Interview by Rupert Chadwick

If you consider yourself in any way shape or form part of the skimboarding world and you’ve never heard of at least one of the Stinnett brothers, it may be possible that you sir, or madam, may be living under a rock. Go ahead, check it out. What’s your ceiling made out of? Bang on it, do a ph test, scrape a sample, it’s ok, we’ll wait… Is it a rock? No? Ok then, so you know who we’re talking about.

You have probably seen Jake down at West or in Bearded pulling into gigantic barrels pitching on shore. You’ve also probably seen this other video called 5 pounds lighter which is the brain child of the eldest brother Scott. But make no mistake; he’s not limited to standing behind the camera. Just prick your ears for the Soulagian Call, then look out to the water to see Scott behind a thick curtain of water. And who doesn’t know about Sam, one of the most prospective skimboarders ever? Last season he placed 6th overall on the UST circuit in his first year as a pro skimboarder (the youngest pro to date) giving veterans nearly twice his age a run for their money to say the least.

There have been numerous brotherly strongholds. Some people may automatically compare them to other brother super groups like the Hansons, Hobgoods, or even Luke and Owen Wilson, but make no mistake; Scott, Jake, and Sam definitely stand alone each with their own identity, style, and artistic flare while meshing together as a power trio. We saddled on up and headed to the Stinnett stronghold on a gloomy cinco de Mayo Monday to hang out with the 3 brothers and their 2 dogs to get to the bottom of why and how the Stinnetts are the most unique family in skimboarding.

STINNETT INTERVIEW:

SB: Ok so first things first, state your name, age, and favorite Wes Anderson movie.
Scott: ok Scott Stinnett, I’m 20, I’ll be 21 in 6 days, and my fav Wes Anderson movie is The Royal Tenenbaums.
Jake: I’m Jake, I’m 19, and my favorite would be Rushmore.
Sam: Sam Stinnett, 15, and uhhh…Life Aquatic.
SB: Cool, a different movie from each of you. What are your guys’ current happenings? It seems you’ve had a lot going on lately.
Scott: I’ve been going to the New York Film Academy for the last 2 years. I started filming a movie on [Brad] Domke, and I started a documentary on The Growlers (myspace.com/lbcgrowlers) just going with them on mini tours, filming shows.

SB: Do you guys dream of yourself being in movies?
[laughs]

SB: How badly do you wanna be in Lord of the Rings and who would you be?
Sam: Pretty bad. Aragorn.
Jake: A hobbit for sure [laughs].
Scott: Solag is a Shire.

SB: What do you dream about Jake?
Jake: Oh my! [laughs] I don’t know.
Sam: I had a dream that I was Tom Cruise and Kailani was my daughter in War of the Worlds [lots of laughs]. It was at El Moro.
Jake: I probably travel to Neverland, probably four times a week [laughs]. Naw, that’s just an exaggeration.
Sam: [laughs] That would be so sick if you could do that.
Jake: I’m always in something like like, always. Like Lord of the Rings or something.

SB: Back to reality, Sam; you’re on Exile now, explain these cosmic events.
Sam: Uh, thought about it. Just thinking how well I did last year, and if I was on Exile, how much I would be getting from them, and how it would make it easier to travel, and be with my brothers. I was already traveling with exile even though I was on Grape.

SB: So Paul Wade (Grape owner/shaper) wasn’t too bummed then?
Sam: He was bummed, but…. I dunno.
Jake: He understood.

SB: SKIM TV, for the people that don’t know about it, what is it, and what’s been going on with that?
Scott: It’s our Dad’s thing he’s doing, keeping himself busy. He basically goes down to the beach whenever it’s good, and then edits it[footage] that day and puts it up on the site (skimtv.com).
Jake: He tries to update it every month
Sam: For a long time it was kinda cheesy with just a bunch of pictures, but when he started posting videos more people started paying attention and getting into it.

SB: Speaking of parentals, growing up with all you guys, we did the team sports, but what made you go forward with skimming instead something like surfing or soccer?
Sam: Dad for sure.
Jake: For like the first half of our lives, we would always drive inland for baseball and soccer games, and then we found out the beach was 20 feet away, and it was a way better environment with better people.
Sam: When it all started we had a woody and an old Victoria. Jake would ride the Vic and I would ride the woody and it took off from there. Dad just ended up buying us skimboard after skimboard.

