted to do something more than drive around with a flag on my car. The only time I regret it is when we have to do the mile and a half run but even that’s good for me as it keeps me from getting to thick around the midsection. You know the old saying, “Join the Navy and See the World?” I’ve been to Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hawaii and Guantanamo Bay. I’ve served on frigates, destroyers and cruisers and flown in SH-60 Seahawk helos. Last year I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer, which is a huge deal and something that I’m very honored and proud to have attained.
Wow. You really put your money where your mouth was. Have you seen those ribbons that say “I support more troops than you?” How old were you when you joined up, and what made you chose that branch of the service?
I think I was about 36 when I joined which was just about the cut-off to sign up if you didn’t have prior service. As for why I chose the Navy. I always liked ships and the sea. My dad and I used to watch Victory at Sea a lot back in the day and that was kind of inspirational. Haven’t seen those ribbons that say “I support more troops than you.” Seems kind of pompous but at the same time, it’s a good thing to support the troops. They really all putting it all on the line for their country.
I think they (the ribbons) are supposed to be a joke, as in a yellow magnet on your car doesn’t really support the troops in any meaningful way. It’s more about self gratification.
They might be a joke, but the little things can mean a lot to the people who serve. Especially the older guys who served in World War II and Vietnam. If you ever see an old vet and go up to him and shake his hand and sincerely say “Thank you for your service,” you’ll see what I mean.
What’s the dumbest question you’ve ever been asked in an interview?
I’m one of those people that believes there’s no such thing as a dumb question. The only dumb thing is being afraid to ask…
Well, getting back to your earlier response about skate rock not being out of place in today’s world… That’s a hell off a positive statement, especially in times like this when every other kid at the mall is wearing an Indy t-shirt. There’s a question here somewhere…
Right. Remember when longboards and street luge was cool? Are we doing ourselves a disfavor by limiting the kind of skating that is acceptable anymore?
I try to always be positive. It goes back to when we first started touring and when we were on the road I’d miss the comforts of home like a bed, a shower, food, etc. Then I’d get home and I’d miss the fun of being on the road: meeting new people, skating new places, doing new things. This cycle repeated itself a few times until I finally said, I’m just going to be happy no matter where I am. So by the same token, with skateboarding being so popular right now, all the pros are finally getting paid what they deserve, people are taking things to new heights with Mega Ramps and Danny Way jumping the Great Wall, but most importantly, new skateparks are springing up like weeds everywhere you look and here in Huntington Beach, a bunch of dudes have pools built for skating in their backyards. So you can’t really argue with that. Then again, if skating was suddenly to drop off in popularity, it would be pure again, so there is some benefit to that. Basically, I don’t want to waste my energy bitching or complaining when I could use it skating. Though I do reserve the right to laugh at some of the sell-out stupidity that does occur from time to time.
Do you have a Quiver?
Yeah I have a pretty big quiver. Probably about 30 or 40 boards all set up and ready to roll. I went through a period when I was living in San Francisco when I would find wooden water skis at yard sales and take all the boots off, turn them around so the nose was the kicktail and put some Indy 88s on them and go bomb hills. I’d ride the trucks super loose because the skis were like 5 feet long so I could turn really quick and go up driveways and off ledges and stuff and if you started to get speed wobbles, the board was so long it wasn’t a fast wobble but more of a long wobble which was easier to control. So yeah, I have a bunch of boards but mostly I’ve just been riding my pool deck with 215’s everywhere unless I’m messing around out front with my daughter, then I’ll ride something with some soft wheels… My other boards range from a serious drop-truck downhill board built in the 70’s by a company called Oak Street that I modified, to an 8-wheeler, to a Ditch Killer, to a bunch of odds and sods with various bells and whistles. I’m trying to thin it down a bit so that I have a few that are just super tuned and ready to roll rather than a bunch of stuff that is just kind of whatever. (Stay tuned for a quiver shot. – K.ed)
Are there any animals in the Brannon household?
Two Rottweilers, Caesar boy and Roxy girl. And a couple crazy fish.
Are you still sporting the paisley? Do your fans ever show up in gear? How did that whole schtick start?
Yeah, I have a nice black paisley smoking jacket that I bust out every now and again, as well as a couple gawdawful shirts. Don’t really see too many fans wearing paiselys but I noticed everyone and their mother in skateboarding was doing paisleys with shoes and such for a while a couple years ago, so that was cool, though no one really gave JFA credit for doing it first… It all started in about 1984 when there started to be kind of a uniform that everyone who was “hardcore” was wearing–everyone was starting to look the same and all the bands were starting to sound the same so we decided to kick everyone in the keister and do some different stuff like funk, psychedelic, Charlie Brown tuneage, and of course surf music. That’s when I decided to break out the paisley, to give the skinheads something to think about (though some of them couldn’t think about it too hard because they had more hair than brains). So anyway I decided that when all the punks look the same, the punkest thing you could do would be to wear paisely, so I went for it!
What do you think the legacy of JFA will be, and where are you going in the future?
I hope we continue to inspire people to skate hard, have fun, and play music. Even if people forget who we were, as long as they’re still grinding backyard bowls on Mars and rockin’ out to the Ronnie Robot and the Robotronics in 2194, it all will not have been in vain.
Prior to this interview, had you ever heard of Skate and Annoy?
Oh yeah. Diggin’ it man.
Thanks for your time in giving this interview. Hope to see you on the concrete some day.
For sure bro. Keep the coping warm for me.
Check out these JFA links.
Offical JFA web site
JFA on Facebook
JFA on MySpace
JFA on Wikipedia
The motherload of JFA fliers and photos form Skaterock.com
JFA album covers on Spontaneous Combustion (Burried in frames, no direct link, click on “Reocord Collecting” link)
Interview in Punk Globe.
Interview in Scanner Zine.
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