OSS Sponsors

Want to see
your logo here?
Ad rates
Startup specials now available

20 Years of Rebel Skates

For the past 20 years or so you could'nt have talked about Portland skateboarding without mentioning Rebel Skates. Rebel has been lurking around in one form or another as long as alot of skaters have been alive.

In it's current incarnation Rebel Skates is John Hartung and Jay Shmay (Williamson). The Rebel shop has re-opened at 1025 E. Sandy in Portland and they have US, Canadian and European distribution for Rebel boards and clothing.

I took some time to talk to Jay and Jon about Burnside, skateboarding and the past 20 years, interview has been edited for space and content.

Interview by cskate

Jon hamming it up with the Afterburner model

So it's been 20 years now?

J - Yea we got our 20 years in and the checks should start rolling in anytime now. (laughter)

Have you been there since day one Jon? Can you give me a little history?

J - I've been there since before day one. Rebel wasn't something we started, it just kicked in. It was the evolution of all our skating experiences. I started skating in the late 60's, Jay was the next generation but right behind. Rebel was not an end, it's been something that people have come in and out of like an extended family, it has it's own life.

Rebel team rider Lance Leisher

Would you agree that Rebel is a Portland skating institution?

J - We get approached by a lot of people who say they got their first skateboards from us, anybody who got their skateboard or date or anything will remember that, the smell of the deck and all that.

JS - Rebel to me is like anybody who's ever picked up a skateboard and fallen in love will eventually find their Rebel Skates. Skateboarding's the only thing in my life that's given back to me at least what I put into it. Coming from a broken home and going through all the things that I did there was a lot of pain and Skateboarding was the only thing that didn't let me down. With the different avenue's I've taken through my life eventually I found Rebel Skates and that's where I belong.
The way I remember Rebel coming around was there was several skate shops in town and no one liked going to them because they were all assholes. I worked at all of them and let me tell you, they were assholes. When I took a hiatus from working at skateshops I worked for john because john's been in retail since....

It was invented?

J - Since dirt was new (laughter)

JS - Eventually Rebel started which was the brainchild of a couple of skaters, Bill Reese transplanted from Walla Walla WA. and Brian Zimmer (I may be wrong on last name) who was a Florida transplant. They were like "the skateshops here suck, they don't care about the skaters" Let's open our own skateshop, but because of their personal lives and issues it was going under, I called John and said hey check this out...

J - I was a customer of Rebel already and I walked in they said "we gotta close" and I said no you don't.

So you assumed their financial debt?

J - Yeah and they stayed on doing what they were doing, so the shop kept going and then we started making Rebel a brand and manufacturing and going to tradeshows and what not.

Was there a down time when Rebel didn't exist?

J - There was a point when the retail side of it closed and we just did wholesale, and that all went along with the dips and valleys of skating at the time. We had a great team, Buddy Nichols, Danny Sargent and like 7 or 8 guys. The Rebel Team changed peoples lives when they saw them skating, people were like "I didn't know that was possible."
At that point they were all getting married, they were going to college, they were going to rehab, all the things that people do, and so the team was starting to scatter and at the same time the industry was at a low and so the retail thing became superfluous to what we were doing anyway.

Then we took a break for a little while, while life happened and then about 2000 we started doing trade shows again and that's when we've gotten some good recognition. We've got Canadian distribution and Amsterdam, and we've got good US distribution too.

Mark Conahan rides the Rebelution at the Newberg Trifecta

Can you talk a little bit about when the first transitions started getting poured at Burnside and skateboarding taking off again and where you guys were at?

J - I remember digging at Burnside, but I don't remember skating getting any better. I still remember skating at being a low at that point.

JS - The whole thing I recall about Burnside with the few brain cells I have left is that skating was still in a lull and Burnside was out of necessity. Red's a vert skater like myself and there was no ramps to ride and being in Oregon there's not a lot of backyard pools, we definately don't ever suffer from a drought so the chances of any of those pools being drained are nil, and that's how Burnside started. We've been in need of skateparks since the early 70's, since all the parks in California were opening.