SB: Since you guys are fairly close in age range, are you guys competitive with each other?
Scott: There’s definitely competition.
Jake: [Laughs] Yeah, there’s definitely competition. But it’s friendly competition.
Sam: When one of us beats each other, we don’t get mad or anything. But like, during a contest, like at the time, it’s uh, [laughs] pretty competitive.

SB: Yeah, with the contest thing, a lot of people have been talking about how skimming should get more recognition to a level that surfing is at. Facing a lot of pros and cons on both sides of it staying small and it blowing up, how would you guys want it to be?
Scott: I would like it to shrink, cause I’m not pro. But if I was Paulo, Sam, or Jake I would want it to get big.
Sam: The cons [of staying small] is that contests don’t pay much, it’s pretty good if you get first, but not like surfing or even skating. There are way more surfing spots in the world.
Jake: I think with skimming, having a smaller group of skimboarders, you’d be able to get more out of it, instead of like, going down to West St. and there would be like 20 more people at the sider instead of just having your buds with you and pushing each other
SB: Why do you in particular want it to stay small?
Scott: It’s just annoying going down [to the beach] and there’s a bunch of people you don’t know cutting you off.
Jake: …and threaten your life.
Dave: The flipside of it, getting bigger you would have more budget to travel and find new spots
Brothers: yeah.

SB: What was it like putting out the Leaf video at such a young age and have it blow up to become a well known skim movie?
Scott: It was really sick actually because we didn’t really know what we were doing, and we didn’t think of it as anything until the night of the premiere. At that moment with everyone watching it, it was pretty incredible.

SB: Did you ever weigh Sam [Ferguson] to see if he was actually 5 pounds lighter after taking a #2?
Scott: [laughing] If we would, I guarantee it wouldn’t be 5 pounds it would probably be like 8 [everyone laughing].
SB: I don’t think everyone knows where the meaning of that came from. Can you explain?
Scott: Well Sam Ferguson, one of the founding fathers of LEAF, saves up his shit time by like, a week, and then just gives birth like once a month or once a week.
Jake: His system is just different than ours.
Scott: It’s like a football basically; I think everyone saw one at the Santa Cruz contest one time.
Sam: It was funny watching people walk into the bathroom and walk out with a different face.

SB: Did you have any expectations for that video?
Scott: No, I didn’t even think about it until we were gonna premiere it
SB: Did that encourage you to want to keep filming skimboarding and become a filmmaker?
Scott: Yeah definitely made me want to become a filmmaker. The feeling of having an audience react to something you did made me wanna do it for the rest of my life.

SB: Is that one of the reasons you didn’t go down the pro path like your brothers?
Scott: I dunno, I guess, I just never really thought about it.
Sam: It definitely would be a different family if Scott was a professional skimboarder.
Scott: It’s hard competing with these guys though; its more fun to just skim and have fun, then jump on a camera and capture some good clips.
SB: Was it important to get your brothers on video?
Scott: It wasn’t really important til’ they started doing things that impressed me, and it really wasn’t until after 5 pounds lighter that I really saw them as something to film. I just saw them as little brothers until they started killing it super hard.

SB: Speaking of Soulag Chronicles, is that ever going to come out for the rest of the world?
Scott: Yeah, it’s in duplication right now, so people can buy it soon.

SB: Can you explain to me your Soulagian gods and mythology?
Scott: [laughs] Geo is the Sun King of Soulag. There’s some gate keepers.

SB: No, you’ve got some serious theories.
Scott: I’m dead serious that Geo is the Sun King. Dude, I haven’t talked about the mythology of Soulag in a while.

SB: Where do you start?
Scott: Maybe Mount Zion or I don’t know. There are some holy places.

SB: Like where?
Scott: Mount Zion is one of them for sure.

SB: And where is that?
Scott: It’s the highest peak in Soulag. You can see every beach from there.

SB: Who are the Soulagian gods?
Scott: Geo is the Soulagian Sun King. He is the king not a god. Basically the weather of Soulag is the gods: thunder god, cloud gods, sun gods. Depending on if it’s a good day at the beach or bad day at the beach, there’s different people working their magic.

SB: Are there any rituals involved?
Scott: Some people that come down to the beach bring the bad gods, some other people bring out the good gods. When the Sun King comes down, it’s always sunny, usually.

SB: Are there specific people who bring down the bad weather?
Scott: Sometimes. Sometimes the bad weather is a blessing because some people don’t come down to the beach when it’s good because it’s cloudy. So, all the gods basically work for Soulag.

SB: Explain this to us. Did you come up with this all on your own?
Scott: No, I don’t know. I guess all Solagians have this extra power in Soulag. I don’t know how to explain it. Jake, do you know how to explain this?
Jake: It’s an unexplainable force that only Soulagians can feel.
Scott: [quick laugh]

SB: It’s got to come from somewhere. Where did it all start?
Scott: Probably just from living at all the beaches.

SB: It wasn’t just one day that you believed this was it?
Scott: I think it slowly grew.
Jake: It came out of a way of life.

SB: What’s the Soulag way of life?
Sam: First of all. To call yourself a Soulagian, you’ve got to live in Soulag.
Scott: Soulagians are kind of the Jedis of the skim world. They are one with the ocean. The ocean kinda works with you. If your skim was heading towards some rocks on a wave, it will go right around it. You learn the way of the ocean and are never afraid of the waves or anything. Some people are deathly afraid of drowning and all that kind of stuff, but once you understand it fully, it’s like…

SB: Does it only exist in Soulag?
Scott: I think so.

SB: It’s not just considered ocean knowledge? You’re making it sound like a supernatural power.
Scott: Well because you have knowledge of every beach, every wave, every break every rock, and every reef. You know everything so well that you’re kind of invincible when skimming those beaches. You have that power above the people who just come there on the weekends.

SB: And you’ve witnessed this power?
Scott: Definitely.

SB: Can you give an example?
Scott: It’s kind of like Soulagians saving kids drowning on the beach or really good luck with the waves and your boards not hitting the rocks.
Sam: South Laguna is one big family.

SB: Have you had any first hand experiences?
Scott: I’ve had many.
Jake: I almost drowned at 9th St. one time. Basically, I was getting held under all these sets. I was holding onto the sand and I told myself that I needed someone to help me. Basically, the water god pushed me up to shore.
Scott: There is actually one event where I was spear fishing. My friend dropped his spear way down, like 20 feet. I swam down all the way with my snorkel as far as I could. Right when I got to the ground, I was out of breath. I grabbed the spear and didn’t think I could make it to the top. I was trying to get there as fast as I could so I dropped both spears and was about five feet from the surface when I took in a breath of air which was probably stuck in the snorkel. I was extremely lucky there was air in my snorkel.

SB: Do you believe it was air or do you believe it was something else?
Scott: At first I thought it was something more magical, but…
Jake: …Soulagian gods protecting its family.
Sam: Another example is taking people who aren’t from Soulag on a mission across from West St. onto 9th and 10th with all those caves and tide pools you have to cross. You can just tell they don’t know what they’re doing because all Soulagers and Soulagians do it within ten minutes while it takes everyone else like an hour and they’re all scared.

SB: Is your movie a reflection of that belief and Soulagianisms?
Scott: Definitely. I tried to capture the Soulagian vibe. I tried to make it a summer feel. You know what I mean. Like a Soulag summer. I think a Soulag summer is the best thing in the world.

SB: Was there anything else you did do to distinguish your movie as your own?
Scott: Well, after three years of filming just skimming, I started thinking of what to film to give it more of a Soulagian summer feel. So I spent a summer just getting those kinds of shots like scenery in Soulag and sunny stuff.

SB: What or who outside of skimboarding inspires you in your skim life, and how do you incorporate that into it?
Sam: When I go skim after school with all my friends, there’re a couple good ones, but a lot of them are not doing so well. They try super hard to get better and don’t stop ‘til they are, and it keeps me pumpin’ and goin’.

SB: Was it awkward excelling so far past most or all kids your age?
Sam: I dunno, thanks to my Dad for starting me so early.
Jake: Yeah, he didn’t really have anyone to skim with that was his age back in the day. Everyone was older, and just kicked him to go harder.

SB: Why does Scott always have to sleep naked?
[everyone laughing]
Scott: So I can get the bed to myself, that’s why I sleep naked.