I watched the Dogtown documentary and the thing is, is while all that was going on down there, the exact same thing was going on up here, but we're in Oregon and nobody cared. They care now because we have the best skateparks in the world but Burnside came out of necessity because there was nowhere to ride. The city had outlawed skateboarding back in 76, so you couldn't street skate without being hassled by the cops which was usually $130 ticket and they took your skateboard.

J - The Rebel team was doing demo's at the library or benefit's for muscular distrophy, we'd do safety demo's for schools and at the same time the city of Portland was sending out questionaire's about "what would you like to see in a skatepark" and it's the same thing that they've been doing for all these years.

Forming an action committee so that they dont actually have to do anything?

JS - Exactly, they would spend all the money that they would get donated or whatever on surveys rather than actually doing something.

J - Burnside was a reaction to the bureaucrats wasting everyone's time with meetings and survey's and these guys just did it and it was great to be a part of that and feel like you actually were a Rebel

Chuck Ellis rides the Rebel Gun at West Linn Skatepark

I didn't grow up around you guys so I always just equated Rebel skates and Burnside together.

J - Burnside came out about because Red took action, it's Rebel energy even though Rebel was'nt directly responsible. It was part of the same energy. We were closing the retail store about the same time that we were digging over at Burnside. There is a continuation but it's not because of Rebel skates that Red did what he did.

I understand, it's part of the same community and you guys were all there digging it out at the beginning. I really think that Burnside's importance to skating can't be stated, we wouldn't have the parks we have now without it.

J - It's genius, Red's the man.

JS - That's why we have skateparks now is because Burnside was the sketchpad, it was trial by fire, he learned from all his mistakes. As far as the city getting involved with it was because of the core skaters, that we stuck it out and now we're all grownups, we wear suits and ties when we have to and we can talk the talk if we have to.

You guys have made a choice to not go into places like Zumiez or Hot Topics with your product. Is there a specific type of skater that you are marketing too?

J - It's more like we're not targeting certain realities of business. We're marketing to people like us even though 80% of decks are sold to kids 14 and under, we do have smaller decks but we're really proud of our pool decks and our bigger different shapes. If there are young Rebels out there we're not trying to discount them but it's more like we're discovered than we're trying to market to someone.

Some of the current Rebel lineup

What's the process you go through when designing a new board?

J - They say you don't want to see how sausages or laws or made (laughter).

JS - I've been cutting and making my own boards since I hit shop class back in 78. It's all purely selfish, everything I make I make for myself and what I like. Like John said we're particularly proud of the old school shapes, the pool boards. I just know what I like, I design skateboards that are shaped like skateboards. By doing that and by having the popsicle sticks we've got a flavor for the whole family.

Generally what I do is I figure out the wheelbase that I want, basic shape, then I draw half of it on a piece of paper, fold it in half, cut it out, stand on it and send it to the woodshop, back in the day I would have cut it from a Z-blank. Then I ride it, change it if it needs it and if I hate I throw it into the pile and say "I guess I'm not designing a board today."

J - We have 7 decks going anywhere from 7.5 to 10

Which sell better the old school or new school?

J - It might be better to ask which ones we like better.

JS - It depends on the shop really, it's like magazines, you've got your Thrasher readers, your Transworld readers and you got your Concrete Wave readers and you pretty much know what they are going to ride by what they subscribe to.

The high powered office of Rebel Skates

What's a typical day at Rebel like?

JS - Johns pretty much a neighbor so he comes by and picks me up and we get in here about 10 or so. I look at my notes and figure out my plan of attack. I call people, make my sales calls, make sure orders have gone out.

J - alot of it is just customer satisfaction, staying in touch with people. Make sure people are happy because everything that goes out has our name on it. You do what you say your going to do, make sure people get the stuff they want and our product says our mission.

Thanks gentleman, I'm looking forward to the next 20 years of Rebel Skates

Rebel Open House 12/17/05

Here's a few shots from the Rebel Shop Grand Opening

Shmay at home behind the counter of the Rebel Shop

Skip Marcotte, Josh Burt and his girl Alisha at the Rebel Shop Grand Opening

Josh, cskate and Skip enjoying the sweet, sweet cider of success

The Rebel shop might be one of the few shops around with its own fireplace.