SB: But you’ve slept with tons of other people when you were naked.
Scott: I’ve slept in (fellow LEAF member) Michael Anderson’s bed naked, in his sisters bed, I’ve slept on his couch naked, on the floor naked…
Jake: Outside on the porch naked.

SB: So you’re gonna sleep in Cabo naked too?
Scott: fuck yeah. I like sleeping naked.

SB: Ok it’s name drop time, what music have you guys been getting stoked on, what tunes get you amped to skim?
Sam: probably DJ shadow, Bob Marley, Groundation.
Jake: The Beatles, the soundtrack to Fantasia.

SB: wow. [Laughs]
Scott: I’m into everything basically, anything but country I’d say. The Beatles are pretty much the best band ever [everyone agrees]. I’ve been getting stoked off of Michael Anderson’s dancehall reggae tunes lately.

SB: I’ve heard Led Zepplin over here quite often.
Jake: yeah, I like to let the Led out [laughs].

SB: So if you could have a corporate sponsor, who would it be?
Scott: Kodak film would be rad. To get free film for life would be the best thing ever.
Jake: Red Ryder BB guns [laughs] or like Albertsons.

SB: Are you guys doing the full UST tour?
Sam: Yeah hopefully if I can.
Scott: He’s gotta beat Paulo this year.
Sam: If I can get out of school.

SB: So what are your plans as far as education related to skimming?
Sam: If I can, get good enough grades to go to Santa Cruz, like a good school, but close enough to the beach…

SB: Do you see a career in skimboarding?
Sam: Already yeah, I could just get an easy job and do this, and I’m good.

SB: I want to hear more about the Stinnett whistle?
Scott: Uh, the Soulagian Call? What do you want to know?

SB: How did it start?
Scott: It probably started five years ago or something.

SB: Did you come up with it?
Scott: I think the LEAF crew just used it to communicate. Like whenever you’d be checking the waves, you could give out the call and know it was you. I dunno, it was like before cell phones.

SB: Who was the first one to do it?
Scott: Definitely one of the first four LEAF guys. I don’t know which one though.

SB: But it just caught on like wild fire?
Scott: Yeah.

SB: How does it work with your brothers?
Scott: It works in large distance communications if you need help, lost, can’t find someone, or to let someone know that you are coming.

SB: Does it work every time?
Scott: Yeah, it definitely works every time.

SB: Is it back and forth?
Scott: If I’m looking for Seth or something and we’re in Costco, I could just give out the call, hear the call back, and I would connect with him.

SB: Can you give me one?
Scott: A p-gaw? Right now? [At the top of his lungs] P-GAW!! [laughs]

SB: is Domke your 4th brother? Was he baptized in the bathroom sink?
Jake: Baptized with the hose in the backyard [laughs].
Scott: yeah he’s definitely a Stinnett for sure.

SB: if you were an animal, what would you be?
Sam: Dolphin or lion.
Jake: A Griffin.
SB: That’s cheating!
Scott: God, you guys are stealing all my animals here [laughs] Id probably be a little hawk or something, but if I could ani-morph at any time, I’d be like a little fly, so I could fly under a door or something.

SB: What about superpowers?
Sam: Strength and flight.
Scott: Breath under water, invincibility, mind reading.
Jake: Like Wolverine/Jedi/Aquaman powers [laughs].

SB: Ok we’re done, shout out to your friends and sponsors.
Sam: Exile, X-trak, Laguna surf and sport, thanks for supporting me.
Scott: Shout out to the LEAF crew.
Jake: Shout out to all my homies and amigos.

SB: Cool we’re done.

I thought your name was Widemouth Bass? Well it kinda is. (laughs)

Well other than the obvious fact that your mouth is huge (like you could fit the entire Chicago Bears defensive line in there), how exactly did that name come to be?
HAHA… Oh man, Alex, he’s gonna freak when he reads this, (more laughter). This guy Alex, a friend of my older brother, he’s pretty much the most random guy I’ve ever met. He took one look at me one day and just started calling me widemouth bass. He pulls the most random stuff out of thin air. My brother and all his friends would call me it all the time. Sometimes it was just bass… “Hey Bass!” (laughs). At one point I had it written on my skimboard, that’s when it started spreading a bit outside of my brother’s clique. My friend was at some banquet down in Laguna a few years back and Bill Bryan was there. He asked Bill for an autograph for me. At that point I didn’t really know Bill, he didn’t really know me, but he knew enough to write “to the widemouth bass, you rip” (laughs). So… I guess alot of people noticed it or something.

I’m glad you’re embracing it.
HAHA… Yeah, whatever, I’ve grown to like it.

Where exactly do you live in Newport?
Uh, the Balboa Peninsula, about a block away from Wedge.

So pretty much you spent your whole childhood in the ocean or what?
Actually not at all. I really didn’t get into the ocean till I was about 11 or 12 years old. Before that, I spent most of my free time drawing. I love drawing. I love it so much I’d sit inside all day and just draw.
Eventually my parents were like, ‘Tommy, you gotta go outside and do something else for a while.’ So I got a boogie board and walked across the street and started messing around in the water.

How’d you end up getting into skimboarding?
My older brother Bob was pretty into skimming, I was about 13 or 14 when he pushed me into it a bit, he’d motivate me a lot. He also introduced me to a skim buddy of his from down the street named Derek. Derek would drive me down to Laguna to skim different spots, he got me into contests and stuff a bit too.

So how long did it take you to figure out you had the best skim spot in the world [The Wedge] out your back door.
(laughs) Ah… probably a year or two, I kinda worked my way down there slowly. I didn’t get it at all. Like, I knew it was the spot, but I didn’t know when was the best time to hit it, I eventually just started getting lucky and showing up when it was good, and slowly started figuring the place out. >>

It must have been a trip once you figured it out, having all these pro skimmers showing up in your back yard when it was good.
Yeah, the first guys I saw there on a consistent basis were Morgan [Just] and Bill. [Bryan]. That was back when they were filming for Liquid Courage, which I think was pretty much some of the best wedge skimboarding ever. So yeah, seeing that kind of stuff go down in person was kinda mind blowing. It made me want to do even more.
It was really tough back then though, trying to get a wave off the pack. The only time I’d ever get any waves was when people were changing, getting in and out of their wetsuits or something. If I was on it I could sneak over and pick one off. (laughs)

Nowadays you’re right in there.
Haha, yeah, I’ve been getting some fun ones this summer.

What can we expect from Skimboarder Tommy D in the next couple years?
Well, obviously I want to step it up to pro. That depends on a few things though, I’ll see what my sponsors have to say about that. I think I need to work on my tech stuff some more to be competitive.
But outside of competition I really want to travel more. I went to Cabo with the Exile team for the contest back in May.

That must have been another eye opener for you.
Yeah, as the new guy on the team I got heckled pretty hard, it was fun though. The waves down there are straight up beast war.

Beast war?
Yea for sure, vector complexing beast war, you gotta watch out, otherwise you get moon pretzeled. >>

Moon Pretzeled?
Yeah, you know, when you fall on a wave, and you get pinned down face first on the bottom and your legs get wrapped up behind you over your shoulders and and your toes hit the sand next to your ears. That’s a moon pretzel.

No kidding? I thought that was a called a “neurologist’s quadriplegic delight.”
Well yeah that’s another name for it, Moon Pretzel is the local Balboa dialect though.

You used to draw, now you make up strange words while skimboarding. Do you have any other creative outlets in your life you’d like to talk to us about?
Um, yeah, I’ve really gotten into film and video the last few years. I ended up being short on credits this year, so I twent to the coach of the Newport Harbor High School surf team and told him “hey, I’ll make you a movie for extra credit”. He said okay. I ended up spending the next nine months filming, and another four months editing, and putting it all together.

We got ourselves a copy of the video, and we have to say, its an amazing first effort. It was really well done considering you’d never done anything like it before.
Ah well thanks, I was really happy with how it turned out. I premiered it at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach to a crowd of about four hundred, it was really fun seeing every ones reactions.

You have any future plans for video stuff?
Yep, I want to make a skim movie some time, I also would like to get myself into film school one of these days.

“Very Nice” Any last words before we wrap this thing up?
Yeah, I most certainly want to thank my Mom and Dad for being there and supporting me in whatever it is I want to do. You guys are the greatest. Aaron at Exile, for obvious sponsorship reasons, I don’t call that guy mother earth for nothing; he is the provider of everything. Main Street surf shop in Balboa, for helping me compete, and pushing me to succeed. And of course SKIMBOARDER MAGAZINE!

Well Thank you Tommy D!